On November 29th, we released version 1.0 of Alfred. We were so excited to finally make this milestone release available to everyone, yet we couldn't have predicted how much better you would all make December and January for us.
Since the release, Alfred received numerous accolades, including the revered Macworld Editor's Choice Award. As a Mac user since the late 80's, I remember thumbing through my grandfather's Macworld magazines, so being recognised as an "exceptional Mac product" by this mainstay of the Mac industry is an honour. Plus, it comes with a gigantic statue. Who doesn't love a giant statue?
Additionally, a few other publications awarded Alfred recognition as they looked back at 2011:
In addition, at the end of the year, screencaster extraordinaire Don McAllister produced two excellent videos on Alfred's core and Powerpack features. If you're trying to convince a friend to switch to Alfred, this video will walk them through in superbly useful detail.
With these being the cherry on top of our 2011, Christmas was spent sitting on cloud nine and feeling that we truly do have the best community in the world.
Since 2012 started, Alfred also received a mention on Forbes and a PCMag Editor's Choice review. As they say, start the year as you mean to go on! We've saved as many of the mentions as possible in our Delicious account, so have a browse if you're curious. And of course, thanks to everyone who wrote these wonderful pieces.
What now?
Did you really think that now that Alfred has hit 1.0, we'd stop improving this app we love so much? Of course not - you know us too well! :)
Andrew has nearly finished working on version 1.1. As he explains on his Tumblr, it originally was intended to be a 1.0.1 maintenance release, with a few tiny fixes, but it has grown into a full blown release with shiny new features. Expect to see improvements to Contacts integration and Extensions, and see the change log for the full list of changes. As it went into development release today, we hope to roll it out to everyone within the next few weeks.
We also can't wait to unveil the other ideas we've been working on, which we hope to share with you over the course of the year. Until then, keep an eye on Twitter for sneak previews over the coming months!
Cheers,
Vero
2011 - How was it for you? For us, it was... epic, in the truest sense. It was a long adventure, filled with fantastic twists and turns and a glorious ending.
Not only have we made tons of new friends, learned loads more about business, but we have been awarded incredible recognition; We were graced with a Macworld's Editor's Choice Award, as TUAW's Best Mac Utility of 2011, one of MacLife's Top 10 Must-Have Apps of 2011, one of Mashable's 10 Best Mac Apps of 2011 and have been nominated for MacStories and Cult of Mac's awards, to be announced soon.
To each and every one of you, thank you for the support you've given us. Even if all you've done is told one friend about Alfred, you've helped one more person become more efficient when using their Mac. Thank you for the supportive tweets, the hilarious cat and cheeseburger pictures you've emailed us and the sock-blowingly brilliant extensions you've taken the time to create.
We wish you a relaxing, fun-filled Christmas, complete with great friends and great food. It's a chance to take a break from the everyday, look back onto last year and look forward to the new year ahead.
2011 rocked and we're coming back for seconds. Roll on 2012!
Cheers,
Andrew & Vero
Over the course of December, we've been giving away all sorts of tips and goodies for you to enjoy as part of our Christmas Calendar. Today, we've decided to give differently.
The greatest thing we all have to be grateful for is our health, which gives us the freedom to do what we want and live the life we want. We can now live longer and healthier than ever before. However, cancer is a vicious illness which can affect our loved ones much too easily. My cousin suffered from leukaemia in her teens but came out healthy and strong, and MacStories' Viticci is fighting his own battle, as he shared recently.
Unfortunately, there is still much we don't understand about cancer and some, like Steve Jobs, don't necessarily win their fight.
We will be donating £1000 to Cancer Research UK this Christmas, hoping that together we can make a difference.
We can't get away from it any longer - there's under a month left until Christmas. Lights and decorations are going up, and so is our blood pressure, thinking of all the presents that still need to be picked up.
Fear not, Alfred's here to help. Set up a few custom searches for your favourite shopping sites or just use the handy built-in Amazon web search to find gifts quickly. Let Alfred help you get your shopping done quickly, so that you can start relaxing early with a glass of mulled wine.
Custom searches for shopping
We know you have your favourite stores. So why not set up a few custom searches to get quick search results?
Click on any of the custom searches below to import them to Alfred on your own Mac:
Need to create your own? Here's how you can create your own custom search for Alfred.
A quick way to search Amazon
Let's face it - all of these custom searches are superfluous. When inspiration (or panic) hits, odds are you'll turn to Alfred's default Amazon web search for a quick purchase. The quickest way to do this is to pop up Alfred and type "amazon black socks". And that's dad's sorted for another year!
Happy shopping - and don't forget the wrapping paper!
Cheers,
Andrew and Vero
It's with immense pride and excitement that we released version 1.0 of Alfred today. A major milestone for us, having spent the past two years creating this app and getting to know the awesome Mac community that surrounds us.
Check for updates in Alfred's preferences to download it now. You may notice that your update arrives even quicker than usual, as we now use Cachefly's content delivery network to distribute Alfred at dizzying speeds.
New features
In this release, the Powerpack gets a few new features. We've vastly improved Global Hotkeys, allowing you to launch apps, extensions, files and more quicker than ever with a key combo!
URL History is a new and incredibly handy feature; Type a URL once in Alfred and he'll remember it for next time. Save these URLs for as long as you need and manage which ones Alfred remembers within the preferences. As with Clipboard History, you'll need to activate it to start using it, as Alfred respects your privacy.
There's much more too: Snippets now allow you to sort and search your collection of clips, preferences have been tidied up and Alfred has been made even faster. Have a look at the change log for the full list of features, improvements and bug fixes.
Grab the Powerpack today
You have a few days left to get the Powerpack at the discounted price of £12 before the 1.0 price of £15 kicks in, so grab it now to get the best value! Don't forget that if you want a lifetime of Alfred updates, you can also get the Mega Supporter license.
Last month, we set up a new payment process to make it completely fuss-free for you to grab the Powerpack using either debit/credit card or PayPal.
The free version has been submitted to the Mac App Store and will become available as soon as it's approved by Apple. If you were waiting for the Powerpack to hit the Mac App Store, have a look at this blog post for why you might want to wait no longer and get it from our website.
What's next?
To everyone who has helped us get this far by spreading the word about Alfred, we thank you. It's been an exciting ride so far, and we're loving every moment. We still have some great features up our sleeve for Alfred's 1.x updates. We are also planning on developing more great Mac apps to make your life easier.
Cheers,
Andrew & Vero
