Note: Before I start, this only affects software obtained through the Mac App Store. Any software purchased outside of the Mac App Store isn't affected by this and continues as before.

The Mac App Store and Sandboxing

The Mac App Store is currently in transition. From March 2012 (update: Apple delayed it until June 2012), all new submissions / updates need to be sandboxed.

Sandboxing is a way of protecting users from malicious or naughty software by severely restricting the access an application has to underlying resources. It also makes the app approval process easier for Apple as sandboxed apps simply cannot do things outside their own resources. While this works remarkably well on iOS (I am personally happy to be in the "walled garden" on my phone), it really changes the landscape for OS X applications.

As you know, Alfred isn't a self-contained application like a game, graphics package or todo list. Many of the things Alfred does are to do with OS X itself... he searches, navigates and opens files and apps on your Mac, he runs AppleScript to interact with other applications, he even allows you to create and run lower-level shell or AppleScript extensions; He is basically your quick interface into the heart of OS X. This is where Alfred starts to throw his toys out of the [sand]box.

I would LOVE Alfred's Powerpack in the Mac App Store

Having the Powerpack in the Mac App Store would not only bring me more revenue, but it's also a trusted discovery channel for new users - I know Alfred would have significantly more Powerpack users by selling through this channel.

Alfred has always used safe, public APIs and been extremely well behaved. Nevertheless, sandboxing means that many of the "OS X allowed" Powerpack features mentioned above would need to be limited or removed if I wanted to continue selling through the Mac App Store from and after March 2012.

Therefore, the Powerpack won't be going in the Mac App Store [quite yet]

Alfred's users are most important in this decision. I want to do the best thing for users rather than maximising the money I could get from the Powerpack. As such, I will be keeping the Powerpack out of the Mac App Store until the shortcomings of sandboxing are fully understood and I can make a full evaluation of whether this suits Alfred or not.

ULTIMATELY: The scenario I want to avoid…

If the Powerpack went into the Mac App Store for v1.0 at the end of this month (which I could very well do) and then in March 2012, the Mac App Store sandboxing policy is strongly enforced, I would be unable to provide further updates through the Mac App Store without significantly changing or removing features which do not comply with the sandboxing policy.

I WOULD NOT want to provide an update to users that removes features which people are already using and enjoying just to get the latest version into the Mac App Store. This is a problem which may plague current apps in the Mac App Store as well as Alfred, and it wouldn't be fair on anybody.

But what if you want the Powerpack?

Just remember, the Mac App Store is one of many ways to buy software for your Mac, and the sandbox restrictions only affect software sold / bought through the Mac App Store. Your freedom as a consumer still remains!

To make things easier for Alfred users, I have recently changed Alfred Powerpack's payment process to use our own bespoke system based on the excellent Foxycart. You no longer need to sign up for Google Checkout to buy the Powerpack as we now accept Credit / Debit cards and PayPal directly. Foxycart is also heavily PCI and Safe Harbor compliant and we do not store credit card information, which means you can buy with the utmost confidence.

I do hope that the sandboxing guidelines are relaxed or that, at least, Apple provides further mechanisms to interact with OS X before March as I would love to use the Mac App Store as another way to bring the Powerpack to Alfred's users.

Version 1.0 is just around the corner

This being said, Alfred is just about to hit 1.0, an extremely exciting time for me! He is better than ever and this is just the start of great things to come for him. Take a look at the change log to see what's coming or, for the more adventurous, why not download the development version to have a play and help us test it :D

Also remember that buying the Powerpack now will save you some dosh as he is only £12 until v1.0 is released!

Cheers,
Andrew

When we first launched the Powerpack a year ago, we set up Google Checkout as the primary payment system. It was easy to set up, it was affordable and it meant Andrew could get back to adding new features to Alfred.

Opinions about Google Checkout were very divided; Some of you liked it but many felt Google knew enough about them already without handing their card details over. I handled numerous PayPal transactions manually; not great as the manual license creation meant there was a delay, and if I've learned anything about Alfred users is that you're keen to play with Powerpack features as soon as you can! :)

After much research and investigation, we opted for the excellent FoxyCart platform to handle the checkout process. The lovely Zaharenia did a great job of making your checkout experience as pleasant experience by prettying it all up!

As a result, buying the Powerpack is now a smoother and simpler process, with debit/credit card or PayPal option, as you prefer. Best of all, no need to dig around online for your license code, it'll arrive straight to your inbox, wearing its bowler hat proudly.

If you've yet to buy your own copy of the Powerpack, why not grab it now? Do give us a shout when you've made your purchase as we'd love your feedback.

Cheers,
Vero

[Update: This is a legacy post, and Alfred 2 now uses workflows. Find out more about workflows. The links in the blog post below may not be kept up to date.]

With Alfred 0.9.9 out for general release, we're excited to share some of the best Alfred Powerpack extensions that we've seen so far.

These scripts have been created by Alfred users and are supported by their respective creators. Where possible, we've included a link to their Twitter account or website.

If you've created a useful extensions yourself, send us a link on Twitter and we'll add the best ones to an upcoming Extensions page.

Tip: Don't forget that once you've created an extension, you can right-click it in the sidebar to export it and share with friends!

SHELL SCRIPTS

Create a Symbolic Link [link] by @jdfwarrior Result action that creates a symbolic link to the selected item

Down For Everyone or Just Me? [link] by @jdfwarrior Checks downforeveryoneorjustme.com to determine if a site is down

Facebook Status (requires FBCMD) [link] by @jdfwarrior Updates your Facebook status

eBay Checker [link] by @jdfwarrior Provides item information from eBay

Flush DNS [link] by @jdfwarrior Flushes your DNS cache

Lipsum Text [link] by @jdfwarrior Retrieves lipsum text from Lipsum.com and copies it to your clipboard automatically

Local Weather Conditions [link] by @jdfwarrior Displays local weather conditions via Growl. Get your weather location ID from weather.com or Gtwthr.com (setup page). Need metric units? In the script, change METRIC=false, to METRIC=true

Create DMG [link] by @jdfwarrior Result action that creates a DMG image from the selected folder

Package Tracker [link] by @jdfwarrior Tracks packages via packagetrackr.com and displays information via Growl

Get External IP Address [link] by @jdfwarrior Retrieves your external ip address, copies it to the clipboard, and displays it via Growl

Zip Folder [link] by @jdfwarrior Result action that creates a zip file from the selected item and places it on the desktop. UPDATED: Now has ability to create archives with folders with spaces in the name. Long explanation of why it didn't work. It's fixed now.

Fantastical [link] by @jdfwarrior Applescript that lets you quickly pass new events into Fantastical

Add a task to Remember the Milk http://ruk.ca/content/alfred-remember-milk

Turn on/off Airport (by Andy Jeffries) networksetup -setairportpower en1 on networksetup -setairportpower en1 off Use the 'BSD device name' from the 'Network' section of the System Information app instead of en1.

__Tweet without a Twitter client http://blog.daviscabral.com.br/post/5622626401/how-to-tweet-from-alfredapp

Changing network location http://jamesoff.net/site/2011/06/09/alfred-script-to-change-network-location-in-os-x/

Open URLs in non-default browser window http://snipt.org/xvmi Credit @f5point6

Get public IP address and copy to clipboard (by Joseph Flasher) curl —silent http://checkip.dyndns.org | grep -Eo '([0-9]{1,3}.){3}[0-9]{1,3}' | bcopy

Create and open a new file with your Default text editor (by Roger Byrne) touch /Users/rogermbyrne/Dropbox/Writer/{query}.txt; open /Users/rogermbyrne/Dropbox/Writer/{query}.txt

Lots more cool scripts by Don Southard: http://www.dirtdon.com/?p=886

including:

• Convert image to another format
• Share your current song from iTunes or Ecoute
• Create tasks in OmniFocus with Natural Language
• Set Wallpaper from Alfred action menu
• Start a screencast from Alfred
• Use Alfred for Window Management
• Upload Picture to Picasa
• Create custom Bit.ly shortened URL
• Upload file to Amazon S3
• Convert video to AppleTV format
• Create a CloudApp bookmark from Clipboard
• Shorten a URL with Goo.gl and more

Full list of very useful extension scripts created by @jdfwarrior http://jdfwarrior.tumblr.com/post/7380798414

APPLESCRIPTS

Spotify AppleScripts by Robin Enhorn http://www.2shared.com/file/lgQFbHdq/Spotify_Applescripts.html

Evernote search http://www.thoughtasylum.com/blog/2011/7/8/search-evernote-from-alfred-again.html

Adding notes to Evernote http://www.ryoku.org/2011/07/creating-notes-in-evernote-with-alfred/

Switching VPN (by @johanbakken) http://chopapp.com/#5sqsf2oe

Set your Adium status by @simonbs http://bit.ly/nV4K4L

Create a task in Things by @preppeller Andrew's Tumblr post on Things

More coming soon

We'll soon create a page where the best extensions of each type will be available for you to browse. In the meantime, link to your own extensions in the comments and we'll be happy to include the best ones in our future extensions pages!

Have you dreamed of extending the scope of what our handy little Alfred can do for you?

The just-released Alfred 0.9.9 allows you to access even more of your Mac's capabilities in an easy-to-use environment with the new Extensions tab. Haven't got it yet? Check for updates in Alfred's preferences to get this latest version.

Powerpack users now have the option to:

• create their own Command Line Scripts (with Growl output)
• launch AppleScripts (with parameters) with a keyword
• run Automator workflows
• build advanced Search Filters
• create keywords for files and file groups

Extensions can be easily installed just by double-clicking on the exported file or dragging them to the Extensions home below. Have a look at the new Extensions page and the first examples by some of our users.

In addition, Alfred 0.9.9 brings many more improvements:

• NEW FREE THEME: Lion-based theme available both to free and Powerpack users
• Improvements on many Lion quirks
• Growl Support for output from extensions and more
• Global Hotkey usage added to statistics graph
• Address Book Contact's Notes now visible in Contact Card viewer
• Improved Knowledge Sorting to better account for extensions [and web searches]
• Added 'Get Info' action for files
• Make emailing attachments work with Sparrow Lite.app
• Improved accuracy for spell and define keywords
• Ability to use Open Meta tags when creating search filters & extensions

For a full list of improvements and bug fixes, have a look at the Alfred Changelog. And don't forget that the next release will be 1.0... so grab your Powerpack now to take advantage of the pre-1.0 price!

We all use our Macs slightly differently, squirrelling files away in all sorts of obscure locations with, sometimes, less than helpful names or folder organisation.

This is where Alfred comes in, like a knight in shining armour against the mountains of files on your Mac. Below are a few ways to tweak your settings to ensure Alfred is ready to serve YOU.

Setting your default results

If you're looking at your Default Results preference pane and thinking "What is she on about? Searching couldn't be simpler!" And you know what? You'd be half-right. The default settings for Alfred will suit a good portion of users straight out of the box, allowing you to find the bulk of the files you need.

However, if you need him to tend to your every need, you can tweak the settings to reflect this. To create as little noise as possible, choose only the file types you really want to see every time you search, e.g. Applications, Folders and Contacts.

Don't check every box unless you want every document, text file and image for "Spot the dog" every time you start typing "spo..." to launch Spotify.

The default search limits your results to 9 items to be as fast as possible. Want more results? Want a broader search? Keep on reading!

Widening your search scope

By default, the search scope covers the locations where Mac files are usually stored, such as your home folder, Applications folder, etc. However, if you store your files elsewhere, you'll want to use the + button to add the additional paths you need Alfred to include in default searches.

Searching all file types

Now you really are looking for every file and folder relating to Spot the dog, no matter what the file is. You want all those cute doggy photos, videos and stories and you want them NOW!

Hot tip: Listen carefully. This is one of the Alfred search gems you'll never want to forget once you've used it...

• Use "find" to reveal a file in Finder
• Use "open" (or hit the spacebar) to open a file
• Use "in" to search for the content of files

Like so, with a single tap of the spacebar or the "open" keyword, you can expand the scope of your search without cluttering your everyday search results.

Still need to refine the contents of this broad search? Go to the Features > File Search > Exclusions & Scope tab in the preferences to select the file types you want Alfred to show you. I always hide emails, calendar items and browser history, for example, as I have so many unnecessary noisy results in there.

When using any of the 3 file search keywords, Alfred shows 20 results by default but this can be expanded to 40 in the preferences. Handy!

Working with external drives

You've probably worked out by now that Alfred's a rather accommodating chap and that he'll do everything he can to help you.

He'll be happy to include external volumes in your searches, on two conditions. First, Spotlight must have the drive indexed for search and, secondly, the scope in File Search > Exclusions & Scope must be set to include Everything.

A few more handy tips for fussy naming

Not happy calling a file by its name? Be Alfred's guest and give the file a nickname.

Using Spotlight Comments, you can assign short names or nicknames to applications or files.

For example, I use a developer app called "Instruments" to test Alfred for Memory Leaks, but when it's my own memory that starts leaking, I can't remember the app's name. For this reason, it now has a Spotlight Comment for "leaks", ensuring I find it every time. Go ahead and do the same with your own apps!

In the case of apps, you can also turn on fuzzy matching in the Alfred's Applications preferences, allowing you to use a partial match (e.g. "gc" for Google Chrome) without setting a Spotlight Comment. With Anchored turned on, Alfred will only search from the first character of every word, while turning it off will go more freestyle by showing any fuzzy match.

Hot tip: Use Spotlight Comments to assign a short name or nickname to a file, or turn on fuzzy matching in the Applications preferences to match on the fly.

What to do if Alfred can't find what you want

Alfred relies on your OS X metadata being healthy. This metadata is maintained by Spotlight and, on very rare occasions, can get out of date or corrupted. We've outlined easy diagnostics steps to follow if this happens.

Want more Alfred tips? Next time, we'll look at the iTunes Mini Player to add a bit of music to your day!

In the meantime, don't forget to check out the Tips & Tricks category of the blog, filled with more useful tricks for using Alfred than you can dream of!

[Image credit: Knight in shining armor by Pascal]