the one app that i can't believe i forgot...
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...is Butler.
I always wanted to be the guy who did fancy app-switching using key combinations, opening files on the fly by typing in only a few letters, etc. I thought Quicksilver would be everything I would ever need in a productivity app. But here's the problem...though I have readily embraced the shortcut-key combo culture, I don't like it when it comes to manipulating files or opening apps. It's just superfluous for me. I don't run that many apps that I really need Quicksilver, and since I'm type-A when it comes to computer organization, I already know where everything is that I need on my hard disk. Plus, some of OSX's own native features are good enough for me (putting folders in dock, namely).
Yet, thinking I was just missing something, I tried many other launcher-style apps. The closest I came to settling was on Sapiens. If all you want is app-launching, this is for sure the best - but only if you're just not into key combos, and you're a heavy trackpad/mouse user. Sapiens works by moving the mouse in circles on your desktop, bringing up a radial menu of apps - but not just random ones. Sapiens learns over time the apps you use the most, when you use them, and depending on what is currently running on your computer, will factor all these things into which apps appear in the radial menu. Why didn't I settle on Sapiens? Because, like I said, I don't really need an app launcher. The point of productivity software is not to add steps to GTD (gettin' things done), but to shortcut those steps. And this is why I settled on Butler.
Butler does everything Quicksilver does, but slightly differently. It's definitely not as pretty. However, it tailors to people who are gaga over menu-bar items, putting absolutely everything you could ever need - customizably (maybe I made that up...) - at your mouse point. Just about everything is customizable with Butler. Not only this, but you can change the way you interact with items by dragging them to hotcorners, or by dragging them to Butler's menu bar icon. You can control iTunes via hotkeys. You can do so much more...but there is one reason I keep it around: hotkey web searches.
I am a web-heavy Mac user. I google (via Swagbucks) constantly. I search a lot of other sites as well. But I'm not a fan of the time it takes to load a browser and navigate to where I need to go in order to search. Only Butler, from what I've seen, will let you create customizable web searches and then hotkey them. For instance, I have it set primarily that when I press command-option-F, a little window will pop up that instantly lets me type in my search terms for Swagbucks:
You can hotkey just about any other search engine just by setting it up properly in Butler. Like to compare prices on Froogle a lot? Set it up. Tracking packages via FedEx? Set it up. Look up movies all the time on IMDB? Set it up. I don't want a toolbar on my browser. I don't want a giant search box in my menu bar. I don't even want to have to open Safari myself, especially if I've got both hands on the keyboard and that means moving the trackpad/mouse.
So, in the end, I will stick with Butler. One day I will plunge further into it's depths, but for now, hotkey web searching is the feature that truly contributes to my productivity.
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