Quicksilver is an open source and
completely free application launcher for Mac OS X Lion which can replace
Spotlight’s usual search function, in addition to adding lots of features which
Spotlight could never hope to offer. Added to these benefits is the increase in
speed and efficiency which comes from allowing Mac users to perform most tasks
without being required to let one’s fingers leave the keyboard.
Quicksilver
is an open source and completely free application launcher for Mac OS X Lion
Quicksilver has a long history with the Mac
OS X platform and for a long time the lightweight app was the primary keyboard
driven application launcher for OS X power users, gaining popularity amongst
critics and users alike for its powerful and flexible interface which allows
Quicksilver to ‘hook’ into many other applications and system-wide tools.
Unfortunately, at the height of its success, development was suddenly dropped
for Quicksilver and, as the project began to stagnate, its popularity faded.
However, a new software team has since taken over a development of the iconic
app and have managed to inject this old favourite with a new vigour, once again
making Quicksilver a must-have app for Mac users.
Getting started with Quicksilver
To get started using Quicksilver, first
head over to the Blacktree website and select the latest version of Quicksilver
for download.
It’s
worth noting that Quicksilver supports all iterations of Mac OS X from Panther
onwards, and so can breathe new life into even those PPC Macs whose technology
has long faded from the cutting edge.
It’s worth noting that Quicksilver supports
all iterations of Mac OS X from Panther onwards, and so can breathe new life
into even those PPC Macs whose technology has long faded from the cutting edge.
The installation process for Quicksilver is
very simple and one must then go through the first-run process which enables
users to choose which plugins to install to Quicksilver- these plugins allow
the app to communicate with other app and the wider Mac OS X system at large.
If you’re not sure which plugins you would like yet, you can always return
later but a few which are heartily recommended are the iTunes, Safari, Mail and
Address Book plugins.
To complete the first-run setup process,
Quicksilver must finally be allotted a keyboard shortcut. I chose to use the
default Spotlight shortcut and move Spotlight to Option & Spacebar, but any
such combination should suffice.
Searching and launching
Where
Quicksilver differs from Spotlight however, is that the apps allows you to
control key aspects of OS X right from Quicksilver’s interface – with the
correct combination, users can quickly email a contact, listen to iTunes and
more.
Hitting the Option & Spacebar combination
(or whichever two keys you configured Quicksilver to recognise) will bring up
the above pane and, like Spotlight, as you begin to type, search results will
be displayed. Where Quicksilver differs from Spotlight however, is that the
apps allows you to control key aspects of OS X right from Quicksilver’s
interface – with the correct combination, users can quickly email a contact,
listen to iTunes and more.
Triggers
By configuring Quicksilver’s Triggers
feature, you can assign certain combinations of keys to specific tasks. This
may not sound all that revolutionary in itself but Quicksilver allows some
really great tweaking which brings this feature alive. For example, I have the
following combinations set to open specific applications and bookmarks:
Applications
Ctrl + M = Mail
Ctrl + P = Pages
Ctrl + S = Safari
Bookmarks
Ctrl + Shift + G = Google Search
Ctrl + Shift + S = Soundcloud
Ctrl + Shift + I = iCloud web page
In orcer to set up some similar Triggers of
your own, navigate to Quicksilver’s preferences and click on the ‘Triggers’
pane.
To add a custom Trigger, click on the +
icon located on the bottom taskbar and then ‘HotKey’ and a search prompt shall
appear. Begin typing what would like to set as a trigger (for example ‘Saf’
will quickly bring up Safari) and then if you’re happy with it, hit Save.
Next we need to assign a keyboard
combination to our Trigger, so make sure that your previously created Trigger
is highlighted and click on the small information pane icon, which is located
toward the bottom of the screen and looks like a small ‘I’. You should see
something similar to that which is shown in the following screenshot:
As you can see, for the command to open the
Mac Mail app, I have allotted the keyboard combination Control + M.
Pressing those keys anywhere in OS X will
instantly launch the Mac Mail application. If the Mail app is already open, the
combination will instead bring Mail to the foreground, even switching to the
relevant desktop space if you happen to be currently using a different one.
More Quicksilver commands
To send an email quickly while using
Quicksilver, just launch QS’s interface with the usual keyboard combination and
type in the name of the person you would like to email. For the purposes of
this article, let’s assume I’d like to email my friend Hannah – so, after
typing in ‘han’, her name was brought up and then a hit of the tab key
took me to the right hand column. From there, we just select ‘Compose
Email’.
More Quicksilver commands:Compose Email
In the same way, iTunes can be controlled
from Quicksilver. Once again bringing up iTunes by entering ‘iTunes’ into
Quicksilver’s search prompt, just hit tab and then move down to select from a
variety of controls such as Pause/Play and Skip Track.
Final thoughts
We’ve really only touched upon the very
basics of what Quicksilver is capable of here today, but hopefully it’ll be
enough to pique your interest and get you started on the journey of making your
computer usage that much more productive.
If you like the idea of a keyboard driven
application launcher like Quicksilver, but find the various options and
features too complex to get a handle on, another similar app is Alfred which
offers much of Quicksilver’s features and some which QS doesn’t contain. The
core application of Alfred is free to use but a Powerpack must be purchased in
order to unlock its full potential. That said, once the Powerpack is purchased,
Alfred is a powerful, flexible and perhaps easier to use application than
Quicksilver.
