Notational Velocity has earned its massive fan-following. Mac: Alfred 2 is a fantastic way to automate your tasks and launch apps on your Mac If you’re a Spotlight die-hard, at least take steps to protect your privacy, then amp up Spotlight’s features with Flashlight. Of course, its rival, Quicksilver, is still available, and still great. Once you’re familiar with it, check out this massive list of workflows you can automate with Alfred. If you’re new to Alfred, this beginner’s guide to using it-and all of its hidden features-is worth a look, and will probably be enough reason for you to download it on its own.

In this year’s annual Lifehacker Pack for Mac, we’re highlighting the best downloads for better productivity, communication, media management, and more.Īlfred is still our favorite application launcher for Mac, even though Spotlight has gotten some love in Yosemite (and again in El Capitan.) It’s free and worth a download on its own, but if you have the itch to do some automation and serious tweaking, the $27 Powerpack is worth every penny.

There’s no shortage of useful, interesting apps for the Mac, but some of them you just can’t live without.

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