Good to see something like this, don't forget there is already an open source alternative (pre-existing) for Alfred and Raycast. It's called Quicksilver - https://qsapp.com
I keep trying new launcher apps and I keep coming back to QuickSilver.
Sol: Open-source Alfred/Raycast alternative for macOS
21–30 of 57 posts
Re: Sol: Open-source Alfred/Raycast alternative for macOS
#22Why is this called sol (sun) when the logo is a black hole? Am I missing something?
Re: Sol: Open-source Alfred/Raycast alternative for macOS
#23Installed via brew to try it out. Won't lunch. The process is running, but I just can't seem to make it pop up?
Re: Sol: Open-source Alfred/Raycast alternative for macOS
#24Good to see something like this, don't forget there is already an open source alternative (pre-existing) for Alfred and Raycast. It's called Quicksilver - https://qsapp.com
I remember first installing quicksilver years ago, and it really being a game changer. Probably 5 or so years ago (maybe more, yikes), I switched to spotlight after Apple improved it a bit. Every once in awhile I consider looking back though, mostly for the nostalgia.
Re: Sol: Open-source Alfred/Raycast alternative for macOS
#25Good to see something like this, don't forget there is already an open source alternative (pre-existing) for Alfred and Raycast. It's called Quicksilver - https://qsapp.com
We are working on revamping Quicksilver after a period of relative dormancy; I'm new to the project, but a long-time user.
We've made several releases over the last few months -- some new features I'm excited for include support for scripting in JXA (instead of just AppleScript), and I'm working on Swift support in the plugin template for those who (like me) don't know ObjC but want to build a plugin.
Thanks for the shout-out!
Re: Sol: Open-source Alfred/Raycast alternative for macOS
#26The “launcher” space on MacOS is so vibrant (see threads on Quicksilver, et al.). When I took a job at a Windows shop, I was shocked how poor the market is for similar tools. It really made me appreciate the Mac indie dev market.
I (jokingly) spam my Windows colleagues on a private slack channel whenever unique apps appear, such as:
https://retina.studio/textbuddy/
(No affiliation. Only one is newish, but these were good examples of great Mac software.)
Or any other number of slick tools.
Re: Sol: Open-source Alfred/Raycast alternative for macOS
#27Good to see something like this, don't forget there is already an open source alternative (pre-existing) for Alfred and Raycast. It's called Quicksilver - https://qsapp.com
I remember first installing quicksilver years ago, and it really being a game changer. Probably 5 or so years ago (maybe more, yikes), I switched to spotlight after Apple improved it a bit. Every once in awhile I consider looking back though, mostly for the nostalgia.
Same here.
I recently went to try it again, unfortunately, it kept crashing. Back to Spotlight it is... :-(
Re: Sol: Open-source Alfred/Raycast alternative for macOS
#28I used Alfred for years and never thought I’d find a viable replacement for it but Raycast has completely replaced it for me in the past year. The ‘Schedule’ integration with the single-key to launch the video conference functionality is top notch. Other dev-targeting integrations like GitHub are also fantastic and unlike with Alfred I don’t have to use a dozen extensions with forgettable shorthand commands so unless the other shoe drops and Raycast ends up introducing some over the top subscription-based pricing model I don’t see me ever going back to Alfred
Re: Sol: Open-source Alfred/Raycast alternative for macOS
#29The “launcher” space on MacOS is so vibrant (see threads on Quicksilver, et al.). When I took a job at a Windows shop, I was shocked how poor the market is for similar tools. It really made me appreciate the Mac indie dev market. I (jokingly) spam my Windows colleagues on a private slack channel whenever unique apps appear, such as: https://retina.studio/textbuddy/ https://cleanshot.com/ https://reeder.app/ (No affil…
Are you aware of the new Microsoft PowerToys? It includes a number of interesting tools and is open source.
Re: Sol: Open-source Alfred/Raycast alternative for macOS
#30Hey HackerNews, I'm the creator of Sol.
Here are some answers to your questions:
- Why Sol?
I started using Raycast, and it's nice, but found it cumbersome, too many features tackled on top of each other with even more cumbersome navigation. I'm a ruthless simplifier and I wanted a similar yet I-don't-want-to-configure-you tool. I also believe that VC money backed tools face the though reality of unrealistic ROI at some point, so I fully expect other tools to squeeze money out of you at some point. I develop Sol on my free time building the tool that I like, and it will not have any registration step or run analytics on you on any shape or form.
- Where are the docs? it is not launching?
You seem to have tried the app at the unfortunate time where I did some breaking changes and fixing some bugs (try option + space it should launch). Regarding docs there is none, and there will be none, if I need to explain how to use the app I have already failed.
- Why is it called Sun and has a black hole logo?
A black hole is a collapsed sun, do be a stickler. Have fun and enjoy.
- Memory use
Not more than chrome! BOOH YA!
Hope you like the app and feel free to submit PRs!