It’s quite a while since I presented and showed you some of the functions of Alfred. Now I can proudly present you Alfred – The Power Pack.

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What’s the PowerPack ?

Yeah, that’s definitely worth an explanation So the PowerPack is a collection of some app features. But why is it called the PowerPack? That’s quite simple. The features that consist of the PowerPack go beyond the original purpose of Alfred. They’ve hardly anything to do with the core project, which consists of the quick starter for apps.

Currently implemented elements (features)

• File-browsing
• eMail Shortcut
• iTunes mini Player

iTunes mini Player

An awesome feature, which let’s you access iTunes and its mediathek without clicking and searching through iTunes itself.

You can define a shortcut for the mini-Player. So you needn’t detour with starting it from the Alfred search window. (You can also type “iTunes” in Alfred and select the appropriate menu for the mini-Player)

If iTunes isn’t running at the moment you press the shortcut for the mini-Player. A window will ask you to start it.

Let’s assume iTunes is running – So the mini-Player will show up:

You can search your whole music library within this little window by typing your wishes in the search bar, which is always selected when the window shows up.

The really awesome thing is, that you can search artists, albums, and tracks. Each individually has its own icon. Artists have a white icon with a lilac head. Albums have lilac icons with two white note and tracks have white icons with one lilac note.

If iTunes is running and you play any track, the mini-Player will show you the currently playing track with album and artist information (With the album artwork if available).

With the controls that are provided by the mini-Player you can rate the playing track, pause or play it.

File-navigation with Alfred

This is a feature that is a little bit hidden The first thing you’ve to do is to search for a folder, file or app

If you select for example a folder and press ⇥ (Tab) the Alfred search window changes its content

Most of the actions you can do here are self-explainable

• deleting-, moving-, or copying file(s)/folders
• Mailing the file/folder (to someone)
• open file/folder with:

The content of the Alfred box changes again and shows you a list of the apps with which you can start or open the selected file/folder (in case of a directory only the “Finder”)

• Search Folders with Alfred:

This is the most interesting part of this feature. You can browse through the whole file system with Alfred. You can navigate by typing the next folder in the address bar, or navigate with shortcuts or the arrow keys and enter

eMail

With the little keyword email “…” you can quickly create a “new mail” window of Apple’s Mail, with the given receiver.

My thoughts

The PowerPack is the perfect addition to the core project Alfred. The features of the PowerPack make Alfred better and more flexible. It’s obviously one little thing that differs Alfred from all the other quick-start Apps out there. The PowerPack should make Alfred a lot more attractive for users who wish to have some extra features, which make your Mac-life and working life much more convenient.

Despite the fact that I hardly use the file navigations feature, I really love the mini-Player. It’s the one and only

It was never easier to work and switch my music whenever I want without displaying iTunes and clicking and navigating through the big window. Even clicking the search bar is too much work for me

All in all I can say that it’s worth using and/or trying the PowerPack.

I’m very curious what new features are coming in the future – I will definitely write some news about them