Alfred vs. Spotlight

I’ve used Alfred for a number of years and find it invaluable. I have found, however, that I cannot get it to launch Apple specific applications. E.g. I can launch Fantastical, but have to use Spotlight to launch Calendar. Spotlight can launch both. Since I’ve never been a power user of Alfred, I may revert to only using Spotlight. I’ve examined my settings and can’t figure out why this is happening.

does alfred have full disk access? sounds like a permissions problem

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I’ve replaced Spotlight with Alfred (I gave Alfred Spotlight’s keyboard command to invoke it, and only access Spotlight if needed from the menubar) and I have no problems finding or launching anything

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Can you use Alfred’s disk/finder navigation to get to the app (isolating the potential folder access problem if so)? I think most of us aren’t having your issue but we want to help you figure it out. It’s almost certainly fixable.

Full Disk Access is a good suggestion. Definitely check that first.

Could possibly be an issue with Alfred’s cache, too. Might want to rebuild that. Can’t hurt, I think.

First: thanks to all who have replied thus far. Full disk access was in place. I cleared the cache . . nada @cornchip I’m not sure what you mean by: Can you use Alfred’s disk/finder navigation to get to the app (isolating the potential folder access problem if so)?
I can open the Applications folder with Alfred, if that’s what you meant.
I can try deleting and re-installing but that seems a bit goofy.

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Go to Alfred’s site and check out the Troubleshooting section. Then you might want to check out their Forum.

This issue seems to be addressed here: https://www.alfredapp.com/help/troubleshooting/catalina/ Looks like there is a refreshing of the search scope that needs to be done.

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A possible solution would be to switch to Launchbar. It is more powerful.

Well, one issue is that I’ve downloaded from the Apple App Store and the version is 1.2. The help link indicates I should be using 4.06. Wouldn’t the App Store have the latest version. @apb123 , thanks, but my head will implode if I have to switch to a new launcher :slight_smile:

Ahhhhh. No.

Quoting: Where can I get the current version of Alfred? - Alfred Help and Support


Why isn’t the Mac App Store version updated?

In June 2012, Apple announced a change in requirements for apps on the App Store. As such, Alfred (both free and the Powerpack) is exclusively available from https://www.alfredapp.com.

Here’s a blog post explaining why we chose to keep Alfred outside the App Store and use Apple’s Gatekeeper approach instead.

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Well that stinks—will study in a bit:)

The MAS version notes it hasn’t been updated in eight years, but for some reason - probably an App Store restriction - they don’t mention that the app is MAC-discontinued but regularly updated on their site. I’m surprised that old version remains in the MAS; they should probably pull it to avoid this type of confusion.

Found my license for the Powerpack from 2019. Order is restored. I have a ‘new’ computer (5-6 weeks at this point) and something went awry in the migration. Thanks for the help everyone.

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