I adore Forklift 3 (ahem thanks to @timstringer for the recommendation) over Finder for pretty much everything, and I am trying to configure my Stream Deck to jump directly to various folder locations (Favorites) that I have set up in Forklift.
I have changed Forklift to be my default Finder replacement, so I can get to any folder, however every time I open a link using the Stream Deck, it opens a new tab in Forklift. This is not optimal.
I would love for it to just go directly to that location without opening a new tab. Does Forklift have a URL scheme that I may use?
Has anyone else set up Forklift 3 with a Stream Deck? Love any tips!
Good to hear you’re enjoyed Forklift 3, @bodiequirk.
I used Forklift for a quite a while…and found it was a great app overall. But, there were some little quirks (e.g. not getting it to work consistently as the default file viewer) and shortcomings (including the one you mentioned).
I had quite a bit of contact with Forklift’s developer, who was very helpful and receptive to feedback, but Finder won out in the end.
I’m actually very happy to be using Finder (Catalina). I make extensive use of Dropbox and like the Finder integration that it provides, including the icons that show the sync status. I also really like Finder’s Groups feature (I can’t remember if Forklift has this or now) and find the Gallery View can be helpful at times.
There are some things from Forklift I miss, most notably being able to create multiple Favorites lists. But, ultimately the Finder is proving to be a better fit. I’ll likely revisit Forklift in the future and, even if I don’t adopt it as my main file browser, may still use it in some instances.
I have a Stream Deck as well (and really like it). I don’t currently use it to open any folders (though I couldn’t definitely see that being useful). I currently use Keyboard Maestro to open commonly used folders using global hotkeys (I use ⌃⌥ …e.g. ⌃⌥I for [Inbox], ⌃⌥D for Downloads, and ⌃⌥C for Clients) and it would be trivial to map these to the Stream Deck.
@timstringer Thanks for taking the time to reply! Your responses are consistently thorough and helpful.
I would love to see my Dropbox sync status in Forklift (one of the main reasons I still need Finder!) but I have long let that go, starting when I first used PathFinder and now Forklift. I learned that this is because of Dropbox, not the 3rd parties. They would all love to integrate this.
For me two key things keep me with Forklift: 1) Dual pane view. I cannot imagine living without this and still cannot for the life of me see why this is still not an option in Finder. I would switch back if I could do this and not have to have two windows side by side. 2) Syncing favorites across Macs! Again, if Finder could do this, I would love it.
I do very much like your tip about using Keyboard Maestro, however, that may be an option. Thanks so much!
I would love to see my Dropbox sync status in Forklift (one of the main reasons I still need Finder!) but I have long let that go, starting when I first used PathFinder and now Forklift. I learned that this is because of Dropbox, not the 3rd parties. They would all love to integrate this.
I suspect that it’s unlikely that we’ll ever see this support in third-party apps. It probably wouldn’t be worth Dropbox’s while to support apps like Forklift as I imagine the vast majority of Mac users are using the Finder. Similarly, there are system-level integrations that Apple provides in the Finder that may never be exposed to third-party developers.
For me two key things keep me with Forklift: 1) Dual pane view. I cannot imagine living without this and still cannot for the life of me see why this is still not an option in Finder. I would switch back if I could do this and not have to have two windows side by side.
It would be great to see dual-pane view in the Finder. Perhaps it’s a feature that will be introduced in macOS 10.16.
Syncing favorites across Macs! Again, if Finder could do this, I would love it.
I’d be happy to see this as well. I often add folders related to projects that I’m working on to the sidebar to help keep them on my radar. Though, many of the folders I access frequently are tied to Keyboard Maestro macros (which do sync across multiple Macs) or are accessed using Launchbar.
I do very much like your tip about using Keyboard Maestro, however, that may be an option. Thanks so much!
You’re very welcome. Good to hear this was helpful!
I’d almost forgotten about the option to add a Default Folder X button to the Finder. I can’t remember when this was added.
While looking at the Default Folder X Preferences I also noticed an option to add a drawer button to Finder. Pressing this button reveals a panel at the button of the Finder window that can be used for moving files around (similar to the drop target feature in Path Finder).
