If you can’t understand the similarities then I can’t help you. 
Enjoy Spotlight and macOS!
(And no, Raycast does not us Automator running in the background.)
You do have a large Room, right… 
Your example still is not fair, as you launch Neofinder, and you have Alfred already running.
And, BTW, you can launch NeoFinder on a dedicated shortcut, too.
So, the big difference between those two variations results in using “//” within Alfred, and using “CMD+F” in NeoFinder.
Or, perhaps, with Shortcuts, but the point is that you have to build something to accomplish your task, and why not build it using the tool(s) that you find most intuitive to you.
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It seems to be, that a lot of people in this thread are using Alfred AND Raycast.
So if both Apps where doing the same, that would be unnecessary, isn’t it?
And I know a few things Alfred is doing very well, so I still use Alfred sometimes, too!
But Raycast seems to be a totally different thing, and that is why I asked for an explanation, why Raycast could help me doing thinks, I could not do with the macOS itself!
I really don’t care, what apps you are using, and why you think you need to use those apps.
So I don´t understand why you are reacting like this right now!?
No, you are still not quite getting it.
I have Alfred set to launch on startup. I no more have to launch Alfred than I have to launch Spotlight.
NeoFinder is not set to launch on startup. So it needs to be launched.
- Spotlight will launch NeoFinder.
- Alfred will launch NeoFinder and execute the search command.
Why would I launch NeoFinder on a dedicated shortcut if I can use Spotlight (or in my case Alfred?). And do you expect me to set up a keyboard shortcut for every app I use?
“//” indicates a comment. It is not anything that I type in Alfred. Bad assumption on my part that “//” would be recognized as such. Sorry.
Once I type Alt-Space to invoke Alfred (analogous to Cmd-Space for Spotlight) I type “Neo keyword”, where “keyword” is a variable. So if I wanted to search for images of Iceland I would type:
- Alt-Space
- Neo Iceland
- Enter
And NeoFinder would launch and present any image that has the keyword Iceland.
I fully agree with that!
I have to eighter build it in Shortcuts, Automators (and so on) by myself, or I can find someone within the Internet already have done that, and shares his idea with the public.
So if the big difference would be, that I have a “shop” within Raycast, to find these helpful ideas, whether to have to search for myself, than I agree that Raycast could be of an advantage to a lot of inexperience (or maybe better: less experienced) people.
Thank you for mentioning that!
I wanted to understand why I could have an advantage from using Raycast!
I don´t wanted to argue with you about Alfred, and a single second or two delay in a search!
But, you can launch NeoFinder during StartUp as well, it is running on my iMac the whole day without any problems!
And if Alfred is launching NeoFinder anyway, to complete the search, even that advantage you mentioned is just gone…
I don´t care, if you set a keyboard shortcut for every app, a single app, a part of your apps, or if you don’t use Keyboard Shortcuts at all!
I just mentioned that your example is not fair, as you use different settings to evaluate the advantage of the one app, or the other.
BTW Spotlight can search for Tags, too.
I am sorry I wasted your time.
I won’t do that ever again.
I hope you get an answer to your question.
Be well.
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I’ve been using the Messages script from Chris, which is quite awesome. I normally don’t keep Messages running when not in use, so I added these lines before the last line of the script:
tell application "Messages"
quit
end tell
Pretty basic, yes, but since Messages never even comes to the forefront with the script Chris made, which is nice, Messages now closes without me even knowing it was open. Thanks to Chris for sharing his script.
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Great addition! I’m stealing this 
thanks!!
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Thanks to the script Chris shared dealing with Messages, I’m down to two major pain points, if I want to permanently switch from LaunchBar:
-
Most recent documents per app — hit the right-arrow key after typing an app name, to show the most-recently modified files for that app. I thought I might have a workaround. The File Search fallback command seems to show recent documents, but it is a few keystrokes to get to it (I moved it up in the list, so I have it set to Command+2). I thought I could remap Command+2 to the right arrow via Keyboard Maestro, but I only want the right arrow to work like this when the Raycast input window is in the front, and the Raycast window doesn’t appear to be a “traditional” app that Keyboard Maestro can see as being in front.
-
Instant Send - this is one of LaunchBar’s best features. You use a modifier key when you have text or file selected, and it passes that item into LaunchBar for you to act on it. My most common uses are to select a file in Finder, and direct which app to open it in, and to select text and convert the case of that text. In Raycast, I’ve installed the “OpenIn” extension to replicate the first of those uses, and the Change Case extension for the second.
So I’m part way there on both, although neither situation is ideal.
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Launching apps and using the function Inside is good, and it works.
Spotlight, Alfred, Raycast, LaunchBar, Quicksilver(?) all try to help out. If someone can understand how one of these could benefit someone, the same reasoning applies to all of them.
They provide different ways to do things, and some people find benefit. Different people prefer different launcher.
I think very few people use more than one of these methods.
As an attempt at clarification: for Mevet’s example, it was a fair example unless you always have that NeoFinder app open. But, it was just an example. The same speed can be applied to other apps without having to have them all open (see the Messages example).
Using a launcher for just one app that is always open is not that useful. Using a launcher for many apps starts to be useful.
I just submitted feedback to Raycast for your first idea. They have always responded to my feedback within a day and seem to be very responsive, so we’ll see! I’d love that, too! I didn’t know about either the “Open With App” extension or the Text Case one (although I do this with a Keyboard Maestro conflict palette), but those are both helpful additions, too! Thanks!
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I love this! We could use more of the both-and approach in our lives. As long as you know what belongs in each app for you, why not use the best from both. Universal Actions in Alfred looks awesome!
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The main reason I am sticking with Alfred for the time being isn’t necessarily because both aren’t near fully featured. The main reason I’m sticking with Alfred is because I can customize the UI which is a great feature Raycast doesn’t have. More importantly, though, as I mentioned in an earlier post, Alfred is just much better at reducing the friction to actually getting where your going. Raycast, again, has the sticky menu system that’s much more like navigating between pages than I like. Alfred just reduces the friction to getting where I am going for now.
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Thought this was an interesting take: How to use Raycast and how it compares to Spotlight and Alfred - The Verge
I still think Alfred is the key player in the space, but I’m glad to see Raycast giving it a fight.
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Nice piece, and I guess the conclusion pretty much echoes the general feeling in this thread:
If you’re an Alfred power user who’s using a paid-for version and you have your workflows and settings absolutely dialed in, I genuinely don’t think you need to rush to switch to Raycast unless there’s some absolutely must-have feature that you’ve seen. But if you’re using the free version of Alfred or are looking to upgrade from Spotlight for the first time, Raycast really feels like the best option these days.
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That was my sense as well!
Personally, I still think the experience for devs is much superior in Raycast. And that was my original point on this thread. I realize that’s a bit niche, so I get why people aren’t mentioning it, but I do think that’s why Raycast is doing so well.
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100% agree on this.
Alfred needs to step up its game on the Workflow distribution. Having to rely on Packal and random forum posts and GitHub repos is far from great.
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I can’t find the link right now (thought it was in the new features preview page…), but Alfred is making a workflow web directory for version 5, in addition to the new prefab elements. I agree it shouldn’t have been left to the community to organize for so long.