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Namely: The Simple Way to Launch Apps

Namely Using many apps at once can cause a big, overloaded dock with too many apps. However, you can clean up that messy dock of yours using an app launcher. An app launcher is a program designed to find and launch apps quickly without going to the Applications folder. Many Mac users will recommend Quicksilver. However, Quicksilver really has lots of features, maybe too many. I got scared off just reading the web site and all I wanted was a simple way to start my programs.

If you’re graphically oriented, you may like Todos or Overflow. However, if you’re keyboard oriented, there is an alternative. Namely, an app from Amar Sagoo, lets you pop open apps quicker than ever. All you have to do is start typing any part of an application’s name, and it gives you a list of possible matches. It learns which ones you use most, and orders the list from most used apps to least used apps. It’s basically Spotlight for applications.

So why not use Spotlight? Spotlight will churn through its index and show you every file you’ve got with that letter combination. Namely is faster and easier, since it just finds apps, not other file types. What’s more Namely also learns your habits over time, making future searches that much quicker.

Namely Namely is customizable as well. It allows the user to set the activation shortcut, exclude certain programs, start it on login, and even set its window color. It has only one flaw, as it has a dock icon, and no option to get rid of it. But think of all the clutter you can remove from your dock if you use Namely.

Namely is free, and Universal. It’s a small program that adds a little grace to the Mac interface without replacing it entirely. If you need advanced features, go with Quicksilver. But if you just need a little more than a crowded dock and scattered desktop icons, do yourself a favor and try Namely.

5 Comment(s)

Legend: Guest Article Author Contributor
  • 1

    Ryan said on

    March 13th, 2007 at 12:35 pm

    I know Quicksilver has tons of functionality…but you don’t have to use it. You can use it just as a launcher. Don’t be scared of the Quicksilver…I was @ first but now I love it.

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  • 2

    loosegroove said on

    March 13th, 2007 at 4:01 pm

    I use this program and love it. Plain, simple. It’s does one thing VERY well.

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  • 3

    Justin Laramee said on

    March 13th, 2007 at 5:32 pm

    You can remove the dock icon using Dockless
    :)

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  • 4

    Mike said on

    March 15th, 2007 at 3:09 pm

    *Love* this app. It’s so elegant and fast. And if you want to skip Dockless, you can paste this into Terminal:

    defaults write /Applications/Utilities/Namely.app/Contents/Info LSUIElement 1

    and then:

    /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/Current/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/Current/Support/lsregister -v -f /Applications/Utilities/Namely.app

    …assuming Namely is at the end of that path (->Applications->Utilities)

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  • 5

    Jag said on

    March 15th, 2007 at 7:02 pm

    Nice article. I’m going to give it a try. I currently use QuickSilver and I love it; I don’t use 90% of the functionality (kind of like my brain ;)) but the 10% I do use is great. I consider it my most valuable application. Namely will have to be absolutely great for me to make the switch.

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