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MPU 007: LaunchBar Blackbelt

In this episode we cover popular application launcher, LaunchBar. This episode goes beyond the basics and includes are several power user tips. We recommend you listen to this one in front of a Mac equipped with LaunchBar. Enjoy.

LaunchBar Discount Code – 15% Off, Valid through August 31.

DT-37F9-D8EB

Links of Interest

LaunchBar

LaunchBar Features Page

LaunchBar Scripts

Timer Script

LaunchBar Search Templates

Wolfram Alpha Template

David’s favorite – Tea Timer

Other Launchers

Apple Spotlight

Google Quick Search Box

Quicksilver

Drag Thing

Butler

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28 comments to MPU 007: LaunchBar Blackbelt

  • Jay Friedman

    The show recent documents key combination did not work for me, instead the “Quick Look” appeared when I hit the space bar. I could not find anything in the preferences to change that. What I’m I doing wrong David.

    Extremely useful podcast for Mac users, keep up the good work guys.

    Jay

  • [...] released a new Mac Power Users Episode, all about Launchbar. There is a discount code through the end of August for 15% off, DT-37F9-D8EB. [...]

  • Shirli

    Wow! Thank you so much—-who knew. I’m a big keyboard person and was thrilled to hear about this program. (I’m also very new to the Mac) Even using a few features make this worth the money. I can’t thank you enough.

  • Vicki

    I absolutely love this podcast. I’m almost as addicted to it as I am my MBP. This episode solved one of the biggest irritants I have with Mac OS X, Spotlight. It’s not awful. It’s just appears to be incomplete. After listening to the podcast and trying some of the features, I can’t imagine not having this utility. It’s worth every penny.

    I just went to ITunes and gave your podcast 5 stars.

  • Vicki

    Jay Friedman: I think you are suppose to use the right arrow key to view recently opened docments.

  • Thanks! I haven’t had too much time to read up on Launch Bar, but this episode helped realize the benefits of this app. I’ve reinstalled the trial today and I’m doing my best to give this a go. I’m really loving it so far. Just have to get myself in the habit of using it. :)

  • Christian

    Thank you so much! :)

    I was an avid Spotlight user before to open my apps. First, this was an issue for me: I had to disable the Spotlight shortcut in the System Preferences of OS X in order to get Launch Bar to work with cmd-Space.

    But after that: I am in LaunchBar wonderland right now. :)

    The ownly downer: When I will be back at work in a week from now using the PC, I will… oh boy… I am in a happy place right now. No PC… :)

  • John

    I already have LaunchBar and love it. I’m going to listen to this podcast in a sec here…

  • Hey there,
    I heard this episode and was hoping that my screencasts will be mentioned – somehow.

    But they weren’t and I’m pretty sure it’s not because I’m one of those sauerkrauts and my accent is just terrible. More probably you just missed them.
    http://www.macosxscreencasts.com/?s=launchbar

  • Zettt,

    I wasn’t aware of your screencasts but they look very good.

  • Thanks, admin. ;) Glad you like them.

  • ScottNYC

    I used to be a huge quicksilver fan, however since SL its been really bad, buggy, plugins broken, crashing, so I knew it was time to go looking for another app of this kind. After finding and installing launchbar I was looking for launchbar tutorials which led me here. Great podcast learned alot. I’ve subscribed as well.

  • ScottNYC

    oh by the way zettt found your videos as well, awesome tutorials.

  • Thanks Scott. Warm words are always welcome.

  • This episode alone was the reason that paid for a copy of LaunchBar yesterday. Very useful info.

  • Malthe Østergreen

    Thanks for the podcast. Very informative. Very good job! I’ve subscribed and will look forward to listening to the others. And thanks, Zett, for the screencast link. Looks good. Will definitely check it out.

    Best,
    malthe (Denmark)

  • Sud Kila

    Best podcast for mac. Love the way you interact and get along with each other.
    Most shows with multiple hosts try to highlight their presence. You two are awesome.

  • Max

    Great podcast !

    One problem: I also cannot get the “show recent docs” to work, either with the Space command ( shows file in Quick Look) or the R-arrow key ( per poster, above).

    How do I ennable the Recent Docs feature ?

    Best, 

    Max

  • [...] works, but I sure did miss quicksilver. Then I heard about LaunchBar on the Mac Power Users podcast and decided to give it a try. I ended up buying it a couple of days into the free trial. It [...]

  • Ignobilitor

    Max, Vicki, Jay, and especially Katie (since you referred in the podcast to using the Recent Documents feature to access Word documents, which is clearly not possible, as you’ll know in a second): the right arrow or space bar to access Recent Documents works only with Cocoa applications. Word is not a Cocoa application.

  • T. J. Lahey

    The Timer script for Launchbar discussion moved to a different thread and someone pointed out the really nice script located discussed at,

    http://justinblanton.com/2010/02/launchbar-timer

    It’s simple to understand and quite useful.

    I’m not really a fan of the add event features of Launchbar. I find the syntax difficult to remember so it becomes a bit fiddly. Instead, I use FlexCal (http://www.flexgames.com/flexcal/) which installs as a preference pane. Since I use Things for my tasks, I set FlexCal to create events by default and after a keystroke, it pops up a pane to set up the event.

  • Thanks guys…

    I found you via the Merlin interview.. like hundreds of other no doubt.

    I never really “got” the appeal of Quicksilver or Launchpad til i listed to this today..

    Thanks

  • Christian

    @T. J. Lahey
    I find Quickcal even more useful due to its smart reminders.

  • Christian

    BTW:
    Zettts Screencasts are nice. But don’t forget Don. He has two great ones:
    http://www.screencastsonline.com/index_files/SCO0223-launchbar5pt1.php
    http://www.screencastsonline.com/index_files/SCO0225-launchbar5pt2.php

    I also shared some Quicktipps regarding LaunchBar recently.
    http://vimeo.com/channels/quicktipps

  • Chip Morris

    I just found your podcast via stalking Merlin Mann. The LaunchBar episode was very helpful to me, and I’m looking forward to perusing the remaining archives. Well done!

  • Hey! I’m loving the podcast. Starting from the beginning and rolling through them all. Tried Quicksilver but find that LaunchBar is has a much easier learning curve and I love it!

    One question…

    Is there a way to do a facebook search in a similar fashion to google search?

  • [...] Mac Power User Podcast spotlight on LaunchBar: MPU007 [...]

  • Ben

    I like LaunchBar, but Quicksilver still does what I need it to do. When Quicksilver gets pried away from my by instability or system brokenness, I know LB will be there. Until then, though, QS still does what I need it to do.

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