Alfred reviews

[sfsdfd]

Since earlier discussion about this topic has been censored, I've decided to take the initiative to warn users through other channels. I hope that I can save at least one user the frustration caused by this software.

 

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Alfred has a fatal flaw.

 

Alfred indexes items from a variety of sources: applications, messages, files, scripts, etc. When a user submits a query, it uses an adaptive algorithm to rank the items in terms of the likelihood that the user wanted this item.

 

However, Alfred's matching algorithm is awful. If you execute the same query repeatedly in series, the adaptive algorithm reaches different conclusions about which items you wanted. Even if you TELL it: "When I enter the query 'f,'  I mean that want THIS SPECIFIC ITEM," Alfred will ignore your instruction and give you other results that happen to include the term "f". The item you specifically requested *might* be the first result - or it might be the second result, or the *last* result, or nowhere in the list.

 

This bug has been brought to the developers' attention. They are enamored with their adaptive algorithm, so they do not care and will not fix it.

 

Don't use this software. Use another package that respects users' instructions more than its own haphazard guesses.

 

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Posted in several locations, including the Mac App Store.

 

 

 

[deanishe]

 

5 hours ago, sfsdfd said:

Alfred has a fatal flaw.

 

 

It was explained to you, very very clearly, that Alfred learns from your choices. Any keywords or tags only serve to associate an item with a specific keyword. How the results are prioritised is determined entirely by your own behaviour.

 

If you enter "f" and consistently choose Firefox, then Firefox will always be the top result for the query "f". If you consistently choose "files", then "files" will always be the top result for "f".

 

If you regularly enter "f" and choose different items, then it's hardly surprising that Alfred prioritises the wrong item. You're sending mixed signals, and Alfred can't read your mind.

 

The entirely simple solution, as was also very clearly explained to you, is to use different queries for different things, e.g. "fi" for Firefox.

 

If you walk into a butcher's shop and order "meat", you don't get to complain if they give you the pork you normally take and not  the beef you actually wanted.

 

The "fatal flaw", such as it is, is your inability to grasp the extremely simple concept that one keyword can't be reliably associated with two things.

 

I can think of a few legitimate grievances with Alfred's sorting, but yours is not one of them.

 

You are literally complaining that Alfred is doing exactly what you've trained it to to.

Edited July 6, 2018 by deanishe

[Vero]

@sfsdfd I'm sorry to see that you're still frustrated, even after the numerous explanations and insight provided by us as well as fellow users.

 

The removal of your post wasn't censorship; We have clear community guidelines, and your posts broke these rules time and time again.

 

Here's a quote from our community guidelines, which you can read in full here:

 

Quote

 

The forum is a place for helpful questions & answers and improving your knowledge of Alfred. It is not a place to vent if you feel Alfred isn't the butler for you. By all means, do ask for help with things that you'd like to do, but please don't use the forum as a soapbox as these posts will be moderated.

 

 

As a few of us have attempted to explain, Alfred is learning from your selection; If you choose "f" and select Firefox, this will be prioritised over a workflow with the keyword "f", which has been selected less frequently. Both results match the keyword "f", and it's your usage that indicates to Alfred that when you type "f", you've most frequently wanted Firefox.

 

You have quite a few options to get predictable behaviour:

 

1. Keeping your "f" keyword for your workflow: If you ignore the top result and keep typing "f foldername", the file filter workflow will automatically come to the top once you've added more characters and it becomes clear your intention to use the file filter.

 

2. Set a different keyword for your workflow: If it frustrates you that "f" brings up the most frequently selected result instead of your workflow, you can change the workflow's keyword.

 

3. Set a hotkey for your workflow: Use a unique hotkey that brings Alfred's window up in the file filter mode right away instead of having to use a keyword.

Simply assigning a keyword to a workflow is not enough to guarantee its result placement. You could assign "f" to multiple features in Alfred, and indeed, many default results will have a perfect match with "f" typed in the search window, which is why Alfred learns your usage based and maps / latches the typed search term to the result you have selected. This is how Alfred has always worked.

 

16 hours ago, sfsdfd said:

This bug has been brought to the developers' attention. They are enamored with their adaptive algorithm, so they do not care and will not fix it.

 

The Alfred teams consists of @Andrew and me; We have always cared deeply about our users, and aim to give our community the best user experience possible. We listen to everyone's feedback, but in this case, this isn't a bug, it's a matter of perception of a feature that works great for millions of users.

 

16 hours ago, sfsdfd said:

I've decided to take the initiative to warn users through other channels

 

You've already stated on a few occasions that you've found a tool that better suits your needs, so I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve with this. This isn't taking initiative, it's tantamount to trolling. We've tried our very hardest to share with you how Alfred operates and how to work with Alfred to get the best experience.

 

I hope this post can be the last one on this issue, and we can all move on to having a productive day - whatever tool we each choose to use.  

 

Cheers,
Vero