Ignore hotkey in specific apps

[brian_acalderon]

I play League of Legends. I also play it with a different setup for the hotkeys. Specifically: Command + A / S / D / F for quick casting abilities that mean my thumb is usually on Command.

 

Maybe I'm getting lost in the preferences or having bad luck with the forum and Google search; but I can't seem to find where an option to ignore Alfred calls while in specific applications.

 

Often while I'm playing, I'll hit Command + Command and Alfred will suck focus right from under League of Legends! While League is still on screen, pressing my abilities and such no longer work. So I am thinking that I could avoid this and still have Alfred running while the game is too if it ignores for hotkey activation while League is in the active application.

 

 

I'm hoping this isn't a premium feature, nor would I want to get powerpack just for this. But should it not already be a thing—I'm hoping it can be done. I've had my Alfred hotkey on Command + Command for so long now I'm not sure I can change as I still use Alfred over spotlight.

[deanishe]

I'm pretty sure Alfred doesn't have this feature.

Do you have Keyboard Maestro?

You could set up a KM macro to quit Alfred when LoL is active and re-open Alfred when LoL quits.

[brian_acalderon]

I suppose that's a good solution if I don't mind having Alfred completely off.

 

Though, I really would prefer Alfred to simply ignore the hotkey when an app, specifically the game, is in focus or active—even if it's running should I switch to check something outside the game really quickly.

 

 

Does that request need to be reposted somewhere in feature requests or on some other place outside the forums?

[Andrew]

Alfred can actually do this, but it requires the Powerpack and a workflow to replace the default hotkey.

 

If you ever change your mind about "nor would I want to get powerpack just for this", let me know and I'll share a workflow with you

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[MEs]

Hi,

I would be interested by your solution and I have the Powerpack.

Regards

[Andrew]

Hi,

I would be interested by your solution and I have the Powerpack.

Regards

 

Pop an email to our info@ address and I'll share my workflow and a bit of an explanation of the mods you may need

 

Cheers,

Andrew

[johnny_cash]

So, it's been a while since the last comment... but I need exactly this feature.

 

I just want to ignore the global Alfred hotkey when specific apps are in focus. Almost like the "ignore apps" feature for the Alfred clipboard manager. Do I still need a workflow or is this an out-of-the-box feature for Powerpack users nowadays?

Edited April 1, 2022 by johnny_cash

[Vero]

@johnny_cash Not out of the box, as it's still a very unusual request, but it should only take you a few seconds to create a workflow for this.

 

Here's how you can do this:

- Set your primary Alfred hotkey in the General tab to something quite obscure you're unlikely to accidentally type

- Create a workflow with a Hotkey trigger object with a hotkey combo of your choice (the global hotkey you want to use) and the action set to "Show Alfred"

- In the "Related Apps" tab, change the dropdown to "don't have focus" and drag in the relevant apps. When these apps are in focus, Alfred will ignore the hotkey you've set

 

Cheers,
Vero

[johnny_cash]

Thanks @Vero 😀

 

The workflow works despite the fact that for some apps a popup windows (attached) comes in front, when I use the (not working) hotkey combo of my choice.

Edited April 1, 2022 by johnny_cash

[Vero]

@johnny_cash That looks like the macOS QuickLook window when nothing is selected. What hotkey combo did you set?

[johnny_cash]

⌘ + Y

 

This window appears in MailMate (my primary mail app) when I hit the hotkey combo. But it doesn't appear when I use the combo in the Stocks or the Mac App Store app.

[johnny_cash]

@Vero

I did some further testing and it seems that only QuickView supported apps like file managers, mail clients etc. are bringing that window in front.

[Vero]

@johnny_cash If you look in Finder, ⌘Y is already reserved for QuickLook, so it would be better to use a different hotkey combo instead of fighting with the macOS default ones.

[johnny_cash]

@Vero

You're absolutely right. I wasn't aware of this default shortcut. Normally I'm using just the space bar to quick look at files 😅

[SnoFox]

Another year, another revival of this topic. I have a use-case for this. I use Alfred as a complete replacement of Spotlight - Cmd + Space.

 

When working inside a macOS VM or Remote Desktop, I can't use the guest OS's Spotlight due to this conflict.

 

I'd love to see a global "disable when app in focus"-type option that doesn't involve a workaround.

 

The workaround DOES function, but there's a slight delay between the global hotkey trigger and the workflow hotkey trigger. Will likely do some other workaround involving keyboard macros.

Edited February 9, 2023 by SnoFox
Adding more info, avoiding double-post