Archive for the ‘QSpace’ Category

Default Folder X 6.0.5: Better handling of cloud-synced folders, pasting paths into Quick Search, a smarter Finder drawer, Alfred 5 support, and more

Monday, April 15th, 2024

Version 6.0.5 of Default Folder X is now available, delivering a number of new features and fixes for our award winning utility for navigating macOS Open and Save dialogs and the Finder.

We’ll need a little digression here to explain the first change. “File Provider” based cloud services such as OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive and Box all create their synced folders in a hidden location within your Library folder (in ~/Library/CloudStorage/ to be precise). The Finder then represents them the same way it does iCloud Drive, as disembodied “Locations” in the sidebar and in its “Go” menu.

In previous releases, Default Folder X would show these cloud service folders in their real locations. For example, Dropbox would be in ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox/. While that’s accurate and arguably helpful at times, it wasn’t consistent with what you saw in the Finder, so it could be confusing for some folks. Version 6.0.5 of Default Folder X corrects this by mimicking what the Finder does. Cloud services are now shown as top-level locations, rather than being contained within the CloudStorage folder.

A less confusing change in Default Folder X 6.0.5 is the ability to paste a whole path into the Quick Search window. This does exactly what you think it’d do – it takes you to that location. If you’re using a file dialog, the dialog will switch to show the files and folders at that location. If you’re not, Quick Search will open that folder or file in the Finder. Pretty straightforward and very quick if you’re a person that’s dealing with paths a lot.

In addition, Default Folder X’s Finder drawer and Drag Zone now “follow” files and folders that you’ve dragged into them. If you add a folder to the drawer, then later rename it or drag it to a new location, the reference to it in the drawer will still work. Previously, Default Folder X would just remove the item from the drawer or drag zone once it could no longer find it at its previous location and / or name (which was admittedly kinda lame if you left stuff in the drawer for long periods).

There are also a number of bug fixes, plus improved compatibility with QSpace and Alfred.

You can get full details on the Default Folder X release page, or by choosing “Check for Update” if you’re already running Default Folder X. This update is free if you’ve purchased a license or upgrade for Default Folder X 6. If you’re still running Default Folder X 5.7.8 or earlier, there’s an upgrade fee that’s detailed on the Default Folder X Upgrades page.

Default Folder X 6.0.4: QSpace Integration, Quick Search refinement and a fix for an annoying bug

Tuesday, January 2nd, 2024

A lot of you have been asking for integration with QSpace so that you can use Default Folder X’s Finder-click feature to quickly access folders shown in your QSpace windows. I’m happy to report that after working with Wenda, the developer behind QSpace, we’ve made that happen!

Default Folder X 6.0.4 will automatically recognize open QSpace windows. They’ll be listed in Default Folder X’s Finder Windows menu, the Finder-click feature will jump to folders when you click on QSpace windows while in an Open or Save dialog, and you can set up Default Folder X to open folders in QSpace instead of the Finder (note that you need at least QSpace 4.2.1 or QSpace Pro 4.2.2 for all of this to work).

Oh – and a quick Finder-click pro tip: Right-click on a QSpace window to pop up a menu that shows the folders shown in all panes of the window.

And speaking of opening folders, you can now explicitly tell Default Folder X whether to open folders in the Finder, QSpace, ForkLift or Path Finder when you choose them from Default Folder X’s menus. 👉🏼

In version 6.0.4, Quick Search has gotten a few enhancements, including little icons beneath each search result to show whether Default Folder X found that item in your recent history, favorites, or a standard app location. And when you right-click on a result, you can now copy the file or folder, add or remove it from your favorites, or remove it from the recent file / folder / app history (depending on where it was found).

And last, but definitely not least, Default Folder X 6.0.4 includes several bug fixes. The biggest is the elimination of an annoying delay that could occur when a Save dialog first came up. Not only did the bug produce a hiccup that made you wait, but it could swallow a character or two if you started typing a name for your saved file right away. My apologies for not catching this problem when we tested version 6.0.3 – the conditions that caused it weren’t present on my or any of my testers’ Macs because of settings changes that we made while testing previous releases.

A full list of changes and download links are available on the Default Folder X What’s New page. Or if you’re already running Default Folder X, just choose “Check for Update” from its menu in your menu bar.