Butler4.3.3

Best Helper ever!

Best Helper ever!

Wish it had dark theme, but at least it's now up to 64 bit. It's a great program, but like many reviewers here, I'm not keen on the company.

Every few years I check in to see if Butler v.5 has been released. Alas, we are now 9-10 years since the developer said this:

"Butler 5 pre-sale: Support Butler by purchasing Butler 4 now, and you'll receive a free copy of Butler 5 when it ships!"

And the developer has never come clean about this, just quietly removed references to Butler 5 from their web site. Vaporware.

I use Alfred instead. And I refuse to use any of Many Tricks' apps because they are a dishonest company.

New version fixes the 10.9.5 bug. Many thanks for the the super-fast update.

Butler does a good job.

I can't even count how many times it crashed during 10-minute test run under OSX 10.11.2. Sad...

So sad that this wonderful app has been abandoned...not so much as one functionality update in YEARS!!!

Over the years I have used this little every day. Its been extremely useful and easy to use. Whenever I update my Mac OS X this is one of the few apps I always keep.

What a useful little app. Using it for many, many years. Can't even think of having to do without it.

Butler is like an old and dear friend with well-earned wrinkles. Nothing else better IMHO. Still, with this kind of good karma, maybe the developer can dream up a few surprises for v5. Thanks for this update. I am happy to see it is not following in the path of Quickeys, another dear friend that has sadly passed away.

LaunchBar is my quick launcher of choice (has been for over ten years), but Butler has proven to be a worthy companion. I don't use the abbreviation or search features at all, but there are a number of other features I find really valuable (which no other app seems to provide). Here are a few of the things I use it for: - I've set up hotkeys (F1-F6) that open pop-up menus in the Finder, letting me quickly get to a specific file or folder. If I hold command and hit the same key, it opens the folder directly instead of the pop-up menu. - Shortcuts for rating the current song in iTunes. Shift + [numpad 0-5]. Butler is one of the only apps that can actually distinguish between the regular number keys and the number pad. Obviously shift + regular number wouldn't work, as I'd lose access to a bunch of symbols. - Other iTunes hotkeys: play/pause, next track, previous track. I used to have these in the menubar as well (I think that was even the original reason I started using Butler), but I have a menubar doodad problem, so I don't have space for those anymore. - Hotkeys for menus in apps where custom shortcuts often don't work. There are a number of situations where custom hotkeys set up in System Preferences → Keyboard Shortcuts don't work until the menu has been opened at least once. Needless to say, this is an unacceptable hassle. What I do now is set up the hotkey I want in Butler, and just have Butler type the default hotkey for me. Works every time. The other thing this works well for is menu commands whose name changes. For example, instead of setting up two identical shortcuts for iTunes' "Switch to MiniPlayer" and "Switch from MiniPlayer" commands in System Preferences, I can just set up *one* hotkey in Butler, and don't even have to bother typing the command name at all. Also has the advantage of leaving the original shortcuts intact, which is helpful if someone else is using your Mac. Finally, because you can specify multiple apps for a hotkey, you can set up shortcuts that work in multiple apps. I've got a "Toggle Web Inspector" hotkey that types cmd-shift-i in Safari, WebKit, Chrome, and Firefox, and it does the right thing in all of them. -- Anyway, my point is that Butler does a lot of things really well, and if you explore its features, you can probably find a bunch of uses for it, even if you aren't using it as a quick search/launcher.

For me, the best launcher and hot key manager. Couldn't live without. I has everything I can think of.

Another version of iTunes (11), and of course the return of Butler's spinning beachball when you quit iTunes. I love Butler - but I don't need to use it to control iTunes. Is there a way to set a Butler Preference so that Butler doesn't depend on reading the iTunes library all the time? I just want to be able to launch my apps using hotkeys. Thanks!

Without Butler I would find my mac to be crippled and painfully difficult to use. Thank you.

"Worked around an issue with inter-application communication on OS X 10.8.2 Mountain Lion." Thank you! Butler 4.1.13 became unusable whenever iTunes was running, as a result of the 10.8.2 update. So far this new version seems to have solved the problem.

Butler 4.1.13 crashes on launch under Mac OS X 10.8.1 on my MBP Core 2 Duo. Butler 4.1.11 seems fine (still available "for Mac OS X 10.5 and/or PowerPC Macs" on the developer's site).

Like many here, I like Butler, but find it lacking in many ways, and when I've tried it over the years I have never liked it enough to keep it installed over a few days. I will be happy to evaluate version 5 (if it ever materializes) and make a decision whether to use it (and pay for it) or not. But I'm not encouraged very much by a developer who states the new version will be available "Decemberish" when it's already midway through Februaryish" and it's still not here. I'm retired from the software industry and I fully support what Many Tricks Software is trying to overcome by making their products shareware, and I have paid for every software product that's on my computers. That said...the problem "most" developers have is making a product "they" want instead of listening to what their customers and potential customers want to see in that product. I hope Many Tricks Software listens and makes version 5 a more useful product...when/if it ever releases.

Butler is slow and hard to learn. It does its job, but it is sooo hard to understand, how to tell Butler what is its job... I like easy-to-use apps. Launchbar is really faster than Butler, but it is too complicate and it slows down my workflow. I'd prefer something simplier as NuKit or LB.

I must agree to JAZZYGUY. I was using Butler for years until I realized there are much better performing alternatives. Yes: Butler is slow. It takes far too long to cache and to display items (me running a MacBook 2.26 GHz with Snow Leo). After reading reviews and checking out software I am today totally happy with LaunchBar. It reacts immediately, is ultra-fast and does all I need. Before you stick with Butler check out LaunchBar!

I tried it and I really don't like it. It takes too long to cache and it takes too long to display. I have tried them all and nothing compares with Spotlight's ability to immediately launch apps unless it is LaunchBar. As far as the other info it displays that can be interesting but it is just not worth the wait for this app to launch and stabilize. I'm sure that others prefer it so to each his own. It is just not my cup of tea.

There is a certain self centred demanding rudeness to some posters's responses here that I find quite off putting. You go do the work. You make the decisions about how that work is to be released to the public. Asking for a donation is perfectly valid. Unfortunately it does bring out the worst in some people. That meanness seems to get twisted into some high principled morality in their own (small) minds.

Very useful tool. Except a bit pricey imo

This is the first time I ever have been thankful for small bugs in a software-because Many Tricks are issueing updates this frequently they are fortifying in my mind the impression that they are very actively working on Butler And I didn't even know that I could change the order (and delete) pasteboard entries. Makes Butler even better for me, and this when I thought it couldn't be improved. Thanks @ManyTricks! Cheers, Tom in Germany

Cuteness is back.. lol I used to love this thing.. I will gladly pay for it, I used it a lot before it disappeared ! I also installed it on my mom's Mac way back and it simplifies her navigation a lot. Sweet.

I use it everyday since... I can't even remember, as it seems to me Butler was always a part of OSX. There are some utilities I rely on, but I really, really couldn't live without Butler. As it is said on the developer website: "Due to it's unique variety of triggers and tasks, Butler is more flexible than any other productivity tool you've seen before. That's why we call it the original many tricks pony. So don't worry if you don't have a use for all of its features right from the beginning. Just start using Butler and discover a new feature every day." And yes, I discovered a lot of things Apple didn't think of, that simplified my everyday use of Mac, or make it more enjoyable. But there is certainly a learning curve here, it is so complex, customizable and versatile! I often make a donation for the best freewares I keep and use, but can't remember them all. Did I gave to this developer? Probably, a long time ago. So I will gladly pay again if I have to for an improved version, If this if possible.

Yes, as the poster below says, Many Tricks is back online, with Rob Griffiths (of MacOSXHints fame) joining the company. There have been updates, they have an active blog now, and they are actively working on cool stuff as well as on more updates.

This blog http://www.manytricks.com/blog/ seems to suggest that they're anything but gone. Time will tell.

Well, as far as I see, they're back online. Don't bury them too fast. (Which doesn't mean they are not being buried, just slowly, they still can react.)

Long-time lover of Butler here - very disappointed. It looks like ManyTricks has gone for good, along with any chance that Butler will still be supported. Read this blog for more detailed information: http://www.macheist.com/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=355567

Is this developer still alive? I love this utility to death and was very excited for Butler 5... but that was supposed to be months and months ago. The website has disappeared, the other websites he has don't show any updates on anything that are recent... what's going on here?

I just tried to visit the Many Tricks website to learn more about Butler before installing it and discovered that both the manytricks.com and manytricks.de domains were unresponsive. A Whois search shows that the .com expired in December. Hopefully this is just a blunder on the part of who ever is in charge of their domain registration and nothing more. I'd hate to see them fold abruptly seeing that I've come to rely on a few of their products daily.

Of the launchers I've found, this is the best one (actually it is the only one that works on Snow Leopard without some ridiculous 5-10 second delay bringing up the search panel or some other bug). My only complaint is that it does not bring up the previous search upon activation, and there doesn't seem to be a way to do so. Mac OS X has a bad tendency of opening programs up in the background, so I often have to launch a program twice or even three times to get it to come to the front. In Quicksilver, this was easy because I could just do Command-Space, Return, but in Butler I have to retype the name of the program. Am I missing this option in the preferences? It shouldn't be too hard to implement.

Wow, just wow. I cannot understand why I did not find this incredible application sooner. It does almost everything. It has so many features that you may not have use for all features at the beginning. It took me awhile to set it up, but then, it was an absolute must on my computer. It's one of those "I wonder how I would survive without it" application.

This is an amazing application. I always heard about it and took so long to finally try it. It's wonderful. Launching Applescript with ease from the menubar is tiptop. Really cool and it helps me tons. So many other cool features too. Wow. Thanks for the excellent app.

WOW. Just WOW! This is a MASTERPIECE, everyone should have it! I was able to configure everything I wanted in just 2 minutes, which I never could in QuickSilver. Access anything you want in less than one second, all you need is to remember your shortcuts! As long as you can use your brain, you can do ANYTHING YOU WANT in no time. The only things I miss, and would like to see in Butler: - Transparent smart search window (like the one for websearch, it's stupid but it looks nicer!) - Possibility to execute terminal shell commands automatically by pasting it the same way as text. One last thing: Thanks so much ManyTricks, you rock!

Anyone know when 5.0 is gona' drop? I've been using Launchbar for awhile. I chose it over Butler long ago because of its intuitive nature, good documentation, and good support. This kind of app is essential to me so I never wanted to risk using freeware because it's sometimes not dependable when it comes to updates and support (understandably). But now that Butler is going shareware and there's gona' be a big overhaul, I'm definitely interested in checking it out. I don't really like Launchbar's UI. Not flexible enough. It tries to hard to be unobtrusive and ends up being to... I don't know... tiny. I have to refer to the documentation too much to figure out how to do stuff. Features are a bit too buried in my opinion. These apps are all about speed, unobtrusiveness, slickness, intuitive usability, and as I'm finding more need to use Launchbar as I become a more advanced computer user I find it's becoming harder and harder to use the app. Don't get me wrong. The app is still really sick and in my opinion at least as good as the current version of Butler. But I want more.

It would appear that my iTunes 7.7 problem was fixed with the iTunes 7.7.1 update. Yay! Now I can get the most out of this great piece of software. Keep up the good work; can't wait for version 5.

Fabulous app; been using it for over a year and couldn't live without it. However, it doesn't seem that the iTunes music library fully works with iTunes 7.7. You can still play albums and playlists, but it doesn't seem that you can play individual tracks anymore. It doesn't work for me, anyway. Anyone else having this problem?

Absolutely one of the most essential apps for my Mac and the first thing I install on every Mac I get. I donated as soon as this newest release was put out - I'm surprised it's still donationware, actually.

Since I met Butler about 2 years ago I've become dependent of this amazing, I repeat: AMAZING little program and I wouldn't want to use my Mac w/o Butler anymore. Developer is responsive and not only his software but also his price models are very user-friendly. Can't wait for v. 5.0 ...

The best jack-of-all mac launcher, controller, etc has gotten better. From the gate this app is THE one indespensible software that makes the mac experience even better. Extremely configurable.

AFAIR the default key for Abbreviation is: either Ctrl+Spacebar or Alt+Spacebar, but you can redo it to whatever you want in the configuration window. HTH

FYI, this version expires on Jan. 1, 2008. I hope they keep this Tiger compatible...

Awesome-O! Look forward for Butler 5!

Thanks very very much Sir for your good work, and for distributing this excellent utility for free. I can't imagine my Mac without Butler !

One of my favorite programs (LaunchBar is good too). Does a lot of small things well and can be adapted to a variety of personal work styles. Works great on 10.2.8 too (despite the warning). A couple examples: It can be used to create a Linux-style system menu or an Openbox-style floating system menu. It can be used to launch scripts or applications from menus or with keyboard shortcuts. It can be used to launch applications or navigate directories with abbreviations (LaunchBar is faster). It can be used to create and manage multiple clipboards, or custom clipboards. It can be used to navigate open applications. It can be used to put the computer to sleep. Etc. It's not the fastest interface utility, but it's by far the most flexible. Great stuff.

Everything QS can give me Butler gives me quicker and easier, and in a more organised and task-friendly fashion. Makes Quicksilver seem positively archaic.

Great app. Other reviewers have covered the main points of this app. One thing that I haven't heard from reviewers is the great option of having a "docklet". My menu bar is already filled up with other items, so the option to use a docklet for everything is awesome. I postioned it vertical in the upper right hand corner away from everything. One minor suggestion would be a icon size option in the docklet. Keep up the great work!

I started out with Butler; used Quicksilver for a long while, but have come back to Butler. In one application I have an App Launcher, a document finder, an applescript launcher, a multi-clipboard manager, a custom text inserter, a Bookmarks manager (that works with whichever browser I'm using at the time), gives access to Sys Prefs, folders & Music, gives access to the Menubar, allows search engine specific searches from any application, allows access & searches of the Address Book… I could go on. I found that QS was quite slow on my macmini 1.66 w/1GB RAM but Butler is very zippy. In fact, I'm so happy with it, I've donated to the developer & encourage you to do so too.

I liked Quicksilver but it kept dying and I would have to restart it several times a day. So now I'm trying Butler and it can do everything that I was doing with Quicksilver, including custom-defined web searches, and indexing various document folders that I need to quickly reference. Although other users (below) report that Butler is slow, for me it works just as fast, if not faster, than Quicksilver. I'm using a MacBook Pro with 2 GB RAM.

I wanted to add the following to my menu bar: -choose from running applications -buttons for expose -multiple clipboard -iTunes controls -text shortcuts Butler gave me all this and a Spotlight query window eliminating the annoying delay the search whilst you type feature can sometimes produce. I have a Mac Mini G4 1.25GHz, no speed demon, and Butler runs great.

Butler is one of the must have pieces of finderlore. I tried Quicksilver which can do wonders but can be a little scary and conducive to disasters quickly, so for all the types of launching I need Butler is WAY more than enough, very customizable, And the icon is the cutest thing LOL

First impressions are extremely positive. Here is a wish list based on my impressions: 1) The ability to nest both Apple (Bluetooth, Airport, Display, Keyboard input method) and third-party (DockFun, Alarm Clock 2, Amnesty, Sticky Windows) in groups under one menu item to save some menu real estate. 2) More bookmark management abilities, such as the ability to use one set of bookmarks (Safari or Firefox) as default and to sync or modify the other sets (Camino, Opera, Shiira) to look the same/contain the same bookmarks in the same places. 3) Ability to manage news, RSS and Atom bookmarks from Viena or RSSOwl. 4) Ability to bookmark non-Internet related items such as in Halon. 5) The ability to switch on or off viewing containers in nested (hierarchical) view from the menu bar. Absolutely a must have utility.

Continues it's reign of great tool at a great price (free). Thanks Peter!

I love Butler, but for some reason, the latest version broke my application launcher. It no longer indexes my programs so they can't be found in the launcher. I've tried ditching the configuration, but it doesn't seem to help.

After 6 updates, I'm still amazed at how stable and how great this gem works! I agree with with everyone when they say NOTHING touches this one. It's free, it's solid as a rock (for me 100%) , the interface is good and the documentation is very helpful! Wow, keep up the excellent work Peter Maurer! Maybe Apple will finally bundle it with all new Mac's since it fills the void where Finder eaves off!

This is by far the best launcher/hotkey program on the mac. Very fast and stable - I agree with other reviews: This app is definitley worth the time to learn and customize. Love the little itunes controls - couldn't do without it anymore (although I only tent to use is to skip tracks instead of browsing my entire music library which is a little slow..) Keep up the good work Peter!

What can I say. The best freeware app for Mac of all time. Peter is a gifted developer and interface designer. Gorgeous. Rock-solid. This is one tool that does it all, without sacrificing functionality or ease-of-use. m

Simply the best tool outthere for your mac. It's a launcher, a data finder, itunes controller, ICal and Adressbook manager.--all in one, but rock solid. It spares me huge amouts of time... Go try it, don't have nothing to loose it's free...

Applications, iTunes controls and the pasteboard are great features. Butler is stable and I've never experienced a crash, so far so good.

Help w/ Butler Crashing? Can the developer or a kind-hearted Butler user help me sort out a problem w/ Butler crashing. I was in the first few days of trying it out when it crashed on me (no software or system changes had been made during this time.) After removing Preferences, uninstalling, reinstalling, etc., etc., etc., here's the Console report I continue to get: Butler(625,0xa000ed68) malloc: *** error for object 0x38c9d80: incorrect checksum for freed object - object was probably modified after being freed, break at szone_error to debug Butler(625,0xa000ed68) malloc: *** set a breakpoint in szone_error to debug Feb 25 20:03:53 Buddy-Roe's-Computer crashdump[633]: Butler crashed Any help would be greatly appreciated - Butler appears to be really useful and I'm keen to delve into it a little further. Thanks.

Butler, Textpander and Service Scrubber are indespensible gizmos from Peter. Thanks for the fine freeware.

Others have had problems with Butler hanging after installing 10.4.4 or QuickTime 7.0.4. I wasn't specifically paying attention for it, but I didn't notice any hanging after restarting my machine after installing QT. Anyone else have any problems?

that what i was looking for, the get my Alt-F2 linux-kde quickstart command back! Great Work!!! Thanks

Butler is indeed a very nice program, but I, being a long time Quicksilver user, found it not as much for the keyboard hardcore people. With Quicksilver, you can move files and whatnot all through the keyboard, and move quickly through folders (Butler can move through files as well, but I Quicksilver did a better job in that part. I wish the apps were combined, because both have what I want, and each have their own flaws. So the final verdict? If you want all out keyboard, go with Quicksilver. If you want lots of functionality, go with Butler.

Lots of other apps try to do pieces of what this one does. Don't be confused; this is the one you want!

Simply the best. You will wonder how you lived without it. I would love a feature that scrolls the currently playing itunes song across the menu bar right beside the butler icons. perfect. keep up the good work.

wow its the best nice & esey

Butler kicks !!!

If you're not using it, you're missing out on the BEST utility for OS X. Yes, LauchBar's cool, Quicksilver's sexy and different, dragthing has its own retro charm and is a cool way to have your trash back on the desktop ;) But you don't need any of these once you master Butler (which should take about 20 minutes...). One of the very few freeware I donated for. I only wish the developer would write more apps for OS X, he's clearly more gifted for coding than a bunch of other developers on here... hint: if you have a wacom tablet, assign each top button to a shortcut to trigger custom drop down menus and you got yourself a completely custom alternate menubar... That's how I get everything done, it's so fast! I love Butler :)