
Show HN: Lacona – Search and natural language commands for Mac - brandonhorst
https://lacona.app
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geoelectric
Will v2 be up on Setapp or sold directly?

I'm so deep into Alfred Powerpack I'm hesitant to just jump in--which also
kept me from trying the v1 Setapp version--but this does look like a really
interesting direction towards a more natural interface.

I just don't really do Mac App Store anymore, especially for something like a
system launcher where any sandbox seems actively detrimental. Any other system
app I have with MAS distribution (Alfred, Forklift and Commander One all come
immediately to mind) also has a direct-sale non-sandbox version that can hit
every directory and service on my machine.I buy those instead.

MAS is only useful when it's cross-Apple-platform and I get that value for the
money across desktop, set-top, and phone--and usually not even then. I
actively avoid it, unless I have to buy for mobile.

And not to whine, but I'm afraid I don't do separate subscriptions either when
Setapp aggregates most of the rentware I care about. JetBrains is about it,
and I make a lot of money using that one. Avoiding subs is doubly true when
you're talking a utility I might get addicted to as part of core workflow.
Buying a Powerpack upgrade once a version is about as far as I would
personally go.

I'll be keeping an eye out for alternative distribution channels though. This
really does look neat, and I have Soulver, Things, all the various things
you're aggregating in your examples. I'd love that ease of use. The payment
model just doesn't match how I pay for software anymore, and the sub lock-in
would make me too paranoid about discontinuing to actually invest any time in
customization. That's a deal-breaker for a launcher.

~~~
brandonhorst
It'll be up on Setapp tomorrow. Not planning to sell directly at the moment.

Thus far, the Sandbox hasn't been a limitation for what I want to do - it's
pretty clear that that's the way that Apple is moving, and I don't want to
invest too much into something that Apple could eventually put behind some
very scary dialogs, or worse.

~~~
geoelectric
That's reasonable.

I haven't taken a look at the boundaries of your functionality. If you allow
custom keywords, scripting, etc., though, I'd probably run up against the
sandbox extending it, even if you didn't with core functionality.

At any rate, I will check it out from Setapp, and I'm glad to hear you're
still supporting that since I'd use it from there. I don't mean to be a jerk
in my response, and I do wish you the best.

Lacona just happen to resemble _exactly_ the kind of app to which I apply
these sorts of criteria and I think the rest of the Keyboard
Maestro/Alfred/Hazel/personal automation crowd on Mac is similar. It's a niche
crowd, and I think one aspect of the niche is less sandbox is better. Another
is that we want to know your tool will outlast your business if necessary,
before we build our tools on top of it, so we purchase anything useful
outright if possible.

Then again, maybe you end up being the mainstream Spotlight replacement,
especially when the switch to ARM throws everyone else's privileges up in the
air. Good luck!

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yodsanklai
Nowadays, I rarely install external apps and I try to use Mac OS native tools
as much as possible (Notes, Calendar, Spotlight...). They may not be perfect
but they work well-enough, and it's one less thing to install whenever I
switch computer. Also I often end up being disappointed when I try
productivity apps. They may seem cool at first but end up cluttering my
computer.

That being said, I'd love to have a smarter spotlight. Something like Siri
with the keyboard. Is Lacona filling that hole? Back in the days, I used
Quicksilver which was nice, but after Spotlight was introduced I had less use
for it.

~~~
maxwellwhite
Alfred is ultimately filling that role for me.

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freediver
Almost exciting. But it is not using natural language, it is using templates
and heuristics.

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kevsim
Looks cool but I find the use of "text selection blue" as the highlight color
very off putting. Maybe it's just me.

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play2computers
seems to be re-implementation of alfred with some recipes thrown in? what's
the advantage over alfred?

~~~
summitsummit
I tested it out for about 7 mins before uninstalling, because i use alfred
extensively so I will give any competitor a try.

This feels like alfred without namespaces and a more cluttered UI. I don't
like that there are "plugins"; alfred's workflows are way more customizable
and accessible. some plugins are "pro" (paid). it feels way more "closed
garden"y than alfred.

maybe because of my engineering mindedness, but I personally prefer namespaces
like alfred supports. this "natural language" take was a bit confusing,
specially since anything could be interpreted in multiple ways (no namespace
identifiers) and multiple plugins could handle it. this requires far more
mental effort to use and filter the responses than alfred, and also feels
significantly laggier probably due to it doing so much simultaneously (loading
icon flashes often and I'm on a mbp).

I think it could work for people that don't know that alfred exists yet want a
similar tool. It certainly is pretty, and besides the laggy UX, the UI seems
pretty well polished.

~~~
brandonhorst
It's definitely a trade-off. I am betting that for some users, the
discoverability and simplicity of typing natural language wins out over syntax
that needs to be learned - but it's not for everyone.

It does support fuzzy matching, so you could always type "rmt" in place of
"remind me to" and so forth.

~~~
summitsummit
for sure, and I'm glad this new option exists!

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cphoover
How is this better than say Siri? Also does it support voice to text?

