14 DAY TRIAL // Regardless of what you actually do when working on the computer, it most likely involves set-up time. Opening up the necessary applications and documents might not seem like much, however, do it enough times, and spend enough time doing it, and it will start adding up significantly. Of course, there are situations where you only ever work with one application and one file and there is virtually no set-up time. However, on the opposite side of the spectrum there are those jobs that require tens of applications and hundreds of files to keep track of, and for those cases, you need something that will speed things up? something like SpeedUp.
What it does SpeedUp is a search-like application that makes heavy use of a text field to automate redundant tasks and make searching easier. Similar to Spotlight in feel and functionality, it can be used to access applications and files, but it can also assist in searching the Internet and looking up words. It offers support for complex, script-like actions, and gives you the option to access everything anywhere through keyboard shortcuts.
Locating files Many similar programs, commonly referred to as launchers, offer this functionality. Simply start typing any part of a file's name and it will be quickly located wherever it may be, and opening it is just another keystroke away.
When it comes to applications, SpeedUp does a pretty shoddy job. You have to feed it each and every file or folder you want it to look up and include in its little database by hand. A key feature, automatic search in subfolders is missing here, so you will have to do the deed. Once you have all the locations, it should look for the sorted ones. The program performs well, and searching and locating is fast and seamless. The big icons in the possible results list are very nice but also quite moot since a lot of the time there will only be one or two possible results, the top one being the one you want.
When it comes to files, things are much worse, the program doing nothing to help you. For each file you might want to be able to access from within SpeedUp, you have to manually locate it and then add a 'shortcut' that will be used to identify it. The system is appalling, takes ages to set up and is incredibly inflexible and prone to being broken by change. Compared to other similar programs which automatically scan your hard drive for documents and instantly make them available to search through their filename, SpeedUp is the technological equivalent of sorting a haystack by hand in order to be able to find the needle in the future.
The only thing that this application does offer is the ability to launch multiple files and applications by adding them all to the list and giving them the same 'shortcut'. This also takes quite some time to set up but this sort of multiple launch is unlikely to change often, and will probably see a lot of use.
Searching the Internet and looking up words One of the other things that SpeedUp does is facilitate Internet searches right from the desktop. It gives you a choice between Google, Yahoo, MSN and Google Finance as search engines and only lets you use one at a time. While this option is OK as an option, it does the exact same thing as the search box in Safari, which also lets you choose between multiple search engines. In effect, what you get here is time saves by not switching to Safari and using that search instead. It does not even give you the possibility to change the search engines or the browser in which to display the results.
In terms of looking up words, it lets you choose between the built-in dictionary, and a number of web dictionaries. Here things are a lot better. Regardless of whether you are looking in the built-in dictionary or one on the web, the program will look up alternatives and possible matches as you type and offer them for selection. Sometimes, it can chug and crawl if it finds an unnaturally high number of possible results, but overall, performance is snappy.
Commands and keyboard shortcuts The commands part of the application lets you run bash commands, as well as Apple Script files, open various files as well as dump input in any active application. SpeedUp even has a console window so you can keep track of what's happening. Overall, while this might be useful to some, it is not very accessible and very badly documented. If you don't know exactly what it's all about, there is little chance of figuring it out as the entire thing is not intuitive in the least.
For keyboard shortcuts, just about anything you set up in this program can have a keyboard shortcut attached. This is by far the most useful aspect of SpeedUp, which can indeed save you a lot of time if you intend to use this application as part of your workflow.
An interface with a crutch While the individual bits of SpeedUp have their own strengths and weaknesses, when you put it all together in one window, it gets complicated. The little search floater can either stay above everything or disappear when the application is not focused. Of the two, having it hide itself is preferable, especially when combined with a keyboard shortcut to bring the application to front.
Once you have the floater there, however, things get messy. You can only ever access one function in SpeedUp at a time? so you can search for applications, or you can search for documents, but you can't do both at the same time. To make matters worse, the little dropdown menu icon is so very, very small, and next to a way too big button that does nothing except simulate you hitting return. Alternating through the various modes quickly becomes a pain, and the fact that you can open as many little search floaters as you wish does nothing to alleviate it. By the time you have nine of those little windows, you would have used up a lot of your screen and accomplished little because you now have to search out the one you want to use. The last alternative is to use a keyboard shortcut buried deep in the documentation to change the category up or down.
The Good
Can be heavily customized and set up to do very precise things.
The Bad
It has next to no automation, forcing you to do everything by hand. What other programs require only a minute to set up would mean hours spent setting up this application.
The Truth
While it cannot be said that this application does nothing, it can be argued that it doesn't do much. Spotlight blows it out of the water when it comes to locating files, the internet search is a paper thin timesaver as is the dictionary. The only thing that spotlight can't do is launch multiple files, and there are other better programs out there dedicated for this sort of job.
Here are some screenshots, click to enlarge:
