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Growl…The Mac App You Probably Aren't but Should be Using

News Type: Other — Seeded on Thu Apr 5, 2007 12:27 PM EDT
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Sometime processes happen in the background of your Mac that you don't notice. Maybe an IM came across, your RSS reader got a new story, you got a new email, or your FTP transfer finished uploading. It can be annoying to miss any one of those actions and it could make your life much easier to be right on top of any completed task on your Mac. Luckily, you're in luck (that was weird). A free, handy application named Growl is one that you should not be living without.

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{"commentId":625576,"authorDomain":"kyleb"}
Kyle Baxter

I absolutely LOVE Growl. If any of you aren't using it, download it immediately. Right now.

Seriously.

{"commentId":625576,"threadId":"91284","contentId":"649818","authorDomain":"kyleb"}
  • 2 votes
Reply#1 - Thu Apr 5, 2007 3:26 PM EDT
{"commentId":625756,"authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}
Michael Sautter

Thanks for the input, I'll probably install it on my MacBook even though it's my secondary computer.

{"commentId":625756,"threadId":"91284","contentId":"649818","authorDomain":"michaelsautter"}
  • 2 votes
#1.1 - Thu Apr 5, 2007 4:48 PM EDT
{"commentId":626603,"authorDomain":"vesper"}
Vesper

Growl is one of those Mac Apps that should just be installed on the computer when you buy it. Quicksilver is the other one.

There isn't much to it, but boy is it useful.

{"commentId":626603,"threadId":"91284","contentId":"649818","authorDomain":"vesper"}
  • 2 votes
#1.2 - Fri Apr 6, 2007 9:35 AM EDT
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{"commentId":629047,"authorDomain":"ryaninc"}
Ryan Joseph

Okay, okay, this makes the third time this week that I've read about how good Growl is...so I installed it. :-) Gotta' give it a try if so many people think so highly of it.

{"commentId":629047,"threadId":"91284","contentId":"649818","authorDomain":"ryaninc"}
  • 3 votes
Reply#2 - Sat Apr 7, 2007 6:15 PM EDT
{"commentId":629067,"authorDomain":"kyleb"}
Kyle Baxter

Its two biggest uses for me is alerts for Mail and iChat. When a new email comes in, a little bubble pops up in the right hand corner that gives the title of the email and a brief subset of the text. It's great because if it is an email I don't care much about, I can just ignore it and go on with my business.

Its connection with iChat works the same way. When someone logs in or sends me a message, a bubble with the person's avatar, name and part of the message pops up so I don't have to go look at the IM window every time someone IMs me. Pretty cool.

It interfaces with a multitude of other applications, too, like Cyberduck (FTP app), and it is really customizable.

{"commentId":629067,"threadId":"91284","contentId":"649818","authorDomain":"kyleb"}
  • 3 votes
#2.1 - Sat Apr 7, 2007 6:34 PM EDT
{"commentId":629261,"authorDomain":"ryaninc"}
Ryan Joseph

Oh yes, I agree completely with the email alerts. Although I don't use the Mac Mail client...I have Gmail, so I use Google's Gmail alert, which does the same thing. Hugely helpful.

But I can totally see the benefit of Growl for other programs...but I seem to be having trouble. I can't figure out how to get Growl to show alerts for iChat, etc. How do I add more applications to its list?

{"commentId":629261,"threadId":"91284","contentId":"649818","authorDomain":"ryaninc"}
  • 3 votes
#2.2 - Sat Apr 7, 2007 9:18 PM EDT
{"commentId":629299,"authorDomain":"kyleb"}
Kyle Baxter

Sorry, I forgot you need Chax installed in iChat for Growl notifications. Chax is another useful download though, because it enables tabbed browsing.

Once you have Chax installed, go to System Preferences -> Growl -> Applications -> and then just check "Chax," and enable in the box below which things you want it to alert you for.

{"commentId":629299,"threadId":"91284","contentId":"649818","authorDomain":"kyleb"}
  • 3 votes
#2.3 - Sat Apr 7, 2007 9:49 PM EDT
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{"commentId":629615,"authorDomain":"ryaninc"}
Ryan Joseph

Ah excellent, now it works! :-) Thanks!

{"commentId":629615,"threadId":"91284","contentId":"649818","authorDomain":"ryaninc"}
  • 1 vote
Reply#3 - Sun Apr 8, 2007 6:24 AM EDT
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