Blog
Notes from the launcher
Product updates, deep dives into keyboard-first workflows, and the occasional rant about Spotlight. Written by the CmdSpace team.
macOS Tahoe 26 Spotlight vs CmdSpace: what the new command palette gets right and wrong
For the first time in roughly a decade, Spotlight feels like Apple actually opened it up and rewrote it. macOS Tahoe 26 ships a real command-palette UI — tabs for Apps, Files, Actions, and Clipboard reachable via Cmd+1, Cmd+2, Cmd+3, Cmd+4…
How to migrate from Spotlight to CmdSpace on macOS Tahoe
Spotlight on macOS Tahoe 26 looks better than ever. It also breaks more than ever. If you have ever watched mdworkershared pin a CPU core for an afternoon, or asked Spotlight for a file you know is on disk and gotten a blank result page, y…
Inline calculator on macOS: every option from Spotlight to CmdSpace
Every macOS user needs an inline calculator. Quick math, unit conversion, currency conversion, percentage of a number — the question is not whether you want one but which surface is fastest. There are at least six credible options on macOS…
CmdSpace vs Spotlight: side-by-side after Tahoe 26
Spotlight is the macOS launcher most users default to because it ships with the OS. It is also the macOS launcher most power users have spent the last two years complaining about. After Sequoia's indexing regressions (Notebookcheck coverag…
CmdSpace vs Raycast in 2026: one is local-only, the other went AI-focused
Raycast and CmdSpace are both modern macOS launchers, both keyboard-first, both deeply customizable. From a screenshot on the App Store you could swap them and not immediately notice. After a week of daily use you will absolutely notice. T…
CmdSpace vs Alfred: a 2026 comparison from someone who used Alfred for 10 years
I bought my first Alfred Powerpack license in 2014, when the Mega Supporter tier was £35 and the workflow system was the most exciting thing on the platform. I used Alfred daily through five jobs, three major macOS releases, and roughly fo…
⌘Space is deeper than you think: every modifier, every trick
⌘Space is the most-pressed shortcut on most Macs. It opens Spotlight, you type a thing, you hit Return. Most users stop there. They miss what ⌘Space actually contains: a small graph of modifier combinations, alternate behaviors, and config…
Rebind ⌘Space to a third-party launcher without breaking Spotlight
⌘Space is the most expensive piece of real estate on a Mac keyboard. Apple has owned it for Spotlight since Tiger; most third-party launchers want it back. Rebinding the hotkey is a 30-second job — but doing it badly is a five-minute job,…