Option to make QuickSoulver available when Soulver isn't running
planned
Nathan
This is based on Day One (a journaling app) and their implementation of a similar idea. Attached is the popup that appears in Day One when you enable "Show Menu Bar Entry." It looks like Day One uses a helper to allow quick entires while the app isn't running. I could picture QuickSoulver working similarly, and it would be nice to access quick entries without needing the whole app to be running at all times.
Zac @ Soulver
planned
Phil Dokas
Is there any chance this can be integrated into the main app? Like if enabling the menu bar item persisted after quitting Soulver and then the menu bar app could offer system-wide QuickSoulver even while the full app is closed.
Zac @ Soulver
Phil Dokas: No – to persist in the menu bar after quitting, this needs to be a standalone Mac app.
Zac @ Soulver
complete
We've created a new version of Soulver that can be run as a background app. We call it Soulver Mini. Mini can be automatically launched on system startup, and is accessible from the menu bar and global keystroke (no dock icon required!). It's more affordable than Soulver, and you can get it at $10 off for a limited time. Details here: https://soulver.app/mini
James Rose
Zac @ Soulver: Is there any benefit to run Soulver Mini if we're already using Soulver on the Mac?
Zac @ Soulver
James Rose: The only real benefit is if you need a background version of Soulver (i.e. with no dock icon), that you can start automatically on login. That's what this feature request is asking for.
V
Vincent
Zac @ Soulver: let me get this straight: I bought Soulver 3 weeks ago. If I want to use this (basic) functionality I will have to pay another $10? Why isn’t this included in the paid version of Soulver I just bought?
James Rose
Zac @ Soulver: Thanks. What happens if we have both Soulver and Soulver Mini running at the same time? Will that cause issues?
Zac @ Soulver
James Rose: They should work fine together. And there's an option to create a new sheet in Soulver from Soulver Mini.
Zac @ Soulver
Vincent: Soulver is not designed to be a menu-bar based app - it's a normal foreground Mac app (like Notes, Things, iA Writer, etc). None of these apps offer a dockless background option. It's nice we can offer a specialised version of Soulver for people who need a background/menu bar app (rather than a Notes-style app), but it is a fundamentally different design and product to Soulver itself.
James Rose
Zac @ Soulver: When I click on the link, it says it's $14. How do I get the $10 price?
Zac @ Soulver
James Rose: That's the discounted price. It's $10 off (usually $24).
James Rose
Zac @ Soulver: Ah, my wrong :|
V
Vincent
Zac @ Soulver: OK, fair enough. I just bought Soulver Mini, but for some reason I can't have it running without the dock icon (even though "Show in dock" is turned off). So this kind of defies the purpose. And also for some reason the recorded shortcut (option-space) isn't working here. In the "regular" Soulver this worked just fine.
Zac @ Soulver
Vincent: I've verified that this keystroke works on my end. Perhaps another app (even Soulver itself) is interfering? with the hide dock icon option, try toggling the checkbox again.
V
Vincent
Zac @ Soulver: Hi, toggling the checkbox again worked, thanks :)
As for the keystroke: I notice it also doesn't work for other random combinations (CTRL-Shift-U for example). Do I have to give SoulverMini permissions for using a global hotkey somewhere in MacOS?
Zac @ Soulver
Vincent: No extra permission should be necessary. I have just found an issue that was causing these settings to not work correctly and have pushed out an update (1.0.1) that should fix it.
V
Vincent
Zac @ Soulver: Thanks for the quick fix! Works perfectly now.
s
silop
Zac @ Soulver: Does Mini offer WolframAlpha integration?
Zac @ Soulver
silop: Not at the moment.
s
silop
Zac @ Soulver: any plans for it? thanks
Zac @ Soulver
silop: Possibly - what kind of calculations are you doing in Wolfram|Alpha?
s
silop
Zac @ Soulver: actually I mostly use it for q&a
V
Vincent
Just bought Soulver and this is also the only thing really nagging me, I was dissapointed I can't just have it running in the background. So a +1 to this request.
Zac @ Soulver
Vincent: You can always request a refund from whomever you purchased Soulver from (i.e. Unclutter, App Store or direct) if you're not happy.
S
Stuart Kruse
Any update on when this might be implemented? I also hate having the whole Soulver app running just to use QuickSoulver on an ad-hoc basis. It really should be able to stand alone 😃 Thanks for listening!
Alfonso
It would finally get Soulver out of the Dock ;). I like to have just the apps I'm using at that moment on the Dock, so currently having Soulver all the time on the Dock it distracts me and I lose focus. I want to have Soulver in the menu bar only and open it when I need it by pressing down a keyboard hotkey. I'm on trial period and I will not buy a license until this feature is implemented. BTW thanks for your great work Zac, it's a fantastic app.
Zac @ Soulver
Alfonso: It's a fair request. Until this is implemented, you might like to use Lacona (https://lacona.app/), which is a Spotlight alternative that uses Soulver's math engine and runs in the background. Unlike QuickSoulver, it only does single line calculations though.
Zac @ Soulver
planned
Good idea Nathan