Magic Launch Customizes How You Open Files on Your MacS


You could use Magic Launch to simply override those annoying moments when a file type's default app gets reset to some new application you installed (I'm looking at you, Adobe), but it can do so much more than that. The most exciting functionality provided by Magic Launch is the ability to write your own launch rules.

Magic Launch Customizes How You Open Files on Your MacS

(Click to enlarge.)

Let's look at JavaScript (.js) files as an example. Let's say you have larger projects you edit in Coda and want Coda to be your default editor, but when you're just doing a small amount of individual coding you prefer to edit your JavaScript code in TextMate. You can set a rule in Magic Launch to open some JavaScript files with Coda and others with TextMate based on any number of factors (such as where they're located). If you'd just prefer to use the application you already have open, you can set a rule to do that as well. Magic Launch is extremely flexible in how you can interact with your files.

One additional feature worth mentioning is that Magic Launcher can execute shell commands. If you want to open certain files in the command line or an X11 app, this can be particularly useful.

Magic Launch is available now for $13 and provides a free trial. While we generally prefer to recommend utilities that fall under the cheap-to-free category, Magic Launch is a perfect solution to a frequently annoying problem. If you're frustrated with the way your Mac handles files for you and want to take back control, it's worth the cost.