Setapp’s New AI Search Just Gave Me a Great Plain Text App Suggestion
There’s a good reason it only suggested 1 app, when there are actually 6 to choose from
I’m in favour of the intentional, constructive use of AI for tasks that wouldn’t benefit from a purely human touch.
That’s why I love that my washing machine can sense how large a load is, and adjust its water level and cycle length to match. It’s also why I will never get AI to write articles like this, and pass them off as my own work.
Search? Yes please! I think it’s smart to have AI look for things in seconds that would take us hours on our own.
Why just one suggestion?
Setapp, my favourite Mac subscription of all time, recently released an AI-powered search assistant. I tried it out with a search for “plain text”, and was presented with only one app: TaskPaper.
It’s a great app, make no mistake. I use TaskPaper daily, and if I wasn’t a Setapp subscriber I’d have bought it outright, no question.
But what about the rest? The other fine apps available through Setapp that are either plain text compatible, or great companions to a plain text work flow? I’ve written about the apps I use to compliment my own adventures in plain text and would love to see the Setapp search results reflect some of these, too.
Understandably, its single suggestion seemed to be based on how prominently the key words of my search term appear in the app’s description text.
when you’re searching a topic with a lot of choices, often all you need is a starting point
If you enter “money management” into the regular search bar, you’ll be presented with two apps: MoneyWiz, and GreenBooks. Good suggestions, but I’d have also expected to see related apps like Receipts, Chronicle, and UctoX on the list.
Now put the word “money” into the regular search bar, and bingo! Everything you’d expect — and more — will come up in a neat little list.
Check it out
Setapp is amazing. Like, truly, amazing! I’m a big fan of the value provided by one subscription, even if I’m not completely convinced by the current state of their AI search assistant.
To be fair, the AI search does do an okay job of identifying the best app for the average user based on the search terms they enter, but I’d still like to see a sub-set of related suggestions under the main recommendation.
The narrowness of the results generated by an AI assistant can be a good thing; when you’re searching a topic with a lot of choices often all you need is a starting point. I mean, there are nearly 250 apps included with Setapp, so it’s not hard to fall into analysis paralysis.
You can check out the range of Mac apps available on Setapp here (not an affiliate link), but you’ll have to use the regular search box as it doesn’t look like the AI assistant is available without signing up.
If you decide to investigate Setapp in more detail, I’d be honoured if you used my referral link. I receive a commission for signups from that link, and you receive a 1-month free trial instead of the usual 7 days, using the code ELLANE. Why not give it a try? Set a reminder in your calendar to ping you before the deadline, and you can explore away without worrying about being charged for something that’s not a good fit. I’d love to hear how you go.
These 7 Setapp Tools Alone Make the Subscription Worth It
What is Setapp, and why would any self-respecting, open source supporter want to use it? Especially one prone to shiny app induced procrastination? Setapp is one monthly subscription for 200+ Mac apps of varying usefulness and quality. This open source supporter/shiny app sucker uses it because seven of them on their own are enough to have the subscription make financial sense. The rest are nice-to-haves that feed my appetite for new toys, and are, quite often, surprisingly useful.