[aikinai]

For anyone looking for a Mac equivalent, there's GoToFile[0].

As far as I've seen, this is the only app for Mac that doesn't just reuse Spotlight search (which I find to be terrible). I looked for exactly this type of app for years before finding it, and when I did, it didn't seem real with the old-fashioned website and zero mentions on sites like HN. But I can assure that it works great and it's maintained. I just wish the author would promote it better so it gets more attention and isn't so hard to find.

[0] https://www.soma-zone.com/GoToFile/

[code_biologist]

+1 on the need for non-Spotlight options. Source code makes a mess of spotlight for everyday usage. I like Leap a lot for multimedia browsing with more precise search capabilities than spotlight: https://ironicsoftware.com/leap/

[Jakob]

You can remove folders from spotlight under "Spotlight Privacy". I removed my source code folders, which vastly improved search results.

[code_biologist]

100%. That's when I discovered I needed non-spotlight search to bulk search what I just excluded from spotlight.

[optimalquiet]

Soma-zone software in general is pretty neat for Mac power users. I especially like Launch Control, which lets you configure and inspect launchd (the mac service daemon) services.

[monroewalker]

How does a program like this work? Is it indexing every file on the system and monitoring all events for updates?

[eviks]

Foxtrot Search (expensive) uses its own index and also indexes content, not just names

There are a couple of other filename-only apps with own index, but don't remember now which of the alternatives do that (HoudahSpot?)