We’re all familiar with the Finder, but what if we could have access to our most used documents and personal folders at the ‘flick of a wrist’? Enter Sidefolders, an application that aims to give you quick and easy access to your recent, and regularly used, files and folders.
It’s a great concept, and one that has a lot of potential. But how well does SideFolders execute the idea? Read on for more information, along with a quick screencast overview of the app.
What is SideFolders?
Simply put, Sidefolders puts the Sidebar in the Finder withine easy reach. Move the mouse to the side of the screen and Sidefolders will jump out. This works exactly as you’d expect:
SideFolders Main Window
Within your Sidefolders, you can place your most accessed files, and by default it will show you your most recently opened and downloaded files. If you’d like, you can create your own folder and drag files inside Sidefolder to keep for easy access.
This gives you a manual way to “pin” a file to your sidebar, and easily access it with a single click – a useful alternative to putting a file or folder in your Dock.
Adding Your Own Files
See SideFolders in Action
This Seems Familiar
If this feels like deja-vu, it might be because there are already a handful of apps that let you store your most used and recently accessed files for quick access. For instance, remember Fresh from Ironic software or Blast, in one of my past reviews? Both of these are useful alternatives, and worth checking out in addition to SideFolders.
Whether you like SideFolders will depend upon whether it offers a solution to a problem you have. If you never find yourself wanting faster access to oft-used files, then this probably isn’t for you. On the other hand, it could be a great time-saver if this is a piece of functionality you’ve been yearning for.
The first version had a few bugs and niggles, but the latest release has gone some way toward ironing these out. You can now browse folders within SideFolders, and the popout delay can now be configured to a value that suits you best.
Conclusion
SideFolders definitely falls into the same boat as Fresh and Blast. Unfortunately it doesn’t quite have the same design aesthetic of these apps, and offers a slightly less “unique” feature set”.
That said, SideFolders is a cheaper alternative to both of these apps, and $5 might not be a particularly high price to pay for saving a few minutes each day.