Search should not be surveillance.
A launcher sees a revealing stream of intent: the applications you use, the documents you open, the phrases you remember, and sometimes the contents of your clipboard. That information does not need to become a company’s search log.
ELSEWHERE searches locally using its own in-memory index and macOS Spotlight. It does not upload search queries, filenames, document contents, notes, or clipboard history. There is no remote index to sync and no account required to find what is already yours.
That privacy is structural, not a setting. The search path stays on the Mac because the app was designed without a cloud search service in the middle.
Local does not have to mean limited.
Press Option + Space. Type an application, document, or folder. Press Return. Fuzzy search makes room for an approximate name; Spotlight content search helps when a remembered phrase is easier than the filename.
The same local utility keeps a scratch note and the latest 30 ordinary clipboard items close at hand. It ignores items marked concealed or transient by their source app, stores retained text with user-only file permissions, and lets the user clear that history at any time.
ELSEWHERE also pairs search with window controls. Send the active window to either half of the screen, maximize it, center it, or move it to another display. The shortcuts are customizable, so finding and arranging become one repeatable keyboard rhythm.
Nothing to upload.
Queries, filenames, and the document index stay on the Mac. Searching uses a local in-memory index and macOS Spotlight.
A phrase is enough.
Search the contents of everyday documents through the Spotlight index when the filename is the part you cannot remember.
Notes and clips stay yours.
Keep a local scratch note and recent clipboard history. Private clipboard items are ignored, and retained text can be cleared at any time.
Give the work space.
Split, center, maximize, and move windows between displays without sending usage data to a remote service.
Permissions without a blank check.
The document index covers familiar working formats, including PDF, Word, Pages, and spreadsheets. Source code, hidden files, caches, and build output are deliberately excluded. The app searches cloud-storage folders only when their contents are already available on the Mac.
Setup lets the user choose document-folder access, optional window management, and whether to launch at login. Window controls require Accessibility permission; searching, notes, clipboard history, and launching remain available without it.
ELSEWHERE is a $7.99 one-time purchase for macOS 13 or later, with one download for Apple Silicon and Intel. There is no account or subscription. The app is Developer ID signed and notarized by Apple.