| Version | 2.1.3 |
|---|---|
| Publisher | The Growl Project |
| Release date | Dec 19, 2013 |
| Date added | Dec 19, 2013 |
| Os requirements | Macintosh, Mac OS X 10.7, Mac OS X 10.8 |
| Requirements | None |
| Total downloads | 22,339 |
| Price | $3.99 |
Description
Growl is a global notifications system for OS X. (for example) Growl allows apps that support Growl to send you notifications. Growl offers you complete control over which notifications are shown and how they are displayed. You will not receive any notifications that you do not want, because you can easily turn notifications (specific ones or all of them) off. When you start up a Growl-enabled application, it will "just work." Your apps can start displaying notifications right away. Growl centralizes all your notification preferences into its preference pane - you can control them all from one place, and you know exactly how they are going to behave. Growl is very flexible. Notifications can be emailed to you or spoken instead of displayed on the screen.
Review
Growl for Mac sends you notifications about the tasks running in the background, shows you previews of incoming emails in real time, and can even tell you when one of your chat buddies comes online. It basically enables you to keep track of what's going on in the background while working in another app.
Pros
Notifications for system events: With Growl for Mac you can choose what apps to receive notifications for through downloadable and configurable plug-ins. Because it integrates with most popular Mac apps, you can receive all kinds of useful notifications, for new emails, new social messages, or the completion of a scheduled process or task.
Wide range of supported apps: It supports many common programs that as a regular Mac user you are likely to use, including Adium, Yahoo Messenger, Twitter, Monitor for Facebook, as well as a wide range of utilities, games, music, and entertainment apps.
Email previews: The snippets of new emails it shows you can help you decide whether the email is worth your attention or not.
Cons
Doesn't work with certain native Mac apps: In our tests, Growl didn't seem to work with Safari or iTunes.
Not for light users: If you use only one application at a time and don't run many programs in the background, you don't really need it.
No free download: The lack of a Lite version or at least of a trial version strikes us as odd. If you want to use this app, you have to buy it.
Bottom Line
If you have a lot of running programs to monitor, Growl for Mac can make your life a little easier, saving you the trouble of having to switch between apps all the time. Because there's no trial version available, however, do check the developer's website to make sure it supports your favorite apps, or else you may be wasting your money on it.
