FileBrowse is a new, easy-to-use file/media browser for Mac OS X with many unique features, such as 3D icons/thumbnails, large in-context previews, and powerful grouping and sorting.

3D Icons/Thumbnails

The standard file browser on the Mac is the Finder, which can show thumbnails of image files, but shows all other files and folders as standard icons. Because all items of a certain type have the same icon, it’s hard to distinguish the items. The icons don’t give any clue about the specific contents of the files and folders.

FileBrowse can show thumbnails for many file types, not only for images. And folder icons even show the items inside! So you don't always have to open a folder to see its contents. This is how FileBrowse shows icons/thumbnails of images and folders:

As you can see, FileBrowse uses 3D icons. These are not pre-generated drawings like standard Finder icons, but instead are rendered in real-time in glorious 3D, using the power of OpenGL hardware acceleration, with lifelike, soft shadows, perfect anti-aliasing (no jagged edges), and realistic perspective (with the vanishing point in the center of the screen). When you run FileBrowse, you’ll notice that the icons appear to float on your display! (This effect is stronger when you try FileBrowse on your computer than it is in the screenshots on this web page, because FileBrowse will calculate the correct perspective for each icon depending on its position on the screen, which changes when you scroll or drag the window, for example.) The icons/thumbnails shown on this page are non-enhanced and look exactly the way they look in FileBrowse.

Here’s how FileBrowse shows icons/thumbnails for other file types besides images:

(The items with arrows are aliases.) FileBrowse can show thumbnails for many different file types. Above you can see (from left to right): a folder containing 6 items of various kinds (3 images, 2 sub-folders and an RTF text file), a web page, a QuickTime movie, and a song (which shows the album art as well as the song’s track number). FileBrowse can also show thumbnails for PDF, RTFD and Word documents, and more. Finding a file by visual content has never been easier!

Clicking on a 3D icon selects it. Clicking on the text area below an icon opens the file or folder. You don’t have to double-click; a single click will do. It’s like clicking on a link in a web browser. Selected items can be dragged and dropped into other applications, so FileBrowse makes a perfect media browser to drop items into iWeb and many other programs.

Large In-Context Previews

When you select a file or folder in FileBrowse, it shows information and commands (which are like menu commands) directly below the selected icon, automatically sliding down any icons below it. With most file types that can have a thumbnail, FileBrowse can also show a preview of the file. (Web page previews are not implemented yet.) The previews can be zoomed:

Even when enlarged, previews are still in-context, between the icons. Previews can be very large:

Having the preview in-context is a definite advantage. It means you don’t have to open and close a separate window or application. A preview doesn’t have to be closed like a window, because you can just scroll to reveal other icons/thumbnails. (It is easy though to make the preview go away, either by simply deselecting the file or by hiding the preview.) And no screen real estate is wasted by reserving a part of the window for a preview, like some other programs do. In FileBrowse, when no files are selected, all space is available for icons/thumbnails.

If the selected file is a movie or song, you can play it. If it’s a PDF file, you can read all its pages! In many cases you won’t need to open a file in a separate program anymore.

Powerful Grouping and Sorting

Files and folders can be grouped and sorted (within groups) in many ways. You can group and/or sort items by kind (generic or specific), date/time (created, last modified or last opened), color label, rating, artist, album, camera model, if the flash was on or off, and so forth.

By default, FileBrowse groups items by generic kind (images, movies & videos, web pages, folders, applications, and so on) and sorts within groups by name only. But if, for example, you have a folder full of images taken over a long period of time, you can group by month (or date or year) created and then sort within groups by date/time created. A folder with files of a project you’re working on could be grouped by the application used to open a file and sorted by date last modified. A folder with MP3s you might want to group by artist and sort by album. It’s very powerful and versatile. (If you want, grouping can also be turned off.)

Groups are either “collapsed” or “expanded”:

A group can be collapsed by simply clicking on its header. This is an easy way to, for example, hide the clutter in a messy folder and focus on the items of interest. Clicking again will expand the group. It’s also possible to collapse or expand all groups at once.

In many cases, groups can take over the use of folders. It’s certainly easier to group the items in a messy folder than to manually organize them into sub-folders. Plus, it’s more versatile because you’re not stuck to a certain organization of sub-folders.

Availability and Requirements

FileBrowse 1.0 is available now. It costs only $25! Even better, you can try it for free for up to 30 days. It’s a Universal (PowerPC/Intel) application that requires Mac OS X 10.4.0 or later.

Watch a QuickTime video of FileBrowse in action
Download FileBrowse and try it yourself!

 
Copyright © 2006, R Green Blue bv. All rights reserved.
Finder and iWeb are trademarks and iPhoto and iTunes are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.