Version 2 of popular OS X launcher app Alfred was announced last week, and we're now seeing one of the bigger new features that's set to come with it. Called Workflows, it's a set of triggers, actions, inputs, and outputs that can be dragged into place and connected on a canvas, letting users create simple multi-step programs in an easy-to-use visual language. In the example above, using the keyword "movie" with a film's title will simultaneously launch a YouTube search in Chrome, an IMDb search, and a custom Rotten Tomatoes search.

Besides searches, users can set filters, notifications, and other actions. Many of these elements will come ready to use, but developers can also create their own. Likewise, users will be able to set triggers that come from outside of Alfred, in case another program can do something Alfred can't, like set tasks to run on a schedule. Alfred 2.0 is set to be released early in the new year, with a beta coming in January. If you've never used Alfred, or want to know how it beats the Mac's built-in Spotlight search, you can see how we use it to get things done right here.