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Best Finder alternatives / File managers

it wasnt me said:
Track their network activity.
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Certainly the network traffic is encrypted. Many applications will connect to their home servers to check for updates or licensing verification. What approach do you use that the average person might follow which allows you inspect the traffic?

I tried this with QSpace. I do see that it connects to Hangzhou, China at every launch. (I believe Bloom is based in Beijing, China.) I installed mitmproxy to figure out the content of the traffic. There were just two exchanges which were related to my license and the extensions I have access to. Navigating through the settings page triggers more exchanges as the server is queried for a "product list". I don't see anything funny going on in terms of data being sent to the servers. I suppose there could be some secret information being sent encrypted in their special "x-qs" headers for the outgoing communication, but I doubt it.

I did not find the process very easy and doubt that a non-technical person would be able to check this stuff.
 
MacBH928 said:
Is there a way to know if these proprietary apps are snooping on you? i mean you are giving them full access to your HD.
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I have 46 apps with Full Disk access. Grows to 67 if I include those with access to specific folders or volumes. By the time I/you/we have investigated them all we will be experts with network monitoring tools!! It really is not possible for nearly all users - technical or otherwise.

In practical terms, I suggest a bit of research regarding the reputation of the developer/vendor and then making a trust judgement.

In the scope of this thread, I had doubts about QSpace and, less so, with Bloom. I tried both, but have removed them. Forklift and Path Finder have been around for some time and I have never come across worries about their standing. Right now I use Finder, but with third-party add-ons (which I have decided to trust).
 
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gilby101 said:
I have 46 apps with Full Disk access. Grows to 67 if I include those with access to specific folders or volumes. By the time I/you/we have investigated them all we will be experts with network monitoring tools!! It really is not possible for nearly all users - technical or otherwise.

In practical terms, I suggest a bit of research regarding the reputation of the developer/vendor and then making a trust judgement.

In the scope of this thread, I had doubts about QSpace and, less so, with Bloom. I tried both, but have removed them. Forklift and Path Finder have been around for some time and I have never come across worries about their standing. Right now I use Finder, but with third-party add-ons (which I have decided to trust).
Click to expand...

we can have some sort of organization or group that checks each app and report on it. This will save all the trouble. Since I can't do such work, i can contribute via donations. Maybe some digital privacy advocate agency.
 
gilby101 said:
In the scope of this thread, I had doubts about QSpace and, less so, with Bloom. I tried both, but have removed them. Forklift and Path Finder have been around for some time and I have never come across worries about their standing. Right now I use Finder, but with third-party add-ons (which I have decided to trust).
Click to expand...
I'm curious what is the missing functionality from Finder which drives folks to use third party apps? For me it is the lack of sftp support natively and probably the simplicity of the connected server list.
 
Corefile said:
I'm curious what is the missing functionality from Finder which drives folks to use third party apps? For me it is the lack of sftp support natively and probably the simplicity of the connected server list.
Click to expand...

I used to say dual-pane. Now that I'm so used to QSpace, I'll switch that to multi-pane since it supports up to 4.

There is so much to recommend QSpace. Here's what immediately comes to mind above and beyond multi-pane:

- Configurable context menu - It's so much more powerful than anything available in finder.
- Even though it's been updated to the rounded corners of Tahoe, it didn't make the same mistakes with the sidebars that Finder did in that they don't extend to the top of the window. This gives me a much better experience than Finder.
- Saved Workspaces - There are a number of standard tasks that I work on which have dedicated workspaces.
- Much more configurable sidebar.

There are really so many features and advanced functionality in QSpace. Sometimes when I'm using the product I think to just write a thank you note to the developer for such an excellent job. My only criticism is the lack of documentation.

You quoted a post that mentioned worries about QSpace. I have none since I've heard of no reports of malicious activity. I'm not sure where the idea of worries about their standing (regarding QSpace and Bloom) comes from. Maybe it was me, since I have a US-based anti-China bigoted stance. There is no doubt that I have work to do on myself to get over that. I did raise concerns over Bloom since it seems to want to hide its origins. QSpace is loud and proud and I respect that. All software, no matter where it's from, should be viewed with suspicion.
 
Corefile said:
You can ask ChatGPT to eval it for you.
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Your post really intrigues me. I've asked Claude about the practicality of this and it's an eye-opener. I can upload a zip of the app bundle and it will do a pretty thorough static analysis (Opus 4.8). Even better, since I'm a pro subscriber, I can run Claude Code with native tooling to analyze the application in place and give me an ever better sense. But that wouldn't expose the full risks. To analyze for actual data exfiltration, it's giving me some setup instructions that will really help.

AI is super scary since there are no guard rails for the untrained. But, if you're a natural skeptic and have a lot of technical background, it's an amazing thing. You have to be constantly ready to disbelieve even though the AI's tone of voice implies it really knows the answer.
 
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svenmany said:
I used to say dual-pane. Now that I'm so used to QSpace, I'll switch that to multi-pane since it supports up to 4.

There is so much to recommend QSpace. Here's what immediately comes to mind above and beyond multi-pane:

- Configurable context menu - It's so much more powerful than anything available in finder.
- Even though it's been updated to the rounded corners of Tahoe, it didn't make the same mistakes with the sidebars that Finder did in that they don't extend to the top of the window. This gives me a much better experience than Finder.
- Saved Workspaces - There are a number of standard tasks that I work on which have dedicated workspaces.
- Much more configurable sidebar.

There are really so many features and advanced functionality in QSpace. Sometimes when I'm using the product I think to just write a thank you note to the developer for such an excellent job. My only criticism is the lack of documentation.

You quoted a post that mentioned worries about QSpace. I have none since I've heard of no reports of malicious activity. I'm not sure where the idea of worries about their standing (regarding QSpace and Bloom) comes from. Maybe it was me, since I have a US-based anti-China bigoted stance. There is no doubt that I have work to do on myself to get over that. I did raise concerns over Bloom since it seems to want to hide its origins. QSpace is loud and proud and I respect that. All software, no matter where it's from, should be viewed with suspicion.
Click to expand...

in this day and age, assume anything proprietary is spying to some extent unless proven otherwise
 
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