Alt-tab-macos

Productivity

window switcher

SHOW HN2019

156points
122comments
#259of 2,195 in 2019
Top 12%of 2019 by points

How HN took it

DebatedReal support and real criticism

6 positive, 5 neutral or asking, 4 mixed, 7 critical, out of 22 comments about the project. Thread score -0.06.

Idea: 5 for, 2 againstPerformance: 0 for, 4 againstExecution: 1 for, 1 against

The thread, comment by comment

Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.

positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker

What HN said

What people liked

  • Brings Windows-style alt-tab to macOS, which commenters miss

    From 3 comments
    • This is pretty awesome. Every time I end up using a Mac (normally someone else's) I always struggle with the multitasking experience. This looks a lot more familiar.
      bpye on HN
    • Oh ppl, you don't know what you have until you lose it! I am unfortunately on Windows, and I miss CMD+Tab and CMD+Tilde style of switching so much. It's vastly superior in terms…
      gonzalocasas on HN
    • I'm excited to give this a try, though I wonder if there's a way to replace command tab with it instead of control tab. This little bit of UX is seriously one of those things you…
      rubyn00bie on HN

Objections

  • Window switch UI shows too slowly (about 200ms delay or more)

    From 3 comments
    • Despite the readme ("Fast"!), it's pretty sluggish for me. Mission Control is instantaneous, and this takes 1-2 seconds to display. It also doesn't seem to support any form of…
      ken on HN
    • I like this idea a lot, just tried it now however and the UI is a bit too slow for how fast I like to switch between apps, espically on multiple desktops - takes about a second…
      imkieren on HN
    • > it's pretty sluggish for me Did you take into account the 200ms that's purposefully added? The behavior of alt-tab on windows is also: if you press fast (within 200ms) you…
      lwouis on HN
  • Lacks drag-and-drop, Cmd-H/Q, and Spaces support

    From 2 comments
    • Despite the readme ("Fast"!), it's pretty sluggish for me. Mission Control is instantaneous, and this takes 1-2 seconds to display. It also doesn't seem to support any form of…
      ken on HN
    • > it's pretty sluggish for me Did you take into account the 200ms that's purposefully added? The behavior of alt-tab on windows is also: if you press fast (within 200ms) you…
      lwouis on HN
  • Control-Tab conflicts with browser tab switching

    From 2 comments
    • I love your app, but unfortunately Control+Tab is the same shortcut used system-wide to move between tabs. Could you add the ability to choose a custom shortcut?
      pazimzadeh on HN
    • +1 for this. Now my browser experience is broken. Or is there a way to remap tab switching shortcut in firefox? Seems silly to do that though. Actually, alt+tab seems to do…
      savolai on HN

Requests

  • Configurable shortcut keys, including replacing Command-Tab

    From 3 comments
    • I love your app, but unfortunately Control+Tab is the same shortcut used system-wide to move between tabs. Could you add the ability to choose a custom shortcut?
      pazimzadeh on HN
    • How great it would be if you could replace command-tab instead of adding control-tab? Neat idea, although I do prefer the command-tab, hold command, hit Q or M or H, continue…
      SomeHacker44 on HN
    • I'm excited to give this a try, though I wonder if there's a way to replace command tab with it instead of control tab. This little bit of UX is seriously one of those things you…
      rubyn00bie on HN
  • Configurable activation delay

    From 2 comments
    • +1 for this. Now my browser experience is broken. Or is there a way to remap tab switching shortcut in firefox? Seems silly to do that though. Actually, alt+tab seems to do…
      savolai on HN
    • How do you change the delay for showing the UI? > Delay before showing the UI to avoid flashing (default 200ms) What's flashing? Have you thought about enabling going backwards…
      pazimzadeh on HN
  • Multi-monitor support

    From 1 comment
    • I like this idea a lot, just tried it now however and the UI is a bit too slow for how fast I like to switch between apps, espically on multiple desktops - takes about a second…
      imkieren on HN

Questions

  • Whether Cmd-tilde window switching is known

    From 1 comment
    • Do people know about CMD+Tilde to switch windows within an app? CMD+Tab to the App and Tilde to the Window? It’s not mentioned in the READMEs description of how macOS tab…
      donatj on HN
  • How to change the display delay

    From 1 comment
    • How do you change the delay for showing the UI? > Delay before showing the UI to avoid flashing (default 200ms) What's flashing? Have you thought about enabling going backwards…
      pazimzadeh on HN

Alternatives named

  • HyperSwitch

    From 2 comments
    • I’ve been using hyperswitch [0] for ages which does something like that. The killer feature for me is to hide windows that are not on my current desktop. I have virtual spaces…
      dvcrn on HN
    • I’ve been using HyperSwitch [1] and love it, but will give this a look... [1] https://bahoom.com/hyperswitch
      eddyg on HN
  • Mission Control and Exposé

    From 2 comments
    • Despite the readme ("Fast"!), it's pretty sluggish for me. Mission Control is instantaneous, and this takes 1-2 seconds to display. It also doesn't seem to support any form of…
      ken on HN
    • Author here. I'm familiar with this. I have rebinded these, but basically I use them everyday for tab switching, for example within 1 chrome window, of within 1 terminal window.…
      lwouis on HN
  • Contexts app

    From 1 comment
    • I use https://contexts.co for app switching as it supports fuzzy searching windows
      nikivi on HN
  • Witch

    From 1 comment
    • I use Witch by ManyTricks for this. I refused to get a mac until someone told me about it — I find switching to a program first and then to the correct window totally insane.…
      allworknoplay on HN

Category, keywords, summaries and labels on this page were made by AI (Thread Reader v2) and not checked by hand. Each point links to the comments it came from.

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