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Show HN: Switch windows of same app with hotkey (alt + `)

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Re: Show HN: Switch windows of same app with hotkey (alt + `)

#21

Post by jacobmischka »

dylan604 wrote: post #8
panzerboiler wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can find it under System Preferences > Keyboard > Shortcuts, in the Keyboard section. The shortcut name is "Move focus to next window". It will automatically cycle the windows in reverse order adding shift to the shortcut.

Is this not something that is enabled by default on all macOS installs? Cmd + ` has been something I've used for ever. No 3rd party app required.

They are looking for the exact opposite, a shortcut that will only switch between different apps. Cmd+` only switches between windows of the same app, and I believe cmd+tab switches between windows of any app.

Re: Show HN: Switch windows of same app with hotkey (alt + `)

#22

Post by dcow »

alanbernstein wrote: post #17
dylan604 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is alt-tabbing near useless? I find it quite easy/simple. The fact that I often have my left hand on the keyboard and my right hand on the mouse makes it even easier with a quick cmd-tab while leaving the cmd key pressed so that I can mouse click the app icon I want directly without mulitple cmd-tab clicks to cycle to what I want very convenient.

Let's say you have three browser windows, three terminal windows, and three file manager windows. Also, each window corresponds to a project/task, such that the logical groups are really (browser1, terminal1, files1), etc. Make sense? Next, you want to show all of the windows from a single task, each one at the highest focus relative to all other windows of the same application. Only being able to switch applications…

The multi-monitor stuff is much better now. I’d revisit. It persists for me across display configuration changes.

Re: Show HN: Switch windows of same app with hotkey (alt + `)

#23

Post by dylan604 »

southerntofu wrote: post #12
dylan604 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is alt-tabbing near useless? I find it quite easy/simple. The fact that I often have my left hand on the keyboard and my right hand on the mouse makes it even easier with a quick cmd-tab while leaving the cmd key pressed so that I can mouse click the app icon I want directly without mulitple cmd-tab clicks to cycle to what I want very convenient.

> How is alt-tabbing near useless? I think the parent refers to MacOS/Gnome treating alt-tab as a "switch program" shortcut, not a "switch window" shortcut. I find it very convenient to press "alt-tab" to go to the previously-focused window, or "alt-tab-tab" to the even-previously focused window. It's much easier for me to think in terms of context switches (go back to my N-previous activity) than have to consciously…

>i want to switch window of the same app or switch app.

That sounds like a total nightmare to have the same keyboard shortcut do 2 different things. Cmd-Tab switches app, Cmd-` switches windows in an app. I just don't understand how that is difficult. Then again, some people find math hard, others find it easy. To each their own.

Re: Show HN: Switch windows of same app with hotkey (alt + `)

#25

Post by dylan604 »

jacobmischka wrote: post #21
dylan604 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this not something that is enabled by default on all macOS installs? Cmd + ` has been something I've used for ever. No 3rd party app required.

They are looking for the exact opposite, a shortcut that will only switch between different apps. Cmd+` only switches between windows of the same app, and I believe cmd+tab switches between windows of any app.

No, Cmd+Tab switches between apps not windows within all apps.

Re: Show HN: Switch windows of same app with hotkey (alt + `)

#27

Post by southerntofu »

dylan604 wrote: post #23
southerntofu wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How is alt-tabbing near useless? I think the parent refers to MacOS/Gnome treating alt-tab as a "switch program" shortcut, not a "switch window" shortcut. I find it very convenient to press "alt-tab" to go to the previously-focused window, or "alt-tab-tab" to the even-previously focused window. It's much easier for me to think in terms of context switches (go back to my N-previous activity) than have to consciously…

>i want to switch window of the same app or switch app. That sounds like a total nightmare to have the same keyboard shortcut do 2 different things. Cmd-Tab switches app, Cmd-` switches windows in an app. I just don't understand how that is difficult. Then again, some people find math hard, others find it easy. To each their own.

> I just don't understand how that is difficult.

It's not difficult, but why do they make it difficult to "just go to the previous window", whose default shortcut was alt-tab on almost all systems (windows + gnome + kde)?

Maybe you have a specific workflow with a specific set of apps you use in a specific order in which case your brain is hard-wired to know whether you'd like to switch app or window within an app. I personally find it much easier when i don't have to think about it and can just "go back" to what i was doing previously.

Re: Show HN: Switch windows of same app with hotkey (alt + `)

#28

Post by dylan604 »

beingflo wrote: post #20
dylan604 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is alt-tabbing near useless? I find it quite easy/simple. The fact that I often have my left hand on the keyboard and my right hand on the mouse makes it even easier with a quick cmd-tab while leaving the cmd key pressed so that I can mouse click the app icon I want directly without mulitple cmd-tab clicks to cycle to what I want very convenient.

As the other comments mentioned it's due to application instead of window switching. I find it frustrating to alt-tab to some application with no windows (because I closed it but on macOS that doesn't close the app), which only makes the top bar change and is not my intention 99.9% of the time. AltTab instead has sane defaults and allows a lot of customization including multiple shortcuts for different purposes.

The understanding of an app quitting when the last window is closed is something that I go back and forth on if I like it or not. I think it really depends on the app. Launching Adobe apps take long enough that it is annoying to need to relaunch them, so I really appreciate that they don't quit on close of last window. Yet apps like Lightroom must totally relaunch just to switch to a new library which is extremely frustrating.

So it seems to me that Cmd-Tab is less of the offender to you than the app not behaving as you prefer when there are no active windows. Seems like your ire is slightly misdirected.

Re: Show HN: Switch windows of same app with hotkey (alt + `)

#29

Post by beingflo »

dylan604 wrote: post #23
southerntofu wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How is alt-tabbing near useless? I think the parent refers to MacOS/Gnome treating alt-tab as a "switch program" shortcut, not a "switch window" shortcut. I find it very convenient to press "alt-tab" to go to the previously-focused window, or "alt-tab-tab" to the even-previously focused window. It's much easier for me to think in terms of context switches (go back to my N-previous activity) than have to consciously…

>i want to switch window of the same app or switch app. That sounds like a total nightmare to have the same keyboard shortcut do 2 different things. Cmd-Tab switches app, Cmd-` switches windows in an app. I just don't understand how that is difficult. Then again, some people find math hard, others find it easy. To each their own.

> Then again, some people find math hard, others find it easy. To each their own.

Way to be condescending. The presented opinion is clearly reasonable, as is yours.

Re: Show HN: Switch windows of same app with hotkey (alt + `)

#30

Post by dylan604 »

southerntofu wrote: post #27
dylan604 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>i want to switch window of the same app or switch app. That sounds like a total nightmare to have the same keyboard shortcut do 2 different things. Cmd-Tab switches app, Cmd-` switches windows in an app. I just don't understand how that is difficult. Then again, some people find math hard, others find it easy. To each their own.

> I just don't understand how that is difficult. It's not difficult, but why do they make it difficult to "just go to the previous window", whose default shortcut was alt-tab on almost all systems (windows + gnome + kde)? Maybe you have a specific workflow with a specific set of apps you use in a specific order in which case your brain is hard-wired to know whether you'd like to switch app or window within an app. I…

You seem to have the concept in your mind of open windows vs open apps. I've never thought of it like that, and always have the concept of apps in mind. Not thinking of apps seems as foreign to me as grouping windows as apps seems foreign to you. It would be interesting to see the differences between how either was learned to really grok the difference.
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