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You haven't lived until you've used Apptivate[0] to map the function keys to your most commonly used apps (I think with them "inverted" so you don't need to hol

You haven't lived until you've used Apptivate[0] to map the function keys to your most commonly used apps (I think with them "inverted" so you don't need to hold "fn"). I have F1 -> Finder, F2 -> Postico, F3 -> Chrome, F4 -> Sublime, F5 -> iTerm2, and can touch type each of them. It feels great to easily flip between those apps as necessary. It's like Cmd+Tab but goes to exactly the correct application each time. I'll still probably get one of these MacBook Pros eventually, but the lack of F1 buttons is a loss. [0] http://www.apptivateapp.com/ http://www.apptivateapp.com/

hn_user2 10y ago
Was going to check it out, then realized it's too late. Maybe better off not knowing at this point.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
grincho 10y ago
I've been doing this (with a different util) as my primary way of navigating for 20 years. It makes screen clutter irrelevant. Without physical function keys, I can't think of a way to maintain this with the same convenience, being able to do it one-handed with either hand, avoid conflicting with stock shortcuts, and not sprain my hand. Fortunately, I use an external keyboard much of the time, which I selected almost wholly for its proper 4-groupings of function keys, letting me touch-type them.
brandall10 10y ago
All my most used apps are just three keypresses away -- I chord my caps-lock (remapped to ctrl) and ';' keys to bring up spotlight, type 'c' for instance for chrome, then enter. Super quick and don't have to leave the home row.
Too 10y ago
Windows has this feature built in. Win+1, 2, 3 etc maps to the location on the task bar. It's one of the best features most people didn't know existed. Swapping between applications becomes very fast and precise.
- blisse 10y ago
  I'm really annoyed that more people don't know this one because this is one of the main reasons I don't like using os X.
- to3m 10y ago
  As always with Windows, though, the UX isn't quite right... If that spot is occupied by a pinned shortcut, Windows will run that program. But it won't remember that it's done that - so if it takes a while to start, and you press the key again, it will see there's a shortcut to a program that's not yet running, and... run the program again. So while trying this feature out, and wondering why nothing was happening, I managed to open 3 copies of Unity and 7 copies of Visual Studio.

hn_user2 10y ago

Was going to check it out, then realized it's too late. Maybe better off not knowing at this point.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

grincho 10y ago

I've been doing this (with a different util) as my primary way of navigating for 20 years. It makes screen clutter irrelevant. Without physical function keys, I can't think of a way to maintain this with the same convenience, being able to do it one-handed with either hand, avoid conflicting with stock shortcuts, and not sprain my hand. Fortunately, I use an external keyboard much of the time, which I selected almost wholly for its proper 4-groupings of function keys, letting me touch-type them.

brandall10 10y ago

All my most used apps are just three keypresses away -- I chord my caps-lock (remapped to ctrl) and ';' keys to bring up spotlight, type 'c' for instance for chrome, then enter. Super quick and don't have to leave the home row.

Too 10y ago

Windows has this feature built in. Win+1, 2, 3 etc maps to the location on the task bar. It's one of the best features most people didn't know existed. Swapping between applications becomes very fast and precise.

blisse 10y ago
I'm really annoyed that more people don't know this one because this is one of the main reasons I don't like using os X.
to3m 10y ago
As always with Windows, though, the UX isn't quite right... If that spot is occupied by a pinned shortcut, Windows will run that program. But it won't remember that it's done that - so if it takes a while to start, and you press the key again, it will see there's a shortcut to a program that's not yet running, and... run the program again. So while trying this feature out, and wondering why nothing was happening, I managed to open 3 copies of Unity and 7 copies of Visual Studio.