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I have three monitors, but I only use one (a 24" one, the second is for when I want to watch some show or movie while doing stuff on the main one, and the third

I have three monitors, but I only use one (a 24" one, the second is for when I want to watch some show or movie while doing stuff on the main one, and the third I basically never use). I have my apps always maximized/fullscreen in the main monitor and I alt-tab between them. I never could get into having multiple apps on-screen at the same time, since I can only focus on one. Writing this comment, though, I realize that a better alt-tab switcher would be a godsend. I keep getting confused with window order sometimes and I'm not sure why, maybe I should write a better switcher.

zeven7 6y ago
A better alt+tab switcher would be great! Why isn't that a thing? I'm imagining something where you could use alt+f1, alt+f2, alt+f3, etc. to switch to specific windows rather than just rotating between everything.
- StavrosK 6y ago
  Yes, exactly! Or just a saner way of sorting the tab order would be nice. I'll look and see if there's one for Linux, there must be something...
- layer8 6y ago
  On Windows, you can effectively use Win+1-9 for that by pinning the applications to the taskbar. I use that all the time.
- lmilcin 6y ago
  Long time ago I made a python script to manage my 2-monitor i3 setup. The idea was to be able to quickly select things to be made visible on both monitors. The two monitors are named primary and secondary. To select something to be visible on primary you would press the combination (for example alt+f1) and the selected desktop would be placed on primary. Whatever was on primary would be pushed to secondary. To select both primary and secondary you would first press what you want on secondary and then what you want on primary. The idea is that people typically have what I call "scenes". Scene is particular arrangement of windows on both monitors. This means that you can quickly learn your "scenes" and get them to be visible very quickly, in a fraction of a second, without having to hard-code the scene in your config file.
- mtzet 6y ago
  If you can live with switching between different applications rather than windows, this is the default behavior on Windows 10 and Gnome 3 using win+1, win+2, ….
- pbhjpbhj 6y ago
  On Win10 you can use win+1, win+2, ... to select the apps pinned to the application bar, it launches them if they're not launched; if they are launched it switches between active windows. That sounds like what you're after. Sorry if this is really well known I'm new to MS Windows as a user. I use dual monitor, but have two virtual desktops giving me 4 "screens" to layout windows in. I keep the same window in the same place, but often have to use 3 docs at once and so would love a 3rd screen. Then I'd have reference material on 1), doc I'm responding to on 2), doc I'm writing in also on 2), citations on 3).
- zenlot 6y ago
  This is what you do in Linux with i3.
- mnm1 6y ago
  On Linux, I use jumpapp: https://github.com/mkropat/jumpapp https://github.com/mkropat/jumpapp On Mac, Quicksilver with Triggers: https://qsapp.com/ https://qsapp.com/
meagher 6y ago
If you’re on macOS https://contexts.co/ https://contexts.co/
- StavrosK 6y ago
  Thank you! That looks very nice, unfortunately I'm on Linux, but something like that is bound to exist.
  - zenlot 6y ago
    Try i3 as a Window manager. Put every app in a separate single window, and instead of alt-tab you use, e.g: alt+1 terminal, alt+2 browser, etc... You can have as much workspaces as you need and assign applications to specific workspace. This way I always know where every app or category of app exists. And this mostly works on default i3 config, no learning curve.
    - StavrosK 6y ago
      That sounds interesting, I'll try that, thanks!
    - mindslight 6y ago
      I started off using Alt F1-F12 (like the console), but I've found zero problems using bare F1-F12 with no modifier.
- wdb 6y ago
  Does this compliment an application like Alfred?
  - meagher 6y ago
    Yes! I use both together. I love that you can configure it to not show minimized apps when switching.
dawnerd 6y ago
Same here. I full window everything. And use my second monitor basically only for YouTube/Spotify. It’s really useful when I need to keep some reference up too.
- StavrosK 6y ago
  Oh you're going to love this: There's an extension that launches custom programs with the current page as an argument, and I use it to launch mpv, which is then configured to open full-screen on the second screen with a high-quality stream of the YouTube video I'm on. I have also configured the window to always stay on top and to resize to a small window on the bottom right, so if I press escape while the window is focused, I get picture-in-picture. Also, mpv exits when it's done, so it's a great way of watching a video in full screen on the second monitor at the press of a button.
  - detaro 6y ago
    link to said extension? :)
    - StavrosK 6y ago
      I don't remember the name right now and I'm not at the computer, but anything that will launch a program will work, the extension itself does very little.
      - StavrosK 6y ago
        I just checked, the extension is called "Open With": https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/open-with/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/open-with/
kaypro 6y ago
I work the same way and having a keyboard shortcut set for each one of my Apps has been game changing for me. Worth trying out to see if it fits your flow: http://macnotes.com/how-i-work-on-my-mac/ http://macnotes.com/how-i-work-on-my-mac/
- StavrosK 6y ago
  That's a great idea, especially with my programmable keyboard, thank you. I'll have to see if KDE supports this, but I think it's likely. EDIT: Turns out it's trivial, I love Linux: http://xahlee.info/linux/linux_add_keyboard_shortcuts_to_switch_to_app.html http://xahlee.info/linux/linux_add_keyboard_shortcuts_to_swi...
  - emilsedgh 6y ago
    KDE's window manager, Kwin, supports this functionality built it. Just right click on any title bar on a window, go to "Special Application Settings" -> "Arrangement and access" -> "Shortcut". You can manually type "F8" in the shortcut and it'll work just fine. You can also go to "System Settings" -> "Window Rules" to manage all rules you've defined.
    - StavrosK 6y ago
      That settings dialog is a lifesaver, thank you. I've been using devilspie2 to do the same, but now I can do it natively.

zeven7 6y ago

A better alt+tab switcher would be great! Why isn't that a thing? I'm imagining something where you could use alt+f1, alt+f2, alt+f3, etc. to switch to specific windows rather than just rotating between everything.

StavrosK 6y ago
Yes, exactly! Or just a saner way of sorting the tab order would be nice. I'll look and see if there's one for Linux, there must be something...
layer8 6y ago
On Windows, you can effectively use Win+1-9 for that by pinning the applications to the taskbar. I use that all the time.
lmilcin 6y ago
Long time ago I made a python script to manage my 2-monitor i3 setup. The idea was to be able to quickly select things to be made visible on both monitors. The two monitors are named primary and secondary. To select something to be visible on primary you would press the combination (for example alt+f1) and the selected desktop would be placed on primary. Whatever was on primary would be pushed to secondary. To select both primary and secondary you would first press what you want on secondary and then what you want on primary. The idea is that people typically have what I call "scenes". Scene is particular arrangement of windows on both monitors. This means that you can quickly learn your "scenes" and get them to be visible very quickly, in a fraction of a second, without having to hard-code the scene in your config file.
mtzet 6y ago
If you can live with switching between different applications rather than windows, this is the default behavior on Windows 10 and Gnome 3 using win+1, win+2, ….
pbhjpbhj 6y ago
On Win10 you can use win+1, win+2, ... to select the apps pinned to the application bar, it launches them if they're not launched; if they are launched it switches between active windows. That sounds like what you're after. Sorry if this is really well known I'm new to MS Windows as a user. I use dual monitor, but have two virtual desktops giving me 4 "screens" to layout windows in. I keep the same window in the same place, but often have to use 3 docs at once and so would love a 3rd screen. Then I'd have reference material on 1), doc I'm responding to on 2), doc I'm writing in also on 2), citations on 3).
zenlot 6y ago
This is what you do in Linux with i3.
mnm1 6y ago
On Linux, I use jumpapp: https://github.com/mkropat/jumpapp https://github.com/mkropat/jumpapp On Mac, Quicksilver with Triggers: https://qsapp.com/ https://qsapp.com/

meagher 6y ago

If you’re on macOS https://contexts.co/ https://contexts.co/

StavrosK 6y ago
Thank you! That looks very nice, unfortunately I'm on Linux, but something like that is bound to exist.
- zenlot 6y ago
  Try i3 as a Window manager. Put every app in a separate single window, and instead of alt-tab you use, e.g: alt+1 terminal, alt+2 browser, etc... You can have as much workspaces as you need and assign applications to specific workspace. This way I always know where every app or category of app exists. And this mostly works on default i3 config, no learning curve.
  - StavrosK 6y ago
    That sounds interesting, I'll try that, thanks!
  - mindslight 6y ago
    I started off using Alt F1-F12 (like the console), but I've found zero problems using bare F1-F12 with no modifier.
wdb 6y ago
Does this compliment an application like Alfred?
- meagher 6y ago
  Yes! I use both together. I love that you can configure it to not show minimized apps when switching.

dawnerd 6y ago

Same here. I full window everything. And use my second monitor basically only for YouTube/Spotify. It’s really useful when I need to keep some reference up too.

StavrosK 6y ago
Oh you're going to love this: There's an extension that launches custom programs with the current page as an argument, and I use it to launch mpv, which is then configured to open full-screen on the second screen with a high-quality stream of the YouTube video I'm on. I have also configured the window to always stay on top and to resize to a small window on the bottom right, so if I press escape while the window is focused, I get picture-in-picture. Also, mpv exits when it's done, so it's a great way of watching a video in full screen on the second monitor at the press of a button.
- detaro 6y ago
  link to said extension? :)
  - StavrosK 6y ago
    I don't remember the name right now and I'm not at the computer, but anything that will launch a program will work, the extension itself does very little.
    - StavrosK 6y ago
      I just checked, the extension is called "Open With": https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/open-with/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/open-with/

kaypro 6y ago

I work the same way and having a keyboard shortcut set for each one of my Apps has been game changing for me. Worth trying out to see if it fits your flow: http://macnotes.com/how-i-work-on-my-mac/ http://macnotes.com/how-i-work-on-my-mac/

StavrosK 6y ago
That's a great idea, especially with my programmable keyboard, thank you. I'll have to see if KDE supports this, but I think it's likely. EDIT: Turns out it's trivial, I love Linux: http://xahlee.info/linux/linux_add_keyboard_shortcuts_to_switch_to_app.html http://xahlee.info/linux/linux_add_keyboard_shortcuts_to_swi...
- emilsedgh 6y ago
  KDE's window manager, Kwin, supports this functionality built it. Just right click on any title bar on a window, go to "Special Application Settings" -> "Arrangement and access" -> "Shortcut". You can manually type "F8" in the shortcut and it'll work just fine. You can also go to "System Settings" -> "Window Rules" to manage all rules you've defined.
  - StavrosK 6y ago
    That settings dialog is a lifesaver, thank you. I've been using devilspie2 to do the same, but now I can do it natively.