5 ms·

Hmm, I find it pretty practical, cmd-tab from one app to another, cmd-backtick to toggle between windows, I mean, it's a different paradigm, sure, but you can s

Hmm, I find it pretty practical, cmd-tab from one app to another, cmd-backtick to toggle between windows, I mean, it's a different paradigm, sure, but you can still move around from the keyboard? I do find it a little annoying that there aren't consistent shortcuts for moving between tabs in everything that uses them, could be cntrl-tab, could be alt-arrows...

gunapologist99 5y ago
I have alt-backtick mapped to my favorite terminal app in Linux, and control-backtick mapped to a new browser window. I'd be buggered if I ever switched to Mac!
- jacobmischka 5y ago
  These keybinds are relatively common on Linux too, they're Gnome defaults.
  - joombaga 5y ago
    They're also customisable.
    - jacobmischka 5y ago
      Are they not customizable on macOS?
      - joombaga 5y ago
        Yes they are.
- dkonofalski 5y ago
  Why? Cmd+tilde/backtick is neither of those...
stormbrew 5y ago
The problem is cmd-tab brings everything up. For example, if you have a terminal window and a browser window next to each other that you're flipping between, but there's a browser window under the terminal window, cmd-tab will obscure the terminal.
- blacksmith_tb 5y ago
  Ah, sure, that makes sense. I guess I tend to be running 2-3 different browsers for different kinds of tasks, Chrome for work, Firefox for personal browsing, Brave for gmail, so I don't typically end up with multiple browser windows in the same browser. If I do for some reason, I tend to minimize all but the one I have been using with cmd-m.
  - edoceo 5y ago
    On my Xfce it's been Super+Tab to cycle through app windows in the current workspace for the last 15+ years. New stuff is cool and all but Xfce has been so boring for so long I keep forgetting I've upgraded. One time tho, the buttons on dialog windows moved to the top (GTK thing?) - yea, took like a week to get used to it.
  - greggman3 5y ago
    I use one browser with multiple profiles. But even if I ran different browsers to solve that issue I'd have to do the same for everything else. Run 3-5 different editors instead of one editor with 3-5 windows. Run 3-5 different terminals apps instead of one Terminal app with 3-5 different windows. etc....
- waterhouse 5y ago
  I use a free application called Spark, which lets me bind global hotkeys to arbitrary things, and in particular those things can be "bring up the topmost window of application X while leaving the rest where they are". I have it set up so that control-shift-h brings up Terminal, control-shift-c brings up Chrome, control-shift-f brings up Finder, control-shift-n brings up Firefox, etc., and for most of those I have "Bring [to] front the main window only" set. I use the hotkeys many times a day. https://www.shadowlab.org/softwares/spark.php https://www.shadowlab.org/softwares/spark.php
Prophasi 5y ago
I don't love it (yet). It's probably a combo of my Windows background, my ignorance of MacOS tricks, and actual limitations/flaws. * Cmd+~ from a fullscreen window does nothing, and non-full windows of the app cycle only among each other. If I have fullscreen windows anywhere in my setup, it breaks my flow and (afaik) makes me mouse to the Window menu. I feel like MacOS's fullscreen paradigm is more to blame here, because it violates a range of other behaviors I'd expect. * Unlike cmd+tab, cmd+~ doesn't give me a visual overview of my windows (how many? what order?). I can see why, since cmd+tab shows only icons and app names, which isn't enough to differentiate between windows of the same app (unlike alt+tab on Windows, which shows thumbnails, paths, page titles, etc. * Cmd+~ also cycles in a static order, not most recently used. This feels like fallout from the second point, in that if you're not showing thumbnails it could get confusing. The first one in particular took me a bit of time to realize; before I did, it just felt broken and made me not rely on cmd+~ at all.
- SomaticPirate 5y ago
  Coming to MacOS from Windows (M1 line made me switch) Rectangle provided some nice window management utility that felt more Windows-like (at least for moving windows between monitors and snapping to each side). Never really liked the multiple desktop model
  - Prophasi 5y ago
    Same here, mostly. My laptop since 2015 has been a MBP, so I've had plenty of MacOS experience, but day to day has always been 90/10 Windows. Now that I have the M1 I'm trying to use it daily, so the little grievances are more apparent (but I also have more motivation to solve them). I've always felt like multiple desktops (on all 3 OSes) have untapped potential, but like you its never worked for me. But hope springs eternal - I try it again every now and then. I'd like to hear more about how some people use it. Heard good things about Rectangle. I'll check it out.
    - gnubison 5y ago
      …you know that there are more than three operating systems, right…?
alin23 5y ago
I found Cmd-Tab to be too slow for me after coming from Windows where I used Win+number. I had to create a new app to scratch that itch: https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd I think the consistent shortcuts for switching between tabs are Cmd-Shift-[ and Cmd-Shift-] It worked in all applications I used so far.

gunapologist99 5y ago

I have alt-backtick mapped to my favorite terminal app in Linux, and control-backtick mapped to a new browser window. I'd be buggered if I ever switched to Mac!

jacobmischka 5y ago
These keybinds are relatively common on Linux too, they're Gnome defaults.
- joombaga 5y ago
  They're also customisable.
  - jacobmischka 5y ago
    Are they not customizable on macOS?
    - joombaga 5y ago
      Yes they are.
dkonofalski 5y ago
Why? Cmd+tilde/backtick is neither of those...

stormbrew 5y ago

The problem is cmd-tab brings everything up. For example, if you have a terminal window and a browser window next to each other that you're flipping between, but there's a browser window under the terminal window, cmd-tab will obscure the terminal.

blacksmith_tb 5y ago
Ah, sure, that makes sense. I guess I tend to be running 2-3 different browsers for different kinds of tasks, Chrome for work, Firefox for personal browsing, Brave for gmail, so I don't typically end up with multiple browser windows in the same browser. If I do for some reason, I tend to minimize all but the one I have been using with cmd-m.
- edoceo 5y ago
  On my Xfce it's been Super+Tab to cycle through app windows in the current workspace for the last 15+ years. New stuff is cool and all but Xfce has been so boring for so long I keep forgetting I've upgraded. One time tho, the buttons on dialog windows moved to the top (GTK thing?) - yea, took like a week to get used to it.
- greggman3 5y ago
  I use one browser with multiple profiles. But even if I ran different browsers to solve that issue I'd have to do the same for everything else. Run 3-5 different editors instead of one editor with 3-5 windows. Run 3-5 different terminals apps instead of one Terminal app with 3-5 different windows. etc....
waterhouse 5y ago
I use a free application called Spark, which lets me bind global hotkeys to arbitrary things, and in particular those things can be "bring up the topmost window of application X while leaving the rest where they are". I have it set up so that control-shift-h brings up Terminal, control-shift-c brings up Chrome, control-shift-f brings up Finder, control-shift-n brings up Firefox, etc., and for most of those I have "Bring [to] front the main window only" set. I use the hotkeys many times a day. https://www.shadowlab.org/softwares/spark.php https://www.shadowlab.org/softwares/spark.php

Prophasi 5y ago

I don't love it (yet). It's probably a combo of my Windows background, my ignorance of MacOS tricks, and actual limitations/flaws. * Cmd+~ from a fullscreen window does nothing, and non-full windows of the app cycle only among each other. If I have fullscreen windows anywhere in my setup, it breaks my flow and (afaik) makes me mouse to the Window menu. I feel like MacOS's fullscreen paradigm is more to blame here, because it violates a range of other behaviors I'd expect. * Unlike cmd+tab, cmd+~ doesn't give me a visual overview of my windows (how many? what order?). I can see why, since cmd+tab shows only icons and app names, which isn't enough to differentiate between windows of the same app (unlike alt+tab on Windows, which shows thumbnails, paths, page titles, etc. * Cmd+~ also cycles in a static order, not most recently used. This feels like fallout from the second point, in that if you're not showing thumbnails it could get confusing. The first one in particular took me a bit of time to realize; before I did, it just felt broken and made me not rely on cmd+~ at all.

SomaticPirate 5y ago
Coming to MacOS from Windows (M1 line made me switch) Rectangle provided some nice window management utility that felt more Windows-like (at least for moving windows between monitors and snapping to each side). Never really liked the multiple desktop model
- Prophasi 5y ago
  Same here, mostly. My laptop since 2015 has been a MBP, so I've had plenty of MacOS experience, but day to day has always been 90/10 Windows. Now that I have the M1 I'm trying to use it daily, so the little grievances are more apparent (but I also have more motivation to solve them). I've always felt like multiple desktops (on all 3 OSes) have untapped potential, but like you its never worked for me. But hope springs eternal - I try it again every now and then. I'd like to hear more about how some people use it. Heard good things about Rectangle. I'll check it out.
  - gnubison 5y ago
    …you know that there are more than three operating systems, right…?

alin23 5y ago

I found Cmd-Tab to be too slow for me after coming from Windows where I used Win+number. I had to create a new app to scratch that itch: https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd I think the consistent shortcuts for switching between tabs are Cmd-Shift-[ and Cmd-Shift-] It worked in all applications I used so far.