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Purpose

alt-tab-macos brings the brilliant Windows 10 window switcher (activated by pressing alt-tab) to macOS users.It lets the user switch between windows in a visual way.

On macOS there is an app cycling shortcut which doesn't let you select between windows of an app, and there is Mission Control which doesn't let you navigate using the keyboard.

How to use

• control + tab cycles through apps
• control + shift + tab cycles through apps in reverse
• Quick press-and-release will cycle through apps without showing any UI
• Holding control after pressing a cycle shortcut will show the UI
• Releasing control or clicking on a window will focus it

Features

• Delay before showing the UI to avoid flashing (default 200ms)
• High quality thumbnails of all windows
• Background uses macOS vibrancy UX
• UI elements have a subtle shadow to ensure readability
• Window titles will truncate with an ellipsis if they don't fit
• Thumbnails have a maximum width and height to help visualize very long, tall, small, big windows
• Fast. There is no benchmark at the moment but energy was spent making sure the UI is responsive

Alternatives

Before building my own app, I looked around at similar apps. However, none was completely satisfactory so I rolled my own. Also the almost-good-enough apps are not open-source.

• HyperSwitch and HyperDock
  Free but closed-source. Things I would change: thumbnails are too small, app icon is on top of the thumbnail
• Witch and Context
  10-15$. focus on text instead of thumbnails
• Built-in [MissionControl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Control_(macOS))
  No keyboard support
• Command-tab
  Only see apps, not windows (note: can press down to see window of selected app)
• Command-`
  Cycles through tabs and windows, but only of the same app. No direct access

Screenshots