Alex Blake / Digital Trends
switch apps is something I do countless times every day on my Mac , so much so that I do n’t ever think anything of it . That is until recently , when I find a raw app that has me flipping windows in a novel ( and much - amend ) style .
That app is calledQuick Tab , and it ’s designed to make app shift a niggling more painless . Now , I ’ll intromit that I ’ve never think of the traditional Command - Tab key combination as all that painful , but Quick Tab has swiftly shown me what I ’ve been missing .
Alex Blake / Digital Trends
The normal way that change apps works inmacOSis pretty straightforward : hold the Command key and press Tab to take up the app switcher , then keep pressing Tab until the app you require is highlighted . Finally , just lease go of the keys to move that app to the foreground . It ca n’t get much simpler than that .
A better way to switch apps
With Quick Tab , you instead useOption - Tabas the central combination . This brings up a new app whipper windowpane that shows your open apps lean vertically , with a telephone number next to each one . Press the number corresponding to the app you need to open and it will move to the foreground . Or you could press Tab to move through the list of apps as you would with Apple ’s default Command - Tab system of rules .
The idea is that this deliver you time when you have a lot of apps open . alternatively of using the Command - TabMac keyboard shortcutto move through your loose apps one by one , you could simply rap a number to get the app you want . There ’s no repeated pressing of the Tab paint and no cycling through a bloated list of apps .
Despite Quick Tab ’s primary consumption slip , I constitute that also it fix a different way out I ’ve always had with Apple ’s app whipper . unremarkably , if you accidentally scroll too far through your lean of apps when using Command - Tab , you either have to keep press Tab until you loop back around to the app you need , or you have to awkwardly move your finger onto the Shift key and then beseech Tab again , all while still hold the Command push button . It ’s difficult to do and hardly an ideal way to go back through your listing of overt apps .
In Quick Tab , none of that is necessary . There ’s never really a need to move backwards through your open apps because you could just constrict the turn next to the one you want to select . Or you may just habituate your mouse or arrow keys to choose your desired app . Not only does Quick Tab give you a quicker , more effective style to change apps , but it puzzle out a shrewish problem that ’s always bugged me in macOS .
Here ’s another thing I like : Quick Tab ’s app switcher window can be countersink to stay on your screen even if you relinquish the Command samara . That makes it much easier to tab through the list of apps or work out which phone number you necessitate to press without have to keep your digit on the Command Francis Scott Key the whole time .
As I remark above , as well as using your keyboard , you could also select an app by clicking it with your mouse . And there ’s even a pin button so you could ensure that Quick Tab ’s switcher remains open and on top of your other window , meaning there ’s no indigence to apply the central combination at all – just tap the app whipper and press your desired issue .
Fast and simple
Quick Tab may not seem like a groundbreaking app , and it ’s pretty limited in what it aims to do . But what it does , it does really well . It ’s one of those littleMac appsthat make a diminished problem you never acknowledge needed reparation , but once it has been solved , you ca n’t opine going back to the former way of doing things .
Quick Tab follow with a free 14 - day trial so you could give it a go before yield anything . After that , it ’s $ 10 for a one - year license or a one - off $ 20 purchase to keep it forever .
The developer has a emcee of other apps , many of which also have a focus on app shift , windowpane direction , and all things user interface in macOS . But for a fast and uncomplicated kettle of fish that ’s made my Mac usage just that little bit comfortable , Quick Tab is toilsome to thump . It ’s also a greatapp for Mac power users .
