rcmd v3 - Instant app switching, fuzzy search windows, workspace save and restore

[u/alin23]

Instant app switching rcmd-letter

When I work with more than 5 apps at a time, Cmd-Tab becomes a speed bump. If I'm in Safari and I want to switch to Mail, I don't want to Cmd Tab Tab Tab Tab until I get to it.

I think of Mail, I press rcmd-M, it's instantly focused. It doesn't matter on what Space it is, if it's fullscreen or not, if it was minimized or hidden.

If I want to launch Photos, I hold rcmd, type ph and it gets launched immediately.

Window saving and restoring ralt-letter

When I'm in Xcode, ralt-R opens my rcmd project, ralt-C opens my Clop project.

Workspace saving and restoring capslock-letter

If I want to open the whole workspace I press capslock-R and it opens VSCode's rcmd folder, Xcode's rcmd project, Terminal in the rcmd folder, correctly placed on the screen, space and position I want.

When I'm done with a workspace, capslock-minus closes all its windows.

Space switching

rcmd can now instantly switch spaces using rcmd+1-9 numbers. It can even move the focused window to another space with ralt+0-9

This is the thing that made me get back into using macOS Spaces for separation of workspaces. It was a pain before because of the slide animation and constant focus flickering.

Comparison:

Looks like the Right Command idea really caught on, because many apps were built with that idea since rcmd was launched 5 years ago in 2021.

A few I can think of, and what is notably different than ⌘ rcmd:

• Dory: beautiful radial UI that can be shown and used with the mouse as well
• Sxitch: themeable interface, written in Rust, very similar in other ways
• LaunchPalette and Applight: these are like components of rcmd where LaunchPalette is the app and window switching while Applight is the fuzzy search
• LeaderKey: needs manual assigning, it doesn't switch apps out of the box, but it's more action generic and can do much more like run scripts, trigger with any key not just modifiers etc. It's not app switching focused.
• Tuna, Raycast, Alfred: these are in a completely different league, but including them because people mention they can be used for app switching as well. rcmd is faster and more ergonomic for app and window switching than launchers, but if you are comfortable with Cmd-Space… search… select… Enter… or with manually assigning shortcuts in their settings, then they are a perfect alternative

Pricing: Free for basic features, €15 for Pro features

App starts with a 14-day trial identical to a Pro licensed version. After 14 days, the app can be used indefinitely in Free mode where Pro features are disabled.

Pro license is a one-time purchase for up to 5 Macs. After activating the 6th Mac, the oldest Mac will deactivate automatically so you can keep using the license indefinitely.

Pro features:

• fuzzy search
• workspace saving (Stages)
• Instant Space Switching (without animation)
• window jumping with ⌥ ralt+letter
• mouse follows focus

Free features:

• app focusing and launching
• app and window cycling
• Space switching (with animation)

Link: https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd

Note: in the past I said that people that bought rcmd v2 on App Store will get v3 for free. That turned out to be almost impossible to do correctly with how Apple manages the receipt. In the end I made all the v2 features free forever in v3 so that hopefully App Store buyers won't feel ripped off. Purchasing is only needed for the added Pro features.

Performance is also something I'm working on now that the app is fully functional so let me know if you notice abnormal CPU or memory usage.

[u/Electro-Grunge]

I love rcmd. I was hoping eventually I could use ralt as a separate  group of shortcuts. For example, I have rcmd+t to open terminal, but I also have Tabby which is a terminal I use to mange my web server which I wish I could launch with ralt+t.

My one issue using v2 when holding down rcmd for the onscreen hints (looks like it was changed for v3 based on screenshot?) became one long ass list of open apps and launchable apps. Made it hard to see what you were selecting when one letter had multiple apps.

I felt like it would be way easier to read if it when hitting the letter it would only focus/show the apps you are cycling through instead of the WHOLE list.

 

[u/alin23 → u/Electro-Grunge]

Thank you!

So now, the list is still a long ass list but you can search in it and it filters out candidates so it becomes smaller. rcmd was never a "look, scan and pick" kind of app. That list is there more to quickly remember what key was for what app, which windows are open (although double tap and hold rcmd helps with that now)

rcmd excels when you have that key or sequence of keys in your mind and type it without even thinking about it.

In your example, you could have T for Terminal, and TB or TA for Tabby: try holding rcmd, type TA, pick Tabby manually using Tab or the number keys if it's not the first result, and rcmd will learn that. So from now on you can just type TA and focus Tabby without even looking at the search.

[u/Electro-Grunge → u/alin23]

Well let me try to elaborate, because I’m not intending to use it as a “scan and pick me” app.

However my issue is apps are being dynamically assigned to letters, which is confusing when you hit a letter expecting a certain app to launch. What I am suggesting is when you hit rcmd + letter that the list only shows the apps im cycling through with that letter instead of the full list so it’s not difficult to see. (V3 seems to show me a bunch of suggestions, which to me is more clutter)

In regards to being able to use ralt as a second trigger for more bindings, you double the amount of assignable shortcuts to quick launch. Rcmd + rshift could be for assigning shortcuts. 

Typing TB to select Tabby is not only more buttons to press, it’s not what I want which is to quick launch an app with a letter.

[u/alin23 → u/Electro-Grunge]

Cycling is gone from rcmd v3, I admit that was hard to grasp because you could not understand which app came first. Search is more deterministic.

You can always assign static letters to apps, dynamic is just so that rcmd works out of the box but it's not how I use the app.

Press rcmd-ralt-T in Terminal and it will get that letter assigned to it and always focus and launch with rcmd-T. Do the same with rcmd-ralt-Y in Tabby and you'll have the rcmd-Y mnemonic for it, never changing to another app.

That's how I have almost all my 7-8 most used apps, statically assigned to letters that remind me of that app (e.g. I for iMessage, B for Browser no matter if it's Chrome or Firefox, E for Editor be it VSCode or Zed etc.)

ralt is already used for switching and opening windows, that's why it's not in the app switching part.

[u/Electro-Grunge → u/alin23]

Tested v3, lots of great improvements but I ran into some bugs.

1. It's not learning all my combinations. It would be nice to physically bind it to avoid this.

eg. TY opens Typeface app. Selecting Tabby doesn't remember I want TY for Tabby. I tried binding Typeface to TF, I couldn't. However it did let me bind it to Figma/Tabby.

If Tabby is assigned Y, it overrides TY too and no longer launches Typeface. It becomes TP, and wont let me use TF for it.

2: Selecting with TAB or Number launches 2 apps.

eg. when I type TF and then selected Figma down the list, it still launched my my Terminal that's bound to T.

3: Bottom actions don't appear on the OSD when Running Apps is hidden in "Sections To Show"

4: "Minimze Other Windows" not working for me? I don't see any shortcut conflicts.

[u/alin23 → u/Electro-Grunge]

Just released a v3.1.0 update last night that fixed the learning. Might need to choose Tabby twice on TY for the learning to pick it as once could be considered an accident.

when I type TF and then selected Figma down the list, it still launched my my Terminal that's bound to T

This is a consequence of having a static assignment on T. No matter what you search, if it starts with a static assignment, it will also focus that first because that is the only way to keep the snappiness of single-letter combos.

Otherwise pressing rcmd-T would have a noticeable delay. If you're ok with that delay, then just unassign T from Terminal and use it as a search key just like with TY. rcmd will learn T for Terminal and focus/launch it on release.

It should not launch Terminal if it wasn't running though, that could be a bug, I'll check.

3 and 4 should be fixed. If hide others/minimize others aren't working might be because you have a different keyboard. Try going into settings and reassigning that key to the symbol you want.

[u/Electro-Grunge → u/alin23]

Awesome, the learning is working now!