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My workflow involves with Spaces heavily and I realize that Mac's default Application switcher displays all windows from all spaces. I find that extremely annoying and was wondering if there's a solution to get around that.

I have tried LiteSwitch X (it doesn't solve my problem), Witch (takes too long to select a window) and am not very happy with either of these choices.

Can someone recommend me a good application switcher app or a solution to my problem?

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    see apple.stackexchange.com/questions/9659/…
    – user78429
    Jul 7, 2011 at 5:25
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    @bckbck: That doesn't really answer my question...
    – xjq233p_1
    Jul 7, 2011 at 6:16
  • it's not an answer, it's a comment
    – user78429
    Jul 7, 2011 at 6:17
  • I just use a Hot Corner that shows all the windows in the current space.
    – Vervious
    Jul 9, 2011 at 0:54

5 Answers 5

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I use Spotlight on my iMac running Snow Leopard to open and switch between Apps and Spaces. It's quick and I don't have to touch the mouse.

To launch an app, I press CMD spacebar to open the Spotlight bar and I type the first two or three letters of the app then I press enter.

CMD (Apple key) spacebar fir enter for firefox, CMD spacebar ma for Mail, CMD iTu enter for iTunes, CMD spaceword EXC for excel etc...

Once they are open I switch the same way. If the focus is in iTunes, I enter CMD spacebar FI enter and I'm switched to Firefox in the assigned space where it's running.

This method works every time to switch me to the App I've entered and the Space where it's running. Hope that helps.

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  • I don't really like your work flow sorry
    – xjq233p_1
    Jul 7, 2011 at 6:10
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I use Apple's Spotlight to find programs quickly or for a quick calculator. Command + Space then type what you want.

I use BetterTouchTools(free) to quickly change between programs. You could also use jitouch or magicprefs but I really like how custom you can get with BetterTouchTools plus its free.

BetterTouchTools let you easily add different gestures to do different things. I set it up as follows:

  • Two finger tap brings up Expose
  • Three finger tap brings up the Desktop
  • One finger down and tap to the right or left will switch between tabs in all programs.
  • Two fingers swipe down will close/hide a program.
  • Two fingers down, one finger tap to the right brings up finder.

Its really awesome, you can pick whatever gestures you want and they are all super easy and responsive. I suggest you give it a try, especially since its free. It really increased how fast I can switch between windows. I did buy a Magic Mouse instead of using the touchpad because it made it easier for graphic design work. Totally worth it!

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I use Quicksilver. I open Quicksilver type until the application I want comes up and press enter. If the application is closed for some reason it launches it for me. Additionally my muscle memory has been built up so I am usually in Quicksilver for performing system level functions which greatly enhances my productivity because I can start acting before I've really thought about what I want to do.

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I don't know if there's a similar trick for the -tab application switcher, but if you use exposé for switching applications this is a must have:

defaults write com.apple.dock wvous-show-windows-in-other-spaces -bool FALSE
killall Dock    # restart the Dock to make new setting take effect

That makes exposé just show you the windows that are open in the current space, rather than windows from all spaces.

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I use LaunchBar for...well...just about everything on my Mac. Launch apps, switching apps, sending files to apps, copy and paste history, accessing apps text services...the list is long. For application launching and switching I just Cmd-Space to call up LaunchBar and start typing the name of the app. It learns pretty quickly what I usually launch when I type something like 'te' and will start showing me TextMate without having to type much. If TextMate is already running it'll switch to it, if it's not it'll start it. You can also access all running applications by typing 'Runn' and selecting 'Running Applications' from the top of the list to pick an app to switch to (or paste in to or what not) directly from the list of running apps.

It can take a bit of getting used to but once you're proficient a LaunchBar-enabled Mac is a Mac where you barely need to a touch a mouse or trackpad. With the exception of web browsing, which seems to be highly cursor-centric, I can go for long stretches of time without touching the mouse.

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