I built this because I couldn't find a window switching/management solution that worked for me. I tried all kinds of different solutions, virtual desktop extensions, obscure GUI window managers, you name it. Overtime I realized I wanted something that prioritizes one window at a time, is keyboard driven with has minimal if no GUI elements. I figured this part out, but knew something was missing. I had my eureka moment when I realized I could combine my switching method with a prediction algorithm. This led to the creation of Smart Switcher.
Smart Switcher is a data driven window switcher aimed at improving the overall window switching experience. It logs data on your windows switching, then a prediction algorithm analyzes this data and uses it to predict which window you would want to switch to next. When you need to switch windows, you press the switch shortcut to switch to the next predicted window. If this isn't the window you wanted, press the override shortcut to switch to the next most likely window. You can press the override shortcut as many times as needed until you arrive at your desired window.
It’s a paid app with a demo and trial version. There is a introductory discount and some additional discount tiers for early adopters.
Any feedback is appreciated! Thanks!
Personally (as someone with ADHD), this would just relentlessly grind my gears. My thoughts are unpredictable by nature and so I value the "reliability" of knowing my chrome is two alt+tabs away, etc.
If an algorithm started messing with this and changing throughout the day... Damn, I'd go crazy.
From an information perspective, prediction can only be right as frequently as there is redundant data capable of being compressed.
https://www.cs.utexas.edu/~eunsol/courses/data/bitter_lesson...
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[1]: https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd/
I used hammerspoon for something similar, but it worked on the window title. So, I could add custom titles to my chrome/iterm/code windows, and switch by pressing a shortcut and then typing 1-4 letters to match the title. It was my favorite window management UI for my work laptop with an absurd amount of tabs open.
You switch to the app, then use macOS's native window-switching keybind (command+backtick) or App Exposé or etc.
I've used an auto hotkey script for years that has served me perfectly. I press my shortcut modifier (the right Alt key) and then the letter of the app I want to switch to. For example, Right Alt + C will switch to my code editor VS Code. Right Alt + T will switch to MS Teams.
Repeating key presses will switch through all instances of that app so Right Alt + C, C, C will switch to the third open VS Code window.
The top row can be temporarily assigned to any open window for using on windows I have open that I'm switching to frequently but only while I have work in progress.
The scripts are at https://github.com/dattiimo/ahk-scripts for anyone interested.
So after switching, they will need a short moment to reorient: understand where they were taken, check if it matches where they wanted to go, and then either switch again or stop the switching process to resume work. In UX design, it's better if you can complete a longer process without having to halt and reorient many times in the process (like opening a menu that was hidden and wait for a loading animation to complete, until you can actually read the menu items are).
If it's impossible to keep a mental model of where you are in the system, and how you can move to another specific window, then actually EVERY window switch requires much more effort and conscious thought.
I think windowing systems, virtual desktops, spotlights, stage managers, exposés, mission controls, are all too complicated... I don't know what the solution is, and I think it's great that people are working on novel solutions. But I do know I want to easily switch between 2-4 windows without the order randomly changing.
The main problem with them is system support, they are buggy when tacked on top of a desktop OS (PaperWM), or require a pretty finicky custom setup (Niri).
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I feel like the only predictable workflows are when I'm cycling through N windows repeatedly. Tabbing works great for N=2 already due to reorganizing the list so the first element is always the previous window. But N=3 or 4 and maybe 5 are also common for me and kind of annoying with tabbing. Of course I don't know how predictable those are either, they're annoying to tab because the patterns are almost regular but also have frequent exceptions.
I am sorta talking myself into wanting normal tabbing alongside a browser style forward/back (which would NOT reorder the alt/cmd tab list). That way once I have my N windows as most recent, it's all back/forward navigation and the path to each window is something I would remember for the session.
I did a lot of testing so it’s a fully working version, not a beta. This would just a thank-you for helping out early. You can reach me at hello@aboveaverageuser.com
Thanks everyone!
I wonder, OP, what is it that you dont like about how it just uses your most recent windows in order of last opened?