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Feature Request: App: Toggle Visibility OR Toggle ON/OFF (Launch/Quit)


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This is a feature request for Alfred REMOTE. Area Pages > Dragging Apps directly to Remote pages.

 

Hello... I know that when you drag an App you have the option (on double clicking on Remote > Page > App) to "Toggle Visibility". It's very nice but Show/Hide is not "on/off." 

 

Can we have an option to also "Toggle the App Run State"...? Real "on/off"...? 

 

Yes, in English I want to toggle whether the App is "ON" (launched, running) or "OFF" (quit)

 

Yes, I know I can do this by making involved workflows and using a toggle script like this one, but on a per-App basis this gets a bit tedious. Every App I've dragged into on this remote page I'd like to be able to toggle ON-OFF... not just "hide"...

 

Thank you for reading, as always....

Edited by leoofborg
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The problem with this is that app icons would then have three roles: starting an app, switching to an app when it is running but not active, and quitting an app. I'd prefer app icons to have the former two - so that clicking an icon will always activate an app, rather than sometimes activate it and other times quit it. This is consistent with how app icons always work in OS X and iOS.

I'd recommend instead that you add commands to close the topmost window and/or app:

http://www.alfredforum.com/topic/5410-close-a-windowand-trying-to-figure-out-how-to-quit-an-app/

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The problem with this is that app icons would then have three roles: starting an app, switching to an app when it is running but not active, and quitting an app. I'd prefer app icons to have the former two - so that clicking an icon will always activate an app, rather than sometimes activate it and other times quit it. This is consistent with how app icons always work in OS X and iOS.

 

Buuut these aren't OSX or iOS icons, these are "Remote Buttons" -- it's also why I wanted it to be an "option" like a checkbox or a radio button on that App sheet (if it's an "either-or" scenario.)

 

I *am* using the Veritrope command I posted above, but again: 1/ It's tedious to do this with Automator Apps or Alfred Workflows when I could just "drag the instance" of the App to make the button, and 2/ It can be SLOW or misfire. I'm hoping the Alfred folks make things "really easy" in this respect.

 

I don't want users constrained. I want beginners to have "more choice" with regards to "toggling"... show/hide when needed, or on/off, depending on how they regard their "Remote Buttons."

 

I was well aware of your point about not confusing users in that they have to be constrained to either show/hide OR on/off. I just want users to have "both meanings" of what is understood to be "toggle."

Edited by leoofborg
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I think dfay has a great idea here... and gives you even more flexibility. If you setup apps to toggle visibility (show / hide), then have one button on the page of apps which can quit the current app.

 

There are a number of issues with regards to "toggle" launching / quitting an app which would make it confusing even if you had configured it this way...

 

Currently: With the toggling show / hide, if the app is not current it brings it to the front and shows it. If it is visible, you are hiding it. You are always working with the correct context and the feedback happening on the Mac when you tap the button is a little more obvious.

 

Toggling Launch Quit: If an app is launched but not visible, you would want tapping the button to bring it to the front... it would quit the app instead as it's already running. This could be made more intelligent to show if hide, then quit if visible, then launch if not launched, but then it confuses the behaviour with the show hide toggle and could potentially confuse the user.

 

While I haven't discarded this idea altogether, I haven't seen people request this before so I'll have to see if there is any other interest in this before taking it further.

 

Cheers,

Andrew

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