Window Switcher — Switch to a specific window of an app in the current Desktop Space

[jr5]

I love this workflow! Thank you, vitor! 

I use it to see the windows of each app in each desktop Space. But it also shows results that aren't windows, which clog up the list. Screenshot attached (yellow arrows showing unhelpful listings). 

I've also attached a screenshot showing my Stage Manager queue for this Space. Thanks for any ideas!

Edited September 18, 2023 by jr5

[vitor]

18 hours ago, jr5 said:

I love this workflow! Thank you, vitor!

 

Thank you for the kind words.

 

Updated to 2023.6.

• Tweaked icon.
• Show dialog when requiring screen recording permissions.
• Ignore extra windows created by Stage Manager.
  

The last point should fix your case, @jr5.

[jr5]

7 hours ago, vitor said:

The last point should fix your case, @jr5.

It did! Thanks, vitor!

[Raffi]

Me again, Vitor!

 

Still loving this workflow. An integral part of my workday. Thank you. 
 

A couple of matters:

 

- Strangely, macos Calculator doesn't show up in the list. A weird limitation of the system API, it seems.  

 

- Do you have a variant of this workflow that shows windows only of the active application? (that is, "Application Windows")

[vitor]

1 hour ago, Raffi said:

Strangely, macos Calculator doesn't show up in the list.

 

Can’t reproduce. Shows up fine for me.

 

1 hour ago, Raffi said:

Do you have a variant of this workflow that shows windows only of the active application?

 

Type the name of the app to filter for its windows.

[Raffi]

Thank you.

 

That's strange that you couldn't reproduce. I'll try again tomorrow. 

 

Concerning your second response, that's a workaround for sure - it's an extra cognitive step, though, and requires more typing. So I'll just stick with Cmd-`, which is faster. 

 

Thanks again. 

[vitor]

5 minutes ago, Raffi said:

that's a workaround for sure

 

It’s not a workaround, it’s by design. The workflow was specifically made to work like this.

 

8 minutes ago, Raffi said:

I'll just stick with Cmd-`, which is faster.

 

Or you can make a workflow—entirely without code—which opens this one with the app’s name already filled. Thus allowing for better filtering. Like so.

[Raffi]

Super duper! Thank you very much, Vitor. That works very well for my needs. And such a prompt turnaround - and on a Sunday! 

 

Do you accept any small financial contributions for your work? Your workflow and support are worth it, and much appreciated. 

 

(By the way, I'm able to replicate the Calculator issue each time. If you'd like any diagnostic information then just let me know.)

[vitor]

On 9/24/2023 at 7:27 PM, Raffi said:

Do you accept any small financial contributions for your work? Your workflow and support are worth it, and much appreciated.

I used to, but not anymore. Though thank you for the offer and for the kind words, those I do accept: I like improving people’s lives and knowing when that happens is a motivator.

 

On 9/24/2023 at 7:27 PM, Raffi said:

(By the way, I'm able to replicate the Calculator issue each time. If you'd like any diagnostic information then just let me know.)

Hard to test for that one over the internet, we may need to wait for other reports. What’s your macOS version?

[Raffi]

 I'm happy to give just kind words too. 

 

I'm on Ventura 13.6. 

[sing]

is it possible to also list all windows from all spaces? I often open many windows in the same space and also many spaces. 

This will make my productivity higher.

[vitor]

3 hours ago, sing said:

is it possible to also list all windows from all spaces?

Please see the second post.

[justdanyul]

Hi there. 

I was just wondering if there have been some update that broke this workflow? I just installed it today, but it isn't working for me. I get the list of open windows, but when I select one, it doesn't change focus to the window. 

 

EDIT: 

 

Apologies, Alfred was missing the accessibility permission. I turned this on and its working now

Edited January 21 by justdanyul

[Stephen_C]

Welcome to the forum.

 

Please open the debugger then run the workflow and copy and paste the full output of the debugger into a post in this thread. That will help the developer see the precise problem.

 

Stephen

[samdale67]

Vitor, thanks for this really useful workflow. I'm wondering if there is any way to enhance the workflow so that it can list docked windows?

 

Thanks!!

[vitor]

@samdale67 When asking about an existing Workflow, please use its own forum thread. It’s luck that I saw your post. I have moved it to the correct place.

 

As to your question, the answer is covered right at the top.

[samdale67]

On 12/8/2021 at 10:33 AM, vitor said:

Because it’s a frequently asked question, I’ll cover at the top that the workflow will not show windows which are hidden, minimised, or in another Desktop space. Those cannot be retrieved with current macOS APIs without a significant hit in performance, losing useful stacking order information, or showing a ton of irrelevant non-app windows. The workflow specifically moved away from those tradeoffs.

 

The workflow continues to be maintained and will get relevant tweaks, but it should be considered feature complete.

 

 

So other products that do show hidden/docked windows such as AltTab and Witch also suffer the same performance hit, or the performance hit is only relevant to a workflow deployed within Alfreed?

[vitor]

Performance doesn’t just mean speed. You cannot fairly compare the resource usage of apps which are continually running in the background and gathering information to a single binary that must launch, execute, and exit in a fraction of a second. It’s difference tradeoffs (like almost everything in computing) and Window Switcher is designed to be fast and consume effectively nothing, especially when you’re not using it.

 

In addition, you’re focusing on one third of the given reasons and not the right one. That post does not say hidden windows specifically cause performance issues. Every one of the tools we’re talking about has a different interface and objectives.

 

It’s worth noting the code is open-source, which allows anyone to pick it up and tweak it to their needs. There are also other window changing workflows which may behave in other ways. Different people have different preferences and value different things. There is a strong core of users who like the workflow exactly as it is, and it’s important to not ignore that.

[vitor]

Updated to 2024.1.

• Add External Trigger.
• Skip Input as Universal Action.
• Use const for name and description.