Command-Tab is one of my Mac’s most-used keyboard shortcuts. It lets me switch between open apps quickly, which is a crucial part of my workflow. But I am guilty of using way too many apps at once, and I’ve started to run into Command-Tab’s limitations.
The most annoying of these is that I have to press Tab way too many times to get to the app I want, since Command-Tab cycles through apps one at a time. That’s why I use third-party alternatives to launch and switch to my favorite apps. My favorite is Dory ($10), which is fast, has a beautiful interface, and makes it really quick and easy to open the apps I use.
How Dory works
Credit: Pranay Parab
When you launch Dory, it’ll ask you to set up a keyboard shortcut for switching between apps. I’ve set mine up so I press the right Command key twice for this, so I don’t interfere with other macOS shortcuts, but you can use whatever works best for you. You can even use a combination of keyboard and mouse buttons, which is ideal for anyone on a desktop Mac.
Dory’s app switcher can be configured to have one of three layouts—a list, a palette, and a fan. The first one (list) is the simplest of the three. It shows all open apps in a horizontal list and you can click the one you want to launch. The palette layout shows your open apps in a unique layout that looks like a bunch of swatch cards. The fan layout uses a circular menu to list all your open apps. I love the uniqueness of the palette layout (you can see it in this article’s header image), but I went with the fan layout because it hits the sweet spot between practicality and looks for me.
Credit: Pranay Parab
Dory’s app switcher also helpfully shows a single letter next to your apps (eg: F shows up under Finder), and you can press that key to switch to it. This means that you can open Dory’s app switcher and press just one key to go to your favorite app, which is quite helpful when your workflow involves moving between 3-4 apps regularly. If multiple apps have the same letter, the switcher will narrow down the list to just those apps.
In the fan layout, there’s also an unfurling animation that plays when you open it. It’s quite pretty, but if you don’t want to sit through it every time you go to switch apps, you can also adjust the animation speed to make the switcher snappier. And if the app switcher is too small for you, all three layouts let you adjust its size. Both of these options are available under Dory’s General Settings page, which opens up automatically when you launch the app.
Configuring dedicated keys to launch certain apps
Credit: Pranay Parab
My favorite Dory feature is the ability to permanently assign certain keys to launch certain apps. Go to Dory’s advanced settings to check out this feature. There, you can choose any app on your Mac and assign a specific letter to launch it. As an example, you can choose Ulysses, and assign the U letter to the app. Then, you’ll need to press the rocket icon on the settings page to enable and assign a launch shortcut. This lets you use Dory as an app launcher.
From that moment on, simply press the launch shortcut and then hit the letter you just assigned to start opening the corresponding app. Dory will ask you to confirm your choice, and you’ll just need to hit the return key or click the app’s tile in Dory before the app launches. While asking for confirmation adds an extra step, it also prevents accidental app launches, so I can see why the developer designed Dory this way. Unfortunately, there is no way to get rid of the confirmation step right now.
You also have the option to hide certain apps from Dory’s app switcher, maybe ones that you always have open in the background but rarely need to navigate to. In Dory’s advanced settings, choose the app you want to hide and press the eye icon next to it to toggle it between making the app hidden and visible.