Reduce Motion
With Reduce Motion on in System Settings › Accessibility, the panel appears without animating, the search ripple and the slide into an app's windows are skipped, and the list jumps instead of scrolling smoothly.
Easy on the eyes and the hands
Everything in Flick's panel works from the keyboard, every row is labelled for VoiceOver, and Flick follows your Mac's Reduce Motion setting. A Large text size makes its text 20% bigger.
Keyboard only.
No mouse needed, and no key you have to keep holding.
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Open it, held or not
Hold ⌥ and tap Tab, or press ⇧⌘Space to open it with nothing held.
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Move and pick
Arrow keys and Tab move the selection (⌃N and ⌃P too, once the list stays open), and typing narrows the list. Number keys switch straight to one of the first 9 rows. A resting pointer never moves your selection.
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Act on it
Press ⌥⇧K for the actions menu, or ⌘K once the list stays open, then Return or an item's letter, such as O for Hide Others. Esc closes just the menu. More in window actions.
VoiceOver.
The panel is labelled “Window switcher”, and each row is read as one item.
| Where | What VoiceOver reads |
|---|---|
| A window | The app, the window title, its state (minimized, full screen, app hidden or on another Desktop) and its number key, such as “Safari, Start Page, minimized, Option-3”. |
| A row with a count | The number of windows or tabs, and an action to open them, such as Show 3 Windows. |
| Any row | Its default action switches to it. Show Actions opens the actions menu. |
| The actions menu | “Actions for Safari”. Opened from the keyboard, each item is read with its key, such as “Minimize Window, Option-Shift-M”. Force Quit asks its question aloud before it acts. |
| Search | An “Enter to search” button until you start, then the field, “Search windows”. Apps you can open read as “Open Calculator”. |
Two settings that change what you hearWith Hide app names on, rows leave out the app name and start with the window title. Turn off Show number shortcuts in Settings › Shortcuts and rows stop reading their key; the keys still work.
Motion, contrast and text.
Flick follows three of your Mac's settings and has one of its own, in Settings.
Increase Contrast
The window locator, which outlines the selected window once you turn it on in Settings › Appearance, draws a thicker outline, and Outline and dim dims the rest more. Flick doesn't restyle the panel itself.
Text size
Large, in Settings › Appearance, makes text 20% bigger in the panel, Settings and the welcome window. It's Flick's own setting, separate from the macOS text size.
Key repeat
Holding Tab moves through the list at your Mac's key repeat rate and delay. With key repeat off in Keyboard settings, each press moves one row.
The keys.
With the default ⌥Tab trigger. The full shortcut list also covers ⌘Tab.
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| ⌥Tab | Opens Flick and moves down the list. Let go of ⌥ to switch. |
| ⌥⇧Tab | Moves back up the list. |
| ⌥1 to ⌥9 | Switches to that row. Once the list stays open, use ⌘1 to ⌘9. |
| → ← | Opens a browser window's tabs, or an app's windows with Group by app, and goes back. |
| Return | Starts a search that stays open, or switches to the selected result. |
| Esc | Clears the search, goes back, or closes Flick without switching. |
In the free versionEverything here works in the free version, which switches between your 5 most recent windows, except browser tabs: a browser window's tab list and its Show N Tabs action need a license.
Limits.
- Always dark. The panel is dark whatever your Mac's appearance, with no themes or custom colors.
- English only. Flick's own labels and announcements are in English. App names and window titles are read as your apps show them.
Questions.
Can I use Flick without holding a key down?
Yes. Press ⇧⌘Space or choose Search Windows in the menu bar menu, and the list stays open until you press Return or Esc. After ⌥Tab, press Return before you let go.
Is this the same as Flick's Accessibility permission?
No. Flick needs that permission to list, switch, close and minimize other apps' windows. It's unrelated to the features here. See why Flick needs Accessibility.
Will the rows move while I'm reading them?
Not on their own. While the panel is open the list keeps its order: a window that opens is added at the end, and one that closes drops out, moving the rows below it up one.
Made for the keyboard.
And labelled for VoiceOver, from the first row to the last.
The free version never expires and switches between your 5 most recent windows. A one-time license, from $9.49, unlocks every window and browser tabs.