Using Flick with a non-US keyboard

Number keys on AZERTY and Czech layouts

After ⌥Tab, holding ⌥ and pressing 1 to 9 switches to that row. Flick reads the key's place on the top row, not its character, so on French AZERTY the & key is 1. Keys on a numeric keypad don't pick rows.

Where a number key types a letter, holding ⌥ types that letter into the search, so add ⇧ to pick the row:

The hint at the end of each row shows the keys your layout needs, such as ⌥⇧2, or ⇧⌘2 with the ⌘Tab trigger. More in jump to a row with a number.

⌥` and accent keys

Many Mac layouts use ⌥ and a key to start an accent, a dead key: on the ABC layout, ⌥N and then a makes ã. To see which keys do that on yours, open the Keyboard Viewer and hold ⌥: dead keys have an orange outline.

⌥` is one of them on many layouts, which is why the front app's windows start off when your trigger is ⌥Tab: turning on Switch between the front app's windows in Settings › Shortcuts makes ⌥` switch windows in every app instead. If ⌥` is a dead key on your layout, Settings says so:

The note follows your current input source. With the option off, ⌥` still moves back up the list while you hold ⌥ in the switcher, and stays your accent key everywhere else. To have both, use ⌘Tab as your trigger: Flick's ⌘` is on by default there. See switch between the front app's windows, and where the ` key is.

Flick's ` is a key, not a character: the one that types ` on a US layout. On French AZERTY and German, as on Belgian and Spanish, that key types <, so the front app's windows are ⌥<, or ⌘< with the ⌘Tab trigger, and the same key moves back up the list while you hold your trigger. Settings still writes them as ⌥` and ⌘`. ⌥< types a symbol there, such as ≤, not an accent, so Settings shows no warning. With the option on, ⌥< switches windows instead of typing that symbol, and the key that types your ` accent stays yours.

Typing while you hold ⌥

While you hold ⌥, Flick ignores it for the letters you type: ⌥W types w, and a dead key types its plain letter, so ⌥N types n. Search ignores accents and capitals anyway: “tele” finds a Finder window called Téléchargements.

• Action letters follow your layout. ⌥⇧W uses the key that types W on your keyboard, wherever AZERTY, Dvorak or another Latin layout puts it.
• Layouts in another script, such as Russian or Greek, type their own letters, so you can find titles in that script; the actions use the keys where W, M, H, Q and K sit on a US keyboard. To type a name in Latin letters, switch layouts before you open Flick.
• With the ⌘Tab trigger, the same rules apply with ⌘, except that ⌘W, ⌘M, ⌘H and ⌘Q act without ⇧.

Every key is in Flick's keyboard shortcuts, and the symbols are explained in Mac keyboard symbols.

Input methods

While you hold ⌥, Flick puts each key straight into the search as your keyboard layout types it, so an input method such as Japanese, Chinese or Korean doesn't compose it. Type the letters your layout gives, such as saf for Safari.

For a search that uses your input method, press Return after ⌥Tab, or press ⇧⌘Space: the list stays open and the field works like any other. While the input method is composing, every key goes to it, Return, Esc, arrows and numbers included, so press Return once to confirm the text and again to switch.

Changing the search shortcut? Flick warns if you record ⌃Space or ⌃⌥Space: “This shortcut usually switches keyboard input sources. Flick will take it over while it's running.”

Questions