What Flick does with Xcode
- One row per window. Each project you open has a window of its own, and each window is a row, on every Space and display (window tabs share one row; see below). A second window on the same project, from File › New › Window (Apple), is a row too.
- Titled by Xcode. In Xcode 26.4.1, a window's title is the project's name, then the file or item open in the editor, as in “Recipes — RecipeList.swift”. Flick searches both parts, so a few letters of either find it (window search).
- Found by its folders too. Xcode tells macOS which file a window has open, or which project when no file is. Flick's document search looks at that file's name and the folders above it, so a window editing ~/code/acme-ios/Acme/ContentView.swift turns up for “acme-ios”, though its title only says “Acme — ContentView.swift”.
Xcode's tabs and windows
Xcode has two kinds of tabs, and Flick sees them differently.
- Editor tabs sit above the editor (View › Show Editor Tab Bar, or File › New › Tab). Xcode draws them inside the window, so the window stays one row, titled with the file in the tab you're on. Switching straight to a file in an editor tab is on the roadmap. Coming soon
- Window tabs, from File › New › Window Tab, are macOS tabs: each is a window, but only the one in front is on screen. Like Finder and Terminal tabs, a set of window tabs is one row, under the title of the tab in front. To give a tab its own row, choose Window › Move Tab to New Window (Apple). More in why tabs show as one row.
So if you want every project in Flick's list, keep projects in windows rather than window tabs.
Simulator and other tools
Simulator is an app of its own, so its windows are listed under Simulator, not Xcode: a row for each device window, titled with the device and its system, such as “iPhone 17 Pro – iOS 26.4”. Type “17 pro” or “ipad” and let go to bring that device forward.
Xcode's other windows are rows under Xcode, with titles that aren't always their menu names. Search for the title:
- Window › Devices and Simulators is titled “Devices”.
- Window › Organizer opened as “Archives” in our test, after the section it showed.
- Window › Developer Documentation is titled with the page you're reading, such as “Featured | Documentation”.
Keys
| Keys | What it does |
|---|---|
| ⌥Tab, then type | Finds a window by project, file or folder name. |
| ⌃Tab | In Xcode, shows the next window tab. Add ⇧ for the previous one. |
| ⇧⌘O | In Xcode, Open Quickly: opens any file in the project by name. |
| ⇧⌘T | In Xcode, opens another window on the project you're in. |
Flick's own keys work the same in every app: see keyboard shortcuts.
Good to know
Background editor tabs aren't searchedFlick searches a window's title and the file Xcode reports for it, which is the file in front. A file in another editor tab is found once its tab is in front. Until then, switch to the window and use Open Quickly.
Xcode's Library (View › Show Library) is a window too. While it's open, it shows as an extra Xcode row with no title, and the row goes when the Library closes.
Questions
Why does an Xcode row's title keep changing?
Xcode retitles a window when you open another file or select another item in the navigator, and Flick shows the title as it is now. The project's name stays at the start, so search for that.
Do I need to set anything up in Xcode?
No. Flick reads Xcode's windows with the Accessibility permission it already has. There's no extension to install and no Xcode setting to change.
Does the free version work with Xcode?
Yes. It switches between your 5 most recent windows, whichever apps they belong to. With several projects, Simulator and the Organizer open, a license lists every window.
Sources
Checked on . Window titles, menus and shortcuts were also checked in Xcode 26.4.1 and Simulator with iOS 26.4, on macOS 26.2 with Flick 1.1.
- Configuring the Xcode project window (File › New › Window, the editor tab bar), Xcode documentation, Apple Developer
- Use tabs in windows on Mac (Move Tab to New Window, ⌃Tab), Mac User Guide, Apple Support
