Switchback 1.0.1

Switchback 1.0.1

The biggest update since launch. Switchback now runs on macOS 13 Ventura through macOS 27, on Apple silicon and Intel. It adds optional Windows-style window management: layout shortcuts, edge snapping with Snap Assist, move and resize by dragging, a window switcher, Dock previews and Dock click actions. There's also a new Controls section in the menu-bar panel, Tab completion in the address bar, Windows Delete keys, a simpler setup and a long list of Finder fixes.

Switchback is made by Gavin Shipman, its developer. getswitchback.io

Requirements

• macOS 13 Ventura or later, including macOS 27. One universal app for Apple silicon and Intel, on any Mac model.
• Window, switcher and Dock features need Accessibility permission. Window pictures in the switcher and Dock previews need Screen Recording. Switchback asks only when you turn on a feature that needs it. Finder features need neither.
• Every window, switcher and Dock feature is off until you turn it on. The one exception is layout shortcuts, which are on for a new install.

Download and upgrade

• New install: download Switchback-1.0.1.dmg, open it and choose Install Switchback.
• From 1.0: use Check for Updates in Switchback, or install the DMG over 1.0.
• Trial and licence: start a free 14-day trial with every feature, or enter your licence key.
• SHA-256: a91e0a8cb5f25557ae41cebdc2f433fb67bbe95fb731a5d38b5322b8db63cf2f

---

New

Runs on many more Macs

• macOS 13 Ventura, 14, 15, 26 and 27, on Apple silicon and Intel, as one universal app. There's no Mac model check any more.
• Full macOS 27 support.
• A Mac that already allows what Switchback needs skips the Recovery step entirely.
• Recovery instructions show the correct steps for Intel and for Apple silicon.
• Updating macOS no longer reopens setup or makes you repeat the Recovery step.

Window layout shortcuts (Settings › Windows › Shortcuts)

• Shortcuts switch, on for a new install. If macOS refuses a shortcut, you see an orange line.
• 41 layouts in seven groups. Click a row to apply it, record your own shortcut, clear it with ×, or Reset it:
  • Halves: Left ⌃⌥←, Right ⌃⌥→, Top ⌃⌥↑, Bottom ⌃⌥↓, Centre half.
  • Thirds: Left 1/3 ⌃⌥D, Centre 1/3 ⌃⌥F, Right 1/3 ⌃⌥G, Left 2/3 ⌃⌥E, Right 2/3 ⌃⌥T, Centre 2/3, Top 1/3, Middle 1/3, Bottom 1/3, Top 2/3 and Bottom 2/3.
  • Quarter rows: Top, Upper middle, Lower middle and Bottom 1/4.
  • Quarter columns: Left, Left middle, Right middle and Right 1/4.
  • Sixths: Top left, Top centre, Top right, Bottom left, Bottom centre and Bottom right 1/6.
  • Corners: Top left ⌃⌥U, Top right ⌃⌥I, Bottom left ⌃⌥J, Bottom right ⌃⌥K.
  • Actions: Maximise ⌃⌥↩, Maximise with Margin, Full Screen, Centre ⌃⌥C, Previous display, Next display ⌃⌥⌘→, Restore ⌃⌥R.
  • Layouts without a default shortcut start empty, ready for you to record one.
• Repeat Left or Right to cycle sizes (off by default): pressing Left or Right again steps through sizes.
• Margin per edge slider for Maximise with Margin, from 0 to 25% (5% by default).
• Restore puts a window back to its size before the last layout.
• A shortcut can take over a matching macOS shortcut, and the macOS one comes back when Switchback quits.
• Shortcut + pointer layout (off by default, ⌃⌥Space): hold the shortcut, move the pointer towards an edge or corner, and release to place the active window. A round indicator and a preview show where it will go. While you hold the shortcut, a click, scroll up, Space, Return or ↑ maximises, and a right-click, scroll down, M or ↓ minimises. Esc cancels. The trigger can be a key or a held set of modifier keys.
• Move pointer to next display (off by default, ⌃⌥⌘Z): puts the pointer in the centre of the next display.

Gaps

• Window gap and Screen gap: None, 8, 16, 32, 64 or 128. Both are None by default.

Edge snapping and Snap Assist (Settings › Windows › Window dragging)

• Snap windows at screen edges (off by default): drag a window by its title bar to an edge or corner, see a preview, and let go to snap it. Drag it away again to get its old size back. A window you move with the modifier keys snaps too. It has its own switch and works on macOS 13 and later.
• Snap area map: eight zones around a picture of your screen. Each edge can be split into one to four areas. Click an area to:
  • turn that edge or corner on or off;
  • pick its placement from 36 layouts in groups;
  • set how many areas the edge has.
• The standard zones are the top edge to maximise, the left and right edges to the halves, the bottom edge to the bottom half, and each corner to its quarter. Reset puts them back and is dimmed while every zone is standard.
• Snap Assist: after you snap a window, choose another window to fill the rest of the screen, including the remaining quarters.
• Linked resize: windows snapped side by side resize together when you drag their shared edge. They stay linked until you pull them apart or snap another window over one of them.
• Edge snapping waits while macOS's own window tiling is on. Settings shows a warning with Open Desktop & Dock, and snapping starts as soon as tiling is off.

Move and resize by dragging

• Move and resize by dragging (off by default): hold the keys and drag anywhere inside a window to move it. Add Shift and drag to resize. The nearest edge or corner to where you start is the one that moves. On a mouse, dragging with the right button also resizes. Works with a trackpad or a mouse.
• Keys to move: ⌃, ⌥ and ⌘ buttons. Use any combination (⌃⌘ by default). The last key held can't be turned off.
• Bring the dragged window to front (off by default).
• A short click with the keys held still reaches the app.

Ignore apps

• Pause in these apps: while a listed app is in front, window layout ignores your input. Choose the apps from an app picker. The list is empty by default.

Green button

• Maximise windows (off by default): the green button fills the screen without creating another Space. Click again to restore.
• Keep full screen in these apps: in these apps the green button keeps its macOS behaviour, so games, emulators and video players can still go full screen.
• A live status line shows whether the feature is active.

Quit on close

• Quit an app when its last window closes (off by default). Close the last window with ⌘W or the red button and the app quits by itself. Prompts to save changes still appear.
• Apps that normally run without a window are never quit.
• Exceptions: apps on this list stay open even with no windows. Finder, and Phone when it's installed, are always on the list.
• A live status line shows whether the feature is active. A note warns that apps such as screen recorders can close their last window but keep working.

Window switcher (Settings › Switcher & Dock)

• Use the Switchback switcher (on by default once window features are allowed). Switch between apps and windows, including minimised windows and several windows of one app.
• Layout: Window previews (the default), Large icons or Simple list. Simple list doesn't need Screen Recording.
• Apps shortcut ⌘Tab and Windows shortcut ⌘`. Both can be re-recorded. The Windows shortcut opens the front app's windows, and while the switcher is open it jumps between the selected app's windows.
• Replace macOS ⌘Tab and ⌘` (off by default): turns off the matching macOS shortcuts only while the switcher is running. They come back when Switchback quits.
• Keys: hold the shortcut to move through the list and release to switch. Shift or ← goes back, and →, Tab and the scroll wheel also work. W closes the window, Q quits the app and Esc cancels. Previews also have a close button.
• Appearance delay: 0 to 500 ms (100 ms by default).
• Maximum columns: Auto (the default) or 2 to 8, useful on ultrawide displays.
• Instant selection (off): the highlight moves at once while you browse.
• Pin search with S (off): S starts a search and pins the switcher open.
• Show shortcut hints (on): shown for Large icons and Simple list.
• Show one entry per app (off).
• Show fullscreen windows (on).
• Minimised windows: Normal ordering (the default), Place at end or Hide.
• Treat hidden apps like minimised windows (on). Shown unless Normal ordering is chosen.
• Show on: the display with the pointer (the default), the one with the menu bar, or the one with the active window.
• Show only the current display (off) and Show only the current desktop (off).
• Apps with no open window: Do not show, Finder only (the default) or All apps. It's locked to All apps while Replace macOS ⌘Tab is on.
• Rules by app: hide an app, always show it, or show only its windows.
• Window thumbnails: Preview size (Small, Normal, Large or Extra large; Normal by default), Minimal previews (off; hides titles, buttons and decorations, and is shared with Dock Preview), and Pause in these apps, where icons show instead of thumbnails.
• If secure input is on, Settings names the app holding it and offers Show app.

Dock Preview

• Preview windows from the Dock (off by default): rest the pointer on an open app in the Dock to see its windows, then click the one you want.
• From a preview you can open, minimise or restore, close and drag windows. Use Pin preview to keep a panel open, and Unpin preview to let it go.
• Show only the current desktop (off). When it's off, choosing a window on another desktop takes you there.
• Open delay: 200 to 900 ms (200 ms by default).
• Panel background: 40 to 100% (100% by default).
• Quit the app with the × button (off).
• Keep Dock visible (experimental, off): pauses Dock hiding while a preview is open and restores it when you leave.
• Order windows by creation time (off): older windows come first, instead of the one you used most recently.
• Window thumbnails: Preview size (Normal by default), Minimal previews, and Pause in these apps.
• If Switchback can't read the Dock, Settings tells you.

Dock clicks

Clicking the active app's Dock icon can do one of these (all are off by default):

• minimise its windows, with a second click bringing them back;
• hide the app, with a second click bringing it back;
• cycle through its windows, like ⌘`.

Minimise and hide replace each other.

Menu-bar panel

• Window layout tile and view (Show in panel, on by default): click a layout to arrange the window of the app you used last. Layouts are in the same seven groups as Settings, with their shortcut hints. The view stays open until you close it.
  • The view also has switches for edge snapping (with the compact area map), Shortcuts, and Move and resize by dragging (with Keys to move). It shows the macOS tiling warning and a Grant Accessibility button when needed.
  • Choose Settings… to edit: hide or show each layout in the panel.
  • The last result shows as a green tick or an orange warning.
• Controls section: a Windows card with switches for Window switcher, Quit on close, Maximise windows, Dock Preview and the three Dock click options. Show ⌘Tab with large icons appears under the switcher.
  • A switch that needs a missing permission turns orange with Grant access.
  • In edit mode you can reorder, hide or show rows. Default restores the original order.
  • The card collapses and expands, and it shows how many controls are on.

Finder: navigation and keyboard

• Tab completion in the path bar (on by default): press Tab in the folder address to complete the folder you're typing, like Go to Folder. One match fills it in, and several matches show a list to pick from. It expands ~, ignores case and accents, follows symbolic links, and handles folder names that end in a space. Turn it off and Tab moves to the next control again.
• Expanding a folder in the tree also opens it (off by default): expanding a folder in the sidebar tree also shows that folder in the window.
• Windows Delete key (off by default): Delete, or forward-delete (fn-Delete on a Mac keyboard), moves the selected items to the Bin, the same as ⌘Delete. Undo works, and typing still deletes characters.
• Windows word delete (off by default): Control-Delete removes the word before the cursor, and Control-forward-delete removes the word after it. Works while you rename or type in Finder's address or search field.
• Copy Path is now at the top of the right-click menu and in More › Clipboard.

Diagnostics

• App & diagnostics has a new Window permissions section showing Window control (Accessibility) and Window pictures (Screen Recording), with buttons to open each setting.

---

Improved

Setup

• Six short steps. Each one has a title, one or two plain sentences, a live check and one button. A STEP X OF 6 line heads each screen, and the last screen lists all six checks.
• When a check fails, it says why and offers a one-click fix.
• All the wording is plain, with no technical terms.
• Licence step: two choices, Start free 14-day trial or I have a licence key, followed by one status line such as "Trial · 14 days left".
• Recovery step: the four numbered steps stay on screen, and the command sits in a box with a Copy button.
  • It notices when the change is already done ("Already done on this Mac. Click Continue.").
  • Prepare, Copy and Save instructions tell you what to do instead of doing nothing.
• Folder access asks for Desktop, Documents, Downloads and external drives in turn and shows each result, with a Files & Folders button if a folder is unavailable.
• Apple's developer tools: Switchback uses the newest tools installed on your Mac. If they're older than your macOS, it offers a one-click update.
• Restart Finder and connect does both in one click. The "older version still loaded" warning appears only when it's true.
• The connection step explains what's wrong (Finder relaunched, an older version is loaded, controls switched off, or Finder stopped answering) and what to do next.

Licence and updates

• The trial status reads "Trial · N days left".
• The page is grouped into Free trial, Licence key, Pricing and App updates.
• Updates can be offered to every supported Mac.
• "Up to date" shows correctly when you're on the newest version.
• After an update, Finder restarts by itself to finish when no copy is running. During a copy, Restart Finder waits until it ends.

Settings

• Regrouped into titled sections, with every option kept. New Windows and Switcher & Dock pages.
• App pickers replace typed lists of apps.
• Switches keep their colour when the window isn't in front.
• Settings search covers every page's titles, explanations, buttons and menu choices, matches all your words in any order, and ignores case and accents. Clearing a search takes you back to the page you were on.
• Turning off Show app in Dock keeps Settings in front.

Finder: speed

• The address bar follows a click within a quarter of a second.
• Clicking quickly through several folders does a single update at the end.
• Large folder branches no longer slow Finder down.
• Switchback's settings files are re-read only when they change.
• Folder changes during a copy are grouped into one refresh.
• Folder and navigation requests are answered immediately.
• Saving happens in the background.
• Finder connects faster.

Finder: sidebar and folder tree

• The sidebar shows instantly from a saved snapshot. Favourites and Locations always show, and saved searches show their proper names.
• Expanded folders stay expanded across reloads and in new windows, and collapsed folders stay collapsed.
• The sidebar no longer reloads, jumps or loses your selection, and it never scrolls while you click, drag or scroll.
• Follow the current folder opens every folder above the one you're in, down to that folder, and scrolls only when that folder is off screen.

Finder: views, windows and history

• Folder view switches are saved by Switchback and applied to every Finder window as it comes to the front: thumbnails, item information, status bar, path bar, folder sizes and relative dates. Item information, relative dates and folder sizes are also written into Finder's own preferences.
• Saved list, column and gallery views reopen exactly as saved.
• Restore windows and tabs opens new windows when the saved ones have closed.
• Frequent folders in Home count folders you type into the address bar, and Home lists them.
• Clearing navigation history shows a confirmation.
• The address bar, breadcrumbs and command bar sit in evenly sized rows with no gaps, and Compact view is tighter.

Finder search

• Names matching opens a name-only search in Finder's own search window.
• Search inside archives lists matches in the window's results panel. A This Mac search checks the folder that was open, including its subfolders.
• Include system folders lets a This Mac search include System, Library and Unix folders.
• Include unindexed files also reads the open folder directly.

Transfers

• Each queue row shows a live progress bar with the percentage and size, for example "45% · 1.2 GB of 2.7 GB".
• Clear queue states: Queue running, Copy paused, Queue stopped, Queue idle, Start queue and Stop after current item.
• Queued copies are made directly into a partial file until they finish.
• Paused copies show how much has really been copied, labelled "About" when it's an estimate.
• The queue keeps running after Finder restarts.
• Live copy controls always end in a clear state: connected, a plain error, or what to approve in Login Items.

Task Manager and reconnection

• ⌘⌥Esc asks for an administrator password only when it's needed.
• Task Manager shows Connected only when it really is, and reconnects by itself.
• Switchback always reconnects after Finder restarts, and retries a connection that couldn't start yet.
• Relaunching Switchback no longer counts as a Finder restart, so it doesn't pause reconnecting.
• When reconnecting pauses, Switchback says why and shows a Retry button.
• Settings says "on, but Finder is not connected" when that's the case.
• Each connection attempt is logged with a plain cause, and saved diagnostic reports include it.

---

Fixed

• Switchback refused to run on macOS 27, on macOS 26 updates other than one build, on Intel Macs and on some Mac models.
• The Setup "start" helper on the disk image wasn't executable.
• Prepare this Mac in setup did nothing.
• Setup showed "Waiting for a verified connection" with no next step.
• Setup asked for Prepare again on a Mac where the Recovery change was already done.
• Sidebar folders snapped closed on their own.
• Clipboard menu Cut copied instead of moving.
• A saved list view could reopen as icons.
• Restore windows and tabs did nothing once every Finder window had been closed.
• Choose Finder sidebar items… opened the wrong Settings pane.
• "An older update was rejected" appeared when you were already up to date.
• Task Manager could crash when certain system processes appeared.
• Paused copies could show an out-of-date amount copied.
• A transfer queue could stay stopped after Finder restarted.
• Folder view switches didn't apply to open Finder windows.
• Task Manager updates no longer need you to sign out and back in.
• Snap Assist now brings the window you pick to the front.
• Switchback no longer drops its Finder connection while setup is connecting.

---

Known issues

• Edge snapping waits while macOS's own window tiling is on. Settings shows a warning with Open Desktop & Dock.
• While an app has secure input on (for example a password field), the switcher can't see keystrokes and ⌘Tab opens the macOS switcher. Settings names the app.
• Window features stay off while another window manager app is running, so the two don't fight over windows.
• Keep Dock visible is experimental, may resize windows, and is unavailable where macOS can't support it. If something interrupts it, open Switchback again to restore the Dock.
• Without Screen Recording, the switcher and Dock previews show app icons instead of window pictures.
• Some apps keep working after their last window closes, for example a screen recorder that's capturing. Quit on close quits them unless you add them as exceptions.
• After updating, an open Finder session asks you to restart Finder once.
• Searching inside one folder can also return matches from outside that folder.
• Searching can trigger a macOS prompt asking to allow access to Apple Music. Switchback doesn't need it, so you can choose Don't Allow.
• Intel Macs and macOS 13 to 15 are supported but have had less testing than macOS 26 and 27.