Gala: Usability: Switcher should quit and back to the original app on "Esc" [$5]

Created on 1 Oct 2018 · 8Comments · Source: elementary/gala

This is something I find very peculiar which is not implemented. Here is the use case,
user starts cycling thrrough the windows using "Alt+tab" and decides to cancel, there is no way of doing that. Intuitively, presses "Esc" but nothing happens.
But pressing "Esc" cancels the Show all windows dialog, it even cancels the Application Menu and the Multitasking view, so this is very inconsistent behaviour.

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mahajanudit

👍6

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It's simple, when we are doing alt+tab we want to cancel it. But the current behavior doesn't support this.

Sorry if i wasn't clear. I agree with using Esc to cancel the window switcher.

What I don't agree is the existence of the Alt+Esc shortcut (new in Juno) which does the same thing as Alt+Tab.

It would be much better if a fast Alt+Tab would not bring the dock animation in the bottom. Pressing it for a long time would do the current behavior and Esc would cancel it.

Blast-City on 20 Feb 2019

👍2

All 8 comments

Wanted to see how the whole bounty thing works :)

mahajanudit on 2 Oct 2018

At what point would you press Esc? Once Alt+Tab has been released the Switcher already quits. Alt+Esc already performs a quick window switch between current and previous window so effectively cancels any number of contiguous Alt+Tab presses. However, after Alt+Tab you must release the Alt key before pressing Alt+Esc.

I guess fixing it so that pressing Alt_Esc without first releasing the Alt key might be acceptable?

jeremypw on 24 Oct 2018

👍2

At what point would you press Esc? Once Alt+Tab has been released the Switcher already quits. Alt+Esc already performs a quick window switch between current and previous window so effectively cancels any number of contiguous Alt+Tab presses. However, after Alt+Tab you must release the Alt key before pressing Alt+Esc.

I guess fixing it so that pressing Alt_Esc without first releasing the Alt key might be acceptable?

Hi.

Alt+Esc is a shortcut in Elementary? Is this a Juno new feature?

Blast-City on 8 Feb 2019

Alt+Esc is supported on Juno.
I don't know about other versions

josenicomaia on 17 Feb 2019

Alt+Esc is supported on Juno.
I don't know about other versions

Thanks.

What is the difference between Alt+Tab and Alt+Esc? Is it just the window icons in the bottom (dock switcher)?

I don't get why so much shortcuts that make essentially the same thing, but oh well...

Blast-City on 18 Feb 2019

It's simple, when we are doing alt+tab we want to cancel it. But the current behavior doesn't support this.

josenicomaia on 18 Feb 2019

It's simple, when we are doing alt+tab we want to cancel it. But the current behavior doesn't support this.

Sorry if i wasn't clear. I agree with using Esc to cancel the window switcher.

What I don't agree is the existence of the Alt+Esc shortcut (new in Juno) which does the same thing as Alt+Tab.

It would be much better if a fast Alt+Tab would not bring the dock animation in the bottom. Pressing it for a long time would do the current behavior and Esc would cancel it.

Blast-City on 20 Feb 2019

👍2

Alt+Esc quickly changes to the previous program, without anything else. I find it useful to immediately change to the previous app.

I believe this is the current behavior in Windows (at least 10), which could make adoption easier for new users too.

I was thankful to see this shortcut here!

+1 from me to make it possible to cancel the alt+tabbing and go back to the original program by pressing esc.