Show HN: Sash – tiny macOS utility to reliably cycle through app windows
github.commacOS's built-in cycle window shortcut (⌘` / ⌘@) has always been flaky for me. Probably not a Show HN, but if it annoyed me this much it might be annoying some others.
Only tested on the latest macOS — would appreciate any reports from other versions. I’ve been looking for something like this to cycle through browser windows. I’ll test it on Sequoia when I get a moment. Does it support reverse cycling? Didn't think reverse cycling was worth it since most apps only have a few windows open. Any use case you have in mind? Thanks for building this. Cmd-` broke in 2009 and has never been repaired. I'm frustrated by it on a daily basis. Two things: 1. Animation when switching windows is jarring. I'd have to record the screen and play it back frame by frame to properly explain what's happening. This is on MacOS 26.3.1(a) on a new device. 2. I use backward cycling all the time! I'm the sort of person who has tons of windows open after a little while, mostly browser windows but not exclusively. I would love to see that added. Thank you for sharing this. I'm going to test drive and see if it's reliable enough to run full time because it's pretty important to me that this functionality work as it was once intended. I'll buy you a beer if we ever land next to each other at a bar. Edit: stopped responding to kbd shortcut just a few minutes later. However, works when I use Shift as a modifier. I set the shortcut to Cmd-`, fwiw if trying to reproduce. Edit2: just entered a state where invoking the kbd shortcut caused every open window for the frontmost app to cycle through. Added reverse hotkey setting (defaults to none). Jitteriness has also been addressed. New release available on GitHub. Please set the forward shortcut again too. Outstanding! Thank you. I was noticing how I'm having to retrain myself to make this shortcut a first-class tool now that it's working reliably. I didn't realize how much I'd conditioned myself to avoid it. It's nice having this workflow back. Just wanted to note that today I found myself using both directions of the shortcut between terminal windows and was genuinely delighted to be reminded that it's working properly again after a decade and a half! Glad to hear it! I found that Sash forward switching works about 97% of the time, but still occasionally has a hiccup. Have not been able to pinpoint a cause yet, but I find that even in that case the reverse shortcut still works. Even without that, I find myself using the reverse shortcut more than I thought I would, so that was a good suggestion. cmd+backtick breaks the second you minimize a window, been annoyed by this forever. nice to see a fix. Glad you find it useful. I found cmd+backtick broke in many other situations too. Was driving me mad. There's a certain fruit company that has that information and a video demonstrating it that hasn't done anything about it for over a decade.