Hotkey window doesn't open on Cmd+Tab
By sbo... on September 12, 2013 12:11 (imported from Google Code)
What steps will reproduce the problem?
- In preferences, enable hotkey window
- Open hotkey window using the chosen KB shortcut
- Cmd+Tab to another application
- Cmd+Tab back to iTerm
What is the expected output? What do you see instead?
Expected: iTerm hotkey window opens
Actual: iTerm application activates (menubar shows active application is iTerm) but no window opens
What version of the product are you using? On what operating system?
iTerm 2 build 1.0.0.20130624 on MacOS 10.9 Mavericks DP7 (same issue present using MacOS 10.8.4 Mountain Lion).
Please provide any additional information below.
Clicking the dock icon doesn't open the existing hotkey window either.
Preference "closing hotkey window may switch spaces" doesn't changes this behavior
Activity
Comment 1 by gnach... on September 20, 2013 04:50
The hotkey window automatically hides when another app activates, whether it's because you clicked on it or because cmd-tab'ed out. This was designed with clicking in mind. I'm not persuaded that it's the wrong thing to do with cmd-tab, though. You can always press the hotkey to reopen it. The concept is that the hotkey window is for quick in-and-out tasks, and because it appears on top of other windows, the need for app switching back and forth should be minimal.
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Comment 2 by djense... on October 26, 2013 18:18
If you use cmd-tab a lot, like I do and I presume the original bug reporter, then this behavior is extremely annoying. When I'm trying to get to another non iTerm app via Cmd-Tab and iTerm Hotkey Window is the second app, nothing comes up and I stumble on the next step.
At the very least make it an option for the profile, "Show on Cmd-Tab."
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Comment 3 by dav... on November 21, 2013 06:29
Instead of "Show on Cmd-Tab", I think having a preference, "Autohide the Hotkey window", is what would make this smoother for me; setting it False would disable the auto-hiding on activation of other applications.
When using the global hotkey to show/hide the hotkey window, it would be nice if the hotkey window was persistent and didn't keep hiding itself. I'll Cmd-Tab to another app and it disappears, and I cannot see it unless I use the hotkey again.
If the hotkey were a true toggle, where pressing it made it stay "on", and pressing a second time hid it "off", then this annoyance would not exist, IMO. The nicer Cmd-Tab behavior would be a fallout of this change. What do you all think? Would this also fix things for the original submitter?
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Comment 4 by dav... on November 21, 2013 06:50
Nevermind. I can get the desired workflow by just using a regular (non-hotkey) window and unchecking the "Hotkey toggles a dedicated window with profile" setting.
After setting the window style to be "Top of screen" then it behaves exactly how I described (a persistent window I can toggle) without needing to use a hotkey window. I guess the original "hotkey window should show on cmd-tab" issue still stands; please disregard my comments.
I don't think there's need for an additional preference, but the expected behavior originally described is definitely missing.
The workaround described, using a non-autohiding window, does NOT fix the issue as the whole point of setting up a hotkey is for the window to go out of sight when not in use.
It should be assumed that when switching back to the application, whether is via cmd+tab, the dock, or Alfred, the window should reopen.
If an app has multiple windows open and the last one viewed IS a "hotkey" window then, activating it when switching back to the app IS the desired behavior. If, however, the last window viewed was a regular window, then you're right, it would be undesirable to open a hotkey window. Ergo, the app should be able to detect when it is appropriate to activate it.
I think the UX is broken here. If you don't think so that's fine. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.
mentioned in issue #4007 (closed)
Added Priority: High label
mentioned in issue #4540 (closed)
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Dup of #2093 (closed)
