Adds native Apple Silicon support.

If the update mechanism does not work please use this link to download.

Chrome PWAs are listed in the switchers.

The themes have been updated for macOS Big Sur and all the UI issues have been fixed.

The supported macOS versions are now Catalina and Big Sur.

Fixes an issue which can cause a crash when changing displays (or their configuration). You only need to update if you are seeing crashes.

• Command-Tab switcher has been updated to list windows in order they were last active instead of the order they are on the Desktop. This effects the ordering in two cases:
  • If you use the Dock or the macOS Command-Tab app switcher to activate apps, in case an app has multiple windows on the current Space, they will no longer all move to the top of the list; only the active window of the app will.
  • Windows which are set to always show above other windows will no longer always remain at the top of the list but will move down as other windows become active.
• When Command-Tab switcher is activated, the second item is initially selected. However, if apps without windows or minimized windows are set to show at the bottom of the list, and the currently active app either does not have open windows or they are all minimized, the first item in the list is the most recent active window and will be initially selected instead.

Fixes an issue introduced in the last update which caused a crash when searching if certain non-standard apps are running. You only need to update if you are seeing crashes.

We have been listening to feedback around search. This update incorporates a number of enhancements and refinements in response which make search even more predictable and flexible. Let us know what you think!

• The Caps Lock key can be used for Fast Search.
• The search algorithm has been adjusted to give increasing score to consecutive character matches as the number of characters in a query increases. For short queries acronym matches still get the highest score.
• The highlighting of matched characters has been improved in cases in which there are multiple character sequences in an item which match the query. Sequences of consecutive matched characters have higher priority now than before.
• The maximum number of characters for Search Shortcuts can be adjusted. The default is 3. This means Contexts will only remember a Search Shortcut if the query has up to 3 (or whatever number you set) characters.
• Multiple Search Shortcuts for an item are remembered. This is particularly useful in cases when a search query is used to switch to an item for which a different Search Shortcut is preferred.
• Improvements have been made to the performance and energy usage of Search.
• Contexts > General > “When switching to an app without windows, perform Dock icon action” is enabled by default.

Fixes an issue because of which in some cases when quitting an app without a Dock icon could leave its windows stuck in the list.

Fixes an issue because of which app icon badge count updates were not being reflected on the Sidebar immediately.

This is an optional update which improves tracking of windows in a few edge cases.

For apps which use the macOS window tabbing feature, up till now, Contexts has shown a separate window item for each tab. This is because for such apps macOS accessibility service (which is used for retrieving information about apps and windows) lists a separate window for each tab. With this update, these will be grouped together so that only one item is shown for each window.

Support for listing tabs correctly organized and switching directly to them is being worked on.

• Windows which are hidden or minimized when Contexts is launched have their Space tracked correctly again.
• Microsoft Office 2011 app windows are being tracked correctly again.
• An issue has been fixed because of which in certain cases Contexts started consuming lots of RAM.

This update resolves a bug in Contexts 3.4.1 and updating to it is strongly recommended.

In 3.4.1 in certain cases an extra item for an app is added to the list. This causes the selection to start looping between the two items for the app when using the move down and move up keyboard shortcuts.

The previous version has a bug which can cause minimized and hidden windows to get removed from the list. This update should resolve it.

We have a few more enhancements and fixes for you before the year ends! There are also a lot of changes happening under the hood to add support for tracking and switching to tabs. So please let us know if any existing features show any unexpected behavior.

• Only specific windows of an app can be set to be ignored (based on title pattern). Previously, only all windows of an app could be ignored. See Contexts > Rules for details.
• Contexts can be set to pause all its keyboard shortcuts when specific apps (e.g. Virtual Machines) are focused. Toggle this for individual apps by right-clicking on a corresponding item on Panel or Sidebar.
• Scrolling through Panel items works with mice as well.
• When Mission Control is exited Sidebar is updated to reflect any changes in spaces and windows.
• Turning off Contexts > General > “Show Dock icon badges” correctly hides them from the Panel too.

For the enhancements in Contexts 3.3, changes were made to how the preferences for Command-Tab switchers were saved. However, due to a bug in how the preferences from earlier versions were migrated, they may not get saved to disk. This update fixes the issue.

If you have updated to Contexts 3.3, updating to this version is not necessary. However, if you haven’t restarted Contexts since, you can go to Contexts > Command-Tab and make any change to the switcher preferences. This will cause them to be saved to disk. Otherwise, whenever Contexts is relaunched next, the Contexts > Command-Tab preferences will need to be set up once.

Thanks to everyone who reported the issue!

We have added one of the frequently requested features in this release – the ability to fully customize keyboard shortcuts. You can also now set up as many Command-Tab switchers as you want, each with its own keyboard shortcuts and configuration. Try one with a more ergonomic keyboard shortcut (than Command-Tab) like Command-E or Command-L!

• Keyboard shortcuts can be fully customized for Command-Tab switchers.
• Any keyboard shortcut can be used for search. Previously, keyboard shortcuts which were used for macOS system features could not be used.
• An option has been added for increasing the interface text contrast.
• Dock icon badges are correctly shown for apps whose name differs from their file name (e.g. Airmail).
• The keyboard layout correctly changes if the search shortcut is pressed when the Panel is already visible.
• Improvements have been made to the app’s memory utilization.

Today’s update adds a third option for grouping and an option to reduce search fuzziness. Further refinements to the search algorithm are also planned. Thanks to everyone who has written to us about specific cases and scenarios which can be handled better!

We have also added a What’s Next page to the website. You can check it out any time to see what is coming up or is under consideration.

The supported macOS versions are now El Capitan, Sierra and High Sierra.

• Added an option to Rules > “Group windows” which groups all apps and windows together ordered alphabatically by app name.
• When Rules > “Group windows” is set to “By Space”, windows of apps assigned to all Desktop Spaces are put in the Full Screen group instead of the Desktop 1 group.
• Added option Search > “Allow one mismatched character”. If it is disabled, search results will only include items whose app name and window title contain all the characters in the search query.
• When System Preferences > Trackpad > Scroll & Zoom > “Scroll direction: Natural preference” is set to off, the gesture to hide Sidebar works in the correct direction.
• Command-Backquote (`) and Option-Backquote (`) switchers can be enabled even if the corresponding Tab switchers are disabled.
• Emacs borderless full screen windows are tracked.

A small update with fixes. Please install it if any of these are impacting you.

• Fixed an issue introduced in the last update because of which in some cases switching to a window of an app with multiple windows open caused the last active window of that app to also move to the top of the Command-Tab Switcher.
• Fixed an issue because of which in some cases switching to a window of an app which was assigned to all desktops caused the Space to change unnecessarily.
• When System Preferences > Trackpad > Scroll & Zoom > “Scroll direction: Natural preference” is set to off, scrolling when Panel is visible changes selection in the correct direction.

Here is one last build with a few tweaks.

• Adjusted the blue background color for selected items to match the default macOS background color for selected menu items.
• Fixed an issue with numbering being off by one when “Group Windows” is set to “By Space” and “Show running apps which do not have any windows open” is off.
• Fixed an issue because of which when using Option-Tab as keyboard shortcut for search, the search window would not get activated every time it was invoked.

Contexts 3 is ready! A few more refinements have been made and unless there are any bugs, this build will be released to everyone soon. Thanks to everyone who sent in bug reports and feedback and helped us refine it!

One important change to note is that the Preferences window now opens up when the app is launched explicitly. So to access Preferences just relaunch the app (or use the standard Command-Comma (,) shortcut when the Panel is visible). The "Pref." buttons have been removed.

Also you may need to re-configure Fast Search shortcuts.

The following refinements have been made in this release:

• The app has a new icon.
• When entering a search query longer than 3 characters, the search algorithm assigns a higher score to consecutive character matches.
• When windows are set to be grouped by space, the Apps group is now the first group.
• A menu has been added to the Sidebar which can be used to adjust some important preferences. The Hide button has also been moved into it.
• When the Sidebar is configured to be on the left side of the display, the app icons are now shown on the left of the title like they are otherwise.
• “Auto adjust window widths so they are not overlapped by Sidebar” preference is now enabled by default.
• “When cursor not over” preference has been changed from a slider to much clearer named options.
• Number Switcher shortcuts are disabled by default. Also “Show Numbers on Sidebar” preference has been moved to Number Switcher preferences and is now disabled by default.
• Adjustments have been made to the maxiumum height of the Panel.
• Some preferences have been reorganised.
• The welcome window which has details about how to give Contexts accessibility access has been refined.

Please send us your feedback at hello@contexts.co and twitter.com/contextsapp. We love to hear what you think!

Today, we are releasing the second beta for Contexts 3 with another set of enhancements. We have also made a number of adjustments to the enhancements in the first beta in response to feedback. So thanks to everyone who sent in theirs!

Lets talk about what is new first.

• Command-Tab Switcher is now a lot more configurable. First, it can be set to show windows either from all Spaces or only from visible Spaces. Second, minimised windows, hidden windows, and apps without windows can all be individually set to show, not show or show at the bottom of the list.

  Also Command-Tab shortcut and Option-Tab shortcut can have their own set of settings.

• Windows are now grouped by Space and ordered alphabetically by app name on Sidebar, Gesture Switcher and Number Switcher. The Sidebar and Gesture Switcher can also be set to show windows for only some of the Spaces; for example, only the visible Space group or if you are using multiple displays only Space groups for the display a Sidebar is on. There are five possible options that you can choose. See Preferences > Sidebar and Preferences > Gestures for details.

  The existing grouping behaviour is still available in case you use Number Switching or just prefer it. See Preferences > General to change back to it.

The following changes have been made to the existing features:

• Type to Search is disabled by default in Command-Tab Switcher and you can use Command-Q, Command-W etc again. But if you want to, it can be enabled from Preferences > Command-Tab. If you do enable it, you will be able to “press & hold” Command-Q, Command-W, etc to access the relevant actions. The Control key is no longer needed.
• Fast Search with Option key will no longer get invoked if both Option-Command are pressed. This allows standard Option-Command shortcuts in apps to work without Contexts interfering. Similar restrictions have been applied to Fast Search with Function key.
• Some cross platform apps (and others written using third-party frameworks) have issues with the setting “When switching to an app, perform Dock icon action”. This setting is now disabled by default. If you enable it and have issues switching to any apps, please let us know so that we can add an exception for those apps.
• Some international keyboard layouts require Shift for typing numbers. To support all keyboard layouts, in the last update we made a change so that the Number Switcher got invoked whether Shift key was pressed or not. This change has been tightened so that it applies only to keyboard layouts which require Shift key for entering numbers.
• Single finger gesture is no longer available.

Please send us your feedback at hello@contexts.co and twitter.com/contextsapp. We love to hear what you think!

Today, we are releasing the first beta for Contexts 3, which includes two incredible enhancements that will be part of the next version.

If you are using multiple displays, Contexts can now show panels on each display simultaneously (which are all kept in sync). So you no longer have to worry about which display is currently active or turn your head to look at another display just to switch windows. Invoke the shortcuts and a panel will be in the center of whichever display you are looking at! This option can be enabled from Preferences > Panel and is the new default.

Search has been dramatically improved as well and now lets you switch to your windows in as few as one or two keystrokes. Yes, you are reading it right! Here is how it works:

• First, search does fuzzy matching. Also character matches at start of app names and window titles get a higher score allowing you to just use acronyms to select particular windows. For example, if you have two Finder windows with titles “Documents” and “Work”, searching “fd” will give the former as the top result and searching “fw” will give the later as the top result. Up to one typing mistake is ignored too.
• Second, besides the standard way – invoke search panel with a keyboard shortcut, type a search query and activate a result with Enter – there are two new and faster ways to search:
  • From Command-Tab: When you invoke the Command-Tab Switcher, while holding down Command (or Option if you are using Option-Tab), just start typing a search query. The search results will be shown and when you release Command (or Option), the selected window will be immediately activated.
  • Fast Search: If you want an even faster search, you can now search just by holding down a modifier key of your choice and typing a search query. The default is the Fn key, but you can also pick either the left or right Command keys, or left or right Option keys. If you want to use Fn, just hold it down and start typing your search query; the panel will appear and your results will be shown; select a window and release Fn to activate it. Thats it! You can enable your preferred modifier key from Preferences > Search.
• Third, once you type a search query and select a window from the results, typing the same search query next time will cause that window to be the first result. For example, if you type “m” and the first two results are “Mail” and “Messages” in that order, select the second result “Messages” with the arrow keys and the next time you enter “m”, “Messages” will be the first result.

So you can use Fast Search to get to Safari with Fn-S, Messages with Fn-M, Mail with Fn-MA and so on. Search Hints on the left of the panel provide recommended search queries for each window. Once Contexts updates to this version, try out these key combinations!

If you use Number Switching, we highly recommend you check out Fast Search. It is as fast, way easier (to remember a character or two from the title than an arbitrary number), and better at remembering search mappings across app restarts.

Please send us your feedback at hello@contexts.co and twitter.com/contextsapp. We would love to hear what you think!

• When Panel is visible, the selected item can be changed by scrolling up or down.
• Search can be set to always use a specific Input Source.
• The slight delay before the Command-Tab Switcher becomes visible can be disabled.
• An option for an experimental workaround has been added that improves switching when an app has windows open on multiple displays.
• Drag and drop works on Panel when using the Number Switcher.
• The two fingers gesture only activates if both fingers initially touch near a top corner.
• Numbers are no longer shown on the Gesture Switcher.
• Gesture Switcher can also be cancelled by pressing Escape.
• Command-Backquote (`) and Option-Backquote (`) Switcher remains inactive for apps which are set to be ignored by Contexts.
• Pref. button on Panel no longer hides when moving the cursor over the first item in the list.
• An issue that was causing an extra window to appear for iTerm has been fixed.

This is a small update which fixes two issues related to Search introduced in the last update.

• Re-ordering works again in the initial Search view.
• The red highlighting of characters during Search is cleared correctly.

The next beta is here with a new two-finger top-edge gesture, the ability to exclude specific apps from being tracked, re-organized preferences and a lot more.

• A two-finger top-edge gesture option has been added which is a lot less prone to accidental activations.
• The one-finger and two-finger gestures only activate when touching the left or right end of the top-edge of trackpad to further reduce accidental activations.
• The search field is no longer shown on the gesture switcher.
• Specific apps can be exluded from being tracked. Just right-click on an item and select "Never Show App". To have an app tracked again remove it from Preferences > General > Apps to not show.
• Command-Tab Switcher shows after a slight delay like the default macOS Command-Tab Switcher does. This makes switching to the last active window more seamless by not showing the Panel for a split second.
• Command-Backquote (`) and Option-Backquote (`) show the windows of the active application so that you can switch to a specific one without cycling through them one by one.
• The Preferences window has been re-organized to make finding options easier and to allow space for adding more options in the future.
• Close, Quit, Minimize and Hide actions have been added to the right-click menu.
• By default switching to an app is equivalent to pressing its Dock icon. Now you can change this behaviour in Preferences > General to only have the app made active.
• Moving the cursor over the Panel changes the selected item. This can be turned off in Preferences > Panel.
• A workaround has been added for an issue with JetBrains apps which causes them to not lose focus in some cases (and hence not auto-save) even when another app has become active.
• Fixed an issue which can sometimes cause a crash when disconnecting external displays.
• Fixed an issue which was causing crashes on the new Touch Bar MacBook Pros.

• Contexts can now auto-adjust widths of windows a little so that they are not overlapped by the sidebar. You can enable this in Preferences > Sidebar.
• Sidebar expands correctly when hovering the cursor over the buttons area at the top.
• On macOS Yosemite, the sidebar hides correctly for full screen windows.
• When the panel is set to show on the active display, it shows on the correct display when the active window is a full screen window on a non-primary display.
• Includes more refinements to the switching mechanism when using multiple displays.
• Switching with keyboard shortcuts works when clicking and holding on to a window. This can be used to move a window to a different space.
• Command-<number> shortcuts work correcly for the French keyboard layout.
• Window titles for Messages app are updated correctly.
• For Chrome apps, now only one item is shown.
• Fixed an issue which caused duplicate items for Microsoft Office windows.

This is a small update. It makes a couple of changes and addresses some of the feedback we received about Contexts 2.6.

Also if you are subscribed to the beta channel, Contexts will use a different switching mechanism (that is currently under testing). In case you notice any issues, please let us know. You can uncheck Preferences > General > "Update to beta versions" to revert back to the original switching mechanism.

• The gesture switcher can be confusing for new users who are not aware of it but trigger it accidentally. It is now turned off by default. To turn it on, enable in Preferences > Gestures.
• Numbers will continue to be shown on the Command-Tab Switcher by default but now they can be hidden from Preferences > Panel.
• A few adjustments have been made to layout and alignment of interface elements.
• The update notification window has been made larger so that it is easier to read the release notes.

The next beta of Contexts is here! And it brings with it the much awaited dark theme along with a number of UI refinements.

• Adds Vibrant Light & Vibrant Dark themes which match the light and dark themes for Spotlight. Vibrant Light is the new default. The original theme has been named Subtle. To change, go to Preferences > General.
• Contexts now uses the default system font instead of Gill Sans for all interface text.
• Numbers are no longer shown on the Command-Tab Switcher.
• If Accessibility Service access is turned off for Contexts while it is running, Contexts asks that it be re-enabled.
• P/N and K/J can also be used instead of Up/Down Arrow keys for re-ordering keyboard shortcuts.

• New windows are listed next to already open windows of the same app. This makes it much easier to find windows since those of the same app are clustered together.
• Command-Backquote (`) and Option-Backquote (`) are now only used by Contexts to move up the list when the panel is visible. This means these keyboard shortcuts are no longer reserved globally and you can use Command-Backquote (`) to cycle through windows of the active app.
• Search results with the same score are sorted alphabetically by application name and then by title.
• The panel and sidebar widths can be configured in case you want to see more of the titles.
• The panel scrolls automatically when moving up or down the list if there are more items than it can accomodate.
• The preferences button is now visible on the Command-Tab Switcher too.
• A note about macOS not pointing at the right app when a menu bar app has turned on Secure Input was added to the warning window.
• Fixes an issue that prevented moving an item to another group (via drag & drop or shortcuts) if the last item in that group was reserved.
• Fixes an issue that caused the sidebar to sometimes hide and re-appear when windows were closed.

This release has two major improvements: an all new faster, easier to use, more ergonomic gesture switcher and the ability to reserve window numbers for specific apps. Try out both of them!

• The gesture switcher uses a top-edge gesture now. Place finger on the top-edge of the trackpad and then slide it down. The panel will appear (or the sidebar will expand depending on your preferences) and the selection will move down. Lift finger when the desired window is selected.
• Window number slots can be reserved for specific apps by right-clicking on an item. When you restart your computer or relaunch the app its windows will go into the reserved slots first.
• Control-P/N, Option-P/N and Command-P/N can be used to move selection up and down.
• Control-K/J, Option-K/J and Command-K/J can be used to move selection up and down.
• Fixes an issue which sometimes caused a character to be put into the search field instead when invoking Option keyboard shortcuts.
• An alert is raised if the Contexts app is renamed or moved to a different folder while it is running.
• Fixes an issue which in some cases resulted in a crash on macOS Yosemite when using multiple displays.
• Fixes an issue with the gesture recognition which resulted in crashes on macOS Sierra when waking from sleep.
• iTerm borderless full-screen windows are now tracked.
• Switching to Airmail when all its windows are closed should work correctly.
• VLC full-screen windows are now tracked.

If you are still in the trial period, please update immediately to save yourself some hassle. This update fixes an issue that can prevent the panel from hiding away when the trial period is over.

• Fixed switching to windows of apps which have multiple windows open on more than one display. Previously, another window of the same app could get activated in many cases (currently this change is only active if you have set Contexts to update to beta versions).
• When SecureInput is enabled by any app, a warning is shown in the menu bar along with details about the app and a button to quit it.
• Sidebar detects fullscreen windows better. Also when using multiple displays, sidebar hides on only the display with the fullscreen window.
• Fixed an issue that can prevent the panel from hiding away when the trial period is over.
• The search textfield has support for standard movement and deletion keyboard shortcuts.
• Numeric keypads can also be used for keyboard shortcuts.
• Keyboard shortcuts for number switching work with the French - Numerical keyboard.
• Fixed 3 issues which could cause a crash.

• Search matches consecutive characters now. Use a space to match another set of characters.
• Added palm rejection to prevent activating the switch gesture unintentionally.
• The panel no longer gets deactivated when using it to close windows or quit apps.
• Shortcuts for number switching work with the AZERTY keyboard.
• Fixed an issue which caused the panel’s shadow to retain the background of the previous window when switching quickly to a new window .
• Fixed an issue which caused the sidebar to sometimes become unresponsive waiting for a newly opened app to become ready for input.

• Shortcuts work when Caps Lock is on.
• New windows of existing apps are correctly added to the top of the recent windows list instead of at the end.
• Fixed a case which caused the app to sometimes crash when connecting or disconnecting displays.
• Invoking the shortcut for search when panel is visible hides it.
• Gesture switching is disabled by default.
• Borderless iTerm 2 windows are tracked.
• Stickies app is tracked.

• Switch windows by sliding your finger along the vertical edges of the trackpad! See preferences for details.
• A more refined aesthetic.
• Each display can have its own Sidebar.
• Better handling of Microsoft Office 2016 windows.
• Fixed a bug that was causing execssive CPU usage for some users.
• Esc key press no longer gets forwarded to the focused window.
• Option for which display to show the panel on is saved correctly.

The beta channel was started from Contexts 2.