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jamesa · Nov 25, 2009, 12:40 AM

hey guys

got one i'm stumped with.

i'm a long time user of command-tilde to cycle through windows. however, since i've upgraded to snow leopard, i'm getting this weird behavior (bug?)

normally, command tilde cycles through the windows in one direction, and command-shift-tilde cycles through the windows in the opposite direction.

however, what is happening to me: command tilde is cycling in one direction, until i do something in a window (say click on something, scroll up or down a page, or type something). then command-tilde cycles me in the opposite direction!

if i type something else (or some other action) in a window again, the direction again reverses.

it's weird behavior. anyone else have this or know how to fix it? it's little, but it's driving me insane!!

-- james

AKcrab · Nov 25, 2009, 01:10 AM

Are you talking about finder windows? Or some other windows?

jamesa · Nov 25, 2009, 01:32 AM

all windows - every single app, including the finder!

AKcrab · Nov 25, 2009, 01:44 AM

Hmmm.. Yeah, it's like modifying a window moves it to "the top" of the stack. I don't really see rhyme nor reason in it.

the1genesis · Jul 20, 2010, 01:25 AM

I joined this site specifically to add my 2 cents to this discussion. Just upgraded to SL and have notice my precious command + tilde (which I seem to have become very attached to) has gone nuts. I use it to move between windows and in the process close some of them to get them out of my way. But now in SL when I go from window 1 to 2 to 3 to 4, to 5 and close 5, I get taken back to 4 instead of going to 1 which I desperately wanted to get to. I like having a bunch of windows open and have found this new "improvement" to be a rather horrid experience. I've learned to use command + shift + tilde to move the opposite way but frankly I sometimes find that when I think I know which way the keys will take me I end up going the opposite. It's just a big, unnecessary slow down in my process.

jamesa · Jul 20, 2010, 10:19 AM

i'm also beginning to think that this behaviour is intended rather than a bug. which is annoying - because it's annoying the

out of me, too

-- james

jaimecham · Sep 28, 2010, 10:49 PM

Also happening to me. sometimes Chrome will hae 6 windows open and Command-` just cycles thru the same 2-3. Very very annoying. Started happening in Snow Leopard, I think?

ghporter · Sep 29, 2010, 07:56 AM

This was a new shortcut for me. It works within one app's windows only, and since I tend to use tabs in my browser it's just about useless to me. It'll probably be useful when/if I have a bunch of Finder windows open, but otherwise why have so many windows open at the same time?

Oisín · Sep 30, 2010, 08:42 AM

Was this really a change, though? Hasn’t it always been like it is now? It makes more sense to me this way—it (now?) works the same as Cmd + Tab, which will always have your most recently used app at the top of the stack. If I want to switch back and forth between window 4 and 5 in an app, I don’t want to have to hit Cmd + Tilde (well, Cmd + < on my keyboard, actually) four times every other time I do it.

Originally Posted by ghporter

This was a new shortcut for me. It works within one app's windows only, and since I tend to use tabs in my browser it's just about useless to me. It'll probably be useful when/if I have a bunch of Finder windows open, but otherwise why have so many windows open at the same time?

Word processing apps, Adobe apps (prior to CS4, at least), HTML editors, etc. Plenty of other apps where more than one window is either the only way possible, or preferable/necessary (example: in my HTML editors, I usually have one window for each site I’m working on, with tabs in each window for each individual file I’m working on).

ghporter · Sep 30, 2010, 10:12 AM

Originally Posted by Oisín

Word processing apps, Adobe apps (prior to CS4, at least), HTML editors, etc. Plenty of other apps where more than one window is either the only way possible, or preferable/necessary (example: in my HTML editors, I usually have one window for each site I’m working on, with tabs in each window for each individual file I’m working on).

Excellent points. It's been a while since I did much heavy-duty word processing where I'd need multiple windows open at once; I had indeed forgotten that this is particularly useful. However I never used the keyboard shortcuts to cycle from window to window anyway, as I'd simply keep a little bit of each window visible and choose the one I needed directly. That doesn't mean that I don't see the utility of the shortcut, nor how the changed behavior can be a pain...

yugyug · Jun 10, 2011, 09:09 PM

was this ever resolved? I just upgraded to snow leopard and the change in behaviour is driving me nuts!!!!!

I use this shortcut all the time, its as important to me as cmd-tab or cntrl-tab, maybe more so, I use it in almost every application.

Can't believe someone purposefully changed it, at least without a legacy option somewhere... doesn't seem like a bug.

Any ideas??? I would be very very appreciative

reader50 · Jun 10, 2011, 09:27 PM

Report the bug to Apple. You'll have to register as a developer (free). And read the best practices for how to describe the bug first, or they may ignore you.

If you wait until Lion is out (or almost out) they probably won't fix bugs in Snow Leopard. That happened to me - I waited and waited for someone to get an interface bug fixed in Leopard. When I finally reported it, SL was almost out. Apple never fixed it - the bug was closed with a note that they had to focus scarce dev resources on the current OS.

You have to remember Apple is short of money. They can't afford to fix things in an OS that will still be for sale for the next few months. So get your report in soonish.

yugyug · Jun 10, 2011, 09:39 PM

since I posted I found many other people have the same issue with it, I'll post some links below for anyone interested. There seems to be no fix, and as you suggest the only course of action is making a bug report, which I will do also. I'd be quite happy if they fix it in Lion - i'd upgrade straight away instead of waiting for so long to upgrade to snow leopard (but now I'm happy I did, perhaps I will only suffer this irritating 'improvement' for a short time....)

For those who might be confused about what this shortcut is, its more commonly known as command-backtick or ` the symbol below the tilde. Command-tilde, or command-shift-backtick does the same thing in reverse though, and is a sort of work around to the behaviour change, except that its harder to do with one hand. I'm getting better at it now tho!!

some links about it:
https://discussions.apple.com/messag...ageID=10295502
Betalogue � Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard): Clicking on foreground window breaks ‘Cycle Through Window’ order
https://discussions.apple.com/message/11850508#11850508
https://discussions.apple.com/message/11811938#11811938
https://discussions.apple.com/message/10449065#10449065
https://discussions.apple.com/thread...rt=15&tstart=0

yugyug · Dec 12, 2011, 08:42 PM

just got a new MBP, this "bug" is stil present in Lion.

Well I've got to agree with the OP - it seems intended as a feature, a new way of using the command. Even after using Snow Leopard for many months (and hating it because of this "bug") I still can't get used to its behaviour...

Really really really want a legacy fix. I don't mind apple changing things to what they think is best for new users. Like the 3-finger drag in Lion - I don't like it but I can guess its easier for new users - but they also gave the choice to use the old drag lock instead in the universal access preferences... so why not for this?