LiteSwitch X follows the tradition of LiteSwitch as a simple solution for managing open applications using the keyboard. Like its predecessor which will continue to be available, LiteSwitch X has a clean, simple and functional style that has become Proteron's hallmark. It features an aquified transparent, resizeable window which is invoked by a configurable key-combination (default is Apple-Tab). From the pop-up window the user can switch to any application, hide, quit, or force quit any application or drag-and-drop files onto any application. Windows users migrating to the Macintosh
What's New
Version 2.7 (b2):
added Exposé for app windows. In the app switcher, press the up or down arrow keys to activate Exposé for that app. Once inside Exposé you can choose to select a window or press the tab key to view the next app's windows. The up and down arrows used to bring up the app's contextual menu. The key "m" still does so.
now pressing the number "1" in the switcher window selects the Finder (or Path Finder if running)
enabled the ability to mark the Finder to quit via pressing 'q'. The Finder can then be relaunched from the Dock if desired.
when the switching key is held down, LiteSwitch will now stop at the last app on the list until the key is pressed again. This should make it easier to jump to either end.
misc fixes
Version 2.7 (b2):
added Exposé for app windows. In the app switcher, press the up or down arrow keys to activate Exposé for that app. Once inside Exposé you can choose to select a window or press the tab key to view the next app's windows. The up and down arrows used to bring up the app's contextual menu. The key "m" still does so.
now pressing the number "1" in the switcher window selects more...
and there's no email to contact the author. this is so light-weight, simple yet powerful (with single app mode included) it's a pity that was abandoned.
expose for app windows stopped working in X 10.7.4 and there's also 2 other things i miss:
when it's set to bring all forward in the window layering, it would be great if liteswitch x could bring smaller windows to the front (a preferences window that could be behind the main window, for example).
also, one thing that was overlooked would be the ability to disable command-shift to switch backwards and leave just command-`. the reason for this is that in single application mode, holding shift when clicking another app on the dock or switching to another app via command-tab, overrides it so you can view 2 or more applications at the same time. as it is, the only clumsy work-around is to command-tab to the item right next to the one you wanna view at the same time and press shift once while keeping command pressed. it's also advised to disable key repeat in the advanced options so you don't get just 1 split second to do it.
actually, it makes my desktop flash grey on launch and when my monitor wakes from sleep, this grey desktop comes back and only relaunching Liteswitch fixes it.
Actually, it is beginning to break down in Lion. It does work but the Exclude function no longer does. Also some of the hot keys no longer work. An update would be welcome.
Bud_simrin, the Exclude feature still works by right-clicking on the Finder list of open apps, and choosing "Don't display in LiteSwitch." You're right: the wheels are falling off, though.
Thanks, Sequoia1. I had ver 2.7 and the current download is a beta so I just assumed it was older than what I have. But, in fact I just tried the beta and it is newer and improved. The Exclude function works as it always had and there are additional hotkeys now that I didn't know about. So I retract my comment.
The developer did the same thing previously, disappeared, with no updates or news for 1 or 2 years. Also wasn't paying their taxes. Best avoided -- lots of alternatives, like Switcher Maestro, which is cheaper and supported by a great developer.
Looks like MU finally got around to updating the user name on posts I left previously, including some below. Please ignore the reference to "coffeenow" in my previous post.
No point in trying this software since, as Paul Roberts states here, there's no way to purchase it. For reasons that remain unknown, the developer has failed to respond over months to requests for information on the status of this app. A shame, because its minimalist interface makes it the cleanest CTRL-TAB replacement out there. Here's hoping the developer is okay, and simply has abandoned the project irresponsibly rather than as a result of being incapacitated and so unable to fix the purchase links on his site or at least post a reply here on MU to explain the unavailability of the product to prospective buyers. Features, ease of use, value, and stability merit five stars, but the dead-end status of the project has left me feeling the need to alert others with a half-star rating. Note that I've posted previous comments below under the user name "coffeenow."
Could not agree more about no point in trying it. I can't figure out how to link to a comment/review I wrote about Proteron an their questionable ethics in the Mac industry.
Please don't give this company your money, even if the app is 100% perfect. Do a little research on the company and how they have hurt other projects online, such as the great MacPorts project.
I consider them scammers, liars, and unethical jerks. They should be blacklisted from MacUpdate, as no company that behaves like this should be listed.
Very frustrating that I can't purchase the application. I've been trying to buy for a couple months but keep getting the 404 errors when I either connect from the UI nag screen or try connecting to their e-commerce site from their own website.
Especially annoying since I finally spent time evaluating the options so that I could make the *right* choice. Just like I thought, it's not worth the time.
So I will buy one of the others. The rating is strictly because of the problem downloading. My experience with the actual application has been flawless with no issues.
I am getting 404 errors on the developers site as well (in contrast to my earlier replies to ACCOUNTCLOSED; apologies for posting without checking more thoroughly). Download links work, but nothing else.
Yes. Appears to be abandon-ware. I'd presumed that SOLDERBERG was the developer, but apparently not so. A shame. App had promise. Hope developer is okay.
Yes. Appears to be abandon-ware. I'd presumed that SODERBERG was the developer, but apparently not so. A shame. App had promise. Hope developer is okay.
Nice to see some new features and continued development.
Just thought I'd mention that the scrollwheel issue still hasn't been fixed (scrollwheel is still scrolling whatever window is under the mouse pointer when scrolling through open apps -- which it shouldn't be doing while the app switcher is open).
We must be on different sites. The URL http://www.proteron.com (link to developer's site above) continues to return 404s for purchase links, latest news, contact, company-everything but downloads. In addition a number of images show broken links. This is a poor showing: over a week to reply to a "can't purchase" alert, and the claim that the site is now up and running turns out to be wrong. Losing interest fast in this app.
Try refreshing the page in your browser when you click on the link if you get a 404 error again ... as of 4:08 PM today (EST) I clicked the link and it worked for me, so perhaps your browser has cached a previous out-of-date link.
BTW I have no comment yet about the app itself, it's one of a few I'm checking out ... just thought it was useful for people to know the link works; also, I would have responded sooner to your post except that you ddn't "reply" to mine, so I didn't know there was a new comment here.
And SnapRocket and Exposé.
BUT Kantorde this doesn't make LiteSwitch useless --or any different from the Cmd Tab switcher as far as I can see. Sure you can go to Exposé from Cmd-Tab, but if you have multiple app windows open, Exposé or Witch is probably your best bet anyway. As an application switcher, I find LiteSwitch to be the best by far.
BUT an application switcher without this functionality is just to limited to be a "replacement" for the original one. Thus, things like that make little sense for me.
I was just wondering how can someone purchase LiteSwitch X and get rid of the annoying pop-up screen. Proteron's page does not have enough information on how to do that
Incompatibility found with Screen Sharing in 10.5.7
Switching away from Screen Sharing using command+tab in LiteSwitch X, ends up "leaving" the command key "pressed" in Screen Sharing: any further clicks behave like command+clicks.
Disabling LiteSwitch X solves the issue.
see http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2094309
Too bad Proteron is gone and there is no fix to this.
Anyone else having problems with this under 10.5.6? Once in a while it slows to a halt every time I invoke it. And sometimes it loses track of the order of apps, or doesn't show a newly-launched app in the list. Stopping and starting LiteSwitch fixes it for a while.
So glad its been released for intel macs. But ive seem to have found a problem. Sometimes switch is VERY slow. When i hit the key combo, it takes 1-5 seconds to show the tab switcher. As soon as I disable LiteSwitch, the default apple one will pop up instantly, like LiteSwitch should be doing.
I'm having the exact same slowness problem, on a new MAP 17”: 2.33 ghz, 3GB RAM! Pls. reply if you found a solution. I love LiteSwitch but this is driving me crazy. The CPU % jumps up to almost 19% when I hit cmd-tab...
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LiteSwitch X follows the tradition of LiteSwitch as a simple solution for managing open applications using the keyboard. Like its predecessor which will continue to be available, LiteSwitch X has a clean, simple and functional style that has become Proteron's hallmark. It features an aquified transparent, resizeable window which is invoked by a configurable key-combination (default is Apple-Tab). From the pop-up window the user can switch to any application, hide, quit, or force quit any application or drag-and-drop files onto any application. Windows users migrating to the Macintosh can feel more at home having the Alt-tab functionality returned to them, yet enjoy it in its full Mac OS X splendor.
+338
+1
+135
expose for app windows stopped working in X 10.7.4 and there's also 2 other things i miss:
when it's set to bring all forward in the window layering, it would be great if liteswitch x could bring smaller windows to the front (a preferences window that could be behind the main window, for example).
also, one thing that was overlooked would be the ability to disable command-shift to switch backwards and leave just command-`. the reason for this is that in single application mode, holding shift when clicking another app on the dock or switching to another app via command-tab, overrides it so you can view 2 or more applications at the same time. as it is, the only clumsy work-around is to command-tab to the item right next to the one you wanna view at the same time and press shift once while keeping command pressed. it's also advised to disable key repeat in the advanced options so you don't get just 1 split second to do it.
+1
+18
Sequoia1 reviewed on 20 Jun 2011
Yaaa!
+82
+82
+1
+18
+1
+18
+1
+18
+41
+37
+37
accountclosed reviewed on 03 Feb 2011
Please don't give this company your money, even if the app is 100% perfect. Do a little research on the company and how they have hurt other projects online, such as the great MacPorts project.
I consider them scammers, liars, and unethical jerks. They should be blacklisted from MacUpdate, as no company that behaves like this should be listed.
+21
Paul Roberts reviewed on 04 Jan 2011
Especially annoying since I finally spent time evaluating the options so that I could make the *right* choice. Just like I thought, it's not worth the time.
So I will buy one of the others. The rating is strictly because of the problem downloading. My experience with the actual application has been flawless with no issues.
+1
+37
+37
+37
+1
+139
Just thought I'd mention that the scrollwheel issue still hasn't been fixed (scrollwheel is still scrolling whatever window is under the mouse pointer when scrolling through open apps -- which it shouldn't be doing while the app switcher is open).
+1
+721
+1
+37
+1
BTW I have no comment yet about the app itself, it's one of a few I'm checking out ... just thought it was useful for people to know the link works; also, I would have responded sooner to your post except that you ddn't "reply" to mine, so I didn't know there was a new comment here.
+1
Oops, my mistake ... wrote my reply hastily and checked only the first page, I am getting 404 errors as well.
+37
+1
+5
I cannot access it via liteswitch, right?
Thank you in advance.
+721
-2
+5
This makes LiteSwitchX useless. Even the original Cmd-Tab facility can deal with multiple windows - and looks much better.
+726
+54
BUT Kantorde this doesn't make LiteSwitch useless --or any different from the Cmd Tab switcher as far as I can see. Sure you can go to Exposé from Cmd-Tab, but if you have multiple app windows open, Exposé or Witch is probably your best bet anyway. As an application switcher, I find LiteSwitch to be the best by far.
+1
+5
+3
+721
+21
It would be great to see an update.
Switching away from Screen Sharing using command+tab in LiteSwitch X, ends up "leaving" the command key "pressed" in Screen Sharing: any further clicks behave like command+clicks.
Disabling LiteSwitch X solves the issue.
see http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2094309
Too bad Proteron is gone and there is no fix to this.
+12
+139
Unfortunately it looks like Proteron has stopped working on it.
Using it on MBP 15" 2gb ram, 100gb 7200 HD
+82
Beige rated on 15 Nov 2011
Terrellm rated on 08 Jan 2011