There are a lot of straightforward methods to launch apps in your Mac. You’ll be able to click an icon in the Dock, use Spotlight Search (or better alternatives), or go to the Functions folder and fireplace up your favourite apps. None of those strategies are as quick and as enjoyable as launching apps with Pieoneer, a launcher that allows you to add your favourite apps to a radial menu. It additionally has two different helpful options—a built-in app switcher and a simple approach to floor hidden options of your favourite apps.
Utilizing Pieoneer as an app launcher
Credit score: Pranay Parab
That is the only a part of utilizing Pieoneer. As soon as you’ve got put in the app, you possibly can click on its menu bar icon and go to Settings > Launcher. Right here, you possibly can document a keyboard shortcut to activate the Pieoneer, and you’ll add, reorder, and take away apps from the launcher. Pieoneer would not seem to restrict what number of apps you possibly can add to the radial launcher, however possibly it ought to. It seems to be nice for as much as 10 apps, however begins to look cramped after that. As an experiment, I added each app that I launch recurrently. With 21 apps within the launcher, Pieoneer began to appear to be a pizza with approach too many toppings.
Fortunately, sanity prevailed, and I eliminated apps that I needn’t launch on a regular basis. As soon as setup is full, Pieoneer will do its job shortly and reliably. Press the keyboard shortcut to see the radial menu and use your mouse cursor to click on the app you wish to launch. I discovered myself wishing for a approach to make use of Pieoneer with out the mouse, however in the mean time that is not doable. It might be fairly janky to attempt to use arrow keys to navigate the radial menu anyway, so I agree with the developer’s design choice right here.
Establishing the app switcher
Credit score: Pranay Parab
You can even use Pieoneer as a quicker approach to change between operating apps. To attempt it, discover the Switcher tab within the settings menu, then set a keyboard shortcut for this motion. When you try this, you possibly can fireplace it as much as see all of your open apps in the identical radial menu. Use the mouse cursor to shortly choose an app and it will instantly come to the foreground. I discover this quicker than utilizing Command-Tab to change between operating apps on my MacBook.
The hidden gem: Controller
I feel the very best characteristic in Pieoneer is Controller, which makes it simpler to entry options buried underneath layers of menus in varied apps. To make use of this, you may have to present this app Accessibility permissions in your Mac. Pieoneer is on the Mac App Retailer, which suggests it is underneath extra scrutiny from Apple, so that you should not fear about granting these permissions. Go to the app’s settings, choose the Controller tab, and click on the button to grant Accessibility permissions, which can open System Settings. As soon as you’ve got accepted the app there, restart Pieoneer to make use of this characteristic.
Credit score: Pranay Parab
It’s best to arrange a keyboard shortcut for the Controller first, then begin including apps that you just wish to use it with. As soon as you’ve got added some apps, it’s essential to manually add shortcuts to every app. I used the chance so as to add my favourite shortcuts in Ulysses, my default writing app. From that second, I have been utilizing the Controller to shortly run these shortcuts to view the phrase depend, export textual content, verify the define, and many others. It is a bit tedious to manually set this up for every app, however it’s a one-time trouble, after which Pieoneer makes issues rather a lot simpler.
A greater total expertise
Pieoneer has improved my expertise of launching and switching between apps, and its Controller characteristic is the icing on the cake. The perfect half is the app’s UI. I really like the eye to element, too. Every animation seems to be fluid, the switches in settings may be clicked or dragged, and the app enables you to allow sounds too. Once you scroll via the radial menu, every merchandise choice performs a pleasant sound and you’ll change it to a extra playful variation that seems like do-re-mi-fa-so.
My solely criticism with this app is that it generally robotically opened the settings window on my Mac. Aside from this minor bug, Pieoneer has accomplished every little thing it promised, and accomplished it fairly effectively. Whereas I used to be in a position to purchase the app for $5, the value appears to have jumped to $10 since I began utilizing it. Nonetheless, the app continues to be a great worth when you like the thought of utilizing radial menus for launching or switching between apps.
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