Bug 967769 - Alt+Tab doesn't prefer windows on current workspace
Summary: Alt+Tab doesn't prefer windows on current workspace
Keywords:
Status: CLOSED EOL
Alias: None
Product: Fedora
Classification: Fedora
Component: gnome-shell
Version: 19
Hardware: Unspecified
OS: Unspecified
unspecified
unspecified
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Owen Taylor
QA Contact: Fedora Extras Quality Assurance
URL:
Whiteboard:
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2013-05-28 09:46 UTC by Amit Shah
Modified: 2015-02-17 15:21 UTC (History)
6 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
Doc Type: Bug Fix
Doc Text:
Clone Of:
: 1205445 (view as bug list)
Environment:
Last Closed: 2015-02-17 15:21:28 UTC
Type: Bug
Embargoed:


Attachments (Terms of Use)

Description Amit Shah 2013-05-28 09:46:00 UTC
Description of problem:

The behaviour of Alt+Tab has changed from F18.  This might just be a regression.

Alt+Tab doesn't prefer windows on current workspace.  It instead switches to other windows, causing workspace switches as well.  This is unexpected, please revert to older behaviour.

Comment 1 Florian Müllner 2013-05-28 12:47:30 UTC
(In reply to Amit Shah from comment #0)
> The behaviour of Alt+Tab has changed from F18.  This might just be a
> regression.

It is not, this is a deliberate upstream change. The old behavior was fairly unpredictable (resulting in quite a list of bugs), the new behavior is much simpler - applications appear strictly in the order they have been used.

Comment 2 Amit Shah 2013-05-29 04:35:56 UTC
(In reply to Florian Müllner from comment #1)
> (In reply to Amit Shah from comment #0)
> > The behaviour of Alt+Tab has changed from F18.  This might just be a
> > regression.
> 
> It is not, this is a deliberate upstream change. The old behavior was fairly
> unpredictable (resulting in quite a list of bugs), the new behavior is much
> simpler - applications appear strictly in the order they have been used.

Is there a way to revert to the older behaviour?  I find the older behaviour predictable, and the new one not at all.

Comment 3 Florian Müllner 2013-05-29 16:02:17 UTC
(In reply to Amit Shah from comment #2)
> Is there a way to revert to the older behaviour?

No, except by using an extension that implements the old popup.

Comment 4 Amit Shah 2013-05-29 18:16:47 UTC
(In reply to Florian Müllner from comment #3)
> (In reply to Amit Shah from comment #2)
> > Is there a way to revert to the older behaviour?
> 
> No, except by using an extension that implements the old popup.

I installed the Alt-Tab Workspace extension:

https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/310/alt-tab-workspace/

It restricts alt+tab to windows on current workspace.  That's slightly suboptimal, though (I'd like windows from all workspaces listed, but windows local to the current workspace preferred).

Is this bug a WONTFIX, then?

Comment 5 Florian Müllner 2013-05-30 13:50:03 UTC
(In reply to Amit Shah from comment #4)
> (In reply to Florian Müllner from comment #3)
> > No, except by using an extension that implements the old popup.
> 
> I installed the Alt-Tab Workspace extension:
> 
> https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/310/alt-tab-workspace/
> 
> It restricts alt+tab to windows on current workspace.  That's slightly
> suboptimal, though (I'd like windows from all workspaces listed, but windows
> local to the current workspace preferred).

Oh, I didn't investigate whether such an extension already exists - what I meant is that interested developers can pick up the "old" alt-tab code from the git history and make it available as an extension.


> Is this bug a WONTFIX, then?

Yes, in case of the application switcher. Since 3.8 we also include a window switcher (which does not have a keybinding by default, see "Switch windows" in Settings->Keyboard->Shortcuts->Navigation) that works more or less like the old Metacity switcher did. It has an option to list all winodws or only windows from the current workspaces; I'd be open to add a 3rd option to show all windows, but grouped by workspace.

Comment 6 Amit Shah 2013-05-30 17:32:30 UTC
(In reply to Florian Müllner from comment #5)
> > Is this bug a WONTFIX, then?
> 
> Yes, in case of the application switcher. Since 3.8 we also include a window
> switcher (which does not have a keybinding by default, see "Switch windows"
> in Settings->Keyboard->Shortcuts->Navigation) that works more or less like
> the old Metacity switcher did. It has an option to list all winodws or only
> windows from the current workspaces; I'd be open to add a 3rd option to show
> all windows, but grouped by workspace.

Hm, I can't quite figure out what the window switcher does (seems to only allow selecting between the 1st two windows listed with Alt+Tab, if that shortcut is assigned to it, but other windows can be selected using arrow keys / mouse).

However, if you can get something that brings the older behaviour back, I'd like it very much.

Thanks

Comment 7 Florian Müllner 2013-05-31 12:48:30 UTC
(In reply to Amit Shah from comment #6)
> Hm, I can't quite figure out what the window switcher does (seems to only
> allow selecting between the 1st two windows listed with Alt+Tab, if that
> shortcut is assigned to it, but other windows can be selected using arrow
> keys / mouse).

That sounds like a known gnome-control-center bug - does "gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings switch-applications '[]'" fix it?

Comment 8 Amit Shah 2013-11-12 19:44:55 UTC
(In reply to Florian Müllner from comment #7)
> (In reply to Amit Shah from comment #6)
> > Hm, I can't quite figure out what the window switcher does (seems to only
> > allow selecting between the 1st two windows listed with Alt+Tab, if that
> > shortcut is assigned to it, but other windows can be selected using arrow
> > keys / mouse).
> 
> That sounds like a known gnome-control-center bug - does "gsettings set
> org.gnome.desktop.wm.keybindings switch-applications '[]'" fix it?

Yes, it does.  I'm trying this on F20 now:

$ rpm -q gnome-shell
gnome-shell-3.10.1-2.fc20.x86_64

Comment 9 Fedora End Of Life 2015-01-09 18:14:01 UTC
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Comment 10 Fedora End Of Life 2015-02-17 15:21:28 UTC
Fedora 19 changed to end-of-life (EOL) status on 2015-01-06. Fedora 19 is
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