How can I directly access apps with single hot-keys?
Possible solutions which I don't get to work:
(1) Having often used applications constantly kept in the dock, it would be useful to have hotkeys like Apple-1, Apple-2, Apple-3, etc to access the first, second or third icon in the dock. I am aware of Crtl-F3, but it requires left and rights to get to the wanted icon.
(2) I tried to define 'workflows' that launch apps and assign the corresponding services hotkeys, but that didn't work in all applications.
I know Apple-Tab. However, depending on the other opened programs the keys to press to get to a specific application is always different.
Any solutions?
Best Answer
There are more than a few options out there, but I would recommend Keyboard Maestro. It's a pretty powerful program that allows you do do all sorts of different scripting and macro tasks, as well as configure hot keys. I use it to make more advanced hot keys configurations than System Preferences can do, as well as run scripts, handle my extra mouse buttons (I can configure them on a per-app basis without extra drivers).
I suggest you download the trial and test it out. It will certainly do what you need, but you may find it useful for many other things.
One thing I do suggest when you try it out is to disable all the default macros, as they can be a bit confusing and override default system behaviour. Then take some time to figure out what it can do and what will be useful.