I am using spaces to consolidate my workspaces. However, the shortcuts for change space/desktop (CTRL+n) collide with DT’s shortcuts to switch inspector panes (CTRL+n as well). Are there users that experienced similar issues and remapped shortcuts (either for DT or macOS spaces)? What are your workarounds? I seem not to be creative enough to come up with a viable solution that does not interfere with other shortcuts.
I use Ctrl-Right and Ctrl-Left to change spaces, since I can’t rember the numbers anyway. Otherwise, apps like BetterTouchTool allow you to assign shortcuts to applications only.
Thanks for the suggestion! However, some days ago I changed BTT for Karabiner Elements because for some reason the HYPER-key setting in BTT is not that reliable as it is in Karabiner Elements (which is understandable, as KE affects at a lower input level than BTT). I try to keep the number of background apps as low as possible (which are already a lot).
So you already have BTT and only need Karabiner for Hyperkey? Then you don’t need Karabiner.
Remap in macos Caps Lock to Control. The os doesn’t show it, but then Caps Lock becomes the physical right control key, which most people don’t have on their keyboard.
With BTT you can choose whether shortcuts should only work with the left or the right modifier. Your hyperkey shortcuts can therefore all be executed with right control + letter. All shortcuts with left control remain what they were.
A real physical modifier is generally much more reliable than four virtual ones. So you can do everything with BTT
Interesting, I did not know that. Thanks! I’ll give it a try
I discovered this purely by chance.
I just tried it and works! Thank you! Now I have to find a way to convince Keyboard Maestro of the Right Control key as well as some of my shortcuts live also in km
Good it’s the better hyperkey.
This is not a problem, there are already ready-made macros for this in the library.
But what for? You can trigger KM macros with uuid directly from BTT. That seems easier to me.
incredible. thanks again!
Yes, I can see that now!
By the way, many people only use the left cmd key for their shortcuts. In this case, the right one is the even better hyperkey alternative. Both modifiers can be reached blindly with the thumbs and no remapping is necessary. BTT can of course also create different shortcuts for left/right cmd + letter.
What I mean is, I do everything in the inspector with right cmd. For example right cmd + a goes to the annotations.
nice (rCMD didn’t occur to me because I use RCMD as an app switcher but might consider using rOPT in the app) .
Would you mind sharing your other shortcut modifications with DT as I have the impression that you already put a lot of thought into remapping your HYPER-DT workflow?
Thank you, I didn’t know this app yet. Mm, I’ve only had a quick look, but I don’t see anything that BTT couldn’t do. So, you could consider not using it at all.
This is what I just decided as well. As I am not very knowledgable in BTT, I just added static app launch shortcuts for my most use applications DEVONthink, MailMate, Bookends, BusyCal, OmniFocus, Curio and Tinderbox.
So you or example type right cmd + D to start DT or bring it to the foreground?
I do it like this:
- left cmd tapped once shows DT. Tapped twice shows another writing app.
- Left opt tapped once shows browser 1. Tapped twice shows browser 2.
- Left control tapped once shows … and so on.
I have 6 modifiers (with fn), so I can open 6 apps. If you assign the modifiers twice, you have 12 apps.
Ouf, thats a lot (of nice use cases) to digest. Thanks again for pointing me in this direction. My mind is already blown
I prefer Karabiner Elements to BTT as well, and I use it for more than the Hyper Key, especially to get a more efficient use of the all the command keys:
- Caps Lock → Escape when tapped, L Control when held
- Return → Return when tapped, R Control when held
- cmd-opt-ctrl-shift → Hyper
- R-cmd → R-opt
- R-opt → R-cmd
The first four are obvious, I think, but the last two are worth mentioning. Swapping the right command and opt keys so the opt is next to the space bar means that you can type accents (which I do quite a lot), and navigate words more easily. (I use the built-in Emacs navigation keys – alt+b/f – more than I do the arrow keys, so it helps to have them in the stronger position on one side.)
As to your specific problem with the shortcuts, unfortunately, complicated programs have to compromise because there are only so many shortcuts to go round, and sometimes DT compromises get in the way of existing shortcuts.
E.g. they use Ctl-p
and Ctl-t
(for ‘Properties’ and ‘Tags’) when they are both reserved MacOS shortcut (for ‘previous line’ and ‘swap characters’) in all Mac text fields, which is frustrating because they’re both burned into my fingertips…
Personally, I tend to remap the DT compromises to Ctl-shift-p
, Ctl-shift-t
etc, so you could try Ctl-shift-1
, Ctol-shift-2
etc. Once you’ve remapped Caps Lock to Control, then ctl-shift
is easy to type with just the flattened left or right little finger…
As a more general solution to the global shortage of shortcut keys, if you use Keyboard Maestro, what about using KM palettes to host the commands? E.g. type the palette’s shortcut (in my case alt-v
) and then a letter/number for the Inspector pane…
Alt-v 2
isn’t that much longer than ctl-2
and you soon get used to it.
HTH.
That’s a good idea! I’ve thought of almost every key, but never thought of using Enter for different functions. I don’t know anything about carabiners, but luckily this all works with BTT too.
KM Palettes are very handy because you don’t have to memorize shortcuts. But they usually get in my way. And when they are shrunk, I can’t see the contents.
It’s really useful to have Return with 2 functions – it makes a laptop keyboard (or Magic Keyboard) into a proper two-sided keyboard… especially if you use Emacs keys.
I see what you mean about the palettes, but in practice, I know the combinations, so I only ever see them for a split second anyway (use the setting Shows a palette for one action
and they disappear as soon as you’ve chosen the last action), so they’re no worse than using the menu commands really – which I’d have to do with the lesser-used commands anyway if I didn’t have the palette).
I must finally learn how this works. Do you use this to navigate in a text?