Better support of Windows Store Apps in Windows 10

[kvakulo]

[kvakulo]

Icon is missing and the process name (ApplicationFrame) is not really useful. Also an app sometimes appear twice in the list (like the People app in the screenshot)

[kvakulo]

This issue should get more attention before the release of Windows 10

[philippotto]

Out of curiosity: Did somebody test Switcheroo with the virtual desktop feature of Windows 10?

I'm currently using Windows 8 and a virtual desktop software called BetterDesktopTool. Switcheroo does only list the windows in the currently active virtual desktop. This is not optimal, but of course I understand that such an interoperability with a 3rd party software would be overkill. But regarding that virtual desktops will be native in Windows 10, one should definitely consider to add support to Switcheroo (maybe we are lucky and it works out of the box).

I would imagine that switching to a program which is on a "distant" desktop, would either

• move the window to the current desktop or
• would change the active desktop to the one belonging to the target window.

Optimally, this behaviour could be changed via a shortcut/modifier, since the desired behaviour will be highly dependent on the current context (at least, this is my opinion :)).

I would be happy to discuss ideas, if you need some input!

[kvakulo]

Hi @philippotto! Thanks for your comments and ideas! 👍

I tried out Switcheroo on Windows 10 a few weeks ago, and it works so-so. There is still the original issue of Windows Store Apps sometimes appearing twice in the list.

Regarding the virtual desktops feature: Programs from all desktops are listed in Switcheroo, and when switching to a program on another desktop, then the active desktop is changed and the target window is activated. However for some reason this doesn't work for Windows Store Apps if the target window is not on the currently active desktop.

So I think these two things are the main priorities for better Windows 10 support:

1. Make sure that Windows Store Apps only appear once and shows with an icon
2. Support switching to Windows Store Apps on other desktops

It would be really great to get the issues fixed before the release of Windows 10 (July 29), so if anybody got time to look at these issues it would be very much appreciated!

With those things fixed, then we should certainly move on and try out some of your ideas for an even better support of the new virtual desktops on Windows 10.

/ Regin

[HellBrick]

I've been running Switcheroo on Win 10 for a few days now and I think it's time to sum up the experience. This issue already looks like a general Switcheroo + Win 10 discussion so I'm just gonna pile on ;)

1. Switcheroo does exactly the intuitive thing when switching to a window on another desktop. Switching the desktop is what Alt+Tab and clicking on a taskbar icon do, so all is good here.
2. However, just invoking Switcheroo window causes the desktop switch if the desktop was previously switched by Switcheroo. Basically, whenever you use Switcheroo to switch to a window on another desktop and then hit Alt+Space again, you're gonna be switched back. It looks like Switcheroo window itself is left at the desktop it was invoked on, and when you re-invoke it, you switch to it. The interesting thing here is the desktop Switcheroo was opened on is not really remembered: for example, if you invoke Switcheroo on desktop 1, use it to switch to some app on destop 2, use Ctrl+Win+Right to switch to desktop 3 and then hit Alt+Space to invoke Switcheroo again, there is no extra switch and it's opened on the desktop 3 like expected.
3. Yep, duplicating UWP app windows are confusing =( Also it's worth to mention only the copy that belongs to ApplicationFrameHc process can be switched to.

[philippotto]

However, just invoking Switcheroo window causes the desktop switch if the desktop was previously switched by Switcheroo. Basically, whenever you use Switcheroo to switch to a window on another desktop and then hit Alt+Space again, you're gonna be switched back. It looks like Switcheroo window itself is left at the desktop it was invoked on, and when you re-invoke it, you switch to it. The interesting thing here is the desktop Switcheroo was opened on is not really remembered: for example, if you invoke Switcheroo on desktop 1, use it to switch to some app on destop 2, use Ctrl+Win+Right to switch to desktop 3 and then hit Alt+Space to invoke Switcheroo again, there is no extra switch and it's opened on the desktop 3 like expected.

I can confirm this bug. I fiddled a bit with the code and found out that the origin is the anti-flicker-workaround in MainWindow.xaml.cs. The window is hidden not until a delay of 50 ms is passed. I submitted a PR which removes this workaround and fixes the bug for Windows 10.
The downside is the "flickering" (meaning: opening Switcheroo will display the window with the old window list for a split second). I tried to fix this somehow but couldn't find a solution.
From my point of view the flickering is not that annoying. And it is definitely better than the other bug.

[kvakulo]

Hi!

Great work guys! I'm just back from a quick trip, but I'll take a closer
look shortly, and make sure that there will be a new release imminently, so
Switcheroo will be working better on Win 10.

/Regin

On Friday, August 7, 2015, Philipp Otto [email protected] wrote:

However, just invoking Switcheroo window causes the desktop switch if the
desktop was previously switched by Switcheroo. Basically, whenever you use
Switcheroo to switch to a window on another desktop and then hit Alt+Space
again, you're gonna be switched back. It looks like Switcheroo window
itself is left at the desktop it was invoked on, and when you re-invoke it,
you switch to it. The interesting thing here is the desktop Switcheroo was
opened on is not really remembered: for example, if you invoke Switcheroo
on desktop 1, use it to switch to some app on destop 2, use Ctrl+Win+Right
to switch to desktop 3 and then hit Alt+Space to invoke Switcheroo again,
there is no extra switch and it's opened on the desktop 3 like expected.

I can confirm this bug. I fiddled a bit with the code and found out that
the origin is the anti-flicker-workaround in MainWindow.xaml.cs. The
window is hidden not until a delay of 50 ms is passed. I submitted a PR
which removes this workaround and fixes the bug for Windows 10.
The downside is the "flickering" (meaning: opening Switcheroo will display
the window with the old window list for a split second). I tried to fix
this somehow but couldn't find a solution.
From my point of view the flickering is not that annoying. And it is
definitely better than the other bug.

—
Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub
#21 (comment).

[kvakulo]

@philippotto Once again great job identifying and fixing the cause of the Windows 10 desktop switching bug! I can confirm that it fixes the bug, and actually I don't see any flicker even after the workaround has been removed.

I've just added another "alt+tab" check that should take care of the extra entry that sometimes appear for Windows Store Apps.

It seems however like there's another bug regarding the Store Apps however, if they are minimized then Switcheroo can't switch to them. It would also be nice to show the icon and the real process name for these apps.

The latest build with @philippotto's fix and the double entry fix is available here:
https://ci.appveyor.com/project/kvakulo/switcheroo/build/0.9.2.107/artifacts

/Regin