OpenHere

Do you use Spaces/Mission Control on your Mac?

Do you get frustrated when you open a web link, and you get switched to a different Space or the link silently opens in a new browser tab in a different Space?

Me too.

OpenHere ensures that web links are opened in the current Space.

How It Works

OpenHere is set to the deafult web browser, so it will receive any links that are opened. When links are opened, OpenHere uses the Accessibility APIs to see if there is a browser window in the current Space. If there isn't, it will open a new browser window. The link is then opened in a new tab in your chosen browser. Browser interaction uses the AppleScript scripting bridge.

Installation

• Download the DMG for the latest release
• Open the disk image
• Drag OpenHere into your Applications folder
• Launch OpenHere
• Click on the Open System Preferences button
• Click the lock icon
• Click Accessibility in the left pane
• Check OpenHere.app in the list on the right
• Launch OpenHere again
• Select the browser you want links opened with
• Click the Set OpenHere as Default Browser button
• Click Use OpenHere
• Open a link to verify it opens in your desired browser

You can check for updates via the OpenHere > Check for Updates... menu item.

Features

• Open links in the current Space
• Prevent window activation when opening several links in a row

Usage

You should now be able to open links as you do normally, and they should always open in the current Space.

If you want to change which browser OpenHere forwards links to or check for updates, launch OpenHere directly.

If you decide OpenHere isn't for you, you can restore your preferred default browser by selecting it in System Preferences > General > Default web browser.

Supported Browsers

Currents versions of the following should work.

• Safari
• Safari Technology Preview
• Chrome

Privacy

OpenHere does not and will never log anything about the URLs that it opens.

You can walk through the entire execution path from where the link open event is handled, to the general browser handling, to the browser-specific handling for Chrome, Safari and Safari Technology Preview.

The only third party framework in use is Sparkle, which provides the auto update functionality.

Contributions

Please open an issue to discuss any potential changes.

License

OpenHere is released under the GPL license.

Attribution

AppleScript, Mission Control, and Spaces are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.