Switching not working on Big Sur

[alt-tab-macos-bot]

This issue was opened by a bot after a user submitted feedback through the in-app form.

From: luiscachog@gmail.com

Message:

Hi team,

The switching is not working with the last BigSur update 11.2.3 (20D91).

Can you advice on how to overcome this

Debug profile

• App version: 6.22.1
• App preferences:
  • MSAppCenter310AppCenterUserDefaultsMigratedKey: 1
  • MSAppCenter310CrashesUserDefaultsMigratedKey: 1
  • MSAppCenterInstallId: 8FEB089E-1CCC-496A-9BC4-76612CE74007
  • MSAppCenterPastDevices: {length = 1132, bytes = 0x62706c69 73743030 d4010203 04050607 ... 00000000 0000037a }
  • MSAppCenterSessionIdHistory: {length = 452, bytes = 0x62706c69 73743030 d4010203 04050607 ... 00000000 0000014e }
  • MSAppCenterUserIdHistory: {length = 447, bytes = 0x62706c69 73743030 d4010203 04050607 ... 00000000 00000149 }
  • NSStatusItem Preferred Position Item-0: 1191
  • NSWindow Frame SUUpdateAlert: 530 470 620 398 0 0 1680 1025
  • SUHasLaunchedBefore: 1
  • SULastCheckTime: 2021-06-08 20:01:06 +0000
  • SUUpdateGroupIdentifier: 1014791037
  • SUUpdateRelaunchingMarker: 0
  • alignThumbnails: 1
  • appsToShow: 0
  • fadeOutAnimation: false
  • fontHeight: 12
  • hideAppBadges: true
  • hideColoredCircles: true
  • hideSpaceNumberLabels: true
  • hideStatusIcons: false
  • hideThumbnails: false
  • hideWindowlessApps: false
  • holdShortcut: ⌘
  • holdShortcut2: ⌥
  • iconSize: 16
  • maxHeightOnScreen: 50
  • maxWidthOnScreen: 80
  • menubarIcon: 0
  • nextWindowShortcut2: ⇥
  • preferencesVersion: 6.22.1
  • rowsCount: 2
  • screensToShow: 0
  • shortcutStyle: 0
  • showFullscreenWindows: 0
  • showOnScreen: 1
  • showTabsAsWindows: false
  • spacesToShow: 1
  • theme: 0
  • titleTruncation: 0
  • updatePolicy: 1
  • windowMaxWidthInRow: 25
  • windowMinWidthInRow: 0
• Applications: 71
• Windows: 17
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: false, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: true, spaceId: 1, spaceIndex: 1}
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: false, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: true, spaceId: 1, spaceIndex: 1}
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: false, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: true, spaceId: 1, spaceIndex: 1}
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: false, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: true, spaceId: 1, spaceIndex: 1}
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: false, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: false, spaceId: 12, spaceIndex: 2}
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: false, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: false, spaceId: 13, spaceIndex: 3}
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: false, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: false, spaceId: 12, spaceIndex: 2}
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: false, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: true, spaceId: 1, spaceIndex: 1}
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: false, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: false, spaceId: 13, spaceIndex: 3}
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: false, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: false, spaceId: 13, spaceIndex: 3}
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: false, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: false, spaceId: 13, spaceIndex: 3}
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: false, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: false, spaceId: 12, spaceIndex: 2}
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: false, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: false, spaceId: 13, spaceIndex: 3}
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: false, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: true, spaceId: 1, spaceIndex: 1}
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: false, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: false, spaceId: 12, spaceIndex: 2}
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: true, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: true, spaceId: 18446744073709551615, spaceIndex: 9223372036854775807}
  • {isFullscreen: false, isWindowlessApp: true, isMinimized: false, isHidden: false, isTabbed: false, isOnAllSpaces: false, shouldShowTheUser: true, spaceId: 18446744073709551615, spaceIndex: 9223372036854775807}
• OS version: Version 11.2.3 (Build 20D91)
• OS architecture: x86_64
• Locale: en_US (current)
• Spaces: 4
• Dark mode: Light
• "Displays have separate Spaces": checked
• Hardware model: MacBookPro15,1
• Screens: 4
  • {x: 0.0, y: 0.0, width: 1920.0, height: 1080.0}
  • {x: 240.0, y: -1050.0, width: 1680.0, height: 1050.0}
  • {x: 1920.0, y: -840.0, width: 1080.0, height: 1920.0}
  • {x: -1920.0, y: 0.0, width: 1920.0, height: 1080.0}
• CPU model: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz
• Memory size: 17.18 GB
• Active CPU count: 12
• Current CPU frequency: 2.6 Ghz
• Resource utilization:
  • CPU: 0.0%
  • Memory: 59M
  • Threads count: 10

[lwouis]

Can you please clarify what you mean exactly by "The switching is not working"?

A video would help understand your problem a lot

[csuich2]

Not sure if I'm experiencing the same issue as OP, but after updating to MacOS 11.4 and FireFox 89.0.1, it seems that switching to FireFox doesn't work but switching to everything else I use does work. When attempting to switch to FireFox, simply nothing happens.

[lwouis]

@csuich2 does switching work with previous versions of Firefox? It sounds like it's an issue either with that latest Firefox release or with Big Sur.

[csuich2]

Everything was working fine before I updated this morning. FireFox updated due to being restarted, so I didn't get a chance to tell whether it was the Big Sur (11.4) or FireFox update that broke it.

[lwouis]

You could downgrade Firefox to test if AltTab works with the previous version

[csuich2]

After a couple days of experimentation, I've found that it isn't just FireFox. I've also seen issues switching to just about every application I use.

Interestingly, thing seem better today, but I don't believe anything was updated today or yesterday.

I'll update again in a few days.

[luiscachog]

I meant the windows switching wasn't working properly. But today seems better. No issues from my side today.

[csuich2]

I'm still seeing the issue intermittently on applications like VS Code, Insomnia and FireFox.

[luiscachog]

Now, the issue is affecting Spotify and Obsidian...

[vitalihs]

Hey there,
I'm experiencing similar problem, but I think it is related with the currently active application.
In my case AltTab fails to switch to another app/window only if VSCodium window is active and owns the cursor. What happens is:

• I have active VSCodium window
• I press Cmd+Tab, select another window, release Cmd+Tab
• AltTab tries to switch to the selected window, it is brought above other windows, but the VSCodium window remains on top and still holds the keyboard cursor

The most weird thing is that this behavior appears and disappears around reboots - I don't experience it all the time.
To clarify - I rebooted my macbook probably a month ago, the issue appeared and started bothering me - i started turning on and off apps and it somehow stopped.
I restarted my macbook several two times this week and after the second reboot (today) it appeared again and it still annoys me.

AltTab version 6.22.1
MacOS 11.1

[lwouis]

@vitalihs i'm wondering if your VSCodium issue is not the same that was discussed and solved here: #992 (comment)

Now, the issue is affecting Spotify and Obsidian...

It seems to suggest these apps introduced the issue recently. AltTab hasn't released related changes in the past months, so it can't suddenly break

This ticket appears to me like a collection of apps that have accessibility bugs that are revealed by AltTab but most likely not an issue of AltTab itself

[vitalihs]

@vitalihs i'm wondering if your VSCodium issue is not the same that was discussed and solve here: #992 (comment)

Thanks for pointing this issue!

I'm working with VSCodium and its version is 1.58, I have no idea if there's parity between VSCode and VSCodium versions, but I'll assume there is.

I'll try to downgrade VSCodium to check if that's the case... I'll write you back if I find something

[vitalihs]

Hey @lwouis,

I just downgraded vscodium to 1.57.1 and it seems AltTab works as expected now.
(based on the vscode issue linked in #992) It seems the problem is related with the electron version used by vscode/vscodium. Similar problems may start happening with a lot of (electron based) applications and pinning their versions is not the best solution.
Do you think there could a fix in AltTab which adds support for the newer electron versions?

Vitali

[lwouis]

The Electron apps is clearly a bug on their side. I can't think of a workaround to implement in AltTab because these apps are claiming focus after a switch (also without AltTab installed, see the video here).

This ticket here is mixing many apps and many symptoms. It's hard to work on such vague messages. It would help if people shared clear steps to reproduce, video of the issue in motion, etc.

So to recap:

• Electron apps that suffer from the regression introduced in electron: I can't work around that bug since the app is asking the OS for focus and getting it, so AltTab is only reflecting that. Can't prevent the app from doing that. These apps have to fix their bug.
• Non-electron apps like Firefox: I need clearer steps to reproduce, videos, etc. It's impossible to reproduce the issue for me currently, so I can't debug it. I'm also wondering if it's OS related as people report these issues on macOS 11 or 12. My laptop is on macOS 10.15, and will stay there for a good while I think. I use VMs to reproduce issues on older/newer macOS releases, but it's hard to debug there, especially when I don't have deterministic steps to reproduce.

[vitalihs]

I see, thank you for explaining the details lwouis.
So I'll sit and hope for fix in electron.

[lenny-optiopay]

is there an upstream electron issue we can follow?

[lenny-optiopay]

I think this is it for anyone wondering electron/electron#29857

[lenny-optiopay]

@lwouis

Non-electron apps like Firefox: I need clearer steps to reproduce, videos, etc. It's impossible to reproduce the issue for me currently, so I can't debug it. I'm also wondering if it's OS related as people report these issues on macOS 11 or 12. My laptop is on macOS 10.15, and will stay there for a good while I think. I use VMs to reproduce issues on older/newer macOS releases, but it's hard to debug there, especially when I don't have deterministic steps to reproduce.

Here are some steps to repro that are fairly reliable for me:

1. boot into macos 11.5.1
2. launch vscode v1.58.2
3. open multiple vs code windows
4. start firefox 90.0.2
5. switch back to vs code
6. alt-tab between the open vs code windows (works fine)
7. try to alt tab to firefox (does not work)

So cycling from firefox to vscode works fine, cycling from vscode to firefox does not work reliably.
I have seen it work like once or twice but could not reproduce consistently.

Workaround:
If you have slack or smth open you can do this to get to firefox:
vscode -> slack (v4.18.0) -> firefox

[lwouis]

@lenny-optiopay

cycling from vscode to firefox does not work reliably

This sounded like the Electron/VSCode bug we already covered, but then you added:

If you have slack or smth open you can do this to get to firefox: vscode -> slack (v4.18.0) -> firefox

So it's a particular issue between VSCode and Firefox? That's extremely specific. You're saying that:

• Anything except VSCode can go to Firefox
• Anything can go to VSCode

That sounds so particular. Could you please share a video so we can see how it looks in motion?

[lenny-optiopay]

ok nevermind I narrowed down the behavior a bit more

generally

• switching to any app from vs code does not work as it quickly switches back to vs code
• if you do a really quick switch (just a tap of alt-tab) from vscode to another app it sometimes keeps focus (I pretty much only switch between vs code, slack and firefox so this is why I thought it was specific to firefox)

but at this point I think it's just the electron bug so I will wait until the fixes land in vs code and try again

[finviman]

i encounter the same problem , switch between Firefox and Obsidian not work.

[lwouis]

Maybe fixed in v6.32.0?