Memory
Physical memory measured with footprint while idle in the menu bar. Results vary by machine.
MAC APP SWITCHING · NATIVE · OPEN SOURCE
Hold right ⌘.
Press a letter. You're there.
Give your favorite apps a letter. Right ⌘+M switches to Music; press again to hide it. Skip the Dock and the walk through ⌘Tab. You can also configure left ⌘, or double-tap Command to see a panel of your letters.
v1.1.0 · 1.8 MB · macOS 14 or later · Apple Silicon
Developer ID signed and notarized by Apple
Both Command keysDefault setup preserves ⌘C / ⌘VAbout 15 MB memoryCLI included
Left ⌘Left ⌘ opens the panel → press M for Music
Idle CPU
Event-driven, with no key polling. Measured CPU time: 0.04 seconds per idle minute.
Decision benchmark
A local benchmark of the key decision only, not total app-switch latency. App activation runs outside the callback.
Download
Built with Swift and AppKit, without an embedded browser or bundled web runtime.
TWO WAYS · EITHER COMMAND KEY
Hold to jump. Double-tap to choose.
Set each Command key independently: hold plus a letter, double-tap for the panel, or both. The defaults are hold on right ⌘ and double-tap on left ⌘. Left-hand hold is optional.
Hold ⌘ + a letter
Right ⌘ or Left ⌘ held + letter
- Pinned letters: open an app, switch to it if it is running, or hide it if it is already in front. Press again to return.
- Unpinned letters on right ⌘: cycle through running apps whose names start with that letter. For example, W can cycle between WeChat and Weather.
- Left ⌘ only takes pinned letters: unassigned shortcuts keep working. If a left-hand binding takes over a common shortcut such as ⌘C, Settings flags the conflict.
- Combinations with Shift, Option or Control pass through. If both Command keys are held, right ⌘ takes precedence.
Double-tap ⌘, then a letter
⌘ ⌘ → letter
- Quickly tap Command twice to show that side's letter panel, then choose a letter. Enable it on either side or both.
- The panel does not take window focus. Esc or four seconds without a key closes it.
- A shortcut such as ⌘C, a long hold, a mouse click between taps, or one tap on each side does not count as a double-tap.
Settings
A letter table. A few switches.
Click the menu bar ⌘ icon → Settings. Keyboard controls: ⌘1/⌘2 switches between right and left ⌘, ⌘N adds a binding, ⌫ removes one, ↩ changes its app, and ⌘W closes Settings.
- Two triggers per Command key: hold plus a letter, or double-tap for the panel. Enable either or both.
- Hide the frontmost app: press its letter again to bring it back.
- Cycle running apps for unpinned letters: turn this off to respond only to letters you have assigned.
- Share the right-hand table with left ⌘: on by default. Turn it off to configure left-hand bindings separately.
- Open at login: start automatically and stay in the menu bar.
RELATED TOOLS
Focused on switching apps.
Checked against the linked official project descriptions on September 24, 2026. Performance figures above apply only to Initials; they are not cross-product benchmarks.
| Initials | rcmd | OctoCmd | rcmd-lite | Thor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switching | Either ⌘: hold + letter, double-tap for a panel, or both | Right ⌘ + letter | Right ⌘ for the panel, then a letter | Right ⌥ + letter | Set a shortcut for each app |
| Unpinned letters | Cycle running apps with that initial | Match by initial | Match by initial | Temporarily assigned to running apps | — |
| Other features | CLI; Hammerspoon import | See its website | Screen text search, keyboard clicking and scrolling modes | Hint panel | — |
| Source | Open source · MIT | See its website | Open source · Apache-2.0 | Public source | Open source · MIT |
Initials is for people who want a small app switcher. If you also want screen text search or keyboard-driven clicking, see OctoCmd.
Install
Three steps. One permission.
Requires macOS 14 or later on an Apple Silicon Mac (M-series).
- 1
Download and drag to Applications
Open the downloaded DMG, drag Initials to Applications, then open it from Applications. The download is Developer ID signed and notarized by Apple.
- 2
Allow Accessibility access
Settings opens on first launch. Click Open Accessibility Settings…, then enable Initials under System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility. Back in Settings, look for ✓ Accessibility granted — active . No restart is needed.
Why this is needed: Initials uses a system event tap to recognize its Command shortcuts and prevent handled keys from reaching the current app. It does not record or save typed text.
- 3
Assign apps to letters
Click Add… to choose an app and a letter. If you use Hammerspoon rcmd, select Import from Hammerspoon. Once you have checked that Initials works, use Turn off Hammerspoon rcmd so only one tool handles the shortcut.
THREE SHORT CLIPS · ENGLISH CAPTIONS
Meet the interface.
Make it your own.
See the right-hand table, the letter panel and separate left-hand settings. Pause, seek, go full screen or download each clip. No audio is required.
Real native UI rendered offscreen with example settings. This is not a continuous live recording. The English clips use Initials 1.1.0 native views, only Apple apps, and labelled detail crops. They explain Settings and the panel; they do not demonstrate global app switching, app hiding or a successful Accessibility authorization.
01 · Right ⌘ letter table
18 seconds · Match letters to apps and find the hold and double-tap switches.
Download this clip ↓02 · Read the letter panel
14 seconds · Letters, app names and keyboard hints, in light and dark mode.
Download this clip ↓03 · Separate left ⌘ bindings
18 seconds · Sharing and separate tables. This example uses J, K and Y, leaving C and V free.
Download this clip ↓COMMAND LINE
The same configuration as Settings.
After installation, the CLI is at /Applications/Initials.app/Contents/Resources/bin/initials. Add a symlink to your PATH if you want to call it as initials. Changes take effect immediately.
initials list # Both letter tables
initials set m Music # Right Command + M; name, bundle ID or app path
initials set w WeChat --side left # After: initials share off
initials unset m
initials import # Import Hammerspoon right_command mappings
initials status # Running, access and interception status
initials hold on --side left # Handle pinned letters on left Command
initials tap on --side right # Double-tap right Command for the panel
initials tap off --side left # Turn off left Command double-tapExit codes: 0 success, 1 not found, 2 usage error, 3 Initials is not running (status). Configuration: ~/Library/Application Support/cyou.tianli.initials/config.json.
HELP AND PRIVACY
A few answers before you start.
Nothing happens when I press right ⌘ + a letter
Check the menu bar ⌘ icon. Gray means access is missing or the app is paused. Open Settings and use Open Accessibility Settings… if prompted. You can also run initials status in Terminal and check whether intercepting is yes.
It stopped working after an update
macOS may invalidate an older permission. In the Accessibility list, toggle Initials off and back on. If needed, remove it with the minus button and add it again.
Double-tap is too sensitive, or does not trigger
By default, each tap and the gap between taps must be under 0.3 seconds. Disable double-tap in the Left Command settings if you do not need it, or run initials tap off --side left.
Can it conflict with Hammerspoon rcmd?
Both tools may handle the same key. Once you have checked Initials, use Turn off Hammerspoon rcmd in Settings so only one handles the shortcut. Use the same button to restore it later.
Does switching input methods change the letters?
Initials uses physical key codes for the letter mapping, independently of the active input method. Non-QWERTY layouts may differ from the printed letters on your keyboard.
Can I let the current app receive the shortcut?
Right Command with Shift, Option or Control passes through. To disable right Command entirely, run initials disable right.
Will enabling left Command affect ⌘C and ⌘V?
Left Command hold only takes assigned letters; other shortcuts keep working. Left and right share a table by default. If that table includes C, V or W, Settings and initials list flag the conflicts. Turn off the shared-table option and assign a few less-used letters on the left.
Does it support Intel Macs, Windows or Linux?
The current download supports Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 14 or later. There is no Intel, Windows or Linux download.
Is it free? Does it need an account or the internet?
Initials is free and its source code is MIT-licensed. The app needs no account or network connection and does not record typed text. Downloading it and visiting this site require the internet.
Does this website track my use?
This page has no third-party tracking scripts or analytics cookies. The server keeps normal access logs and aggregates page and download requests for operations and promotion evaluation. These aggregates do not identify people across sessions or track activity inside the app.
How can I report a problem?
Use GitHub Issues to report your macOS version, Initials version, relevant settings and reproduction steps. Please do not include private typed text or your complete personal configuration.
Give your favorite apps a letter.
Free. Open source. Works offline.
Download v1.1.0SHA-256:5ffde6e5ab9828c984f28ff445ab4b2c896a590b101922f16c5a5cf0e43cdac8