70

I would probably use the command palette as the main way how to interact with Orion, i.e.:

Want to open a new website?
Command Pallete -> Type in the website address

Want to search something in configured search engine?
Command Pallete -> Type in the thing I want to search for

Want to share the current website to someone?
Command Pallete -> Type in "Share" and select "Share" action

Something like this, where the "bookmark" is the keyword I'd type in as an example:

So probably:

  1. Open website if the command is a website
  2. Search in the search engine as the default action
  3. (maybe?) search in open tabs
  4. search in all the actions that Orion provides, e.g. Adding bookmarks, sharing a website, enabling reader mode, enabling compatibility mode, etc.
  • Vlad replied to this.

    so: act as an address bar replacement and run common actions (that are often in the menu bar)

      davidkaya What is the main difference to how address bar autocomplete behaves and why not make those changes in the address bar?

          eirk correct.

          Vlad actually making those changes in the address bar would be perfectly fine, the only thing it would need is a shortcut so it is not necessery to click on it.

          • eirk replied to this.

                eirk Oh, nice. Actually I looked for it recently and I couldn't find it in the menus, for some reason I did not expect that "Open Location..." would do what it does. Thanks!

                    2 months later

                    Brief Summary
                    I think this browser could benefit from having a tab search feature - something similar to what Arc or SigmaOS browsers have.

                    Details:
                    Users would press Cmd + T and instead of it opening a new tab - the tab search popup would appear. It would have a search field and there would be a list of tabs the user already has opened or had opened previously that fuzzy match the input and/or there would be an option to search for it on the default search engine. It would greatly benefit the browser, because you would no longer have to manually search for some specific tab using your mouse or other methods, instead you could do it directly from the keyboard. The design and use-case would also match how people use Macbook's Spotlight Search feature. It would also allow to make the browser completely full-screen, hiding the top bar and the tabs since it would make it possible to navigate through them with just the pop-up.

                    Image/Video:

                    This screenshot shows the feature as it is displayed on SigmaOS website

                      archline I generally like the idea of providing a tab searching system. However, I do not think that it should override the existing shortcut for opening a new tab. Most, if not all, macOS apps that support tabs have the universal shortcut of Cmd+T to open a tab; I feel it would be bad practice to do something completely different for that action, as this would produce something unexpected and inconsistent.

                      Again, I like the general idea, but we should do so in a way that remains consistent with the Human Interface Guidelines.

                        Merged 3 posts from Tab search pop-up feature.

                          archline What is wrong with CMD L and search, as this supports searching tabs too?

                              8 months later

                              I love command menus like in Arc or Vivaldi. They allow for much faster access to functionalities like history, general commands and open tabs without memorizing tons of keyboard shortcuts.

                              It would be great if we could get something like that for Orion as well.

                              Usually there is central (non-global) shortcut to invoke the menu. CMD-K is used by many websites, so Arc uses CMD-T and Vivaldi uses CMD-E.

                              This is how it looks like on Arc:

                              The following things are accessible via the command bar:

                              • commands usually found in the menu bar (essentially what Help -> Search would give you, but that doesn't seem to be reachable via a shortcut at the moment)
                              • open tabs
                              • history items

                              The most important part for me personally would be menu bar items. History already works quite well via the URL bar and open tab search is not something I use often. Again, that's just my personal priorities.

                                You have a command palette for every program, including Orion, if you use Raycast, a Spotlight alternative. There are also other programs that offer command palettes everywhere, if you don't like Raycast. Not against your suggestion, just saying that it's already solved for those who want this right now.

                                How about having menu commands accessible from the URL bar, and specially styled as such when offered?

                                • Vlad replied to this.
                                  Merged 2 posts from Command Menu.

                                    ubuntudroid Open tabs and history items are already avaialble through cmd l, standard shortcut for address bar.

                                        Vlad Sorry for creating a new feature request - somehow I missed this one while searching for similar ones.

                                        For now I'm going to use Raycast for menu bar items as suggested in this thread. Works well enough for me for the time being.

                                            carl

                                            How about having menu commands accessible from the URL bar, and specially styled as such when offered?

                                            This is a good idea, it would complete everything that is being asked for here. Can you create a seperate feature suggetion just for this (and any thoughts on presentation/styling)

                                              a month later

                                                   A command palette in Orion would also be like the 'Quick Actions' panel in Xcode 15 and higher. From Xcode 15's release notes:

                                              General

                                              New Features

                                              • The new “Quick Actions” panel provides keyboard access to perform commands across Xcode. (108024215)

                                              Another piece of community 'documentation' on this is https://sarunw.com/posts/little-big-improvements-xcode15/#quick-action.

                                                   I think that there may be a few orthogonal concerns/feature requests being conflated here, especially after some of the thread merging that's happened. Whether a user can search through:

                                              • URL/URI navigation auto-complete suggestions
                                              • bookmarks
                                              • history
                                              • open tabs
                                              • recently open tabs that are now closed
                                              • tabs open or recently open but now closed on/synced from other devices
                                              • menu commands
                                              • other potential user actions (for example, items available in contextual menus for, say, the current tab that aren't in the application menus)

                                              in:

                                              • the unified address/search ('location?') bar
                                              • the application-global Help menu in the top-level top-of-screen menu bar
                                              • the interface for creating new programmable toolbar buttons and assigning actions to them
                                              • a potential command palette

                                              is a set of unique questions/considerations for each UI/UX location.
                                                   Personally, I'd prefer that for/in:

                                              • the unified address/search ('location?') bar, I can search through:

                                                • URL/URI navigation auto-complete suggestions

                                                • bookmarks

                                                • history

                                                • open tabs

                                                • recently open tabs that are now closed

                                                • tabs open or recently open but now closed on/synced from other devices

                                                • but not:

                                                  • menu commands
                                                  • other potential user actions (for example, items available in contextual menus for, say, the current tab that aren't in the application menus)

                                                  as surfacing these definitely seems like it could well prove confusing in the 'location' barg, as it doesn't fit the UI element's purpose/idiom/idiomatic usage.

                                                  (They at least shouldn't show up by default; allowing these could potentially be a user preference which I'd personally keep turned off.)

                                              • the application-global Help menu in the top-level top-of-screen menu bar, I can search through:

                                                • only menu commands

                                                (This is default system behavior that can't be changed, as far as I'm aware.)

                                              • the interface for creating new programmable toolbar buttons and assigning actions to them, I can search through:

                                                • all the items/actions currently surfaced through this UI
                                                • other menu and command palette actions as applicable

                                              • a potential command palette:

                                                • menu commands

                                                • other potential user actions (for example, items available in contextual menus for, say, the current tab that aren't in the application menus)

                                                • optionally:

                                                  • URL/URI navigation auto-complete suggestions

                                                  • bookmarks

                                                  • history

                                                  • open tabs (for a 'jump to open tab' feature in the command palette)

                                                  • recently open tabs that are now closed

                                                  • tabs open or recently open but now closed on/synced from other devices

                                                  with individual toggles. (Whether each of these is surfaced in the command palette by default is something that I'll just leave as an open question.)

                                                   (Finally, other entries that could perhaps also be surfaced in a command palette, too, are:

                                              • from the programmable toolbar button creation and action assignment UI, the:

                                                • 'Run JavaScript' and
                                                  • 'Run AppleScript'

                                                actions

                                              • Items/entries from the application menu's 'Services' sub-menu.)

                                                2 months later

                                                I want to mention that the Search function of macOS already covers lots of features of command palette. Just hit ⇧⌘/ (you can remember it as ⌘?)

                                                Here’s the demo:

                                                In the demo, I switched tab and bookmarked the current active tab. Apple really needs to educate their user base. 😄

                                                • Vlad replied to this.

                                                  Vlad , I don’t think you understand the core idea of a command palette. With a command palette, you only have to remember one keyboard shortcut and the names of various functions to achieve a keyboard-centric workflow:

                                                  • Want to create a new tab? Use that keyboard shortcut → type in some letters → Use a keyboard to pick it → Enter!
                                                  • Want to switch to another window? Use that keyboard shortcut → type in some letters → Use a keyboard to pick it → Enter!
                                                  • Want to turn on Focus mode? Use that keyboard shortcut → type in some letters → Use a keyboard to pick it → Enter!
                                                  • Want to disable a plugin? Use that keyboard shortcut → type in some letters → Use a keyboard to pick it → Enter!

                                                  Yes. It’s slower than to remember all the shortcuts outright. However, the barrier to a keyboard-centric workflow is so much lower.

                                                  Please don’t merge the search bar with a command palette. They serve different functions and should be kept separate. I’ve never encountered any apps that merge them.

                                                  The Search function of macOS does share the same core idea with a command palette. However, just like many other built-in features, there’s no customization at all. You can’t really customize what will show up after you type in some letters. This is crucial for professional apps because the number of available actions can be hundreds. Also, the number of actions being shown at the same time is also limited, and the order of items can’t be changed.

                                                  At the moment, I think the team should postpone this idea. When Orion reach a stable release and/or release on Windows/Linux, the team should revisit it. On Windows, there’s no native feature that serves the purpose of a command palette. And Linux… has too many desktop environments (DE) for me to remember. In the meantime, if you think you can populate the menu even more, you should do that.

                                                  Finally, I know this is not ideal, but consider that this suggestion gets a considerable number of upvotes and Apple does a poor job at educating its user base (as usual), I think you may want to mention the Search function in Orion’s documentation.