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.