Apple is definitely trying to bridge the gap between Mac and iOS. But then, it has restricted itself from bringing some of the UI features that makes iOS win over other mobile operating systems. One such feature that Apple has restricted itself from bringing into the Mac, is the App Switcher that iOS has.
There’s Launchpad for Mac, but it is not dynamic and it does not allow a user to view and switch the active apps and also to close them. But now, a group of developers have developed and Open Sourced Taskboard, an app which brings the iOS inspired App Switcher to the Mac desktops. The app is very useful in increasing the productivity if you’re going to be switching a lot between the apps.
Once you install Taskboard, all you need to do is just take your mouse pointer in search of the Dock at the bottom, and boom, Taskboard is going to popup with the iOS like black linen background, listing all the apps that are really open on your Mac. You can also scroll through them, just using your scroll wheel on your Mouse, and also if you are in need of switching to another app, just click on it, and its going to be bringing that app to the front.
The Taskboard comes as a PKG install, and once its installed on your Mac, you can define your own custom Mouse gesture or Keyboard shortcut to trigger the Taskboard, wherever you are on the Mac. Now that you’ve defined all the shortcuts and the mouse gestures to trigger Taskboard, all you need to do is just take your Mouse pointer to the bottom of the page, and wait for a fraction of second to trigger the Taskboard from the bottom. This is how the Taskboard would look like when triggered:
Now that you are in the App Switcher screen, just Click and Hold an app icon, and its going to wiggle, just like how it works on iOS. Now, just click on the Red minus icon, and boom, the app is closed. If there’s any unsaved data, its going to prompt you to save the data and then proceed with closing.
The app is currently in Beta, and is under development. You can explore some of the settings under System Preferences. Also, if you want to uninstall the app, just Trash the Taskboard app from the Applications Folder, and also remove the System Preference under the System Preferences. Its’ worth the try.