CTRL+T/CMD+T for everything named

[davidmcguiredesign]

I love that Zen is taking user interface cues from Arc, and in particular, its treatment of the URL bar. Compared to the traditional browser layout, the floating URL bar is genius. But without the full “CtrlT for everything” shortcut, Zen's implementation is incomplete (or at least inconsistent).

The visual design shows how important the URL bar already is. Bigger buttons are easier to hit. Bigger text is easier to read. Centering it reduces how far I need to move my gaze. The deep drop shadow lets me think of it like working on a physical desk. Its generous spacing make it easier to distinguish one action from its neighbor. By giving it (practically) the whole screen, then hiding it away the rest of the time, Zen (and Arc) give the URL bar a design that can keep up with its usefulness.

But the genius of the floating bar goes beyond a more comfortable visual design: it's also more efficient. Keyboard shortcuts are more accurate than mouse targets, but there's a better reason that transcends muscle dexterity: search is better. Trends show younger computer users prefer finding resources via search over hierarchy. Why wouldn't they? People fundamentally differ in how they relate one thing to another, and by making reorganization easier, computers supported our individuality. But by replacing papers with PDFs, most of us outstripped our own organization abilities! Search cuts through the chaos. As our software gets more capable, how much longer before command palettes replace menus?

Based on these observations, I think the following requests together ¹ are a worthy goal.

• For switching between open tabs, CtrlT is much easier to reach than CtrlTab, especially on a Mac, where one must move the entire hand (or use both). The comfort has been worth a couple extra key presses. Arc's strategy of showing active tabs (in recently-used order) when the bar is blank seems like a good compromise between “switch my tab now”, “show me tabs to pick from”, and “show me that link from yesterday”.
• For opening a command palette, CtrlT is more convenient than VS Code's CtrlShiftP shortcut. Not only is it fewer keys, but it can be accessed with one hand. I recognize that differentiating between internal and external resources might be important, but a key initial character, like > (for devs) or /, seems like a reasonable solution.
• Named commands should be searchable from the bar. I can't think of any exceptions.

Footnotes

1. While most of these specific requests have been mentioned before in other threads, I could not find a thread that connected them or included the “why”. Even if the consensus is “close as not planned,” I hope the discussion will be illuminating. ↩

[simonalveteg]

I agree with you fully! Especially having an empty command pallet show open tabs in a recently used order would be amazing. The intentionality of showing open tabs instead of suggestions would fit well with Zen's image of a calmer internet.

Right now there's an assortment of (to my eye) random websites that I've visited at some point. These suggestions are at best not relevant (meaning that I can ignore them), and at worst distracting (luring me into visiting a website I did not intend to, such as youtube, reddit, or any other time-sucking place). Showing open tabs would be better for focus and productivity, but also usability.