"Show Activities" applet? Like popOS

Hello! Any chance we could see a “show activities” applet for Budgie?

I tried the popOS version, and while I thought it was great, I missed Budgie too much. :smiley: However, there was one thing I feel in love with and that I haven’t managed to get working in Ubuntu Budgie. It was the “Show Activities”. Which basically is like Mission Control on Mac, or as it works on Windows when you press WIN + Tab, instead of ALT+Tab.

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Do you mean this?

image

Its our windows previews capability available in 19.10 - just look for “previews” in the menu and enable it.

Sorry. No, that is not really what I mean. It looks more like this:

So it goes into a different mode and I don’t have to hold alt+tab or such.

What exactly do you mean by “it goes into a different mode”.

Activities overview is a gnome shell function and I’m not aware of any Budgie applet that has the same capability.

Maybe xfdashboard is something similar which could work as a replacement?

Hmm. Never heard about that one. I will try and check it out. :slight_smile:

I just looked a bit into this (still haven’t tried to install it, so not sure if that will cause issues), and it looks like what I’m after. :slight_smile: Will see if I can get some time this week to test this.

A similar functionality is reportedly in development for Budgie 11 (no release date at the moment as the Solus devs responsible for the development of Budgie Desktop ran into problems with another thing on Solus)

Oh, that would be cool! Do you happen to know if I can follow the progress of this somewhere?

It’s a bit complicated since Budgie 11 has been delayed several times due to other delays on Solus. As far as I know, there’s no public access to any Budgie 11 tracker yet.

Its like the windows WIN KEY + TAB, where you see all the current windows, then can click with a mouse button which one you want to go to instead of holding alt tab and having to click it more than once.

right - so if the 19.10 previews recognises win key + Tab then could just hold the current previews open until either win + tab is pressed again … or escape is pressed. Wouldn’t that work for a “show activities” like action?

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That would be an easy shot. Add a new shortcut Super + Tab to run /usr/lib/budgie-previews/previews_triggers hotcorners_all, and you’ re done. That is exactly the command we make hotcorners run to open previews.

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Oh, so it already exists in Budgie?

Would anyone happen to have a screenshot of it? :slight_smile:

Why don’t you just try it. Add the previews applet to the panel and set the shortcut I mentioned. All is already installed by default.

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Will do! Thanks for help. :slight_smile:

Hey I am trying this on 19.10 but I can’t set the shortcut as you mentioned, because when I get to the step to actually press Super+Tab, it shows the activity switcher and no input is given to the Add Custom Shortcut activity… So I added the command to a different shortcut that was still available: Super+Z

Unfortunately it doesn’t work. Super+Tab still shows the Previews (just like the screenshot from the 2nd post) so that part works, but how to keep it showing?

Also, I checked and the Previews applet is installed, but not available in Budgie Desktop Settings > Applets > Add new applet.

edit: it works via hotcorners, just can’t get it to work for a shortcut.

The Previews Control settings can be found in Applications Menu … there where all the other applications are.

It works a little different than the usual applets that you access via Budgie Settings.

Uhm yes, but if I want Previews to show, without keeping Super+Tab pressed, I have to follow the instructions above to add the command /usr/lib/budgie-previews/previews_triggers hotcorners_all to a new shortcut.
I did that, created a new shortcut Super+Z but nothing happens.