Key54
Hold the right-Command (⌘) key to summon the one app you reach for constantly — hold it again to switch back.
Download for macOSThis demo also works with the right ⌘ key on your real keyboard.
54 is the macOS keycode for the right ⌘
key — rarely used and mostly idle, making it the perfect
key to modify, and a logical name for this app.
No chord, no rapid taps, no palette to search. Pure muscle memory.
A short, deliberate charge before it fires, so switching never feels frantic.
The same gesture that summons your app also sends you right back. Other switchers make you find your own way back.
A built-in hold delay lets quick taps and your normal right-⌘ shortcuts pass straight through — it only fires on a deliberate hold.
Bind your terminal, browser, notes, chat… or even just a shortcut that mutes your mic.
About 1 MB, no Dock icon, no menu bar clutter. Starts at login. Stays out of the way.
Pick the one app you're always dropping into and back out of. The pattern is always the same: summon, do the thing, dismiss.
Run a quick install or git command mid-task, check a deploy — then one key back. The full terminal with every tab and session, not a stripped-down drawer.
Reading or writing and need to look something up? One hold brings your real browsing session forward, one hold returns to the work — no new window, no search box.
A thought worth capturing never means hunting for the right window. One hold to the notebook, jot it down, one hold back. The capture friction just disappears.
Glance at a message and reply, then drop straight back into focus — without getting sucked in and losing the thread of deeper work.
Key54 gives a single dedicated key to the app you most often switch in and out of mid-task — no search, no list to cycle, no shortcut to choose. Honestly, you can really use it for anything you want. It's made to work alongside your favorite launcher, not replace it.
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Pop open a search box, type a few letters, and pick your app from the results — usually alongside files, actions, and quick calculations.
No box to summon and nothing to type.
Popular tools⌘-Tab · Mission Control · AltTab · Contexts
Bring up everything you've got open as a strip or grid, then cycle through with the keyboard and land on the window you want.
Nothing to cycle through or choose — and it works even when the app isn't already open.
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Map a keyboard shortcut to a specific app — from a key plus a letter to a fully custom config. The closest idea to Key54.
No chord and no letter to remember — one hold summons the app, the next sends you back.
Key54 needs only a single key, held — no multi-finger chord, no rapid tapping, no sequence to remember.
For anyone who finds combinations like ⌘-Space or ⌘-Tab hard to reach or hold, one key to bring an app forward — and again to go back — is a genuinely simpler way to move between apps. The timing is forgiving, too: a quick or accidental press does nothing, and you can let go before it fires to cancel. Built as a convenience, it turns out to be a real accessibility aid.
Send it straight to the project. This opens a pre-filled issue on GitHub — review it, then submit.
Key54 is free and open source — no upsell, no account. If it's earned a spot on your Mac, here are a few ways to help it keep going. A star helps more people find it; tips go toward development costs.