Use tab key to circulate the apps found

It would be nice if we could select apps with tab/Shift-tab key, not just with the up/down-arrow key.

added 2. Enhancement label

Ok, but why? Tab is supposed to focus elements such as buttons and entries. Recently Ctrl+N/P was introduced, is that nice enough for you?

@andreldm
Hey Xfce lovers,I started using xfce about 2 weeks ago,before that i was using bspwm and also gnome.They both used tab key and also arrow keys to navigate between search.And when I started with xfce, I assumed it would be the same but realised it was not like that.This is the single reason which is annoying me personally from using appfinder🥲.

I would suggest that for people who are new and are getting into using xfce due to all it merits and awesome community having this feature alongside would be a plus point in all sense.I want to also add that Ctrl+N/P is also a good keyboard shortcut and it is a useful feature for some group of people.With which also having tab/Shift-tab key would please a wider audience.

Thanks for your time and effort.
~ Adithya r prabhu

Please assign this issue to me.I will be grateful to contribute to this project.

@adithya-r-prabhu Thank you for your interest and support.

To set expectations and avoid frustration, I haven't accepted this feature, I only left it open for discussion, I still think tab should be used to set focus between UI elements, switching between apps does not make sense IMO.

Hi Andre and Xfce team,

Thanks for considering the suggestion to enhance Xfce appfinder. I understand the concern about the Tab key's traditional use.

Could we explore a compromise? Perhaps a configurable option for users to choose their preferred keybindings for app navigation would be a solution.

Eager to contribute positively to the discussion.

Best, Adithya R Prabhu

I'm still unsure about using tab to cycle through the app list, however, what I'm definitively sure about is to not add a preference to enable/disable that.

I'm not aware of any component in Xfce having this behavior for tab, this would be the first. Do you know any popular app(s) that behaves like? To my surprise I found that macOS' Finder does that, but Finder is a terrible reference.

Currently tab in appfinder is not working as expected for list view, if no one complained until now it's probably because no one cares, so I guess we can introduce the change you guys are requesting, I just think that if the first item is selected, shift+tab should focus the text entry.

mentioned in merge request !54

See !54

I just think that if the first item is selected, shift+tab should focus the text entry.

In the end this seemed unnecessary as typing anywhere should give back focus to the text entry.