Reef
The Open Source macOS Window Switcher Apple Should Have Built
One of the strangest things about macOS is that, despite Apple’s obsession with productivity, window management still feels like an afterthought.
Sure, ⌘+Tab lets you switch between applications, and ⌘+` cycles through windows within an app, but once you start juggling multiple browsers, terminals, editors, Finder windows, and Spaces, the whole system quickly becomes an exercise in muscle memory gymnastics.
That’s exactly the problem that Reef aims to solve.
Reef is a free, open source macOS utility that gives every application its own dedicated “Alt-Tab” style switcher. Instead of endlessly cycling through applications, Reef allows you to bind your most important apps to the number keys on your keyboard and jump directly to them and their windows, without ever taking your hand off the keyboard.
After spending some time exploring Reef, I found myself asking a question I’ve asked about very few utilities over the years:
Why doesn’t macOS work like this already?
A Different Way of Thinking About Window Management
The philosophy behind Reef is surprisingly simple.
You assign your most-used applications to the number keys from 0 to 9. Once configured, holding Control and pressing the assigned number key opens Reef’s switcher for that specific application. Continue pressing the same number while holding Control, and Reef cycles through every open window belonging to that app. Release the key, and you’re instantly taken to the selected window.
For example, your setup might look something like this:
1 — Safari
2 — Terminal
3 — Visual Studio Code
4 — Messages
5 — Mail
6 — Finder
7 — Music
After only a short period of use, your brain stops thinking about windows and starts thinking about destinations.
Need Safari? Press 1.
Need your editor? Press 3.
Need that specific Finder window? Press 6 twice.
It sounds almost too simple, but that’s exactly why it works.
Installation Takes Less Than A Minute
Getting started with Reef is refreshingly straightforward:
Download Reef from the official website.
Unzip the downloaded archive.
Drag Reef.app into your Applications folder.
Grant Accessibility permissions when prompted by macOS.
Like most utilities that interact with windows, Reef requires Accessibility access, but beyond that there are no subscriptions, accounts, or complicated setup procedures.
Profiles Are Where Reef Gets Clever
Perhaps my favourite feature in Reef is its support for profiles.
Rather than maintaining one set of application shortcuts forever, Reef allows you to create multiple workspace profiles that can be switched instantly using keyboard shortcuts.
For example:
Writing Profile
Safari
Notes
Mail
Music
Messages
Development Profile
Terminal
Xcode
Safari
GitHub Desktop
Documentation
General Work Profile
Finder
Mail
Calendar
Teams
Safari
Switching between profiles is as simple as pressing:
Control + Option + [Number]
It’s a deceptively powerful feature that makes Reef feel less like a utility and more like a workspace management system.
Built For The Way macOS Users Actually Work
One design decision that deserves particular praise is Reef’s handling of macOS Spaces.
Rather than showing every window across your entire machine, Reef limits switching to the current Space. This mirrors how many power users already organise their desktops and avoids the frustrating “where did that window just go?” experience common with traditional app switchers.
For anyone running multiple desktops for development, writing, communication and media, this behaviour feels incredibly natural.
Reef Doesn’t Replace Rectangle Or Magnet
If you’re already using tools like Rectangle or Magnet, don’t worry.
Reef isn’t trying to replace your window manager.
Instead, the two work together beautifully:
Reef handles finding and switching windows.
Rectangle or Magnet handle arranging and positioning windows.
It’s one of those combinations that simply makes sense.
Open Source Productivity At Its Best
What impresses me most about Reef isn’t necessarily the feature set.
It’s the philosophy.
Reef is lightweight, native, open source, privacy respecting, and laser-focused on solving one problem exceptionally well. There are no subscriptions, no telemetry dashboards, and no unnecessary complexity. Just a better way to navigate your Mac.
Will every Mac user need Reef?
Probably not.
But if your day consists of juggling multiple applications, dozens of windows, and several Spaces, Reef may be one of those rare utilities that permanently changes the way you use macOS.
And honestly, that’s about the highest praise I can give any productivity application.
