Tab History Switcher
Quiper keeps a Most-Recently-Used (MRU) ring of your active tabs across engines, giving you lightning-fast keyboard access to whichever tabs you visited most recently — without losing your current focus.
How It Works
Every time you switch to a new tab, Quiper pushes the previously active tab to the front of a history ring. The ring size is configurable (2–10 tabs) and persists across app launches.
Holding ⌘ ` cycles forward through the ring, previewing each past tab inside a floating HUD card grid. Releasing the key immediately commits the switch.
Opening the Tab History HUD
| Action | Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Cycle Forward (MRU) | ⌘ ` | Opens the HUD and moves the selection to the next most-recently-used tab. Hold to keep advancing. |
| Cycle Backward | ⌘ ⇧ ` | Moves the selection back toward the most-recently-used tab. Hold to keep rewinding. |
| Cancel Without Switching | ⌘ ⎋ | Dismisses the HUD and cancels the cycle session with no tab switch performed. |
NOTE
The HUD only appears when you have 3 or more tabs in your history ring (i.e., ring size ≥ 3, or you have visited at least 3 distinct tabs). With only 2 entries in the ring, Quiper toggles directly between the two tabs without showing any HUD.
The HUD Interface
When the HUD appears it floats above the Quiper overlay window, centered over it. It is never cropped by the window edge — the HUD panel overflows the Quiper window bounds when needed and automatically clamps to stay fully within the current monitor's visible screen area.
Card Layout
The HUD arranges tabs in a responsive grid:
- 3 items per row when displaying up to 5 tabs in total.
- 4 items per row when displaying 6–8 tabs.
- 5 items per row when displaying 9–10 tabs.
The item width is fixed regardless of the row count, so the HUD grows wider to accommodate more columns rather than squeezing cards together.
Card Contents
Each card shows:
- Preview thumbnail — a live screenshot of the tab captured the last time it was active.
- Shortcut digit — a bold number (1–10) displayed in the bottom-left corner of the card, matching the position within the history ring.
- Page title — displayed in two lines beside the digit, truncated to fit.
TIP
If no preview screenshot is available for a tab (e.g., it was never fully visible on screen), the card renders with a transparent background so the HUD's glass blur shines through instead of showing a blank dark tile.
Selection Highlight
The currently selected card is outlined with a solid 3pt accent border. Text elements within the selected card are tinted with the same accent color for maximum legibility.
Committing and Cancelling
- Commit: Release the
⌘modifier key at any time to immediately switch to the currently highlighted tab. - Cancel: Press
⌘ ⎋while the HUD is open. This dismisses the HUD and leaves the active tab unchanged. - Auto-stop at boundaries: Holding
⌘ `will stop auto-repeating when the selection reaches the oldest card. Holding⌘ ⇧ `will stop repeating when the selection wraps back to the most-recent card.
HUD Repositioning
The HUD window tracks the Quiper overlay in real-time. If you drag or resize the Quiper window while the HUD is open, the HUD repositions itself immediately — centering over the new window position and adjusting if the new position would push part of the HUD off-screen.
Mutual HUD Dismissal
Opening the Tab History HUD automatically closes any other Quiper HUD that may be open (Prompt History or Control Center), and vice versa — so you never end up with two overlapping overlays.
Configuring the History Ring Size
You can control how many past tabs Quiper remembers in Settings (⌘ ⇧ ,) ➔ Behavior ➔ Tab History Ring Size.
- Range: 2–10 tabs.
- Default: 2 (toggle mode — no HUD, direct switch between current and previous tab).
- Persistence: The ring is saved when Quiper exits and restored on next launch (subject to your Session Survival Policy setting).
TIP
Setting the ring size to 2 is the leanest option — it gives you a single-shortcut "jump back to the previous tab" action with no HUD overhead. Increase the size to 3 or more whenever you find yourself needing to reach further back in your tab history.