The ring

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Open it

The ring opens around the pointer, wherever it is. Near the edge of a screen it shifts just enough to stay on screen. You can change the shortcut in Settings → General. See Settings.

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Pick an app

Beckon picks by direction: the app in the direction you move from the ring’s middle is the one you get. A short flick, about the size of a fingertip, is enough. You don’t have to land on the icon. The app you’re heading for grows, a short marker on the ring points at it, and its name shows in the middle. That’s what letting go will pick. While you hold the shortcut, a flick that overshoots a little past the ring still counts. Much further out, nothing is picked and letting go cancels.

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Close it without switching

• Holding: let go without moving, or move back to the middle first.
• Kept open: press Esc, click anywhere outside the ring, or press ⌥Space again.

While the ring is open, clicks never reach the apps underneath, on any screen. A click outside the ring only closes it.

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With the ring open

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What’s on the ring

• Order: Finder is always at 12 o’clock. Your Dock’s apps follow clockwise in Dock order, then any other open apps, newest last. Apps keep their places, so after a few days your hand learns the directions.
• Running apps have a small dot on the inside of the ring, as in the Dock. The frontmost app’s dot is brighter. Apps without a dot are in your Dock but closed.
• Window counts: an app with two or more windows has a badge with the number. See Windows.
• Folders and the Trash come after the apps, as in the Dock (Pro).
• More than 24 apps: the last slot becomes +n. Point at it and the rest fan out beyond the ring.

Which apps appear is up to you: your Dock’s apps and open apps, Beckon’s own pinned list, or open apps only. See Replace the Dock.

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Switching works like the Dock

Picking an app does what clicking it in the Dock would: a hidden app comes back, an app with no windows opens a new one, and an app that isn’t running launches.