[Run] Add settings to only enable currently running apps

[jstaro]

Summary of the new feature/enhancement

First of all, I don't want to minimize your hard work. It's appreciated.
However, I suspected this would happen with the rewrite. My only reason for using this tool was to have a quick and fast Alt+Tab replacement, switching between the oodles of apps I have running. I have no intention of wanting to use it as an app launcher. The old functionality was perfect for me. The new functionality is not, and just makes the app one amongst a million of (much more mature) app launchers/switchers like Keypirinha etc.

The Win key and Win+R already serve as my app launcher (and in the long run, I might consider switching the Run dialog to the launcher part), but right now I am primarily in need of a decent and efficient Alt+Tab replacement.

Proposed technical implementation details (optional)

Can we please get separate hotkeys bindings for the launcher and the switcher, or maybe a possibility to just disable one or the other? An extra keyword or accelerator for triggering the app switching part like other app switchers use (e.g. Keypirinha) is so inefficient it makes the thing useless for me.

Thank you.

[jyuwono]

Thanks for the feedback, @jstaro. What are your thoughts on having an option to let running programs be first on the list as mentioned in #3169?

[jstaro]

I have three issues with that suggestion:

1. In WindowWalker, if the window I am after appears closer to the end of the list than the start of the list, I find myself automatically navigating backwards, to minimize the amount of up/down arrow keystrokes to get to the window I want (unless of course I can quickly determine typing a few more characters would get me there).
2. If you were to do it like this, the two different types of items would have to be much more visually dissimilar. Right now you actually have to read and parse text and can't just quickly tell at a glance.
3. [unproven] Just populating and rendering those "extra" items will take some extra time for arguably no added benefit.

Poking around in the settings I see there's something called ProgramSources and DisabledProgramSources. If those do what I think they do (or will do in the future), and the options could be documented, I would be fine with having to tweak it that way.

[bestknighter]

The same way we can invoke the shell with ">", I'd like to have something like that to search only for running apps. So typing ":" for example would basically make PowerToys Run behave like Window Walker. Having this kind of filter would also benefit other suggestions like #3245.

[jstaro]

So typing ":" for example would basically make PowerToys Run behave like Window Walker

Yeah, as I explained in the last part of my root post*, that's a no-go for me. Making my primary use-case a second citizen. When I say "prioritize" I really mean it :)
Oh well, it's open source, so I can always build my own.

*: because I knew this suggestion would come, since that's how all other launchers work, and why I don't use them.

[crutkas]

#5273 is the tracking item here.