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InputSourceSwitcher

★ 37 Open GitHub ↗

A menu bar app to swiftly change input sources using shortcuts on macOS Big Sur. [Swift+SwiftUI] NO LONGER MAINTAIN

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# NOTICE

I have **stopped maintaining** this project because Applescript not works as before in `macOS 12`.

## macOS 11, Big Sur

On `macOS 11`, Applescript below **worked well** with little latency:

```applescript
tell application "System Events"
    tell process "TextInputMenuAgent"
        click menu item "\(inputSourceName)" of menu 1 of menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2
        click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2
    end tell
end tell
```

The corresponding release and commit are:

https://github.com/Yang-Xijie/InputSourceSwitcher/releases/tag/v1.2

d5f309e678f8e97d83da95e6facc5b4eada6b501

## macOS 12, Monterey

When macOS 12 came, I tried to update this project. However, it seems that `click` in Applescript not works as expected. I made several commits on Oct 30, 2021 using a new Applescript. However, I should say it just works sometimes, not always realiable.

```applescript
ignoring application responses
    tell application "System Events"
        click menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2 of application process "TextInputMenuAgent" of application "System Events"
    end tell
end ignoring
    
delay 0.1
do shell script "killall 'System Events'"
delay 0.1
    
tell application "System Events"
    launch
    click menu item "\(inputSourceName)" of menu 1 of menu bar item 1 of menu bar 2 of application process "TextInputMenuAgent" of application "System Events"
end tell
```

Corresponding release and commit are:

https://github.com/Yang-Xijie/InputSourceSwitcher/releases/tag/v1.3

5f2b73d7c315f5900da1b76d04b8b3e9808d6716

#  Source Switcher

A **menu bar app** to **change input sources** swiftly using **shortcuts** on *macOS Big Sur and later*.

View [screenshots](https://github.com/Yang-Xijie/InputSourceSwitcher/discussions/11)

## Introduction

This app uses `Applescript` to manipulate `UI operation` which is better than using `Carbon` (a framework most of whose APIs are deprecated) in other tools to change input sources.

## Installation / Usage

Download the release version and drop `Source Switcher.app`  into your `Applications` folder. (may not be the latest version)

**Or** clone this repo and build it on your Mac.

**Notice**: You should go to `System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> Privacy -> Accessiblity` to make `Source Switcher` able to execute Applescript on your Mac.

Then go to `System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> Privacy -> Automation` to select `Source Switcher.app` and *Tick the box* of `System Envent.app`.

You'd better perform this operation before you open this app for the first time. If no input source appears, just lick `Reset` to get your current input sources.

**Notice**: If you get `Source Switcher.app can't be opened because Apple cannot check it for malicious software`, please open your `Applications` folder, find `Source Switcher.app` and `right click -> Open` to open the app.

## Background

Search "input source mac" on GitHub and there are plenty of repositories such as [hnakamur / inputsource](https://github.com/hnakamur/inputsource) and [minoki / InputSourceSelector](https://github.com/minoki/InputSourceSelector). They are command line softwares, and you can easily use `Alfred` to add shortcuts to switch input sources conveniently. However, they have a common problem: when it comes to CJK such as Japanese, they don't work. (check [InputSourceSelector issues #2](https://github.com/minoki/InputSourceSelector/issues/2) (Japanese) and [stackoverflow questions #22885767](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22885767/how-to-programmatically-switch-an-input-method-on-os-x) (English) to get more details)

After some analysis, I find that they all use `Carbon Core`, most of whose APIs are deprecated after `macOS 10.8`, and use the `input source id` (eg. `com.apple.inputmethod.Kotoeri.RomajiTyping.Japanese`) to identify different input sources.

[laishulu / macism](https://github.com/laishulu/macism) says it solves the problem. I'm not sure whether it works: it uses Carbon APIs and just stops for some time to deal with that problem...

Then how to solve it? The fact is, if we uses some mature exposed APIs provided by the system, issues not appear! To be concrete, we click the control center in the menu bar or switch input sources in System Preferences instead of calling macOS APIs. They are kind of `UI things`.

So one way is what [hatashiro / kawa](https://github.com/hatashiro/kawa) uses, which really solves the problem by using a method in `System Preferences -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts -> Input Sources -> Select the previous input source`. But issue still exists: if you change input sources quickly, you will find [kawa](https://github.com/hatashiro/kawa) doesn't work. This is because `Select the previous input source` has different functions when triggering the shortcut (⌃␣ if you haven't changed it) at a different speed. [Kawa](https://github.com/hatashiro/kawa) will work (as far as I consider) if change `Select the previous input source` to `Select next source in input menu` (see [kawa pull #21](https://github.com/hatashiro/kawa/pull/21)). By the way, this project also uses Carbon APIs and this repo closes issues...

**Innovatively, I use a completely _UI_ way to solve all these problems.** Referring to [Geoff Taylor | Scripting the menu bar in macOS Big Sur](https://www.geofftaylor.me/2020/scripting-the-menu-bar-in-macos-big-sur/), I use [UI Browser](https://pfiddlesoft.com/uibrowser/index.html) to find how to use Applesript to express the Input Source Panel in the menu bar (Control Center). Then refer to [Chris J. | How to launch an AppleScript from AppKit on Catalina with Swift](https://medium.com/macoclock/everything-you-need-to-do-to-launch-an-applescript-from-appkit-on-macos-catalina-with-swift-1ba82537f7c3) to use Applescript in macOS app (*which has a drawback that sandbox is disabled*). After getting the prototype, I design the UI of this app, make this app a menu bar app, add shortcuts to it and better its code logic to avoid some potential bugs.

## Referenced Open Source Projects

[menubarpopoverswiftui2](https://github.com/zaferarican/menubarpopoverswiftui2) - [LICENSE](https://github.com/zaferarican/menubarpopoverswiftui2/blob/master/LICENSE)

[KeyboardShortcuts](https://github.com/sindresorhus/KeyboardShortcuts) - [LICENSE](https://github.com/sindresorhus/KeyboardShortcuts/blob/main/license)

## About

Discuss about this app in the `Discussion` part. Check current desired features in `Projects -> TODO`.

Any `issue` or `pull request` are welcome!

If you find this tiny app improving your efficency, feel free to [buy me a cup of coffee](https://yang-xijie.github.io/SITE/postscript/support.html) using `WeChat Pay` or `Alipay`.

InputSourceSwitcher

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