Back in August, I wrote about my quest to minimize mouse usage as much as possible. That’s easy in Emacs where my mouse usage is essentially zero. It’s a bit harder when navigating between apps and performing various system duties such as emptying the trash. For that, I’ve discovered that in macOS, Alfred is the ideal solution.
It can mostly eliminate the need to use the mouse except when in Safari. Even with Safari, it can go a long way. For example, I can simply type the first letter or two of a site I want to visit and Alfred will open the browser and take me to that site. It’s almost entirely eliminated my clicking on bookmarks and the favorites bar.
In the post, I lamented the lack of a good solution for dealing with the browser. In the comments, nitin suggested vimium. It was exactly what I wanted but, sadly, it only worked with Firefox and Chrome. Since I’m a Safari user, I was bitterly disappointed but J Tevq popped in to tell me about vimari. It’s a port of vimium to Safari that’s available in the Mac App store.
I really love vimari. Now my mouse usage is minimal even when I’m dealing with Safari. As the name suggests, it uses Vim’s keybindings for navigation. That may seem strange for a guy who’s all in on Emacs, but the single keys for navigation and following links is a win and hasn’t bothered me at all.
If you’re a Chrome or Firefox user, even on Linux, don’t despair. You can use vimium, which is even more full featured. Neither extension completely does away with the occasional need for a mouse but they go a long way. If, like me, you like to keep your fingers on the home row, take a look at whichever of them is appropriate for your setup.