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Chrome Profile Switcherlive

updates and roadmap

every change we ship, what we build next, and your ideas · latest: version 1.6.5, 14 oct 2026

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roadmap

what we are building

Plans, not promises. Order changes with what you ask for below.

working on it now
  • Better matching for Opera, Arc and DiaTell apart windows of several profiles in browsers that do not show the profile name in window titles.
up next
  • Keep chosen profiles in the DockAn option to keep an icon for the profiles you use every day, even with no windows open.
later
  • No "Open Anyway" stepSign and notarize the app with an Apple Developer ID, so macOS opens it on the first double-click with no security warning.
  • Custom iconsPick your own picture or color for any profile icon.
changelog

every release

Newest first. The app installs each update by itself.

version 1.6.5
1.6.5latest

fixed

  • Clear message when activating too often. If the license server is asked too many times in a short time, the license window now says to wait a minute and try again, instead of showing an error code.
version 1.6.4
1.6.4

fixed

  • A new profile icon answers its first click. Clicking a profile icon in the first seconds after it appeared in the Dock did nothing. Clicks from the Dock now always count; only the app's own start-up request is ignored.
  • New windows in Arc and Dia. With Arc or Dia already open, New Window from a profile icon (and a click on the icon of a profile with no windows) opened nothing and started a second copy of the browser in the background. The window now opens in the running browser.
version 1.6.3
1.6.3

fixed

  • Window pictures in the keyboard switcher. If a profile had a minimized window, the switcher showed no pictures at all: macOS never answers a picture request for a minimized window, and the switcher waited for it. Minimized windows are now skipped (they show the minimized sign, as in the Dock preview), and a window that does not answer within 1.5 seconds no longer holds back the others.
  • VoiceOver in Settings. The Dock icon switch and the Open or Show button in each profile row now say which profile they belong to.
version 1.6.2
1.6.2

fixed

  • Check for Updates installs right away. When an update had already downloaded and was waiting for a quiet moment, choosing Check for Updates closed its window and nothing seemed to happen. It now installs the waiting update at once and restarts on the new version in a second.
version 1.6.1
1.6.1

fixed

  • The keyboard switcher shows every window. With Option-Tab, a profile with more than three windows showed only three: the rest were hidden off to the side. The switcher now grows to fit up to six windows side by side and adds rows for more, so every window is visible and can be picked.
version 1.6.0
1.6.0

added

  • Already using it? Your 30-day free trial starts now. Every feature keeps working during the trial. Then a one-time lifetime license keeps it forever.
  • 30-day free trial, no account. Every feature works for 30 days from the first launch on a Mac. The menu bar menu and Settings show the days left. The trial belongs to the Mac: deleting the app and installing it again continues the same trial.
  • Lifetime license. One payment, yours for life, on 1 Mac at a time, every update included. Buy from the app (menu bar icon, Buy Lifetime License) or zwaystudios.com; the key arrives by email. Enter it in the license window and click Activate.
  • Move your license. Settings, Deactivate this Mac frees the activation so you can use the key on another Mac.
  • Early user code. Early users get a lifetime license for free: enter the early user code (any letter case) where a license key goes.
  • Step-by-step setup guide. The first launch walks you through setup one step at a time: what each permission is for and what it never does, a picture of the exact switch to turn on, and live detection (each step turns green the moment you allow it). Accessibility is required, Screen Recording is optional (only for live previews), and opening at login is recommended. If a restart is needed, the guide comes back at the same step. Reopen it any time: menu bar icon, Setup Guide.
  • Permissions in Settings. Settings, General lists each permission with its state and a one-click fix.
  • Install window. The download now opens on a window that shows the three install steps, including the one-time Open Anyway step.
  • Permissions are given once: every update keeps them.
  • When the trial ends, profile icons, previews, the keyboard switcher and focus under pointer pause and a "Trial ended" window offers to enter a key, buy one or contact support. Browsers and profiles are never touched.
  • Works offline: a license is re-checked at most once a week when online, and only a refunded or disabled key turns it off.
  • Buy any time: menu bar icon, Buy Lifetime License, or zwaystudios.com/apps/chrome-profile-switcher.

website

  • 30 new pages on zwaystudios.com: an answers page, comparisons with Superdock, Okie Dockie, Unbundle, Parallel Spaces and Epichrome, a page for every supported browser (Brave, Edge, Arc, Firefox, Vivaldi, Opera), pages for agencies, work and personal browsing and developers, feature pages for live previews and focus under pointer, and 10 new or rewritten guides. All linked from the app page under "learn more".
version 1.5.11
1.5.11

fixed

  • Clicking a window on another desktop switches to that desktop again. When a browser was busy for a moment (a heavy page such as a large Google Sheet), the app lost its link to that browser's windows on other desktops for up to five minutes. A click on such a window in a Dock preview, the keyboard switcher or the Dock icon menu then brought the browser forward but stayed on the current desktop. The app now keeps the link through a busy moment, and finds the window again on the spot if it ever has to, so the click always switches to the window's desktop.

changed

  • Updates arrive sooner. The app now looks for updates every hour instead of every six hours, and installs them by itself the next time the Mac is idle for two minutes.
version 1.5.10
1.5.10

fixed

  • Clicking a window now always switches to it. With another app in front (Arc, for example), clicking a window in a Dock preview or in the keyboard switcher, or picking a profile there, could do nothing: the window came forward inside its browser, but the other app stayed on top. The app no longer makes the call that macOS turned down, so the switch happens every time.
  • Dock icon clicks switch at once. A click used to wait about a third of a second while the app re-read the windows of every browser. It now reads only the browser of the profile you clicked.
  • The keyboard switcher opens at once, with no wait for the window lists to be read again.
  • Feedback is now filed under zwaystudios.com in the team's inbox (it showed as "unknown").
version 1.5.9
1.5.9

fixed

  • Browser windows no longer jump in front of the app you are using. The cause: when a profile icon restarted, a second start request could reach it as a Dock click, and the icon brought its profile's windows forward, seconds after you had switched to another app. Icons now ignore start requests while starting, and the app never asks an icon to start twice.
  • Profile icons no longer leave the Dock and come back. Windows on another desktop sometimes could not be read for a few minutes, so their profile looked closed. A window now counts as open for as long as macOS still has it, so icons stay put until you really close the last window.

added

  • Send Feedback. Tell us what works, what bothers you and what to add, from the menu bar icon or Settings. In your first three days the app also asks once a day (never while you type, and "Don't ask again" stops it). It goes straight to the ZwayStudios team.
version 1.5.8
1.5.8

added

  • Close a window right from its picture. In the Dock hover preview and in the profile switcher, hover a window's picture and click × to close it. It asks twice first, so a mistaken click never closes anything. Settings, General can make it ask once, or close right away.

fixed

  • Profile windows no longer jump in front of the app you are using. When another app quit or hid, or a profile icon had just started, macOS could hand focus to a profile icon, which then brought that profile's windows forward as if you had picked it with Command-Tab. Now an icon only acts when you really pick it with Command-Tab, and otherwise gives focus straight back.
  • Profile icons no longer quit and come back by themselves. While windows on another desktop were still being found, an icon could think its profile had closed, leave the Dock, and return seconds later. Icons now wait through such short gaps.
  • The menu bar icon is the round logo on a transparent background instead of a white square.
version 1.5.7
1.5.7

added

  • Search in the profile switcher. While the switcher is open, type a few letters of a profile or browser name (still holding Option) to show only the matching profiles. Delete removes a letter, Escape clears the search.
  • A keyboard shortcut for each profile. In Settings, Profiles, click Shortcut next to a profile and press the keys you want. That shortcut brings the profile's windows forward from anywhere (press it again to step through them), or opens a window when it has none.
  • What's New after every update. When the app updates itself, it shows what is new in that version and offers a short step-by-step tour, which you can skip.
  • Step-by-step tour. After setup, a short tour with Back, Next and Skip explains every feature.

changed

  • Updates install while the app runs. A downloaded update now installs at a quiet moment (no keyboard or mouse use for two minutes) instead of waiting until the app quits, so everyone gets new versions within hours.
version 1.5.6
1.5.6

added

  • Pick a window right from the profile switcher. While the switcher is open, the selected profile shows its open windows under the profiles, with live pictures when previews are allowed. Rest the pointer on any profile to see its windows, then click one to go straight to it. From the keyboard: press the down arrow, pick a window with the left and right arrows, and let go.
  • Speed for focus under the pointer. Choose Instant (no delay, focus follows the pointer as it moves), High, Medium or Low in Settings.
  • Quick guide. After setup, a short tour explains the Dock icons, previews, the keyboard switcher, focus under the pointer and the menu bar icon. Reopen it any time from the menu bar icon.

changed

  • The menu bar menu lists only your open profiles, grouped by browser, plus Settings, Quick Guide and About. Every option now lives in Settings, which has a Profiles tab and a General tab.

fixed

  • In the profile switcher, letting go after resting the pointer on a profile now switches to that profile (before, it switched to the one picked with the keyboard).
version 1.5.5
1.5.5

added

  • Safari profiles. Every feature now works with Safari (Safari 17 or later) when you have more than one Safari profile: a Dock icon per profile with its Safari symbol, live previews on hover, the keyboard switcher, Command-Tab, focus under pointer, the menu bar menu, and New Window from a profile icon's menu. The app learns your Safari profiles from Safari itself while it runs.

changed

  • Only open profiles are shown. The Dock and the keyboard switcher list a profile only while it has at least one window open (minimized or on another desktop counts). The settings that kept icons or listed profiles with no windows are gone.
version 1.5.4
1.5.4

fixed

  • The profile switcher always shows every profile, at full size. With many profiles, the switcher could open too small and cut profiles off. It now sizes itself to fit every profile of every browser, in rows, and scrolls if they do not fit on the screen. Each profile shows its browser and number of windows.
  • Clicking a profile in the switcher switches to it on the first click. Keep holding Option, click.
  • Changing the shortcut is easier to find. Settings shows the current shortcut with a Change Shortcut button (and Reset) under "Switch profiles from the keyboard".
version 1.5.3
1.5.3

added

  • Switch profiles from the keyboard. Hold Option and press Tab to see your open profiles from every browser (Chrome, Brave, Arc, Edge, Firefox and the rest) in one row, most recently used first. Keep pressing Tab to move along, then let go to switch. Shift goes back, the arrow keys move too, Escape cancels, and a click picks a profile. A quick press jumps straight back to the profile you used before, so tapping it toggles between two profiles. Windows on other desktops work too.
  • Choose your own shortcut in Settings (click the shortcut, then press the keys you want), or turn it off. Shortcuts that would break macOS or other apps, such as Command-Tab or Command-W, are refused with a note explaining why. Optionally list profiles with no open windows; picking one opens a new window.
  • The menu bar menu has a switch for it too.

fixed

  • Command-Tab now switches profiles. Every profile icon is listed in the macOS app switcher, but picking one there did nothing, because the icon only reacted to Dock clicks. Now it shows that profile's windows, exactly like clicking its Dock icon.
version 1.5.2
1.5.2

fixed

  • The hover panel now closes as soon as the pointer leaves the icon or the panel (in about a tenth of a second). It stays open while the pointer is on the icon, on the way up, or inside the panel.
  • Hovering the same icon again reopens the panel. After a panel closed, hovering that same icon again sometimes showed nothing until another icon was hovered, because the Dock does not always report that the pointer left an icon. Now it opens every time.
version 1.5.1
1.5.1

fixed

  • The hover panel appeared to the left of the icon, with empty space. Moving from a profile with several windows to one with a single window kept the bigger panel's position, so the panel sat left of the icon you were hovering. It now always opens centred above the hovered icon.
  • The hover panel could overlap the Dock. Moving the other way made the panel grow downwards over the Dock. It now always sits above the Dock.
  • Less empty space. The panel is exactly as wide as the window previews: with one window you see the profile name, the preview and the + button, nothing else. The window count shows only for two or more windows.
version 1.5.0
1.5.0

added

  • Focus the window under the pointer (optional, off by default). Rest the pointer on any window, in any app, and it gets keyboard focus without coming to the front. Your first click then lands where you aimed it, instead of only activating the window, and typing goes to the window under the pointer. Windows stay stacked exactly where you put them. Turn it on from the menu bar icon ("Focus Window Under Pointer") or in Settings. Uses the Accessibility permission the app already has; nothing new to allow.
  • It stays out of the way: it waits until the pointer has moved and rests for a moment (so Cmd-Tab and typing with a still pointer are never overridden), and never acts while a mouse button is held, while a menu is open, or over the Dock, the menu bar, Mission Control, Spotlight, notifications or this app's own panels. Works for windows of the same app too (for example two Chrome windows).
version 1.4.1
1.4.1

fixed

  • A profile icon that stopped could stay missing from the Dock. If a profile icon app quit on its own (crashed, was force quit, or was replaced while running) while the profile still had open windows, it did not come back until every window of that profile was closed. Now it comes back within about 3 seconds.
  • Quitting a profile icon on purpose (right-click, Quit) is respected: it stays closed until that profile's windows are all closed and one opens again, or until you pick the profile from the menu bar icon.
  • Unpinned profile icons now move right of the Dock divider by themselves. macOS keeps a running app left of the divider after you turn off Keep in Dock, until the app restarts, so the icon looked stuck and could not be dragged to the other side. Now the app notices the change and restarts that icon (a second, no windows close), and macOS puts it with the other open apps.

website

  • Fixed: the download form could show "Something went wrong" and no download. Google's form service saved the details and emailed us, but often answered the browser late (up to 46 seconds) or with an error page. Now the download starts right after you submit, your details are sent in the background (retried once if Google does not answer clearly), and a slow email check never holds you up for more than 6 seconds.
  • FAQ: how to move a profile icon to the other side of the Dock divider.
version 1.4.0
1.4.0

added

  • Intel Macs. One download now runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs (macOS 14 or later).

changed

  • One permission on first launch. The setup window asks only for Accessibility, in plain words: click Open Settings, turn on one switch. It notices the switch by itself, says "You're all set" and closes. Nothing else to click.
  • Live previews are asked for only when you want them. The first time you hover a profile icon, the panel shows your windows with a "Show Live Previews" button. Screen Recording is requested only if you click it. Before that, the app never touches screen capture, so macOS shows no Screen Recording dialog at all.
  • Settings calls previews "Optional: live window previews" with a Turn On button, and shows the restart and reset links only after you asked for them.

website

  • The ZwayStudios site shows the full logo (keycap and ZwayStudios name together) in the menu bar on every screen size.
  • The Chrome Profile Switcher page says "one permission" and links to the download on zwaystudios.com.
version 1.3.0
1.3.0

added

  • Automatic updates. The app checks zwaystudios.com for a new version every 6 hours and at launch, downloads it in the background and installs it when you quit (or right away from "Check for Updates…"). Every update is signed; the app refuses any file that is not signed with the ZwayStudios key.
  • "Check for Updates…" in the menu bar menu. In Settings: check automatically, install automatically, Check Now, and when the last check happened.
  • Who makes the app: "Made by ZwayStudios" with a link to zwaystudios.com and support@zwaystudios.com in Settings, an About window, and "Visit ZwayStudios.com" and "Email Support" in the menu bar menu. Email Support fills in the app and macOS version for you.

website

  • New public page with every release, the roadmap and a feature request form: zwaystudios.com/apps/chrome-profile-switcher/updates. Linked from the app page and What's new.

update notes

  • 1.2.x has no updater, so install 1.3.0 by hand once (download the DMG, drag to Applications, replace). From 1.3.0 on, updates arrive by themselves.
  • Releasing an update: see docs/RELEASING.md.
version 1.2.1
1.2.1

fixed

  • Profiles with windows on other desktops got no Dock icon. The search for windows on other desktops stopped at a fixed element number (2,000 past the last window found). Browsers hand out these numbers as they run, so newer windows (for example at 5,804 and 6,375) were never found, and their profiles (here ARB-SAAS and ARB-PRO) had no icon. Now the window server's own list of every window on every desktop is the reference: any browser window it lists that is not matched yet is searched for until found, in the background, however high its number.
  • Windows the search cannot reach at all (some Firefox, Opera, Arc and Dia windows on other desktops) still count for their profile when the process has one profile (Firefox, or a single-profile browser).
  • A listed dialog or popup no longer restarts the search every second (it is set aside and rechecked every 5 minutes). The window server's list is read once per second instead of three times. CPU use stays around 1%.

added

  • cps doctor: compares every window macOS lists with what the app matched and names any gap. Exit code 0 means every window is matched.
  • A warning in the app log when a listed window stays unreachable.
  • 5 regression tests for window discovery (31 tests in total).
version 1.2.0
1.2.0

added

  • Support for many browsers, not just Chrome. Every installed browser gets its profiles picked up:
    • Chromium based: Chrome (and Beta, Dev, Canary), Brave (and Beta, Nightly), Microsoft Edge (and Beta, Dev), Vivaldi, Opera, Opera GX, Arc, Dia, Chromium, Yandex.
    • Firefox based: Firefox (and Developer Edition, Nightly), Zen, LibreWolf, Waterfox.
    • How windows are matched: Chrome, Brave, Edge, Vivaldi and Chromium show the profile in the window title. Firefox runs one process per profile, so a window belongs to its process's profile. Opera, Arc and Dia show no profile in titles; their windows are matched when the browser has one profile.
    • Adding another browser is one line in Sources/ProfileKit/Browser.swift.
  • Profile icons show their own browser's logo as the badge (Brave lion, Firefox fox, ...).
  • Icon apps are named "<Browser> - <Profile>.app" (for example "Brave - Reddit 2.app"). A browser's only profile gets "<Browser> Profile.app", never the bare browser name.
  • Settings and the menu bar group profiles by browser.
  • New product logo: app icon, menu bar icon, website logo and favicon.
  • Activity and error log at ~/Library/Logs/ChromeProfileSwitcher/app.log (and profile-icons.log), rotated at 1 MB. Records starts, profile counts, icons created or upgraded, window opens and errors. Never records window titles or page contents. "Open Logs" in the menu bar menu.
  • cps browsers command; cps accepts "Brave:Reddit 2" style profile names.

changed

  • The hover panel's New Window button is now a plain +. Hovering it shows "Create new window"; clicking it opens a window in that profile right away.
  • Hover effects in the preview panel (the + label, the highlight ring on window previews) are driven by the real mouse position, so they work while the app is in the background.
  • Scanning for windows on other desktops takes turns between browser processes (one per second) so several open browsers never make the Mac stutter.

website

  • New logo in the nav, setup mock-up and download section; favicon and home-screen icon from the logo.
  • Copy covers every supported browser; "Works with" row; FAQ lists supported browsers.
  • Preview mock-ups show the new "+" button. New link-preview image.

update notes

  • Existing Chrome icon apps are upgraded automatically on first launch. Nothing to do.
  • Known limit: a window that was already open on another desktop before the app started is found once you visit that desktop (Firefox, Arc and Dia hide such windows from the scan).
version 1.1.4
1.1.4

changed

  • No em dashes in any app text.
version 1.1.3
1.1.3

fixed

  • The preview panel's New Window button no longer shrinks to "New Wi..." in one-window panels.
version 1.1.2
1.1.2

fixed

  • The hover preview closes as soon as the mouse leaves the icon (it used to stay open because the Dock does not always report when the mouse leaves). Mouse position is checked every 0.1 s.
version 1.1.1
1.1.1

changed

  • Closed profiles leave the Dock. The Pin to Dock button is removed, and profile icons that older versions pinned are unpinned once on first launch.
version 1.1.0
1.1.0

added

  • DMG packaging (scripts/make-dmg.sh), with optional Developer ID signing and notarization.
  • First-run setup window with live permission checks and Reset buttons.
  • Opens at login by default. Offers to move itself to Applications.
  • Stable local code signing (scripts/create-signing-identity.sh) so permissions survive updates.

changed

  • Profile icon apps need no permissions at all; only the main app is listed in Privacy & Security.
  • Profile icons quit together with the main app.
  • Screen Recording is detected with a real capture instead of the cached answer.
version 1.0.1
1.0.1

added

  • Clicking an icon switches to the desktop (Space) or display that holds the profile's windows; clicking again cycles through them.
  • Icons appear automatically for every profile with open windows.
  • Live window previews when hovering a profile icon.
version 1.0.0
1.0.0

added

  • First version: one Dock icon per Chrome profile, with the profile's picture. Click to bring that profile's windows forward; right-click for a list of its windows, New Window and New Incognito Window.
feature request

what should chrome profile switcher do next?

Tell us what you are missing or what gets in your way. We read every request, and the most wanted ones move onto the roadmap above.

Chrome Profile Switchermacos · macOS 14 or later, Chrome, Safari, Brave, Edge, Arc, Firefox or another supported browser
Feature Request

Your email is only used to ask about your idea or tell you when it ships. See privacy.