Alternatively, hold Command+Option when switching apps to toggle "single app" mode. I.e., you switch apps and hide all others in a single step. I use it all the time.
Thanks! I didn't know about this. Personally, I like Single Application Mode so that I don't have to think about it. I throw every computer I have into Single App Mode when I get it.
Another alternative approach - fullscreen. Gives me more room on the 13" Macbook, and as the article says, you can just cmd-tab.
This works fine for browsers, terminals, but afaik the OSX builds of emacs don't ship with a fullscreen mode; so you just do M-x server-start, and in a fullscreened terminal run /Applications/Emacs.app/Contents/MacOS/bin/emacsclient -nw
Although that post (and the patch) is a bit dated, it worked fine for me (one hunk didn't apply cleanly but after reviewing it I decided it's obsolete, so I just ignored it.)
The result is just what I expected, I can't believe I waited that long before giving it a try. Highly recommended, if like me you prefer native Emacs over one running in a terminal.
(Somehow it even manages to avoid that annoying full-screen animation which so far I didn't manage to completely turn off for iTerm.)
Yes - in fact there are several. You can even do it with external apps (http://chpwn.com/apps/maximizer.html). But meh, this ancient macbook runs hot if you even ask it to show a flash video, I'm not going to set it on fire by asking it to compile emacs or run more stuff.
My inkling is that your Hide Others and the basic Hide are seriously underused by OS X users.
Minimizing a window in to the Dock is only worth it if the app has another window(s) that you want to remain visible. If instead you Hide the app, it doesn't take any clicks to get it back, you just Cmd-Tab.
I usually just go fullscreen. One of the biggest peeves I have is that Chrome doesn't show the Omnibox (nor does it let you type a new url) while in fullscreen mode.
Oh, sorry, I thought you were talking about OS X and its recently introduced full screen mode, which Chrome initially supported without showing Omnibox.
The question wasn't about Windows. The single-app setting only works when you use the Dock to switch apps, not when you use Command+Tab. I would like to know if there's a way to affect the latter as well.
Let me do some digging. I suspect not. I use Command + Tab to switch apps and then when I want to isolate I pull up my dock and click an icon (my dock is usually hidden).
We should hang out then! Shoot me an email zack @ zackshapiro.com and let's grab coffee and meet up! Maybe we'll end up watching a Ravens game together in the Fall!
