Change the Action of Clicking an App in the Dock

MacTips.org ran a tip a short time back about using Cmd-Option to hide an application when you switch to another one. In summary, when you use Cmd-Option to click on an application window, it will switch to that window and hide all other applications. (The same also works with holding Option. However, when holding option, it will only hide the application you're leaving, not all of them.)

There is a way, however, to have this same functionality through the dock. Simply use the following terminal command:

defaults write com.apple.dock single-app -bool true; killall Dock

Now, whenever you click on an app in the dock, it will launch/reveal and hide all other applications.

To reverse this effect, use:

defaults write com.apple.dock single-app -bool false; killall Dock

I have updated the Leopard Terminal Commands application to 1.2 to include this feature. (Along with a new logo.) You can download version 1.2 from mediafire.com.