How To Create a Custom Control Panel in OS X Yosemite

Create a Custom Switch Control Panel in OS X Yosemite, using the Switch Control Panel Editor. Streamline your workflow using a Custom Switch Control Panel in Yosemite.

TRANSCRIPT:

Streamline your workflow, with common tasks and actions of apps that you use on a regular basis, by creating a Custom Control Panel using the Switch Control Panel Editor in Yosemite.

Cue the music.

In this episode, How To Create Your Own Custom Control Panel in OS X Yosemite.

Shown here, are some Custom Panels created using the Panel Editor.

In OS X Mavericks, the Custom Panel was accessed from the main Home Panel, but, in OS X Yosemite, you are able to assign the Custom Panel as the main Home Panel.

Creating a Custom Panel is painless, easy and lots of fun.

Straight to the demo.

Soooooooo, Let’s Get Started.

To open the Panel Editor, launch System Preferences and click on the Accessibility icon.

Scroll down and click on the Switch Control icon, then, click on the Open Panel Editor… button, shown here.

Click or press the enter key on the New Panel button, to rename it. I’ll just name mine, “MacStudioA Sidekick”.

Next, to launch your Custom Panel as the main Panel, click the drop-down list of the Show option here, and choose, As Home Panel.

Now for the fun stuff…

Basically; this is the end result of the Custom Panel that we’ll be creating.

The Control Panel shown is based on assigning the following Actions to the buttons, Open App, Press Keys, and System Event.

Furthermore, the Panel Editor, includes some very basic image buttons, that you can use or simply create your own, using such apps as Preview or Pixelmator, as I have done.

What follows is a time-lapse of the formality involved for adding images to buttons and assigning Actions to them, with the exception of the background button.

Ok, after adding all the buttons to the Custom Panel, save your work and close the Panel Editor, as shown.

Before enabling the Custom Panel, you can choose when to hide the Custom Panel without inactivity.

In my case, I’ll choose a 5 second delay.

Now, Enable or Disable the Custom Panel, by either placing or removing a check mark to the box shown here.

And, voilà, your Custom Panel is enabled and ready to use.

Coming up in the next episode, how to share and import a Custom Control Panel. Hope you’ll join us.

And that’s all there is to it, streamlining your workflow using a Custom Switch Control Panel, could not be more simple, go ahead, give it a try and have fun doing it.

Thanks for watching and thumbs-up if you liked this video, and please, don't forget to subscribe to be notified of the next episode. Thanks and Peace.

How To Share & Import a Custom Switch Control Panel: http://youtu.be/r4YdsGqghdY