Quicksilver

Quicksilver is an alternate way to create app launching shortcuts on macs. It is a free, open source app that can be used for all kinds of searching, automation, triggered actions, and more.

 First, download the latest Quicksilver and install it on your computer. Double-click the Quicksilver icon in your Applications folder to run it.

To add app launching actions, click on the Quicksilver > Triggers... menu item.

In the Triggers window, click on the + sign and Keyboard item to add a trigger.

Assign Shortcut

Now, we'll add a keyboard shortcut. Double-click the word None under the Trigger column for the Open Firefox.app trigger entry. Then, in the shortcut field, create your shortcut, command+option+ctrl+1

As you add more of them, you will build up a nice list of apps to launch with shortcuts!

When we set up the CircuitPython code we'll use this list of shortcuts as well as some new ones that don't require an app launching program, such as the media keys and screenshot hotkeys.