Getting the list of running applications ordered by last use

Question

I'd like to get the list of running applications in the same order they appear when doing ⌘ + ⇥

I.e. if I use TextEdit, then Preview, then iCal, the order is

1. iCal
2. Preview
3. TextEdit

Using [[NSWorkspace sharedWorkspace] launchedApplications] does not work as applications are sorted by launch date/process id. Enumerating with GetNextProcess does not work either as it is also ordered by pid.

Registering for notifications and maintaining a list myself is not an option as I must know the list right after the application launches. Well, the first element of the list would be enough actually, but I think it is pretty much the same question.

Is there some API available to get this information?

Answer 1

Maybe something like this:

cd /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework
nm LaunchServices | grep __LSCopyApplicationArrayInFrontToBackOrder