Sort of true. There are keyboard commands. But as you move through the files with the keyboard, it doesn’t automatically open the files.
To browse files with the keyboard, you can:
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There is a command “Files: Show file explorer”. I map this to ctrl-alt-F. You can choose a hotkey. It jumps focus to the files using the keyboard. From there you can move up and down with the keyboard. And using left / right collapses and expands folders (not Enter).
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Or mouse click on the files. But then you have to click a second time. Clicking once only opens the file you clicked. A second click will highlight the file, and now you can use the arrow keys. This is the same as if you run the command “Files: Show file explorer”.
Unfortunately, neither of these options above will “browse” the files. It just moves up and down the file list, and then you can hit enter to open a note. Or ctrl-enter to open the note in a new tab.
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Install the plugin (yes a plugin) “Quick Explorer” which enables the commands “Go to next file in folder” and “Go to previous file in folder”, which you can map to hotkeys. This is currently the fastest way to quickly iterate through files.
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“Quick Explorer” also has a command “Browse Vault” which opens a little panel that you can navigate with the keyboard. And a modal popup shows a preview of the note. There are keyboard commands to move around the hierarchy or execute a command on the file.
Edit: I’ve reopened this feature request: Iterate through files in the file sidebar with keyboard - #60 by rigmarole