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karaterobot
slotrans
> but poor benighted souls like me just wonder why their $2500 computer isn't doing what they're telling it to.
This is the essence of 99% of my frustration with computers (smartphones especially) anymore. I find myself literally shouting I DIDN'T ASK YOU TO DO THAT at my devices. I grew up hearing the platitude that computers only do what we tell them to do. I wish that was true!
copperx
> I grew up hearing the platitude that computers only do what we tell them to do.
That platitude is from the command line age. With GUIs we will never have that as long as there are no realtime deadlines.
The most frustrating thing is when you tap something milliseconds after the GUI element changes underneath your fingers, triggering the wrong action.
tambourine_man
Let me guess, ex-Windows user?
The OSs are visually similar these days but there are fundamental conceptual differences, still. Window management on macOS, in particular, is a merger from two very different paradigms: classic Mac OS and NeXT. I was a huge fan of the former, though I don’t know if it would have scaled to the terabytes of today.
In any case, my advice is trying to understand whatever underling reason some behavior might have instead of trying to shoehorn a previous habit. I know a lot of my frustration with Windows was that it was not the Mac I’ve been using all of my life.
lolinder
Without providing the underlying reason that supposedly exists this just feels condescending.
I recently switched jobs, and with the change switched from Ubuntu to Mac for my work computer. I've started to develop severe repetitive stress in my right hand from too much magic mouse usage because there are so many things that just don't have keyboard shortcuts.
So, for the benefit of all of us ex-PC users, what is the underlying reason for this extreme dearth of keyboard shortcuts? How am I meant to be using these Mac OS tools in a way that doesn't kill my hand?
tambourine_man
Didn't mean to sound condescending, it was my actual experience with Windows. Aside from some obviously dumb things (like drive letters), some are just different and understanding them decreased my frustration.
I didn't directly address the original post issues because it's hard for me to even understand it, since it's nothing I've ever dealt with. For example:
“…an issue where you can select an app and it does absolutely nothing”
I _think_ the author is struggling with the fact that Mac apps can be open and have no windows. And that's not weird at all, just different. Or maybe it's a virtual desktop thing (Spaces), which I don't use.
Anyway, I use keyboard shortcuts extensively, command-tilde will switch between windows on the same app, for instance, if that's what you're looking for.
But keyboard shortcuts are much more discoverable in Windows than on the Mac. The letters are underlined in dialog boxes. It's uglier, but way more obvious. You can use the Mac with a keyboard only, but you may have to Google some shortcuts, unfortunately.
qxxx
yeah... I have the same problem. I click on the icon in dock and nothing happens. For example, Microsoft Teams.. I need this to open it and contact someone asap, but nothing happens. I need to search for the teams window on all the desktops. Or right click it and select the window, usually this works. But still frustrating. I have been using Mac for 6 months (before Windows and Linux) and Mac OS is sometimes frustrating when trying to do the most simple stuff like bringing a closed app back to front.
floydnoel
That is a bug with Teams. It apparently doesn't know how to show its own window. Sometimes if you keep clicking the icon you can get the window to show.
hobs
It's because the app is hidden, its really arcane but if you: cmd+tab -> hover over a hidden app -> now also hold option -> let go of cmd+tab -> your app will appear
lstamour
Not always… sometimes the app is just Spotify. Haven’t tried the option trick with it, but there the window is simply closed. Clicking the icon in the dock opens a new window, but tabbing to it does not. And yeah, I never remember the shortcut to open it once I switch to it, because cmd+0 and cmd+1 don’t bring up a new window for Spotify. So I always reach for the mouse and click the icon in the dock.
Normally my favourite method to switch apps is Spotlight, accessible with ctrl+space or cmd+space, I forget which. Anyway, Spotlight is a great app switcher, you can disable most everything else and just type a letter or two to switch. I use Powertoys on Windows to get a similar switcher there.
But again, Spotify breaks this, and switching using Spotlight does not recreate the Spotify window, if I remember correctly. Once again reaching for the dock…
lolinder
> However, it does not support keyboard shortcuts for navigating and selecting an application!
This is the thing that is most frustrating to me about MacOS—keyboard support is clearly a second class citizen.
It seems like you're supposed to use the trackpad for everything, but when I'm docked I want to use an external keyboard and mouse. The only mouse that supports the trackpad controls that Mac assumes are available is the magic mouse, which my company helpfully provided, but the ergonomics on that mouse are terrible. It's this tiny little flat slab that offers nothing in the way of support.
If I could figure out how to control everything with the keyboard I'd swap that mouse out for an ergonomic one, but virtual workspace management with pure keyboard seems to be impossible even with Rectangle installed.
AnonC
> This is the thing that is most frustrating to me about MacOS—keyboard support is clearly a second class citizen.
This has been true from the beginning of Mac OS X/OS X/macOS. Though the OS allows you to easily define keyboard shortcuts for any menu item in any application easily, there’s no way to use the system well if you don’t have a mouse (or even better, a trackpad).
And it gets even worse with Catalyst [1] apps, including Apple’s own apps like Reminders and others. It’s an exercise in futility to try to navigate those using the keyboard alone.
altano
Turn on "Keyboard navigation": https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-your-keyboard-l...
It helps a little, such as being able to tab through dialog prompt buttons. Windows is still 10x better at being controlled by a keyboard but at least bridges the gap a tiny bit.
hanche
Even that does not always work. Some dialogs stubbornly refuse to respond to the tab key. In fairness, though, I think those are mostly dialogs with “dangerous” options in them: It slows down the automatic response somewhat.
jbverschoor
In addition to that, I use raycast to find any menu item. No mouse needed.
nerdjon
Whenever I see tools like this for Mac I can't help but wonder if I am seriously missing something.
Unlike when I use Windows, I just don't use command (alt) tab on Mac. I rely almost entirely on gestures on my trackpad (three fingers swipe up to see all my windows that are not minimized).
With the added benefit of that allowing me to drag those windows to other screens/desktops right from that UI.
Is there some power user advantage I am missing out on here or is this sort of making Mac work more like Windows? On Windows I use alt tab all the time just because... I find its windows management sucks compared to Mac.
mrbabbage
No, the joke is on us MacOS users who insist on its terrible Alt-Tab behavior instead of leaning into the gesture support.
But I do believe the gesture support has fundamental limitations:
1) you have to take your keys off the home row to render gestures. Not good!
2) gesture window switching / Exposé breaks down when you have too many windows open: the thumbnails become unrecognizably small.
3) to solve the above problem, perhaps you suggest using spaces. Well, MacOS's spaces support is also frustrating. It's impossible to turn off the animation and time lag switching between spaces! Sure, it's only a half-second, but a half-second repeated hundreds of times adds up. And spaces's interaction with alt-tab is totally broken: if you're using a given app (say Chrome), switch to another space where Chrome is also open, and then try to alt-tab back, it doesn't take you back to the last window you had open. Sad!
cmiller1
I love the mac alt-tab behavior, you just move your finger up one key to switch between windows in the current app grouping them nicely unlike Windows where they're all a big mishmash.
nicoburns
My issue with this behaviour is that I often don't want my windows to be grouped by app. I want to be able to group windows by project, and I may want to have multiple projects in the same set of apps. Workspaces (virtual desktops) ought to be perfect for this, but there is no way to get alt-tab like switching between windows in a desktop on macOS.
kristiandupont
Hah, my perspective is the exact opposite!
On Windows, there is a nicely and predictably maintained Z-order, whereas MacOS insists that if I want to switch focus, surely I want all the windows that the other app has to offer, which feels like a big "mishmash" to me.
patrickserrano
Came here to say the same thing! Whenever I'm using my work PC the alt-tab behavior of windows drives me nuts.
carimura
The space animation lag is mind boggling. Not only is it a half second, but it locks keypress until finished.
Any Apple devs (or anyone) here who can comment about why they removed the expose-animation-duration option?
temende
If you install yabai (https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai) it has a feature that can completely disable spaces switching animations - but it does require partially disabling SIP (worth it for yabai, IMO).
ubercow13
If you change spaces using the keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl+1,2 etc. (they might not be set to that by default.. it's 'Switch to Desktop 1' etc in the settings), then there is still a shorter animation, and there is no input delay when switching.
vehemenz
I'd love some insight, too. I was just trying to disable the delay this morning. Even with the "Reduce Motion" option checked, the delay is too long.
wlesieutre
Re: 2), it's particularly painful if you need the "reduce motion" accessibility setting. Instead of shrinking down from their current positions where you might glimpse a window mid-animation and see where it's going, you get a fade effect from full size windows straight to unreadably small windows.
satrday
For 3, enable Reduce Motion under System Settings > Accessibility > Display.
This makes switching spaces and windows nearly instant with no animation. I don't notice whatever else lost animations...so I don't miss them. Worth a try!
mrbabbage
That turns off the animation but leaves the time delay in place. E.g. if you have a text field selected in the target window, any typing you do won't register until the fade in—fade out animation completes (exact same behavior as with the option disabled, but with the fade animation instead of the slide animation).
aldanor
The solution (although somewhat rough around the edges, but much, much better than other options) is to use a tiling window manager like Yabai. It will completely change the way you work with windows and spaces in macOS. This definitely solves your (1), especially with the help of `skhd` to map your keyboard shortcuts. Another option is Amethyst but it's a bit less configurable (although it supports stack layout for windows).
(3) can also be solved. Go to system preferences -> accessibility, check the "Reduce motion" checkbox. Now the spaces can be switched almost instantly without the annoying animation by using keyboard shortcuts.
nerdjon
As far as those limitations go.
1) That would also be true if you are switching to nearly any GUI based app that you need the mouse except for maybe if you are switching to a text editor but I doubt every time you switch apps you are immediately typing something, so not really sure I see the problem there.
2) True, maybe I just don't tend to have a ton of windows open at the same time.
3) I can't really speak on how it behaves with alt-tab however with the track pad it is as fast as you swipe and tied to that swipe. I can slow it down or speed it up.
dieulot
Alt+Tab lets you switch to a previous window instantly. MacOS’s UI sluggishness is jarring when you’re a power user from another platform.
yboris
Unsure if you mean AltTab - https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ -- it's my favorite
brimstedt
AltTab and Rectangle is what makes Mac DE usable.
behnamoh
I wish we could remove the animation between spaces on macos. there’s always a delay before you get to use the space you switched to.
vehemenz
When is the last time you used macOS? Command+Tab also switches to the previous window instantly. It only brings up the switcher when you hold it longer.
nick_
It switches to the previous _app_, not window. It will bring all of that app's windows to the front. A core feature a lot of folks want is fast, window-oriented focus switching.
dieulot
I’m using it as my primary OS since late 2020.
spurgu
> I rely almost entirely on gestures on my trackpad (three fingers swipe up to see all my windows that are not minimized).
Swiping alone is unnecessarily slow so I don't do it unless I need visual assistance. I do them all though, in this order of frequency:
- Cmd+Tab for switching apps (most frequent action)
- Option+Tab (remapped) for switching windows of active app
- Three-fingers down to see all windows of current app
- Three-fingers up to see all windows (rarely used because I have too many windows open for this to be useful)
In addition I use Ctrl+{1,4} to move between different workspaces (although I sometimes use three-finger swipe left/right for this but too often I want to skip one (like going from 1 to 3) in which case swiping is annoying.
Moving windows to a different desktop/workspace I do by clicking titlebar and pressing Ctrl+{1,4}.
Relying on the "overview" (or whatever it's called) sounds convenient, but slower than what I do.
codybontecou
How do you get the three-fingers down behavior?
spurgu
Trackpad -> More gestures -> App Exposé
https://i.imgur.com/u9BRDU8.png (Big Sur, YMMV)
kps
Your OS version may vary (I'm not up to date) but look for ‘App Exposé’ in the Trackpad settings.
yakk0
There are Mac users like myself that don't have a trackpad or touchpad. After trying the Magic Mouse when I got my Mini I reverted back to my 20 year old Microsoft optical mouse. I long for the Windows style of app switching where you can go through each window instead of the Mac style where you go through each app.
CitrusFruits
You should try contexts! It also has a bunch of other features and is highly configurable. I'm not one to normally pay for software, but this is probably up there with some of the best $10 I ever spent.
wbobeirne
Cmd+~ switches between windows of the same application
mikebenfield
That's not what your parent comment asked for.
forgotmypw17
Some people are unable to (or prefer not to) use the touchpad or pointing devices.
chii
such as having the mac docked and connected to an external screen with the original screen closed.
There are of course keyboard shortcuts to access expose or spaces, but then what's the difference between alt-tab and that?
tsuujin
This is how I use my MacBook, but I still use a wireless touchpad just fine.
Veen
You can also use hot corners.
franciscop
While I agree, there's some few cases where I find Alt+Tab to be superior. A small example, you are writing a PR and want to peek at the code, you can cmd+tab, look, cmd+tab again and keep typing without moving your hands from the position. So for that "peeking" it's very useful while keeping focus. I find grander gestures like three fingers up to be a lot better when I want to "context switch" though.
Now the only/big annoyance in macOS is that "closed" windows don't close the app, so you are back from a zoom meeting trying to get into the zone and you cmd+tab from code to terminal and back expecting that to work and suddenly you are greeted tabbing into Zoom, but it is closed, but it still gets in the way.
kitsunesoba
I’ve never quite gotten the appeal of Winlike alt-tab myself. Its usability rapidly degrades with the number of windows open, with the downward slope beginning at ~5 windows and curving down exponentially from there. Being that I’ve always got 10+ windows open at any given time it’s almost useless for me.
I could see some utility in a keystroke that only toggles between the two last used windows, but full-on alt-tab just doesn’t work for me.
eviks
You can for smaller visible thumbnails of much more than 5 windows in the switcher, or even use a list of icons, or just the fact that most recent windows are shown (and older 20+ is not) is already very useful
zanellato19
That's exactly what alt-tab is when used without holding.
kitsunesoba
Yep, but I think that little bit of functionality alone is enough to be given its own separate shortcut that doesn't summon UI or switch to some other window if accidentally held a bit too long.
nbar1
Same for me. Trackpad is my best friend for productivity. 4-fingers up (and also bottom-left hot corner) for Mission Control, top-left hot corner for desktop, 4-finger swipe left/right between spaces.
I don't need anything more than that, and any app that offers more just becomes noise.
nerdjon
The trackpad gestures is a major reason that Mac is my primary OS while Windows is there when I have to use it.
Even on my "desktop" Mac setup (which is really just my laptop in a dock) I have a full keyboard and the Magic Trackpad joined together with that tool from twelve south.
Thinking about it more I feel like I just use Windows and Mac differently. Most of the time I am in full screen mode (so any windows is just a quick swipe to the left or right) and when I am not I have multiple desktops or I have split full screen mode. Plus using 3 monitors I really just don't find myself switching all that often.
For me Windows feels like the worse management when I get used to what Mac has to offer.
smoldesu
KDE is so close to getting the best of both worlds out-of-box for Linux users. I highly recommend it to anyone who has a Magic Trackpad-heavy workflow (and it's probably why KDE is the default on Asahi).
- 4 finger swipe up is an overview for all desktops
- 4 finger swipe down is an overview for all windows
- 3 finger pinch does the MacOS-style desktop overview with your other desktops at the top
All of the gestures are 1:1 with the trackpad, and are functionally very useful. It feels a little cobbled together in current builds, but I'm hoping it gets extra attention with KDE6: https://youtu.be/aBEsxTVRsEo?t=100
gregorias
I'm already using [Contexts](https://contexts.co/) for this purpose, and I don't think I need anything else.
throwaway675309
Raycast, a drop in replacement for spotlight with support for plugins, also has support for searching windows by title. I rarely even use command tab anymore.
tstrimple
There's also a ChatGPT plugin which enables you to easily send queries from your launcher. It's the most convenient way to use the tool in my experience.
SamuelAdams
Interesting. I use a combination of free and open source apps instead of these.
Window management - Rectangle
Alt-Tab improvements: AltTab app
https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/
Searching - Alfred
Between these three, is there anything that Contexts or Witch can do that is worth paying for?
devbent
Contexts is amazing, being able to search window titles is how I do almost all my navigation between apps now days, especially when I have code editors open to multiple (4+) different projects.
I have an equivalent installed on Windows (I forget its name) and it is likewise just as amazingly useful.
copperx
I would really appreciate if you could remember the name, because I love using Contexts.
keybits
Contexts is excellent. There's a free trial. Keyboard FTW!
I configure it to be a minimal cmd-tab switcher that shows all windows for each app. I disable the sidebar and other unnecessary stuff.
ilikepi
That looks interesting, but does it work in Ventura? They only list Big Sur and Monterey on the website...
josegonzalez
Works for me on Ventura.
DavideNL
I also use Contexts, and prefer it over AltTab and others…
maximilianroos
Most underrated app!
I_am_tiberius
I switched from KDE to Mac some months back and I'm shocked how many window management features are missing. I'm especially disappointed about the dock. I would love being able to see native window previews when hovering over an application icon. Also I would like to split the dock into the different spaces (virtual desktops). Currently the dock seems not to be considering the fact tha Mac OS supports spaces.
chrisfinazzo
I still want macOS to "borrow" (Read: steal) window snapping from Windows. The mere existence of MultiView on Apple TV gives me hope that someone is at least thinking about how to implement such a system.
bgm1975
Have you tried Magnet[1] yet? I’ve been using it for years and really love it. TBH, I prefer it over way Windows does it (forcing you to decide wha goes in the “other” side of the screen).
winkywooster
magnet's keybindings for me are the best defaults—they are very intuitive, and don't conflict with emacs. rectangle is an alternative i've tried, but magnet is the one for me.
psychomugs
BetterSnapTool is the first thing I install on macOS.
SamuelAdams
Try Rectangle: https://rectangleapp.com/
alin23
Also check out my rcmd app (https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd) for more keyboard centric workflows.
It’s definitely not as powerful as Witch for windows/tabs but rcmd’s one-key approach is instant for app switching.
Witch has some ingenious features indeed: searching browser/editor/terminal tabs, lingering on an app to show its windows etc.
I wish Apple would allow this kind of functionality in App Store apps.
speedgoose
How does it compare to AltTab? https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/
behnamoh
This is what I use and would recommend. the nice thing about it is that you can activate the switcher using keyboard and then hover over any window without even clicking on it. when you release the keyboard shortcut, you switch to that window.
it also allows me to hide certain apps from the switcher. like if you have a terminal, you might wanna set up a keyboard shortcut for that and forget about it.
slimebot80
I like alt Tab, great project and it's open source and has nice maintainers.
Just wish I could turn off the screen recorder feature, as I don't trust any app that does that without exceptional reasons. (In my case, I don't care about thumbnails)
danvayn
looks like it has some more features than alt tab that are usually covered by other programs. quick open like Alfred, hibernation like Franz/Ferdium.
Veen
I've found rcmd quite useful for window switching. It lets you use the right command key plus another key to switch applications; e.g., right ⌘+s for Safari. It can also display a switcher that shows the letter associations.
eddyg
I do something similar with Hammerspoon (which is an amazing app... a little bit of Lua and you can do all sorts of things to the OS!) → https://hammerspoon.org
local hammerspoonHotkeys = {
F = { name='Finder' },
P = { name='1Password', alt='1Password 7' },
S = { name='Slack' },
M = { name='Music' },
W = { name='Safari' }, -- 'W' for web
...
}
for key, obj in pairs(hammerspoonHotkeys) do
trigger:bind({}, key, function() openOrHideApp(obj) end)
end
Because I'm already running Hammerspoon to do things like window management (hotkeys to move and resize windows), control my Streamdeck (without needing to run any other third-party software → https://www.hammerspoon.org/docs/hs.streamdeck.html) and to act as my default browser (so I can use URLDispatcher to do all kinds of "smart" things when URLs are "opened" on my Mac → https://www.hammerspoon.org/Spoons/URLDispatcher.html), etc. it makes sense for me to keep adding functionality with Hammerspoon instead of adding more and more "one off" utilities.
eviks
Can you switch between just 2 windows (current and most recent) in hammerspoon while holding (and not releasing) an arbitrary modifier key and tapping some other arbitrary key?
rcarmo
I do that with Phoenix: https://taoofmac.com/space/apps/phoenix
anileated
I’m sure I’m in the minority, but Stage Manager addressed nearly all of my window management woes on the Mac.
chrisfinazzo
It's an interesting take, but I'm not sure how this deals with multiple windows if all the demos show a primary, active window and everything else "offstage."
I don't need to just see those other windows and their contents, I want to interact with them as well, which SM doesn't seem to do.
anileated
I found that cases where I need multiple windows at the same time are actually quite rare in my work. Turned out seeing only the window I work with right now is actually what I needed 90% of the time, so this default behavior is a win.
For the remaining 10%, SM makes it easy to combine windows into a set (this is so far the only instance where I use the new “recent applications” widget, I set it to auto-hide so it never distracts me otherwise). Then with cmd+` you can switch between windows in the same set (even if they are of different apps). You can also tile windows in your set with something like Rectangle, etc.—just make sure not to over-craft sets, they are ephemeral after all.
The ephemeral nature of window sets used to bother me initially—I wanted to persist them across restarts—but after I realized I really focus on one window 90% of the time, and creating ad-hoc window sets is very quick, I no longer find it an issue.
chrisfinazzo
What I'm really thinking about is something approaching Snap Layouts from Windows 11. SM kinda, sorta does this, but the layout isn't as nice as what Microsoft did, hence the complaints.
I would argue that the idea that windows are ephemeral doesn't work for all windows in all situations - I'm almost always going to want a window with BBEdit, another with Terminal cd'd to the current project (whatever I might be doing, and there likely will be a fair number of these, more than 1 at least), plus a web browser with email/documentation.
Admittedly, some of my complaints come from having my current setup with a DisplayPort hub and 2 HP displays, yet not having the horsepower to drive them each as independent screens. It's a holdover from a previous setup when there actually was a Windows machine in the mix.
Apple seems to begrudingly acknowledge that people might actually have more than one display in their setup, so features like this sometimes feel incomplete.
See also - the "bug" in prior versions of Spaces which didn't account for multiple monitors correctly. A simple oversight that shows they think about this kind of use last, if at all.
rcarmo
But unlike on the iPad, you can’t switch between sets with a hotkey—Apple really dropped the ball on that one.
vehemenz
I like Stage Manager, but I can't get it to play nicely with multiple screens and Rectangle.app. Its behavior is too unpredictable, and I'm not sure how to make it work. Do you have any tips?
anileated
I don’t use multiple screens, and I no longer use multiple virtual desktops either, but I outlined my mental model of Stage Manager in a response to another comment if it helps. I do still use Rectangle occasionally.
Veen
I tried stage manager for about five minutes before I turned it off because it seriously hindered my workflow. Perhaps I should give it another try.
anileated
Had the same initial reaction. Had to tweak settings a bit (e.g., set recent apps to auto-hide) and create a mental model of window sets before it clicked.
My mental model of window sets:
— A window always belongs to one set, with two exceptions: 1) global ephemeral windows like “About This Mac” (they appear in all sets on current desktop) and 2) windows assigned to all desktops via Dock (they appear in all sets and on all desktops).
— You are always “in” a set, even if it’s a 1-set with only this window alone, and you don’t see any windows not in the current set (other than the exceptions above). You can only glimpse other windows via Recent applications, Mission Control, and so on.
Managing window sets:
— Creating a window always drops you into a fresh set with that window alone. While jarring at first, it’s key to me—with a new window I start doing something different and don’t need the distracting baggage of whatever was on screen before that. Can always add windows later (see below).
— Any way that focuses a window now also drops you into its entire window set. This includes: Mission Control (which like before operates individual windows, not sets), ⌘+tab, clicking on app’s Dock icon, window switch from within the app, and so on.
— If you switch to another window set while dragging a window, that window becomes part of the set when you release the drag.
— To remove a window from a multi-window set (creating a new set with only that window alone), long-press the maximize window button and click “Remove Window from Set”.
Recent apps:
— “Recent applications” shows two kinds of things: 1) multi-window sets you created (last focused window on top), and 2) solo window sets grouped by application.
— Recent applications list is scoped to windows on current desktop and excludes the window set you are currently working in.
— You can interact with Recent apps in three ways: 1) click on a set to switch to it, focusing topmost window; 2) click on any app’s icon to show up to 18 recently used window sets with any of that app’s windows; 3) drag the topmost window from any visible set into current set.
— I set it to auto-hide, I only need it when I need to add another window to the current set.
By the way, ⌘+` now works in two ways: 1) if you are in a set of multiple windows, it will switch between windows in the set (regardless of the app); 2) if you are viewing a solo window, it switches between other solo windows of the app (close to old behavior).
This all might sound complex but a couple hours in it works quite intuitively, I find.
nerveband
I rarely comment on HN but I needed to login and say THANK YOU for this walkthrough of Stage Manager. I didn't even know I could bring in other windows, remove it use Maximize, and more. Just wanted to share my appreciation.
navait
I purchased witch several years ago, and my main complaint is that it takes a long time to show all my windows if there's a lot of applications windows, and this did not use to be the case. It's fine if I'm switching between windows in one application, but if I say, want to show all the windows open on my computer, it takes 3+ seconds to display the interface.
I discussed it with the Many tricks support, and apparently it's a problem with MacOS
heleninboodler
Yeah, I used to be a faithful user and I quit because of this. Many Tricks makes good software, but it seems the APIs they use for some of the window information end up getting very slow under certain circumstances, starting on an OS release somewhere around 2017 if I recall.
One of my favorite things about Witch is the huge amount of customization you could do with it. Defining multiple switchers with different behaviors and different trigger keys is a nice feature too.
barefeg
Kind of off topic, but has tiling managers for macOS improved in the last few years? I remember I tried one solution (I can’t remember the name now) which worked OK but it was a little buggy some times. Ever since I just use the standard window manager and try to manage with cmd + tab, cmd + `, and gestures to change spaces.
iaresee
Amethyst is my tiling manager of choice for macOS: https://ianyh.com/amethyst/
It was a little buggy when Ventura dropped, but it gets frequent updates and has stabilized in the past few months.
bbx
I’ve been using BetterSnapTool for years. Can’t recommend it enough. It takes a bit to configure your zones, but it’s so versatile and easy to use. I have dozens of shortcuts to divide my screen into 3rds, quarters, 6 or 8 equal zones…
Sodman
+1 for BetterSnapTool. I've had it for years, one of the first things I install on any new Mac. It's always "just worked" for me, zero issues.
addandsubtract
BST is part of BetterTouchTool, which is invaluable on its own.
CamelRocketFish
https://github.com/kasper/phoenix
This let’s you have complete control over tiling.
rcarmo
I have a config for that with window hints and progressive resizing: https://taoofmac.com/space/apps/phoenix
mfontani
I use skhd and yabai, and it's quite okay. Not as great as i3 under linux, but much better than OSX's defaults for sure.
howinteresting
I love what yabai is trying to do, but it does really suck for no fault of its own.
aldanor
Which parts of it suck in particular? From the videos I've seen so far it's quite useable but requires configuring tons of stuff, possibly disabling SIP, animations are a bit jaggy (mainly due to macos not providing proper non-blocking apis to certain things), no proper master stack layout etc. But all in all looks pretty useable.
Planning to switch to it now, because all the other options (like using no tiling manager at all, or Amethyst) seem to suck even more.
howinteresting
It's just slow and full of jank like what you listed. Disabling SIP is mandatory if you don't want to feel like you need to blow your brains out. (Another issue is that many windows can't be resized at all on macOS, yet yabai allocates the full space for them and puts them in the top-left corner.)
Don't get me wrong, none of this is an issue with yabai, just with macOS. If I were forced to use macOS for work I'd use yabai too. But I've arranged my life so I never have to touch macOS professionally.
Tagbert
And Rectangle. I really like it’s Window Throw method in the Pro version.
The problem with the built-in methods is that they use spaces and split them for windows. That locks you into that space just as full-screen view does.
justintoon
I’ve used Magnet for ages. It’s pretty expensive now though—I think it was only a couple of dollars when I bought it. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/magnet/id441258766?mt=12
seeekr
Have been using Moom for ages, and still sticking with it for now! Works well!
jaimehrubiks
The trial expires after triggering Witch 50 times, and I was only beginning to configure it. Trial should be a a day or two for me to choose if I like it or not.
blntechie
I have been a long time MacOS user and the app/window switching never made any sense to me. Windows and Linux just does it better.
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Over the years, Apple has implemented inadequate window management in MacOS in a number of ways, empowering the user by giving them the choice of which method to be frustrated by.
For example, the CMD+Tab task switcher seems natural, but it has an issue where you can select an app and it does absolutely nothing, which is both infuriating and incomprehensible. Is it ignoring me because the app is minimized? Did it send it to another desktop? I have no idea! It must be deterministic, but I'll be damned if I can figure it out. I am sure "real mac users" get it, and I'm happy for them, but poor benighted souls like me just wonder why their $2500 computer isn't doing what they're telling it to. And whatever that perfectly good reason is, there is an even more perfectly good reason to make it work the way users expect.
The Dock has the same issue with letting you click on an app, and then not bringing that app on screen, or telling me why it's ignoring my command. Both of the above patterns work better in Windows, and have worked better for decades, and Apple designers should be a little ashamed of that.
Mission Control is probably the most useful method, because it actually brings selected applications on screen (the minimum functionality you would expect). However, it does not support keyboard shortcuts for navigating and selecting an application! How is this possible? It feels like a couple story point ticket to me, yet it remains a problem after a decade. Maybe Apple stubbornly assumes everyone will use a touchpad for everything, despite them selling products without touchpads in them. For money.
The other problem with Mission Control is that it should not require your entire screen to switch apps. It feels too form-over-function to me.
I tried the newest entry, Stage Manager, for several months. It's like a cross between Mission Control and the Dock. It works well (that is, it does what it's supposed to), except it's missing the ability to change the size of the window thumbnails. It takes up quite a lot of the screen for the value it gives you. Not that being able to select a window and switch to it isn't valuable, just that that's how the Dock should already work, and Dock doesn't take up 10-15% of the screen.