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Apple Mail randomly becomes the frontmost application in macOS

annoying.technology

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Re: Apple Mail randomly becomes the frontmost application in macOS

#171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This smells like a feature built 10+ years ago, before notifications existed in Mac OS X, that never got upgraded. That's how apps "notified" back then.

Before the native notification system, there was this Growl thing that literally every single third-party app used. Apple apps, on the other hand...

I still miss Growl having logging history. Once in a while I need to check back on something.

Re: Apple Mail randomly becomes the frontmost application in macOS

#172
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This smells like a feature built 10+ years ago, before notifications existed in Mac OS X, that never got upgraded. That's how apps "notified" back then.

> That's how apps "notified" back then. Polite apps would just bounce their dock icon rather than stealing focus, however.

Also known as “Bouncing in the dock like a Jack Russell fucking Terrier” [0]

[0] https://youtu.be/ks-N4rI_1RU

Re: Apple Mail randomly becomes the frontmost application in macOS

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before the native notification system, there was this Growl thing that literally every single third-party app used. Apple apps, on the other hand...

I still miss Growl having logging history. Once in a while I need to check back on something.

I vaguely remember it having history, but the native system does have something similar in that panel you get by swiping with two fingers from the right edge of the trackpad, in "notifications" tab.

Re: Apple Mail randomly becomes the frontmost application in macOS

#174
post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Astounding to me that automatic rearranging would have been considered desirable. Hard to imagine that it’s just visual folks (like myself) who would lose flow state if the mental map of their Desktops was interrupted if they were suddenly rearranged.

> Astounding to me that automatic rearranging would have been considered desirable Funny, i really like this because it lets me switch to another app and then return with a single swipe. The ipad has this behaviour too though the swipe is in the opposite direction. I use full screen very heavily and rarely use spaces as separate desktops, which I find weird. You probably consider my use weird. Not to say one approach…

You're likely correct: it feels like it wasn't subjected to any UX research. Knowing how Apple works, it was probably demoed in front of a few higher-ups, but nobody other than the person or team writing it used the feature long enough to notice that some people would be confused by it.

And you're correct, I never use full screen. I don't think it's weird to use it, it just doesn't suit my workflow (single large monitor, so I need a lot of stuff side-by-side).

Re: Apple Mail randomly becomes the frontmost application in macOS

#175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Astounding to me that automatic rearranging would have been considered desirable. Hard to imagine that it’s just visual folks (like myself) who would lose flow state if the mental map of their Desktops was interrupted if they were suddenly rearranged.

I can see the line of thinking since it’s how command-tab works, but it’s just not a good fit for spaces/desktops. Similar to using multiple monitors, users expect to be able to rely on spatial reference. I didn’t use the feature either until I found that setting to turn off.

I don't use Spaces since I don't like how I get switched into different spaces just by clicking an app that has windows open in another space. I've tried to use it a few times since it came out a decade ago (that long, or longer?) but just couldn't get used to being thrown around all over the place.

My ideal setup would be that a user NEVER gets switched into another Space/Desktop, even if they click an icon in the dock, or Cmd-Tab. If there's a window in Safari in another space that I wanted, I would switch sequentially to that space and find it.

I do like to hear how other people work and if they like features that I don't; helps me gauge how far along on the curmudgeon timeline I am!

Re: Apple Mail randomly becomes the frontmost application in macOS

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If no media is currently playing or paused and you press the Play button by mistake, the Music app opens. It's extremely annoying.

You can get rid of this with launchctl unload -w /System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.rcd.plist ( https://www.howtogeek.com/274345/stop-itunes-from-launching-... )

Unfortunately, when I tried it, it made the media keys stop working entirely, not just stopping Music from opening.

Re: Apple Mail randomly becomes the frontmost application in macOS

#177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see the line of thinking since it’s how command-tab works, but it’s just not a good fit for spaces/desktops. Similar to using multiple monitors, users expect to be able to rely on spatial reference. I didn’t use the feature either until I found that setting to turn off.

I don't use Spaces since I don't like how I get switched into different spaces just by clicking an app that has windows open in another space. I've tried to use it a few times since it came out a decade ago (that long, or longer?) but just couldn't get used to being thrown around all over the place. My ideal setup would be that a user NEVER gets switched into another Space/Desktop, even if they click an icon in the d…

Just turn off “Preferences->Mission Control->When switching to an application, switch to…”, that would be the setup you are asking for.

As for myself, I don’t use Spaces at all.

I have a keyboard shortcut for every application I use daily. CMD+CTRL plus a letter, M for Mail, T for terminal, B for browser… And so on.

Some keys are “overloaded” via Keyboard Maestro, like editor “E”: If MacVim is open, use it, otherwise open TextMate (Not using both much these days since switching to VSCode, which inherited “V” after I ditched Voodoopad :))

To make this work ergonomically, I have to be able to press CMD+CTRL with either the left or the right hand. So the first thing I do with new Macs, is remapping the right Option/Alt Key to Ctrl via Karabiner.

Using this system for the past 15 years, my worst fear is that one day Apple will close down its system so much, that this simple remap will no longer work - they are already on the hunt for kernel extensions…

Re: Apple Mail randomly becomes the frontmost application in macOS

#178
It’s bizarre to me that nowadays an application can become frontmost application at all. When I switched to OSX back in the days, it was an advertised feature that this can’t happen the same way it does on Windows. If something wants attention, its icon bounced in the dock. Nothing more.
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