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Ask HN: Why does Apple refuse to add window snapping to macOS?

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Re: Ask HN: Why does Apple refuse to add window snapping to macOS?

#121

Post by WWLink »

g_p wrote: post #25

I think this comes down to Apple's envisaged window management paradigm being centered around full-screen windows. In Apple's UX view, it seems like you're meant to maximize windows to "spaces", and switch between workspaces using a few gestures (4 finger swipes mainly) to reveal all windows, and swap between workspaces that way. Rectangle, as others have pointed out, give you the "snap" experience you would expect f…

lol you couldn't be more wrong. Back in the classic Mac days, Apple was so anti-full-screen-environment that most apps had floating toolbars and the document windows were minimal and freestanding. (ircle and office:mac 2000 or older would be my first examples, but I believe photoshop worked the same).

MS did it because.. I think Windows used to only support 1 window per program or something. That's why old versions of Office basically go full screen and each document you open is another 'child window' of the main office window. Same was true for stuff like America Online lol.

Re: Ask HN: Why does Apple refuse to add window snapping to macOS?

#122

Post by bluejekyll »

based2 wrote: post #109

https://patents.google.com/patent/US6661436B2/en Method for providing window snap control for a split screen computer program GUI https://patents.justia.com/patent/6661436 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250201392 https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/07/gnome-shell-quarter-tili...

IANAL, but, “Status: Expired - Lifetime”

Re: Ask HN: Why does Apple refuse to add window snapping to macOS?

#123

Post by malwrar »

based2 wrote: post #109

https://patents.google.com/patent/US6661436B2/en Method for providing window snap control for a split screen computer program GUI https://patents.justia.com/patent/6661436 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250201392 https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2021/07/gnome-shell-quarter-tili...

Hmm that patent appears to have expired. If it was the reason this feature hasn't been implemented, looks like they're in the clear to do so now.

Re: Ask HN: Why does Apple refuse to add window snapping to macOS?

#124

Post by howinteresting »

rr842j wrote: post #30
modeless wrote: post #12

What about that interminable animation every time you fullscreen a window or switch between fullscreen windows? It should be at least twice as fast and there's not even any way to hack it to speed it up. You just have to live with it. ("reduce motion" changes it to a crossfade but doesn't make it faster) While we're at it, the Dock has always been bad. And the top menu bar was good for the original Macintosh with a t…

I still have to meet anybody that is not at a minimum annoyed by the macos animations. I literally stopped using the spaces feature because of that!. The default animation got me dizzy all the time, but even with that one disabled via accessibility settings they keep a terribly slow fading animation. It's absolutely ridiculous for a professional machine to impose these things on you.

macOS is designed for mainstream users, not power users who want an efficient workflow with minimum distractions.

This is why I stopped complaining about macOS and just use Linux.

Re: Ask HN: Why does Apple refuse to add window snapping to macOS?

#125

Post by vbezhenar »

modeless wrote: post #12

What about that interminable animation every time you fullscreen a window or switch between fullscreen windows? It should be at least twice as fast and there's not even any way to hack it to speed it up. You just have to live with it. ("reduce motion" changes it to a crossfade but doesn't make it faster) While we're at it, the Dock has always been bad. And the top menu bar was good for the original Macintosh with a t…

> And the top menu bar was good for the original Macintosh with a tiny screen but it makes no sense on a 4k display with many different app windows showing simultaneously.

My display is 27" with resolution of 1280x720. I rarely use multiple windows.

Re: Ask HN: Why does Apple refuse to add window snapping to macOS?

#126

Post by coolspot »

Same reason why Mac mouse doesn’t have right click and why ~double-click~ [edit: pressing “return”] on a folder is renaming, and why window controls are on a left side of a window and do things unlike MS Windows (not closing, not minimizing, not maximizing). Patents.

Re: Ask HN: Why does Apple refuse to add window snapping to macOS?

#127

Post by daniealapt »

AndrewSwift wrote: post #56

Mac user since 1987, Lisa user before. Mac windows do snap together when they're close to each other or the edge of the screen. You can option double-click any corner to make the window fill the screen without going into fullscreen mode. You can double-click any edge or corner to make it expand to the edge. Hold down option and mouse over the green traffic light, and you get the option to fill the left or right half…

Wow, learnt something new! — Already a massive improvement over using the + icon.

Re: Ask HN: Why does Apple refuse to add window snapping to macOS?

#129

Post by derefr »

modeless wrote: post #12

What about that interminable animation every time you fullscreen a window or switch between fullscreen windows? It should be at least twice as fast and there's not even any way to hack it to speed it up. You just have to live with it. ("reduce motion" changes it to a crossfade but doesn't make it faster) While we're at it, the Dock has always been bad. And the top menu bar was good for the original Macintosh with a t…

Maybe it's inherently slow, because it's a "loading transition" like in video games. Takes a second for the new backing virtual desktop to be allocated, and for the window to potentially grab new assets to redraw (think: resizing iMovie window larger ⇒ larger timeline preview ⇒ re-rendering timeline thumbnails); and the animation plays on the old desktop while this is going on in the background on the new desktop, so that when the animation completes, the new desktop is "ready" for an atomic single-frame cut-over, rather than ugly pop-in happening and the app still being blocked on input.

Probably also has some constraints imposed upon it due to requiring that virtual desktops transition smoothly over Screen Sharing, where texture assets are being sent and buffered to a remote compositor.

Re: Ask HN: Why does Apple refuse to add window snapping to macOS?

#130

Post by karlshea »

coolspot wrote: post #126

Same reason why Mac mouse doesn’t have right click and why ~double-click~ [edit: pressing “return”] on a folder is renaming, and why window controls are on a left side of a window and do things unlike MS Windows (not closing, not minimizing, not maximizing). Patents.

> double-click on a folder is renaming

Uhh... not on my Mac? Hitting Return is rename, is that what you meant?

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