Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

411–420 of 573 posts

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

#411

Post by sumedh »

saghm wrote: post #151
lloeki wrote: post #141

Well, because it has? Hover over the green stoplight, you get a popover with fullscreen options. Press Option and the fullscreen options mutate into snap left/snap right/zoom. These can also be found in the Window menu. Again, press option to mutate the fullscreen ones to snap. And since these are menu options, one can set any keyboard shortcut of their choosing through the keyboard shortcut prefpane+. So it is not "…

The only Apple device I use is the laptop I was given for work, and I've always disliked that the button that would "maximize" the window on other OS instead makes the window "fullscreen" (getting rid of the menu and everything else that entails). I recently discovered that I am actually able to "maximize" by double-clicking the top bar of the window, but I have no idea if this is something that works by default or i…

> I recently discovered that I am actually able to "maximize" by double-clicking the top bar

Long time Mac Os user, never knew that, thanks

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

#412

Post by justsomehnguy »

oblio wrote: post #380
sleepybrett wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They know that 90% of users use apps in fullscreen mode most of the time, or just higgly piggly stacked windows. Most people do not, most of the time, end up in situations where they are using two apps at once. Why do you think it took so long to get any window management at all into the ipad os? They also know that power users have options in the 3rd party app market if they want more fiddly or opinionated window ma…

Aren't non mobile devices catering to power users at this point, though? We're not in 2005 anymore, the vast majority of people using laptops or desktops are either professional computer users or gamers, which are generally power users. Casual users have moved to phones and tablets, like, 80% of them.

> or gamers, which are generally power users

Lol? knowing how to install Steam doesn't ascend to a 'power user' status. And btw, 99% of games are running fullscreen.

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

#414

Post by vladvasiliu »

somat wrote: post #330
vladvasiliu wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite is how, if you have multiple windows of the same app visible, when you cmd-tab to that app, it moves all of the windows to the top of the stack. So if you want to switch between windows of two different apps, you better hide the ones you don't use.

My favorite "weird" thing common in X11 window managers is how they can separate the focus and the raising operations. On windows(and I presume mac) these operations are tightly linked. Why would you want to separate them you might ask? It turns out to be really useful to look at the window on the top and be able to type/control the obscured window underneath. On the one hand X11 sort of sucked with it's inconsistent…

IIRC, it's been possible for a long time to just scroll an inactive window on macOS, without it gaining focus. I was happy to learn that Windows also got that somewhat recently.

Having an IDE up front and checking on docs or similar in a background browser with part of the website obscured is something I missed since I moved to Linux and a tiling window manager. Now I have to waste screen space showing the menu or other useless junk on the sides of the actual text. I can sometimes zoom in and scroll just right, but others the site insists on showing me all three columns at the same time.

I also liked the macOS approach of not having the first click in a background window fire an action. Now I always have to watch where I click if I want to switch windows with the mouse. I think KDE might have a setting to work like this, though.

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

#415

Post by tnecniv »

SebastianKra wrote: post #256

I always feel like Apple must have some grand 1000IQ concept for window management and I just don't get it. Stage Manager, Spaces, Mission Control, Expose, Window Zooming, Hiding, Minimizing (which is different from Hiding), Fullscreen/Splitscreen... yet the first thing I do is install a third-party window manager. I tried for months to go vanilla and get my head around the features. But why, why do fullscreen window…

Yup, me and everyone I know just has a pile of windows, maybe scattered across a few workspaces.

I like macOS but have never really vibed with the window management. The only way it makes sense to me is if they don’t actually want you to full screen windows most of the time. Swiping up on a laptop helps but when on my Mac Mini, it’s just not that intuitive. I’m aware there’s a keyboard shortcut that is also bound to the swipe up function, but I never incorporated it into my routine

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

#416

Post by tnecniv »

kitsunesoba wrote: post #281
SebastianKra wrote: post #256

I always feel like Apple must have some grand 1000IQ concept for window management and I just don't get it. Stage Manager, Spaces, Mission Control, Expose, Window Zooming, Hiding, Minimizing (which is different from Hiding), Fullscreen/Splitscreen... yet the first thing I do is install a third-party window manager. I tried for months to go vanilla and get my head around the features. But why, why do fullscreen window…

The idea behind macOS window management is to not manage windows at all, instead letting them exist at sizes that fit their content in whichever position they land on your desktop, stacking and overlapping like papers on a desk, letting relevant bits peek through without requiring the entirety of their host windows being visible. Exposé/Mission Control are there when a window gets lost, and virtual desktops are meant…

That’s what I’ve thought, but why would I not want my browser, editor, or any other work app full screened? If hit the green button to make it a work space, it handicaps functions like swipe up

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

#417

Post by anonymouskimmer »

ethbr0 wrote: post #270
anonymouskimmer wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But also annoying when you're trying to tile some (of a bunch) of windows at full height. Yes, there are ways to do it without unintentionally maximizing, but it takes more attention to detail.

Is there any way to static tile in Windows without an external application? I.e. pre-configure a tiling layout of application windows, that will be restored as specified (or at least on boot)

Windows PowerToys are technically external applications, but they are made by Microsoft. Perhaps a startup script in conjunction with the FancyZones utility could do what you want.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/fancyzon...

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

#420

Post by tnecniv »

sleepybrett wrote: post #343
nine_k wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a great way to waste both the screen real estate and the user's attention. MacOS has a number of interesting features in the kernel, and it has a reasonably good and highly uniform UI, with global shortcuts and all. But its window management is insufferable. Good thing there are utilities that try to help that. (I already forgot which, I handed back my last work-provided MBP in 2018.)

Most users of macos are fullscreen users. End of. Power users can find and write power user solutions.

Only in that they resize the window to be kind of but not really full screen. That’s what all of the less technical Mac users I know do. I’ve never seen them go full screen with the green button
Post reply on HN