AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS

#1

Post by loughnane » Thu, Jun 06, 2024, 12:39 PM UTC

AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS
github.com

Re: AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS

#2

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jun 06, 2024, 2:37 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS

#3

Post by andrewla » Thu, Jun 06, 2024, 2:38 PM UTC

I'm reluctant to try this -- my experience with other attempts to try out tiling window managers on MacOS is that the just don't play nice. Windows get repositioned by normal interactions and the window manager is not able to wrangle them, and connecting external monitors is a disaster, and you end up with a situation where windows are overlapping in odd ways but you can't move them out of the way because the window manager is trying to manage them.

Does anyone have experience with this particular one and does it resolve these sorts of issues?

Re: AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS

#4

Post by iyn » Thu, Jun 06, 2024, 2:44 PM UTC

> Doesn't require disabling SIP

That's very interesting! I've been hesitant to use similar WMs as basically all required disabling SIP. Anyone knows what AeroSpace is doing differently that it can work alongside SIP?

Edit: found this in the README:

> AeroSpace will never require you to disable SIP (System Integrity Protection). For example, yabai requires you to disable SIP to use some of its features. AeroSpace will either find another way (such as emulation of workspaces) or will not implement this feature at all (window transparency and window shadowing are not practical features)

Re: AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS

#5

Post by nocsi » Thu, Jun 06, 2024, 2:48 PM UTC

I’ve just started using [1Piece](https://app1piece.com/). Before this, I had BetterTouchTools just to mimick the window snapping. And years prior to that, I’d run a full dwm setup on Linux. The thing to understand however… is that these sort of things are a losing battle on macOS. Stuff like yabai/skhd break in between OS updates. Window management and apple is a battle you can always expect to lsoe

Re: AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS

#6

Post by gray_-_wolf » Thu, Jun 06, 2024, 2:49 PM UTC

I will be getting my first mac soon (I am still sad about it), which means I will need to figure out the WM. Currently I am considering yabai and amethyst. I guess now I should add AeroSpace to the list.

If you are actually using tiling WM on mac, could you share which one and why?

Re: AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS

#7

Post by feep » Thu, Jun 06, 2024, 2:55 PM UTC

Oh, I like the fake Spaces approach.

I have considered trying that by minimizing windows, but would never get around to it.

Tiling is doomed to sadness on macOS, because of lack of APIs. But this is probably the most performant approach.

Have used yabai, but only for moving windows and focus-follows-mouse. Not for tiling. Because flaky (not yabai’s fault).

Thanks nikitabobko.

Looking forward to trying it as soon as I figure out how to mod alt-tab to ignore all the windows (from every fake workspace) in the corner.

Also, linked in the docs, JankyBorders. Nice.

https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai https://github.com/lwouis/alt-tab-macos https://github.com/FelixKratz/JankyBorders

Re: AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS

#8

Post by avidphantasm » Thu, Jun 06, 2024, 2:56 PM UTC

Can we stop pissing and moaning about notarization? macOS isn’t Linux and this isn’t 1994. Given the cybersecurity threats of the world today, signing by a central authority makes some amount of sense for apps on consumer OSes.

Re: AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS

#9

Post by andrewla » Thu, Jun 06, 2024, 2:56 PM UTC

gray_-_wolf wrote: post #6

I will be getting my first mac soon (I am still sad about it), which means I will need to figure out the WM. Currently I am considering yabai and amethyst. I guess now I should add AeroSpace to the list. If you are actually using tiling WM on mac, could you share which one and why?

For what it's worth, I don't think there's a lot of value in these. I hate the MacOS environment as much as anyone, but all the attempts to create tiling managers have resulted in strange unusable quirky behavior.

You're better off just sucking it up and using the native UI until you get sufficiently familiar with it that it rarely gets in your way too much. Meanwhile keep lobbying your employer (assuming that you are being forced into this by your job) to support Linux for development workstations.

Re: AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS

#10

Post by anonzzzies » Thu, Jun 06, 2024, 2:58 PM UTC

I have been trying this for a few months now. I3 is quite perfect and Aerospace is a nice try, but it’s very far from i3; it’s quite flaky. I guess this is because Mac OS X doesn’t actually allow full control like Unix WMs do?

I have not found anything better though, but I will install Linux when it’s working well on Apple Silicon. Only i3 is at least for me enough reason to use Linux as Mac OS X, again imho, is terrible window manager wise.