Live data from Hacker News

macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

saurabhs.org

181–190 of 360 posts

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#181

All I want is an app that can fix the "broken window" focus management. Like when I click a window, Mac OS brings to top all windows of the respective app, and when an app (say, Finder) has no window open currently, bringing it to front also unaskedly manipulates the stacking order such that other app's windows become the top most one, completely destroying the visual context. Also, back in the days I used Expose a l…

'Mac OS brings to top all windows of the respective app' - I bloody hate this behaviour.

I switched to Windows/WSL because of this!!

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#182

All I want is an app that can fix the "broken window" focus management. Like when I click a window, Mac OS brings to top all windows of the respective app, and when an app (say, Finder) has no window open currently, bringing it to front also unaskedly manipulates the stacking order such that other app's windows become the top most one, completely destroying the visual context. Also, back in the days I used Expose a l…

I just want a Finder that actually works. It’s pretty incredible just how bad Finder is. It’s by far the worst piece of software I’m forced to use on a daily basis.

The frustration with Finder led me to building my own tool. Not trying to replace Finder but more like a companion app - https://www.fileminutes.com/

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#183
post #122

All I want is an app that can fix the "broken window" focus management. Like when I click a window, Mac OS brings to top all windows of the respective app, and when an app (say, Finder) has no window open currently, bringing it to front also unaskedly manipulates the stacking order such that other app's windows become the top most one, completely destroying the visual context. Also, back in the days I used Expose a l…

You may be interested in https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/

You made my day! This is one of the things that've been bugging me since I moved to Macos.. THANK YOU

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just want a Finder that actually works. It’s pretty incredible just how bad Finder is. It’s by far the worst piece of software I’m forced to use on a daily basis.

What exactly is so bad about Finder? I've never had any issues with it.

Same, honestly. I find it very pleasant to use. Especially compared to a lot of Linux file browsers

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just want a Finder that actually works. It’s pretty incredible just how bad Finder is. It’s by far the worst piece of software I’m forced to use on a daily basis.

Yes, I was thinking the same.. For several years, I'm pretty happy with PathFinder by Cocoatech: https://cocoatech.io/ The things I miss the most when I accidentically open a Finder window: Cut files wit CMD+X to move them (never understood this when coming from Windows), cycle the files in a folder (start on top if you reach bottom and vice versa) and the comprehensive info bar on the right for files and folders. Gi…

I used it for years and got so fed up with its pain points, including frequent crashes, a licensing system that never worked and nagged me despite legitimate purchase, and updates which reset and lost my preferences and sidebar organization. I’m now galaxy brained back to Finder again.

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just want a Finder that actually works. It’s pretty incredible just how bad Finder is. It’s by far the worst piece of software I’m forced to use on a daily basis.

What exactly is so bad about Finder? I've never had any issues with it.

Things that are hard: launching a terminal at a location, viewing or copying a files path, navigating a deep file system, column width in the column view, searching for files, finding file info, and lots of other.

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly is so bad about Finder? I've never had any issues with it.

Things that are hard: launching a terminal at a location, viewing or copying a files path, navigating a deep file system, column width in the column view, searching for files, finding file info, and lots of other.

> launching a terminal at a location

A workaround for this (especially if you have a terminal always open) is to drag the file/folder you want to operate on into an open terminal window, which will paste in its path.

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly is so bad about Finder? I've never had any issues with it.

Things that are hard: launching a terminal at a location, viewing or copying a files path, navigating a deep file system, column width in the column view, searching for files, finding file info, and lots of other.

> launching a terminal at a location

Right-click on directory > Services > New Terminal at Folder.

> viewing or copying a files path

Right-click on directory or file and press Option > Copy "" as path name.

> navigating a deep file system

Not sure what you mean.

> column width in the column view

Option + click & Drag. Or do you want them to adjust to files/folders name length?

> searching for files

What's wrong with Command + F?

> finding file info

Do you want more than what is shown by Command + I or in the "details" column?

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#189

All I want is an app that can fix the "broken window" focus management. Like when I click a window, Mac OS brings to top all windows of the respective app, and when an app (say, Finder) has no window open currently, bringing it to front also unaskedly manipulates the stacking order such that other app's windows become the top most one, completely destroying the visual context. Also, back in the days I used Expose a l…

I just want a Finder that actually works. It’s pretty incredible just how bad Finder is. It’s by far the worst piece of software I’m forced to use on a daily basis.

I use Forklift instead : https://binarynights.com/

I can use it as an orthodox file manager (with the f keys I remember from Norton Commander). I also like using it to access remote filesystems over nfs and sftp, and also S3 buckets. It also works well with Dropbox and iCloud. There is a great sync feature to keep source and target directories synchronised. It's also good for diffing directories at a glance. It's good at managing archive files too. Plus the regex file rename feature is often handy for me - I have a few presets saved for various purposes. It's also my go-to MacOS uninstaller, as it gathers the related files.

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#190
It is weird to say, but I wish macOS had Windows 10 interface. It's incredible to me how backwards macOS is in comparison to W10, that is already deemed clunky. Finder is an abomination, window management seems like embodies ADHD, separate apps needed for basic things like direction of scrolling or switching windows...
Post reply on HN