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Yabai – A tiling window manager for macOS

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Re: Yabai – A tiling window manager for macOS

#211

Post by baumy »

nbobko wrote: post #168
xwowsersx wrote: post #2

Funny to see this at the top of HN after just having uninstalled Yabai. I used Yabai for about 6 weeks. I was so thrilled about having a proper tiling window manager for Mac. I invested a lot of time setting up skhd and fine-tuning my configuration for the most intuitive hotkeys. The problem ultimately, however, is that Yabai just doesn't work well enough. It'll regularly just lose track of windows altogether, which…

> I'd be more than willing to try another tiling window manager on Mac if there's one out there that truly works Hello, AeroSpace author speaking :) I'd be happy if you could try AeroSpace (it's and i3-like window manager for macOS) and report me back if it loses track of windows. https://github.com/nikitabobko/AeroSpace The architecture of AeroSpace is that on every user input that may change window configuration (n…

Just tried it and my initial impressions are hugely positive. The main things missing that I frequently use like wrap around for focus and assigning applications to specific workspaces already have open issues that you've engaged on too!

I've been using i3 for over a decade now and hate using any computer that doesn't have it, been trying to find a suitable substitute for my work mac for ages. Amethyst, rectangle, magnet, yabai, each had its own problems. The virtual workspace idea is genius and solves some of the biggest issues with those alternatives. This is by far the closest thing to i3 on mac I've seen. Thank you so much for making this.

My suggestion: open up a way to take donations to the project, and/or sell a packaged version on the mac app store. I'd be happy to pay good money for this.

Re: Yabai – A tiling window manager for macOS

#212

Post by swah »

jbverschoor wrote: post #175
poidos wrote: post #28

I like rectangle [0]. It fits my needs well enough without requiring disabling SIP. I especially like the “repeated key presses resize a window on the same side” feature, so I can get cycle the size of the window on the right side of the screen from 1/2->1/3->2/3 easily. I miss i3 sometimes and this ain’t an identical replacement but it gets the job done! Turns out I don’t move my windows all that often anyways. [0]:…

Raycast does the same, but I don't like it. I like to have margins between my windows, so almost all window tiling / snapping managers just make me feel cramped.

The Window Manager in Raycast has a gap option: https://manual.raycast.com/window-management

"Customize your workspace - set a gap around the window edge between 0px to 128px."

Re: Yabai – A tiling window manager for macOS

#213

Post by andrewedstrom »

rxhanson wrote: post #49
CSSer wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might try Magnet. It's $10 on the mac app store. I've had zero issues with it, and it has some problems sorted that other tools don't or haven't always, namely correctly tiling across monitors. I used to use Rectangle, which is open source and frankly pretty good but at the time I was using it had some warts. macOS' window management seems to not be entirely transparent. I don't know all the details, but this is…

If you don't mind me asking, what are the warts? I'm always interested in improving the app.

Rectangle has worked well for me in the past, but recently, it's been losing a lot of windows. I often have to restart Brave to get Rectangle to be able to control it again.

Re: Yabai – A tiling window manager for macOS

#215

Post by therealdrag0 »

Nevin1901 wrote: post #6

In my personal experience, tiling window managers only work when you have a lot of screen real estate. I tried using yabai on a 13 inch m2 air, but I ended up going back to my normal workflow of just alt tabbing between windows. Most apps don’t let you see enough content when they are tiled (because of gui elements such as sidebar etc). I do love the “focus on hover” feature of yabai though. I wish macOS had that nat…

Is this not normal? No offense but this sounds like saying “in my personal experience cleats are only useful when running.” Well duh :p

Re: Yabai – A tiling window manager for macOS

#216

Post by BlackjackCF »

extr wrote: post #13
xwowsersx wrote: post #2

Funny to see this at the top of HN after just having uninstalled Yabai. I used Yabai for about 6 weeks. I was so thrilled about having a proper tiling window manager for Mac. I invested a lot of time setting up skhd and fine-tuning my configuration for the most intuitive hotkeys. The problem ultimately, however, is that Yabai just doesn't work well enough. It'll regularly just lose track of windows altogether, which…

Have you heard of Phoenix [1]? It seems relatively unknown but I actually found it to work better than Yabai in some ways. The gist is that it basically simulates a tiling wm and virtual desktops by internally tracking state. This also means it doesn't suffer from window animation delays when you switch "desktops" (since "desktops" are just hiding/unhiding windows). It's also highly hackable/extensible being written…

Phoenix requires a little more futzing around than Yabai, but I like it much better. I had tried Yabai and had to switch back to Phoenix because of all the problems stated here about Yabai.

It’s fewer bells and whistles out of the box, but it works well.

Re: Yabai – A tiling window manager for macOS

#217

Post by mike31fr »

CSSer wrote: post #18
xwowsersx wrote: post #2

Funny to see this at the top of HN after just having uninstalled Yabai. I used Yabai for about 6 weeks. I was so thrilled about having a proper tiling window manager for Mac. I invested a lot of time setting up skhd and fine-tuning my configuration for the most intuitive hotkeys. The problem ultimately, however, is that Yabai just doesn't work well enough. It'll regularly just lose track of windows altogether, which…

You might try Magnet. It's $10 on the mac app store. I've had zero issues with it, and it has some problems sorted that other tools don't or haven't always, namely correctly tiling across monitors. I used to use Rectangle, which is open source and frankly pretty good but at the time I was using it had some warts. macOS' window management seems to not be entirely transparent. I don't know all the details, but this is…

Why would you pay for magnet when you can use rectangle, which is the same but open source? https://github.com/rxhanson/Rectangle

Re: Yabai – A tiling window manager for macOS

#218

Post by lkuty »

twp wrote: post #14
dabeeeenster wrote: post #7

https://www.hammerspoon.org/ is amazing. Not quite the same as Yabai but I cant live without it!

You can configure Hammerspoon so a hot key combination puts a window in a defined section of the screen. For example, I use Ctrl+Alt+H to put the current window in the left half of the screen, Ctrl+Alt+L for the right half, Ctrl+Alt+Enter for full screen, etc. This makes arranging your windows very fast. Full config: https://github.com/twpayne/dotfiles/blob/21d0edcebaeebf0d90e...

I use Magnet for that. But could probably put those key combinations into my hammerspoon config.

Re: Yabai – A tiling window manager for macOS

#219

Post by hanslovsky »

idle_zealot wrote: post #128
certifiedloud wrote: post #116

If you come from i3 you'll probably find Aerospace[1] to be more what you're after. [1] https://github.com/nikitabobko/AeroSpace

Thank you for recommending this. Time for round three of attempting a tiling setup on my mac (after Amethyst and Yabai disappointed).

I have tried amethyst and yabai. I stuck with yabai but I'll gladly try another option. will definitely have a look at aerospace!

Re: Yabai – A tiling window manager for macOS

#220

Post by datagram »

chatmasta wrote: post #143

I'm still using Slate, with a .dmg that was built nearly a decade ago and by some miracle continues to work. I pray that each new OS update won't be the one to break it, because I really don't want to migrate the config for ten years of muscle memory to something new...

I didn't realize Slate was that old! I've only been using it for about... 8 years...

Jokes aside, I love Slate's programmability. I configured mine to behave like WinSplit Revolution, since that's what I was used to.

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