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macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

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Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#311

Post by y1n0 »

dwayne_dibley wrote: post #172
tannhaeuser wrote: post #108

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 can't reproduce this behavior so maybe it's changed in recent versions.

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#312

Post by sbuk »

nyarlathotep_ wrote: post #268
danielvaughn wrote: post #138

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.

I gained a reputation at my workplace for complaining about this. Nonsense default behavior, slow as heck, search barely works, keybindings are totally illogical. It's totally unacceptable.

Whenever I read comments like this, I know that it is someone that has switched from another OS. macOS is neither Windows, KDE or Gnome. An awful lot of the functionality that you deem 'nonsense' comes from the days of classic Macintosh and even from NeXTSTEP.

In fact, nearly all the complaints I see in this and similar threads come down to people expecting macOS to behave like their previous OS did, and being surprised that it doesn't.

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#313

Post by y1n0 »

morsch wrote: post #251
nicky0 wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> [Expose] has completely lost any spatial determinism Could you elaborate on that?

Not the OP, but I never know where a specific application will show up. Sometimes Chrome is on the left and my IDE is on the top right, sometimes it's the opposite. If it relates to the window location, I can't tell. Always mostly the same set of five or six applications, too.

Oh, you all mean when expose or whatever it's called shrinks the windows down and spreads them all out? Yeah, I've never found it a useful way to switch apps if I have more than a couple open. Visually searching for the window I want like that isn't fast for me, and if the windows get too small it's not helpful.

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#314

Post by tannhaeuser »

nicky0 wrote: post #150
tannhaeuser wrote: post #108

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…

> [Expose] has completely lost any spatial determinism Could you elaborate on that?

Original Expose ca 2003 minimised windows from their live positions on the regular desktop to thumbnails in a quick and smooth animation and would leave minimised thumbnails at different sizes resembling their relative live sizes and aspect ratio.

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#315

Post by tannhaeuser »

LeChuck wrote: post #125
tannhaeuser wrote: post #108

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…

Are you looking for this? https://hypercritical.co/front-and-center/ Found it further down the comments.

Yeah pretty much. I'm quite sure the behavior described as "modern" is what Mac OS X used to do when I had my first Mac ca 2003-2010.

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#316

Post by euroderf »

ttepasse wrote: post #286
where-group-by wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- Awkward sorting by name (mixing folders and files), unless you change the default - Does not snap files to a grid by default on icon view, leaving some folders looking like a mess - Not possible to figure out what's the exact path of the open folder - I just want a full path in the header/title bar. Or let me copy the full path without having to open "get info"

> I just want a full path in the header/title bar Apart from the Path bar in the bottom, there is also an old school title bar method: defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool true killall Finder ("false" for reversing it.) It doesn’t work for great for tabs, though, because tabs are short and paths are long. > Or let me copy the full path … There are some alternative fun and old methods: * If yo…

A few years ago I found+installed a small, simple Service to run "touch" on a file, but it broke a few OS upgrades ago. Anyone got a replacement ?

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#317

Post by ttepasse »

ctippett wrote: post #227
colddevil wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

There's an app from Sindre Sorhus that adds CMD+X functionality to Finder. https://sindresorhus.com/command-x

”There is an app from Sindre Sorhus” is a complete sentence. :)

(Command-X is nice, even for a long time Mac user)

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#318

Post by chrisweekly »

2-3-7-43-1807 wrote: post #291
chrisweekly wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend Alfred to replace Finder, Divvy for window management, iTerm2 for terminal, and homebrew to manage CLI utils. This combination has served me well for many years.

And Linux Mint Cinnamon to replace MacOS ... how bout that?

OT. I like Linux, but this thread is about macOS.

Re: macOS Tips and Tricks (2022)

#319

Post by ttepasse »

euroderf wrote: post #316
ttepasse wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I just want a full path in the header/title bar Apart from the Path bar in the bottom, there is also an old school title bar method: defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool true killall Finder ("false" for reversing it.) It doesn’t work for great for tabs, though, because tabs are short and paths are long. > Or let me copy the full path … There are some alternative fun and old methods: * If yo…

A few years ago I found+installed a small, simple Service to run "touch" on a file, but it broke a few OS upgrades ago. Anyone got a replacement ?

Once there was a nice app called ThisService which could convert shell scripts into services, but it is not developed anymore.

The modern equivalent is "Run Shell Script" in Shortcuts or maybe Automator. Shortcuts has the advantage that you can use your shortcut directly in Quick Actions in Finder's context menu.

I played around a minute and created this but I'm not a Shortcuts expert.

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/5898ff4c3f2e49ff8ec6bff4013...

One insane caveat: For this to work you'll need to grant Finder Full Disc Access in System Settings → Security. Yes, it sounds insane. It is. But it works.

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