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What’s the current state of tiling managers on macOS? Seems Rectangle, Magnet and Amethyst are all mentioned below, has anyone done the “pepsi challenge” and ca

What’s the current state of tiling managers on macOS? Seems Rectangle, Magnet and Amethyst are all mentioned below, has anyone done the “pepsi challenge” and cares to share their findings? I’d be grateful but I guess I just have to try all three myself…

smoldesu 5y ago
I gave all three of those a try when I was trying MacOS a year or so ago. Rectangle and Magnet basically fill the same niche, except Rectangle is free and kinda eliminates the need for Magnet (I don't quite remember what Magnet did better but I don't remember it being enough to convince me to use it). Amethyst is entire beast of it's own though, and I almost immediately decided it wasn't for me. It doesn't replace the default window server, so it ends up running like a bad TWM and an even worse desktop option. Of the three, Rectangle is the only one I can't live without on MacOS. Amethyst kinda just feels like a waste of resources.
- cyberpunk 5y ago
  Thanks! I’d give you a beer but you’ll have to settle for internet points :)
- hsbauauvhabzb 5y ago
  Complete outsider here, when you say ‘replace the default window server’ are you referring to the manager or the entire display server with something like X?
  - smoldesu 5y ago
    Nope, my bad for the ambiguous wording. What I really mean is that all of the memory-intensive GUI elements are also running alongside it, which makes it pretty unweildly for regular use. Nothing against Quartz, it's one of the few Apple technologies that I'll give credit where credit is due :p
wraptile 5y ago
Yabai gave me the best results by far! It's as fast as you can really go on MacOs and it feels like a true twm system. Unfortunately, due to restrictions of the OS itself (you can see the issue tracker) you can't really have the same quality of tilling as you can on Linux's X or Wayland.
samsin 5y ago
I've used Magnet in the past and now I'm using yabai+skhd. I would say Magnet brings features similar to Windows10 like regions and snapping, while yabai+skhd is closer to something like i3wm with focus movements, space/screen management, swaps, etc.
innocentoldguy 5y ago
I've used both Magnet and Rectangle. They're virtually identical (even the default keybindings). Every now and again, Rectangle will not place a window correctly and I'll have to restart it, but that is rare. I highly recommend both. I haven't tried the other options, so I can't comment on them.

smoldesu 5y ago

I gave all three of those a try when I was trying MacOS a year or so ago. Rectangle and Magnet basically fill the same niche, except Rectangle is free and kinda eliminates the need for Magnet (I don't quite remember what Magnet did better but I don't remember it being enough to convince me to use it). Amethyst is entire beast of it's own though, and I almost immediately decided it wasn't for me. It doesn't replace the default window server, so it ends up running like a bad TWM and an even worse desktop option. Of the three, Rectangle is the only one I can't live without on MacOS. Amethyst kinda just feels like a waste of resources.

cyberpunk 5y ago
Thanks! I’d give you a beer but you’ll have to settle for internet points :)
hsbauauvhabzb 5y ago
Complete outsider here, when you say ‘replace the default window server’ are you referring to the manager or the entire display server with something like X?
- smoldesu 5y ago
  Nope, my bad for the ambiguous wording. What I really mean is that all of the memory-intensive GUI elements are also running alongside it, which makes it pretty unweildly for regular use. Nothing against Quartz, it's one of the few Apple technologies that I'll give credit where credit is due :p

wraptile 5y ago

Yabai gave me the best results by far! It's as fast as you can really go on MacOs and it feels like a true twm system. Unfortunately, due to restrictions of the OS itself (you can see the issue tracker) you can't really have the same quality of tilling as you can on Linux's X or Wayland.

samsin 5y ago

I've used Magnet in the past and now I'm using yabai+skhd. I would say Magnet brings features similar to Windows10 like regions and snapping, while yabai+skhd is closer to something like i3wm with focus movements, space/screen management, swaps, etc.

innocentoldguy 5y ago

I've used both Magnet and Rectangle. They're virtually identical (even the default keybindings). Every now and again, Rectangle will not place a window correctly and I'll have to restart it, but that is rare. I highly recommend both. I haven't tried the other options, so I can't comment on them.