Moom 4: Next-generation window manager | Hacker News Reader

Moom 4: Next-generation window manager

manytricks.com

76 pointsctippett34 comments

The thing with most of these macOS window managers is they lack support for workspaces, an essential feature in WMs like i3.

macOS Workspaces are not the best to use, because switching between them causes an animation or at least a delay. I started using Aerospace [0] recently, and they've implemented virtual workspaces themselves which works much better than macOS Workspaces.

I still have to configure Aerospace properly for multi-display setups, but it works really well with this i3-like config right out of the box [1]. And they have comprehensive docs too!

I highly recommend trying out Aerospace if current macOS window management solutions aren't working well for you.

[0] https://nikitabobko.github.io/AeroSpace/guide

[1] https://nikitabobko.github.io/AeroSpace/goodness#i3-like-con...

Aerospace is great and such a releif for an incoming i3/regolith user. Tried yabai for a while, but switching workspaces still sucks. Aerospace solves this by creating its own virtual workspaces and hiding windows from other workspaces just off the viewable area and behind other windows of the current workspace.

yabai can switch workspaces without that dumb animation but it requires injecting code into the Dock which requires disabling System Integrity Protection.

Really wish Apple would give users more choices here without requiring third party hacks.

I'm always curious to see how people are selling desktop software like this. This developer has many other misc tools for sale on this website.

Q: Are mac people more likely to look for and buy misc desktop utilities?

I wonder about market size vs niche size for windows vs macos vs linux tools. Clearly windows is the biggest market, but I feel like I run into a lot of these niche macos utilities for sale, often here on hackernews.

For linux which I'm most interested in, I have a harder time imagining people wanting to pay for a closed source tool. But am trying to note successes with people using patreon, itch.io, or github sponsors.

> Q: Are mac people more likely to look for and buy misc desktop utilities?

This has been one of the options for well over a decade.

And yes.

Check out dozens of them less expensively using setapp:

https://setapp.com/

Many work on both MacOS and iOS (yes, iOS software paid for through a SetApp subscription).

I buy some MacOS utilities. There are some good ones out there, and I don't mind paying for things that make computers less grating.

These types of utilities have been popular since the classic MacOS days.

A few I paid for:

* BetterTouchTool

* Bartender

* Choosy

* MacWhisper

* Mona

* BBEdit

* Retrobatch

* AirBuddy

I replaced Bartender with Ice[0] after its new owners[1] did some things I consider sketchy[2].

[0]https://github.com/jordanbaird/Ice

[1]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40584606

[2]https://appleinsider.com/articles/24/06/05/bartender-apps-ne...

Longtime Moom user, I’ve tried many others but this is the best IMO. The config plist is part of my dotfiles repo and I’ve been able to effortlessly port the settings between multiple new machines. Everything I need is available with just key chords.

I am excited about a resizable settings window though!

Ooooh, I’m always curious about how other Moom users set up their env. Mind sharing your dotfiles repo?

I think I've been using Moom since v1 which is a very long time, I paid for this one before I'd even clicked the download button.

The first of this macOS WMs that implement something that understands the wayland protocol -- bridges it to macOS compositor or whatever -- will really have my money.

I use AeroSpace and I am really liking it <https://github.com/nikitabobko/AeroSpace>

Seems this window manager is more like a drop in replacement for non-i3 users.

Thanks for the link, I've been using Rectangle for ~3 months and have liked it, but the autosize feature in AeroSpace seems really nice.

I always want to buy these types of apps (window management) but they rarely play nice with multiple monitors, especially if the monitors aren't all in the same orientation and/or if you want a smaller monitor to work differently.

I've been using phoenix [0] for many years now for my window management which uses some JS config/code I wrote. It took a little bit for me to pick the hotkeys I wanted and how things should resize/move/jump monitors but now it's muscle memory.

[0] https://github.com/kasper/phoenix

One of the cool features of Moom is the ability to trigger saved layouts when monitors are connected and disconnected.

If you go to the Layout⁽¹⁾ section of the docs, you can read about the "Apply automatically when switching to ..." option which lets you select "1 display", "2 displays", "3 displays", etc. as triggers for the layout.

The other option worth mentioning is "Adapt to display configuration changes", which scales saved layouts up and down as needed depending on what displays are connected.

⁽¹⁾ https://manytricks.com/moom/help/customactions.html#_layout

Looks interesting, it probably is more stable than yabai, but I still really love the simplicity (post install) of window managing

https://github.com/koekeishiya/yabai

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k94qImbFKWE

Looks very intriguing, will give this a try. As a windowing and task switching productivity nut, I built my own replacement for ⌘+Tab, Switcheroo. Check it out here: https://switchfaster.com/

You may want to check out [rcmd](https://lowtechguys.com/rcmd/).

I’ve come across this! Do you use it?

That's a neat idea! Any chance that a DMG can be made available outside the app store?

Will add this to my list!

I wish someone could just make PaperWM for MacOS. It's such a revolutionary idea!

I've been a happy i3 user for many, many years. This is the first time I've ever considered switching. What a fascinating idea!

https://github.com/mogenson/PaperWM.spoon

I've used this one but the lack of touchpad gestures and the window launching bugs meant that I had to move away from it.

Can I bind arbitrary hotkey combos to different window positions/ sizes? Like in better snap tool?

E.g. “cmd opt >” to put the window at 1/3 width on the right side of the screen?

Yes. I personally use Ctrl-Cmd with the numpad. 8 for top half of screen, 9 for upper right corner, 6 for right half, etc. 5 is full screen and 0 moves window to next monitor. I’ve been using it for more than 10 years now. It is easy to customize.

Yes, see the "Hot keys" section of the help⁽¹⁾.

⁽¹⁾ https://manytricks.com/moom/help/aboutcustom.html#_hotkeys

Looks great. How can I get it to automatically tile my windows without using a hot key?

Long time and very happy Moom user. Instantly bought a new license for Moom 4.

I use Rectangle Mac. Will definitely check this out

"Moom 4 is available now, and requires macOS 10.13 or newer."

Always glad to see software that still aims for some backwards compatibility. Sure, it might require a bit more testing and/or handling some customer complaints, but not everyone is one the latest version or able to do that.

(I do wonder whether a lot of that isn't just driven by either just accepting XCode defaults or some Swift stuff that has a very low range backwards)

I wish this would have mention only for Apple in the title, I was thinking it was a WM for Linux and/or BSDs

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