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Loop: Open-source macOS window manager

177 points| edu | 1 year ago |github.com | reply

90 comments

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[+] jasonrm|1 year ago|reply
Open-source, except for the "new framework used to make Loop's settings window", so don't expect to build from source.

https://github.com/MrKai77/Loop/issues/406

[+] MrKai77|1 year ago|reply
As stated in the comment on GitHub, Luminare will only be accessible by sponsors. If you have financial restrictions or are not able to sponsor me, I am open to giving the you the source code. However, this is all in order to make Loop more profitable, as I have put all my free time into making it. I hope you understand :)
[+] tiffanyh|1 year ago|reply
I always love indie apps and never want to discourage creators.

Some unsolicited advice though … given macOS in a few month time will have Window Tiling natively built in - you might want to articulate how Loop is different/better.

https://www.macrumors.com/2024/06/12/macos-sequoia-window-ti...

[+] MrKai77|1 year ago|reply
Actually, macOS Sequoia only has halves, maximize and quarters as resize options, and has very limited keyboard shortcuts. Some people will be happy with it, and some will need more. Loop is very flexible in terms of making custom window sizes, keybinds, cycles etc., and is perfect for those who need more!
[+] xs83|1 year ago|reply
I have been a long term Rectangle user on Mac and a WinSplitRevolution for decades on Windows, my biggest preference as a developer is for it to be keyboard centric.

I love the use of a numpad as a positional reference for the screen.

Hotkey + NumPad 6 = right side of screen full Hotkey + NumPad 5 = full screen Hotkey + Numpad 1 = Bottom left Quarter

Repeated presses of these cycle between Half, 3rd and Quarter

This reminds me of the Crysis UI which I still love as a weapon / armor switcher :)

[+] SoftBred|1 year ago|reply
Loop can actually be strictly keyboard centric if you want too. It's all fully customisable. I too only use the keyboard
[+] jerieljan|1 year ago|reply
Swish is the one that solved this problem for me. Feels similar to Loop and Penc, but is primarily trackpad-driven, but also customizable with modifier keys for additional functions. I wish it had more updates, but at least its core features have worked reliably.

You don't even press the keyboard to start, but you position the mouse over the window's titlebar and just use two-finger swipes. The website's homepage does a better job demonstrating it under a minute.

https://highlyopinionated.co/swish/

[+] fizlebit|1 year ago|reply
Any chance of a window manager that lets you alt tab between windows instead of between applications. So Alt-tab-tab-tab takes you 3 windows ago, not 3 applications ago, or worse 1 application ago and 2 unrelated windows of that application?

Man I really mis application menus being at the top of windows and being able to layer different windows from different applications in any order that I wish. VNC screen connections just make it into an even worse jumble.

[+] aloer|1 year ago|reply
macOS has built in shortcuts to switch through windows of the currently focused application. I have it reconfigured to alt+tab

This is not exactly what you are looking for but I personally like it more this way. So for example, I can switch between editor and browser via cmd tab but then I can cycle through browser windows via alt tab. These are two separate actions and it prevents me from having to cycle too much (compared to a solution that cycles through all windows of all applications)

Also helps to build temporal and spatial muscle memory. The first browser window is the main one, the next one was the one before that and so on

[+] janci|1 year ago|reply
Wait, what? Are all windows of an application positioned in the same layer on macOS?
[+] Scotrix|1 year ago|reply
Will test it and see if it’s a replacement for Magnet.

I have another very annoying issue with 3 screens which recover from energy saving after sleep slightly delayed and screw up my window positioning once in a while where all open windows end up on the main screen (I’m using spaces + a single desktop for all screens).

Does anyone know about a solution / tool here which rearranges windows on a previous saved state prior to sleep and waits until all screens are back detected before arranging them again?

[+] rpgbr|1 year ago|reply
Am I the only one who gave up and embraced the messy windows spread all over the desktop? (Used to use Rectangle.) It's kinda liberating, tbh.
[+] danhau|1 year ago|reply
No, not me. I long for a tiling window manager. It‘s not a phase, mom!
[+] Keirmot|1 year ago|reply
I too thrive in that chaos.
[+] stared|1 year ago|reply
I am a big fan of Divvy (https://mizage.com/divvy/)—while both dated and paid, it has a wonderful feature of a visual tile map you can use. In all other cases I know, there are a bunch of shortcuts to make a window upper-top or something. But in many cases, it is not enough, as I need fine-grain control.
[+] jasonrm|1 year ago|reply
Divvy thankfully still works without issue and I love it, but when Apple drops Intel support via Rosetta it's going to be a sad day.

https://thelasso.app gets close, and adds more features (or visual clutter, imo), but still doesn't feel as quick and efficient to use when setting positions for multiple windows quickly. Divvy can be configured to stay open, and because it's always centered on each monitor, for some reason I can find it better than Lasso that opens where the mouse currently is.

[+] 10729287|1 year ago|reply
Very impressive. I've been a very happy rectangle user for few years now but this new app is way more intuitive and visual. Good job guys ! Would love to be able to control the max size of the "maximize" behavior as I like to have the app in-focus to only fill 50% of my screen. Again, good job guys, it's very impressive and it already replaced Rectangle here !
[+] 10729287|1 year ago|reply
Update : Controling the max size can be achieved with a custom setting... and it's beautifully done. Give it a try, that app is absolutely perfect already. The mouse setting is really fast and very efficient. Congratulation to the team.
[+] jiveturkey|1 year ago|reply
more of a window resizing plugin, not a "window manager" at all. i guess that's what the mac users have gotten to calling these things though.

how is it different than BetterSnap and the army of similar tools? and more important, how is it better. is the differentiator that it is the only open source such plugin? these advantages should be highlighted in the README, and the screen movie thing should show them. i only see half screen tiling demoed, this has existed for a long time with any number of tools.

also how will it differ from sequoia.

AFAICT the unique thing here is the radial menu. i do like that a lot.

[+] csmeyer|1 year ago|reply
How does this compare to magnet? Magnet has worked well for me for years, although recently I was trying to clean up my menu bar and realized there was no way to remove the menu bar icon. I’ll ask for some advice on that here actually since there are some Mac experts, is there some terminal incantation to remove a menu bar item?
[+] rco8786|1 year ago|reply
Is this strictly mouse controlled? I use Divvy with a set of keyboard shortcuts to toss my windows around, and would be open to exploring a newer option...but not if it requires me to use the mouse.
[+] MrKai77|1 year ago|reply
Loop is fully usable via the keyboard!
[+] swah|1 year ago|reply
Very good implementation, congrats! I mostly use a few commands from Raycast these days (next display is super cool) but will try this one for dragging.
[+] gigatexal|1 year ago|reply
i love that there's work on this happening -- there are a lot of projects in this space: magnet, rectangle, yabai, this one, others I've forgotten to name (sorry!)

i just can't wait until i can get tiling like i3 has on linux

stacking, tabbed, infinite auto tiling, all keyboard driven with some mouse support all things i miss on macos :(