Alan.app – Add a Border to macOS Active Window

[who-shot-jr]

There is also https://github.com/FelixKratz/JankyBorders

Bizarre that this has not been fixed by Apple, it has been an annoyance well before Tahoe. Relying on the three dots in the top left corner to see which window is on top gets frustrating.

[WorldPeas]

if you do not wish to install another app, check "increase contrast" in the mac settings under accessibility>display. it will draw borders around windows and text entries. Much welcomed.

[forlorn]

Thank you. Each time I see an app that does the smallest change possible (and it's a MacOS-only thing by the way) I think to myself: Does it have to be an APP?

Not a script, not a configuration, but an actual app that occupies space and RAM and does just that? How had somebody come to this weird idea that everything is an APP?

[pratyahava]

Thank you so much! I did not know I needed it! Still it does not help much to see which window is active right now (Sequoia), but makes overall experience easier.

[spiffotron]

this actually looks amazing as well, feels very vaguely a bit like classic macos

[treetalker]

A similar app I really like is HazeOver, which is a configurable dimmer for everything on the screen except the front window.

https://hazeover.com/

[zaius]

That is an A+ demo video - dimming the background of the page in sync with the effects in the video is very clever.

[mike31fr]

Seems nice but I'm afraid it would not be compatible with my main work setup: VS Code on my main monitor, my web browser on my external monitor, and my eyes going back and forth between these 2 windows every few seconds to either read code or check the effects on the hot-reloading app. If one of the windows is dimmed, it would be painful.

[lanewinfield]

I love how the site reflects the darkness of the screen in the youtube video. nice touch!

[mickelsen]

This one was nice, pity it was never updated: https://github.com/dwarvesf/blurred

[vintagedave]

I use this, and absolutely recommend it. I am scared if it gets too much attention it will be Sherlocked, but I would love it Apple was able to ethically acquire and include it in macOS.

[c-hendricks]

Been using it ever since trying out the similar effect in KDE.

[CharlesW]

HazeOver is great, even when configured to be very subtle.

[bsnnkv]

Took a look at this and it feels like it is implemented using public macOS frameworks so it shouldn't break between macOS updates

My guess is that kAXWindowMovedNotification, kAXWindowResizedNotification, kAXMainWindowChangedNotification etc. are being listened to on the currently focused window using the Accessibility framework, and there is a callback which gets the latest position of the tracked window whenever it is fired, and uses that position as a reference to update the border position

The border window itself is most likely an NSWindow, which is why the tracking of the border with the target window feels quite sluggish

[tylerhall]

Developer of the app here. You’re correct. Accessibility APIs + timer + transparent top-level NSWindow that ignores input and draws a border.

[Atreiden]

Always glad to see more software in the window management space, especially for MacOS.

Any reason to use this over JankyBorders? I'm using it alongside Aerospace right now and forget sometimes it isn't built-in. Kind of weird to me that after all this time this is such a sparsely implemented feature. But the combo with Aerospace works well. Only thing missing is support in Aerospace for a toggle to have a window expand to the size of it's container. Really liked that feature in Yabai, made working with multiple tiled terminals really nice

[qyron]

One difference can be seen right away - when moving a window, border made by JankyBorders moves smoothly together with window, unlike with this app.

The implementation is probably different.

[tylerflick]

PopOS's Cosmic DE has this baked in. I was unsure about the feature at first, but it has proved itself useful. I wonder if this will eventually be Shirlocked into macOS.

[hibajiri]

I’m using this app: BorderMe – Where’s My Window? https://apps.apple.com/app/borderme-wheres-my-window/id67450...

Different apps on macOS use different corner radii, so I’m wondering whether the apps can use any API to get the exact window bounds in order to draw the correct corner radius.

[phren0logy]

The recent direction of MacOS has been a good excuse to try out a few new linux distros. As someone who was away from linux for a while, the degree of UI customization continues to be both amazing and a little overwhelming, but it feels more polished than before. Taking a look at Niri and hyperland, it's hard to feel satisfied with the UI of MacOS.

[alsetmusic]

I run a tool that I like much better both in terms of not being distracting on-screen and reducing the light blasting my eyes:

https://hazeover.com

I'm not affiliated, but I love it and recommended it to friends.

[gorbypark]

Does it work in dark mode? I guess if it does it would have to make the background apps brighter?

[replwoacause]

Same came here to post this. One of the first things I install.

[evaneykelen]

I’m surprised this feature isn’t part of the built-in Accessibility Settings. Neat little app!

[smcleod]

This has been a serious problem since macOS Tahoe. Whoever signed off on the UI for Tahoe needs a serious schooling in UI/UX design principles - it's incredibly hostile to users. Not only does it make it impossible to distinguish between overlapping windows as this tool seeks to mitigate, there's many confusing UI elements and lack of contrast not to mention why it has so much padding on everything - you're left with far less usable space.

[gyomu]

> Whoever signed off on the UI for Tahoe needs a serious schooling in UI/UX design principles

Their background is in marketing/packaging/retail design, and they were at Kate Spade before Apple.

https://a-g-i.org/user/alaindye/

It’s not too much of a stretch to imagine why someone from that world would prioritize things looking good in promotional photos/videos, and not care too much about human factors and fundamentals of interaction design.

[itopaloglu83]

Similarly, when you switch to another app via command+tab, the keyboard events are being sent to the previous app for a couple of hundred milliseconds.

I cannot remember the number of times I quit the wrong app because of this or pasted something to the wrong window. I genuinely have to wait a second on every app switch.

[charles_f]

Apple has favoured looks over function for quite a while now.

[venturecruelty]

Software isn't written for users anymore, unfortunately. Users are merely an annoying side effect that attempts to impede the line going up.

[bromuro]

I must be out of the loop - i’m using Tahoe since few months now and I haven’t noticed any difference in what you are saying.

[throw-the-towel]

Somehow it's so cute that the name of the app is, well, a name.

[nreilly]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Border Is a pretty famous cricketer.

[glebd]

I think it’s a reference to Alan Dye, who screwed design and usability of xOS 26 so epically that an app like Alan became necessary.

[mbreese]

In reading more from this guy's blog, he also wrote a game called "Steve".

https://stevethegame.com/

[steve_adams_86]

I believe it's named after a guy who likely influenced the direction of the macOS UI such that this app's development was necessitated in the first place.

[tailspin2019]

Maybe derived from “a line”?

[jbverschoor]

Insane that we need this because some people who don’t actually use macOS make decisions and implement things at Apple.

It’s probably the highest crime within Apple to state some things are not useable

[BowBun]

It might be the age thing, honestly. I'm past 30, and recently I changed my cursor coloring to bright orange/yellow because I was genuinely spending time trying to find my white cursor on all my white backgrounds (Github, some text editors, Notion, etc). I think I'll continue to adopt some of these tools since they just increase comfort and remove strain for tasks I do 100s of times a day.

[mitchell209]

I have to switch to the black / white outline cursor or I will guaranteed lose my cursor. I also bump up the size significantly. Any time I use a coworker's computer station I lose the cursor for a second.

[charles_f]

I also created a hammerspoon script to do that. Especially when you're using a tiling window manager like aerospace, it's quite useful.

https://gist.github.com/cfe84/901411ee43450e7ee0e50e88cf029f...

[steve_adams_86]

It seems to work well generally, but it breaks with Ghostty. The border seems to cover around 60px (vertically) along the bottom of the window, though covers it properly horizontally. I don't see any other issues, though.

Love the name!

[mstaoru]

In a similar vein, but different concept - https://hazeover.com/ - dimming inactive windows.

[satvikpendem]

I want the opposite, I want to remove that annoying drop shadow from the active window, something that does not exist in other OS UIs like Windows. It's simply distracting to me.

[placatedmayhem]

Does the Reduce Transparency option in Accessibility remove the drop shadow? If it does, I'd expect it to be all windows, but might satisfy your desire here.

[c-hendricks]

Hm? Windows has a drop shadow, GNOME has a drop shadow, KDE has a drop shadow.