Tiling Window Manager for Mac OS X?

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[+58] [13] zpinter

[2008-11-10 00:34:05]

[ mac osx window-manager ]

[ http://superuser.com/questions/162849] [DELETED]

Are there any programs/utilities for the Mac that allow you to control window placement similar to the tiling window managers on Linux?

[+41] [2009-03-04 23:49:52] user38696

It looks like TwoUp is dead, but here are some other options:

SplitScreen ^[1] ($0.99) snaps windows left and right, or fullscreen. Not as feature rich as others, but good value
Cinch ^[2] ($7) is like Aero Snap for Mac.
SizeUp ^[3] ($13) allows you to easily position window using keyboard shortcuts.
Breeze ^[4] ($8) allows you to save window states and restore them like a template to another window.
Divvy ^[5] ($14) shows a grid on the screen where you can select boxes to indicate how you want the window to fill your screen.

[1] http://ginkapps.com/splitscreen
[2] http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/cinch/
[3] http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/sizeup/
[4] http://autumnapps.com/breeze/
[5] http://mizage.com/divvy/

Thanks! I've found an acceptable solution with the latest version of your SizeUp product: zacharypinter.com/2009/06/15/… - zpinter

(3) I just bought SizeUP and loving it. Thanks. - community_owned

(1) Working with SizeUp. I like it! - community_owned

Unfortunately TwoUp isn't available anymore. I still use it though. I should probably buy SizeUp. But I wish the author still offered a free one. - wahnfrieden

(2) please add Optimal layout to your list most-advantageous.com/optimal-layout - i-moan

DoublePane is another option in this space too. Its $2.99 on the Mac App Store (bit.ly/doublepane) - Nick Haddad

I picked up Breeze in the Mac App Store. Love the ability to map all the positions to keyboard shortcuts. - markdorison

+1 for Divvy! unobtrusive little app helping my resize without ado. - Florenz Kley

+1 for SizeUp, which can rearrange X11 windows which, at the moment, Divvy cannot do. - a paid nerd

[+19] [2010-05-01 02:56:12] crazysim

~~http://code.google.com/p/shiftit/~~

Free, OSS, and works for me! Not exactly what you're looking for.

edit: It looks like the original project has been abandoned. However, the beat goes on at the GitHub fork!

https://github.com/fikovnik/ShiftIt

(1) Simple, but it works (and is free). Try this one first. - Xiong Chiamiov

+1 Try this one first. It would be nice if it had drag-to-snap like some of the other programs (or windows 7), but since it's open source I can't complain -- I need to fire up xcode. - mehaase

This is a great choice. It works just fine. The first link (shiftit) has the binaries for Leopard (10.5) and Snow Leopard (10.6) ready to use. - Alex. S.

Alex: Press the downloads button on the second link. Use your browser's find function if you can't find it. I would guess it has some fixes for some of the bugs in the original. - crazysim

[+11] [2010-03-06 12:51:43] Benedict Lowndes

Optimal Layout, an app I developed, offers very flexible window tiling, as well as moving and resizing from the keyboard.

http://most-advantageous.com/optimal-layout/

(1) Oh my God, it's great, I figured it out. I'll be sending my $18 shortly. - Yar

completely forgot I had this application already installed ( previously known as windowFlow Pro ). Thanks for the reminder - i-moan

[+4] [2008-11-11 05:24:29] Brian Gianforcaro

There is an AppleScript ^[1] script to tile two windows side by side.

I haven't used it but apparently it works for most applications. Link ^[2].

You could also try your luck with FWM ^[3] (Finder Window Manager), it seems like they support windows other than Finder itself but I can't seem to get it to work on my MacBook ^[4].

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AppleScript
[2] http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20060105082728937&lsrc=osxh
[3] http://www.jonn8.com/fwm/
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook

[+3] [2010-08-24 11:26:51] chris

Arrange from http://www.trifle.pl can do it.

[+3] [2008-11-10 01:23:41] Johannes Schaub - litb

I've seen the XMonad ^[1] window manager working on Mac OS X ^[2].

http://haskell.org/sitewiki/images/1/17/Screen-atomb-apple.png

[1] http://xmonad.org/
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X

(3) That only works for X11 windows though, correct? I don't believe it'd work for regular OS X windows. - zpinter

I'm not sure. I haven't used it myself on OSX -.- But i think it's X11 - Johannes Schaub - litb

(1) Yes, X11 window managers do not affect any non-X11 windows on Mac OS X. XMonad is not a general solution to this question. - Kevin Reid

[+2] [2011-06-10 22:52:59] gary comtois

BetterSnapTool ^[1]

BetterSnapTool allows you to easily manage your window positions and sizes by either dragging them to one of your screens corners or to the top, left or right side of your screen. This lets you easily maximize your windows, position them side by side or even resize them to quarters of the screen.

[1] http://itunes.apple.com/de/app/bettersnaptool/id417375580?mt=12

[+2] [2010-11-04 06:51:35] cool_me5000

ShiftIt is a free option. Assignable hotkeys to resize to different portions of the screen (Left, Right, Top, Bottom, Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Left, Bottom Right, Full Screen and Center with current size)

Link to ShiftIt on github ^[1]

Just click on the big download button towards the right of the screen.

[1] https://github.com/fikovnik/ShiftIt

[+1] [2011-01-19 02:19:45] Nick Haddad

DoublePane ^[1] is another option in this space too. Its $2.99 on the Mac App Store

[1] http://bit.ly/doublepane

[+1] [2011-04-19 00:22:02] r00fus

BetterTouchTools ^[1] has keyboard-shortcuts that work for window positioning (I use it like Cinch and get the basics - Top half, right half, left half, bottom half, full screen).

Plus, it's free.

[1] http://blog.boastr.net/

Before installing xmonad on my Mac, I was using BetterTouchTools and the split windows feature of iTerm2. It is definitely the most powerful of the tools mentioned here. - raylu

[0] [2011-04-25 15:40:06] Cosu

What about HyperDock ($9.99 USD) ? http://hyperdock.bahoom.de/ While still not true tile enabled it brings the snap to edges and resize from Aero.

[0] [2011-05-16 04:26:21] Chris Quenelle

I also like Hyperdock for this feature. It also has other features. For tiling, I can drag into the 8 different edge hotspots to resize to a specific region of the screen. When I drag it out of the tile region, it snaps back to the original size. These features are not highlighted strongly in the docks for Hyperdock, I just discovered them recently.

(1) This was already answered. - Daniel Beck

[-1] [2009-01-17 01:14:21] thebossman

What you are looking for are the installation instructions for XMonad:

http://haskell.org/haskellwiki/Xmonad/Using_xmonad_on_Apple_OSX

That's where the picture that litb posted is used.

(2) As others said before. XMonad only works in X11, it does not tile native OSX apps. - community_owned