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When Apple lifted the shroud onmacOS Sequoiaat itsWorldwide Developers Conference ( WWDC)in June , there were a lot of headline announcements : Apple Intelligence , iPhone mirroring , a new Passwords app , plus a whole draw more . Yet it was the much more modest proclamation of window snapping and tiling that really captivate my eye .
For year , Windows user have been able to point to thelack of macOS windowpane snappingas validation of the inferiority of Apple ’s operating system of rules . After all , if Apple could n’t even get such a round-eyed productivity feature right , what else was it fail at ?
Apple
Apple has finally put that idea to bed , and I ’ve been quiz out its fresh feature film in macOS Sequoia ’s developer beta . Yet despite the dance step forrad that window snapping represents , it ’s got nothing on a third - company app that I ’ve been using for years to fill the null Apple has left .
That ’s because compared to an app calledBetterTouchTool(which costs $ 12 for a standard licence ) , Apple ’s solution is no great shakes at all . It ’s best in nearly every way by BetterTouchTool , which render more options , is easier to use , and more reliable to boot . If you ’re after window tiling on your Mac , BetterTouchTool is the style to go .
Window snapping in macOS Sequoia
In macOS Sequoia , window tiling is fair childlike . You drag a window toward the edge of your blind and , when you get close enough , an outlined shape appears below the windowpane . permit go of your shiner or trackpad and the windowpane snaps into place . you may arrange windows to occupy half your CRT screen , a quarter , or some combination thereof . There are keyboard shortcuts ( Globe+Control+Left arrow moves the window to the odd half of your screen , for instance ) , and you may see all the options by going to Window > Move & Resize in the menu cake .
Apple gives you a few customization choice , but not many . you could concord the Option key when move a windowpane to give yourself a bigger “ drop zone . ” You ’ll witness more tiling choices if you hover over the dark-green traffic light button in an app ’s top - leave corner . And you’re able to also remove the opening between tiled windows , making them loaded with each other .
But there are plenty of shortcomings that have left me wanting a whole mint more from Apple . While you may move windows around using keyboard shortcuts , you ca n’t customise these cutoff to better suit yourself . Unlike inWindows 11 , lose it a window does n’t mechanically give you the option of snatch up another app to the other side of your screen . proceed windows into place is fiddly , and some apps have minimum sizes that are tumid than half a screen ’s width , meaning they do n’t tile well ( or at all ) with other windows .
In other words , window snapping in macOS Sequoia is fine , but not much more than that . I cognize we ’re talk about a macOS beta here , but even so , this feature article does n’t feel anywhere nigh to where I ’d like it to be .
Why BetterTouchTool is, well, better
Enter BetterTouchTool . This app is absolutely pile with windowpane - snapping feature — and a whole pile more — giving you large control than Apple is ever potential to grant you . That ranges from custom keyboard shortcuts for window tiling to visual tweaks that change the way the app look and feels . It all gives you much more world power and tractableness than macOS Sequoia ’s native solution .
BetterTouchTool has a wealth of advanced feature article and power creature to satisfy every bit of curiosity you might have . you may create your own duck soup field and shapes , decide if a windowpane returns to its previous anatomy when it ’s remove from a snap zone , stay Mission Control launching when you move a window upwards , and so much more . There are even option specifically forStage Manager . It ’s a office user ’s dream come truthful .
It ’s not just windowpane snapping that BetterTouchTool excels at . Here ’s one of my favorite features : When you press and confine a modifier key , your shiner pointer willmove or resize any window it is hovering over , without even needing to click a shiner push button ( you’re able to also accomplish this with athree - finger drag ) . It ’s a superbly clever feature and absolutely effortless to use day to Clarence Shepard Day Jr. .
But let ’s be just to Apple : It ’s clear that macOS Sequoia ’s windowpane snapping , like many of its other feature , is in a very former stage of growth . I ’m not worried about its bugginess — that ’s standard procedure for genus Beta testing , and it ’s something that Apple can fix it easily enough .
But I ’d like to see large ambition on Apple ’s part here , with more features and control over how windowpane snapping works . If all that means is customizable keyboard shortcuts and a smattering of advanced tools , that ’s serious than nothing .
I doubt that will happen , though . Apple ’s instinct is to make something aboveboard and easy to use rather than rival the full - featured nature of BetterTouchTool . For now , that tells me that BetterTouchTool does n’t have to concern about beingSherlocked by Apple — and that it ’s here to heighten my macOS window tiling experience for the foreseeable future .
