High Sierra finder improvements?

[sgw123]

Lots of good stuff this WWDC that gives grounds for optimism. So please to preempt the loyalists I am not Apple bashing.

I use Mac OS everyday and have done for decades. I would like a few simple finder improvements and haven't found them yet in utilities and always hope Apple will implement them.

The two big ones for me personally are :
1. Auto adjust the width of a finder window to accommodate the largest file name. Nearly every single time I open a window I have to manually re-adjust the columns (I use column view) so I can see the names of what I'm looking at.
2. Some kind of 'snapping' - to help with window management. For example I'd like to be able to drag a window somewhere and have it snap and resize - eg to the left or right side of my screen or maybe even better have the windows re-adjust amongst themselves when I open a new one.

It used to be that every mac os update came with finder improvements but that hasn't happened for a while. It's strange to me that Apple seem to think the Finder is perfect and doesn't need improving. It seems like this area, both for Apple, and the tech press, is no longer worthy of mention, or innovation.

Anyway, this isn't a 'rant' or an anti-apple thing - WWDC was very encouraging and did a lot for me to show that they haven't fallen asleep at the wheel (compared to the past few years' output), but I'm still hoping for some finder improvements!

 

[DeltaMac]

I almost never use columns, which is too "messy" for what I do... - however:
1. You can "auto adjust" the width of a column to the name size by double-clicking the divider between column headers.
Is that a perfect solution? Probably not, but it does function...
2. Not sure if I understand what you want to do? Have all other visible windows auto-move to allow for a new window that you open? Sort of - everything slides around for that to happen(?) Would you want that to happen to app windows, too? Or just Finder windows?

I think one of the Finder substitute/enhancement utilities may do what you want, and more.
Such as Pathfinder, TotalFinder, XtraFinder, etc.
Also, you might take a look at BetterSnapTool for your "snapping" question.
(Personally, I don't need quite that much control over windows. I guess I would move over to MS Windows, if that became important to me. But, to each his own. I've tried most of those kind of tools, and always becomes more of a hassle than simply letting the Finder do what it does. I WOULD like just a bit more stability from the finder (not more features - I don't like tabs), but I just deal with a little bit of window icon movement from time to time. Not a big deal for me.)

 

[eltoslightfoot]

Magnet is what I use on my Macs and it works fine. It's in the app store.

 

[sgw123]

Double click works! Who knew? Thanks - that is a big improvement. I guess it was one of those things that was looking me in the face. Should've done a search recently.

I will try Magnet.

Thanks !

 

[dianeoforegon]

1. Auto adjust the width of a finder window to accommodate the largest file name. Nearly every single time I open a window I have to manually re-adjust the columns (I use column view) so I can see the names of what I'm looking at.

Besides double clicking to make larger, you can set the column width to a larger setting. Hold Option key when resizing a column. Close the Finder window. Open and it will default to the new settings. Now you only have to double click on a few folders that have the really long names.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Magnet is what I use on my Macs and it works fine. It's in the app store.

I've been using Moom for similar function and excellent results for years. Magnet looked interesting, but I was already using Moom and happy with it, so I never "went there".

 

[sgw123]

I've been using the double click to resize the columns but it still makes for a messy experience. I still fiddle around with resizing columns all the time. If I double click one, it sends the other one way off to the left, etc. Unfortunately I still stand by my original post -there seems to have been no effort put into making the finder experience more efficient, user friendly and basically 'better'.

For example, I use a Macbook Pro (15) with an external monitor. If I double click on a long folder name, it readjusts the window size that width. But if I want to then go back a level, they stay the same - so the previous level, which only has very short names, now is as wide as the screen (which was only appropriate for the particular folder at the other file level). Surely Apple could make things a little more elegant than this? I fiddle around with this all day everyday. If they fixed this it would make for a vastly superior experience - much more than any improvements I've seen in the past few incremental os updates.

Surely with all the resources available, we could have a modern 'fluid' experience where when we click, the interface can adapt to what we are intending in the way that ios and other oses do?

 

[sgw123]

ok here's another concrete example of where a more intelligent finder could make a big improvement.

If I'm watching youtube in fullscreen on onescreen (which might be a tv being watched by more than me) but want to check my emails on my other screen. Right now, when I click on Mail (on the other screen) it will open up an email on the main screen - shifting the fullscreen video to one side.

Surely this kind of thing isn't too difficult to implement?