macOS Sequoia: How Window Tiling and Snapping Currently Works

[MacRumors]

With macOS Sequoia, Apple has introduced a new window tiling management feature that aims to make it easy to arrange open windows into a layout that works best for you.

PC users have had tiling since at least Windows 7 and Aero Snap, and if you've ever used those, the new window tiling feature in macOS Sequoia will be familiar. In the absence of the feature, Mac users have relied on several third-party tools like Magnet, Moom, and Rectangle to achieve similar results, but as things stand, in beta 1, window management in macOS still needs some work before it can approach the utility of those apps.

When you drag a window to the edge of the screen, macOS Sequoia suggests a tiled position by displaying a frame, and you release the window to drop it right into place. This way, you can quickly arrange two app windows side by side, or place four windows in corners to keep several apps in view at once. When a window has been dragged to tile on one side or the other, dragging it back immediately resizes it to its original width and height, which is a nice touch.

The dragging system is far from infallible though. If you drag a window to the side of the screen and hold it for more than a couple of seconds, you can sometimes unintentionally switch to an adjacent desktop space if one is active. It can also be quite tricky to place certain app windows so that they snap to corners.

Also, some apps by design will not reduce down beyond a certain size, so you can end up with tiled windows overlapping each other or falling off the screen. If you have a group of apps that play nice together when tiled, the tiling system can leave unsightly gaps between the windows where the desktop wallpaper is exposed, but there's a setting that can rectify this.

In System Settings, you'll find tiling options in a new section in the Desktop & Dock menu. For example, tiling can be activated by holding the Option key while dragging windows. You can also toggle off "Tiled windows have margins," which reduces gaps between windows.

Image credit: MacRumors forum member Danbalsh​

macOS 15 also adds new tiling options to the green traffic light in the top corner of windows. Hover your pointer over the green button, and a menu appears with options to move and resize or fill and arrange all open windows. These options generally seem to work better than the drag-to-snap tiling system in its current state.

Overall, tiling windows in macOS Sequoia does not feel properly implemented yet, but this is developer beta 1, and Apple will surely refine its functionality before we get to the public release of macOS 15 in September.

Article Link: macOS Sequoia: How Window Tiling and Snapping Currently Works

 

[MayaUser]

very nice

 

[Cookie285]

For those wondering, fn + control + arrow keys seem to work as global shortcuts to move windows. fn + control + R returns to the previous state. Oddly enough it doesn't seem to work in every app yet?

 

[PsykX]

Finally we can have this feature built-in.

Perhaps the only major thing where I have always preferred Windows over macOS is that in macOS I often find myself having a mess of windows all over the place. Windows Aero has been really useful for the last like 15 years...

 

[Kylo83]

Why is it not at the edge, better snap tool and magnet are better

 

[Takeo]

I assume it will have keyboard shortcuts. The Magnet shortcuts are burned into my brain and I never use the dragging featured as it's a pain (and thus disabled).

 

[MilaM]

I have high hopes for this feature. Not as flashy as Stage Manager, but much more useful in my opinion. It needs good keyboard shortcut support though, to be really useful.

 

[Kraszim]

I could drop Magnet for this if it has option to center windows as well

 

[videosoul]

Hasn’t Windows had tiling since 3.0?

I’m personally not so fussed about tiling, but I wish there was a setting to lock a window to a certain position so, even if you move it, next time you open it it returns to the pre-determined position of choice.

 

[Line_Noise]

Why is it not at the edge, better snap tool and magnet are better

You can toggle the margins off and it will go to the edge. I guess they leave the margin so you can click in to reveal the desktop etc.

Biggest thing I've noticed is that the tiled windows have no "stick" to them. 1px of movement and they untile.

Edit: Oh, the hover options on the green zoom...they have an option view as well that includes corners, reverse layouts and a centre tile.

 

[dugbug]

I like these changes but havn't we always been able to drag the green window button of a window towards left or right and it becomes snappish? I think left/right tile style?

 

[B4U]

Would be real nice to have a bigger screen than 24" on the current iMac to make great use of this.

 

[Fuzzball84]

This type of windows management should have been built in 15 plus years ago. It’s so fundamental to the OS to be able to manage windows without resorting to third party apps.

As a user of windows and Mac I was just shocked year after year Mac OS not having a decent windows management built in. It’s a no brainer.

 

[bgarnett]

I really like how Windows 11 has handled this, particularly with external monitors and gathering apps when you disconnect then restoring positions when you reconnect. I hope Apple is thinking along the same lines.

I use bettersnaptool on my own Mac and at work , I love its customisation and ability to override the window zoom (green) to add its own menus. Being able to quickly drag to a zone or keyboard shortcut with this is great.

 

[nt5672]

Finally some innovation out of Cook's fantastic Apple. Only 15 years too late, but hey innovation is innovation. Lets pile on the glory.

 

[jonnysods]

This is a huge step in the right direction. I tell you what would be nice as well - when in Finder using the columns view that column width is the same width as the file name. The amount of fiddling around so I can navigate every single time is a pain!

 

[dredlew]

The functionality may seem trivial or long overdue but maybe this is a sign of getting back to the basics if there aren’t always big new features to add. If they can devote some time to fix and add more usability to existing features, all good with me.

The Finder really could use some love. How about a Split View in the same window so I don’t have to drag stuff between different windows? You know, like FTP clients have had since the beginning of time. 😌

 

[NEPOBABY]

The white outline of the tile preview isn't very visible on a bright background or any wallpaper with bright areas. The outline should follow the same color as the Accent color you choose in Settings>Appearance>Accent Color.

Performance in current build is jerky in the corners of the screen.

It will be good in a few builds.

I cannot stress enough how great it is to have auto resizing columns in Column view. It's limited to about 50 characters before it truncates but that's enough.

 

[chfilm]

What about system settings actually. Have they been improved???

 

[endemize]

Why is it not at the edge, better snap tool and magnet are better

You can use a setting to go to the edge.

 

[dewalt]

Feel sorry for the Magnet guys, cant live without that program. Maybe in 10 years, we'll finally switch to a "window" perspective, rather than an app perspective.

 

[NEPOBABY]

I tell you what would be nice as well - when in Finder using the columns view that column width is the same width as the file name. The amount of fiddling around so I can navigate every single time is a pain!

It's there now.

 

[Populus]

HEY TIM!!! I want THIS on my iPad’s external monitor (that thing that you call Stage Manager). Kthksbye.

 

[txscott]

I hope this works well. I have used Better Snap Tool for a years and would gladly give it up to have one less thing running in the background. This should have been in Mac OS a long time ago and I hope they just make it work like Windows.

 

[dredlew]

This is a huge step in the right direction. I tell you what would be nice as well - when in Finder using the columns view that column width is the same width as the file name. The amount of fiddling around so I can navigate every single time is a pain!

Exactly. So far it’s only possible to save the widest file name width but that’s a waste of space most of the time and requires unnecessary scrolling.