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

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13 Answers

up vote 41 down vote

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

  • SplitScreen ($0.99) snaps windows left and right, or fullscreen. Not as feature rich as others, but good value
  • Cinch ($7) is like Aero Snap for Mac.
  • SizeUp ($13) allows you to easily position window using keyboard shortcuts.
  • Breeze ($8) allows you to save window states and restore them like a template to another window.
  • Divvy ($14) shows a grid on the screen where you can select boxes to indicate how you want the window to fill your screen.
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Thanks! I've found an acceptable solution with the latest version of your SizeUp product: zacharypinter.com/2009/06/15/… – zpinter Jun 16 '09 at 1:17
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I just bought SizeUP and loving it. Thanks. – Mozammel Sep 21 '09 at 4:50
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Working with SizeUp. I like it! – jskulski Nov 5 '09 at 17:35
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 Apr 1 '10 at 21:56
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please add Optimal layout to your list most-advantageous.com/optimal-layout – i-moan Nov 7 '10 at 0:18
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up vote 19 down vote

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

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Simple, but it works (and is free). Try this one first. – Xiong Chiamiov Mar 2 '11 at 9:25
+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 Jun 29 '11 at 14:43
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. Sep 15 '11 at 1:45
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 Sep 15 '11 at 2:07
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up vote 11 down vote

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/

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Oh my God, it's great, I figured it out. I'll be sending my $18 shortly. – Yar Sep 26 '10 at 22:00
completely forgot I had this application already installed ( previously known as windowFlow Pro ). Thanks for the reminder – i-moan Nov 7 '10 at 0:16
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up vote 4 down vote

There is an AppleScript script to tile two windows side by side.

I haven't used it but apparently it works for most applications. Link.

You could also try your luck with FWM (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.

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up vote 3 down vote

I've seen the XMonad window manager working on Mac OS X.

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

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That only works for X11 windows though, correct? I don't believe it'd work for regular OS X windows. – zpinter Nov 10 '08 at 2:37
I'm not sure. I haven't used it myself on OSX -.- But i think it's X11 – Johannes Schaub - litb Nov 11 '08 at 7:00
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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 Mar 7 '11 at 14:02
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up vote 3 down vote

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

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up vote 2 down vote

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

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

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up vote 2 down vote

BetterSnapTool

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.

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up vote 1 down vote

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

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up vote 1 down vote

BetterTouchTools 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.

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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 Jul 20 '11 at 8:32
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up vote 0 down vote

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.

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up vote 0 down vote

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.

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This was already answered. – Daniel Beck May 16 '11 at 5:05
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up vote -1 down vote

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.

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As others said before. XMonad only works in X11, it does not tile native OSX apps. – RazMaTaz May 23 '09 at 11:13
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