Making macOS Bearable
28 comments
·December 10, 2025GolDDranks
seg6
I really love the trackpad on the MacBook; it's been the best experience by a long shot coming from other laptops. The problem is, most of the time the MacBook is docked and I prefer to use my external keyboard and display. And Vimium is just very fun to use, especially if you're using Vim/Neovim/Helix.
vardump
Macbook trackpad is weird. On the other hand, it's excellent for most desktop tasks. But I just can't play almost any mouse requiring game with it.
daveidol
I agree but barely ever use my MacBook not docked to my external monitor and keyboard. So for me I just stick to the Magic Trackpad in such cases.
namanyayg
What's the best way to move between multiple windows of the same app? E.g. I have multiple Cursor folders open on different folders.
tptacek
I'm never going to use a tiling window manager, but I also never touch Mission Control (or Spotlight). I use Alfred.app to call things up; before Alfred.app, all the way back into the early aughts, I was using Quicksilver.app, which does the same thing. CMD-Space, type a couple letters, blam.
blacksmith_tb
I really like Alfred, it's a worthy descendant of QS for sure. To be fair, it is possible to use Spotlight for the same kind of "invoke, start typing, hit return to launch" workflow (it's just uglier, and not extensible). Lots of Linux DEs have similar searchable launchers, and if you squint, Windows does too (but packed with extra crud - I think maybe PowerToys has something more QS-like?)
cosmic_cheese
I also used to use Quicksilver back in the day. Now it's a mix of Alfred and Spotlight. Alfred for launching things and workflows, Spotlight for things like quick unit conversions and such. Alfred is bound to Cmd-Space while Spotlight is Cmd-Shift-Space.
daveidol
I’ve been using Alfred for forever, but with the new Spotlight on Tahoe I’ve decided to just try using Spotlight alone.
So far I’ve been pretty happy with it. But I was never a heavy user of the Alfred power features (despite owning a lifetime license for Powerpack).
chamomeal
I am not a serious computer power user but raycast (also cmd + space + couple letters), cmd + tab, and cmd + ‘ get me around quick enough!
seg6
I love and do the same thing with Raycast! But mostly with apps that do not have a designated "workspace".
Most of the time, I only have Spotify, chat clients, my browser, and the terminal open. And I do prefer every one of them just having a fixed place behind a shortcut, which at this point is just muscle memory.
brcmthrowaway
So you have a workspace for each of those? Do they persist after reboot?
Do you use iTerm2 or Terminal.app, and tmux?
seg6
Yes, exactly, a workspace for each one of those. A snippet from my Aerospace config:
[[on-window-detected]]
if.app-id = 'com.microsoft.teams2'
run = 'move-node-to-workspace 7'
[[on-window-detected]]
if.app-id = 'com.hnc.Discord'
run = 'move-node-to-workspace 8'
[[on-window-detected]]
if.app-id = 'com.spotify.client'
run = 'move-node-to-workspace 9'
AppleBananaPie
+1 for Alfred
I personally use a tiling window manager when I feel like it but also get how it's personal preference :)
mattegan
Aerospace looks neat - might have to give it a try.
However, honestly, 99% of my multitasking pain on MacOS comes from the un-removable ~300ms animation delay when switching spaces. "Reduced Motion" changes the animation to a fade and doesn't solve the problem.
If I could instantaneously switch between virtual desktops I'd be so happy. I've wanted this for years.
johnthedebs
Thanks for sharing your process and config! I went on a pretty similar journey, though I've been on macOS the whole time. I've gotta say, Aerospace is one of my favorite pieces of software. It really makes it so much less tedious to move around my computer.
I tried vimium and homerow too, and I liked them, but lately I've been using mouseless more (https://mouseless.click) and overall would recommend it.
smileson2
It's so silly and simple but when I use a mac the only thing I really want that's missing is the ability to have a dock on on each monitor when docked
bix6
Why do you need aerospace?
I have browsers on desktop 1, music on 5, etc. I can jump to each numbered desktop with key binds. What am I missing?
Same with raycast, is that just a command space replacement?
Command tab / shift tab are huge favs for me when I’m cycling 2-3 apps.
Vimium looks cool gonna try that out.
accrual
> Of course, I still use the mouse. I’m not a zealot.
Just wanted to add a fun anecdote. I had a coworker who seemed allergic to the keyboard. Bound almost every job function to a mouse macro. I joked that I'd come to work one day and all they'd have is a monitor and mouse on their desk, nothing else. They laughed but I got the feeling they'd do it if they could.
slurrpurr
All of this "getting productive" with window managers, especially in the context of macOS is just yakshaving and, unless you enjoy doing it a waste of time. The point of macOS is to have a system with tasteful defaults.
cosmic_cheese
It's one of the reasons I still get my work done with macOS, despite some of the more questionable decisions it's been subject to lately. Despite it all, the defaults are by far closest to what works for me. In less than 30m I can go from a clean install to doing work.
It's also why I have a difficult time with Linux. Even the environments that are closest relatives to macOS are still quite distant, and so I end up getting sucked down a black hole trying to tweak my way closer to parity, which of course never works out. Linux only works for me for single-purpose machines where the desktop environment basically doesn't factor in.
nixpulvis
It's been a long time since Apple was really the home for sane defaults for me.
An easy example is how the workspaces rearrange themselves be mort recent use, and worse on iOS there's some seemingly random time interval at which they move themselves after use.
leidenfrost
I have macOS shortcuts hot branded in my brain.
I'd prefer to adopt a few of these programs than having to configure i3 and use ctrl for everything
nixpulvis
i3/sway are so much snappier and simpler. I spend basically no time rearranging things with them and I don't have to do awkward drag and drop operations to get things where I want them.
seg6
"Getting productive" wasn't really my goal when configuring my system. I spend a lot of time in front of the computer and simply prefer using it this way because it feels natural. But, of course, you're entitled to your opinion :)
sleepybrett
I just use phoenix with some special hotkeys to move windows into positions and tile them. Macos has recently added some 'tiling' controls in, but they aren't as flexible. I wrote this phoenix config at least 10 years ago and I just keep it in my dropbox to copy onto the latest work laptop. So while it is 'yak shaving' it's a yak i shaved 10 years ago, amortized over the lifetime i've been using it I would guess it's costing me under a tenth of a second per day at this point.
sleepybrett
There is a mission control swipe for 'just show me the focused apps windows' coupled with command-tab this solves his problem.
But myself I just use quicksilver with a lot of features turned off.
mrgoldenbrown
The goal is to be able to switch to a specific window without needing to see the screen. If his setup means cmd+1 takes him to the terminal every time, it's easier than cmd-tabbing through all n windows. Think of it as the difference between constant time and linear time.
"But for 90% of web browsing, lifting my hand to the mouse is unnecessary friction"
By this point, I realized that the OP uses a normal mouse. The MacBook trackpad is so good that I feel weird using a mouse these days. Also, the travel between the keyboard and trackpad is much smaller.