Using native macos Space like Yabai

[ronaldsuwandi]

Any idea why AeroSpace still not using native space? Yabai somehow managed to do instant switching without disabling SIP now, so no more annoying animation

[gabsrp2002]

There's a section about this in the aerospace guide: https://nikitabobko.github.io/AeroSpace/guide#emulation-of-virtual-workspaces

SIP is not even listed as one of the reasons why Aerospace uses virtual workspaces instead of the native MacOS spaces.

[ronaldsuwandi]

@gabsrp2002

The animation for Spaces switching is slow
You can’t disable animation for Spaces switching (you can only make it slightly faster by turning on Reduce motion setting, but it’s suboptimal)

--

this is handled in yabai without disabling SIP or without Reduce Motion setting

[sydalwedaie]

I used native macOS Spaces for 15 years, but with AeroSpace I no longer see any use for them. Even if animations were disabled, they're limited to 16 spaces only. But more importantly, it's the foundational model in AeroSpace that I love the most, where workspaces are not created nor destroyed; they're always there when you move a window to an empty space, and you don't need to close them if they get empty. It's just one less thing to worry about.

That said, I'm sure there are edge cases where native Spaces are needed, such as gaming and full screen videos.

[mmercurio]

I'm also a long time macOS Spaces user and find myself no longer using Spaces since relying on AeroSpace.

The only reason I keep "Displays have separate spaces" enabled is that I use multiple displays. I find AeroSpace unpleasant to use on multiple displays unless "Displays have separate spaces" is kept enabled. (Yes, there are still issues, but this is the best I can get without giving up entirely on multiple displays.)

For example, windows whose size changes dynamically (e.g. Terminal window growing when increasing font size) results in the window growing beyond the physical display size and spilling over to an adjacent display. Yuck.

[ronaldsuwandi]

I see. Thanks for the insight! Just curious though, what would be the scenario where you need more than 16 spaces? For my current setup personally I do space 1-5 (work/project), 6 (work messaging), 7 (personal messaging), 8 (media/games), 9 (chess), 10 (misc)

[sydalwedaie]

Hey @ronaldsuwandi

[...] what would be the scenario where you need more than 16 spaces?

Very good question. Short answer: multiple instances of the same app.

I need to have 10 PDF files open at all times, constantly switching between them. I can open them in tabs inside one PDF reader app, and pray the app has tab shortcuts (mine doesn't have). I opened 10 windows, each with only one file, and put them in the numbered workspaces. Since I use "letter" workspaces for my other essential apps (browser in B, terminal in T, etc), I don't need to rearrange any thing.

Second benefit, there are always empty spaces available when I need to open one-off apps. I never run out of workspaces.

[sydalwedaie]

@mmercurio

Yea It's interesting to know about different workflows. And I'm sure it's an awfully tough job to cater to all of them.

I always liked multi-monitor setups. I tried 2 external + built in, and also a giant a$$ 50 inch curved monitor. I came to realize it was not for me. It gave me too much neck strain from having to swing left and right. Also I figured it was too much of a distraction to have everything visible at all times. And the nail in the coffin was when I heard the creator of Node JS himself saying his only machine was a single M1 MacBook Air with no external displays!

For my own info, would you care to share the importance of multi monitor setups for your workflow?

[mmercurio]

Hi @sydalwedaie, my use cases when working with multiple displays:

When I work from my home office, I have two external 27" displays (LG 4K and Apple Studio Display) plus my MacBook Pro built-in screen with MacBook on a stand. The 5K Studio Display is the primary display where I do most of my work and is directly in front of me. The internal display on the MacBook Pro is mostly used for messaging apps (Slack and Signal) which stay open all of the time.

Writing and reading (code, documentation) is mostly done on the primary display, while the secondary LG display is typically dashboards and analytics for the systems I maintain. Also if I'm working on an app or website, I'll typically have that open on the secondary display.

Since I work remote full-time all of my meetings and interactions with my team are via video calls, which will be on the primary display with the secondary display for shared documents and notes.

I use a standing desk and stand about 1 meter away from any display, so I hardly have to move my head to see all displays, hence no neck strain. When I'm working on the road, I use either just the internal display on the MacBook or the internal MacBook screen plus one external display if available.