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Zonas 0.4.1

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@pablocaviglia-uy pablocaviglia-uy released this 05 Aug 15:47
· 11 commits to main since this release
v0.4.1
a313061

Snap windows into zones you define in a text file.

There is a website now: pablocaviglia-uy.github.io/zonas
— and a download link that just downloads,
without any of this page in the way.

What is new since 0.4.0

Nothing in the app's behaviour changed. Everything here is about finding it,
downloading it and installing it — which for four releases has been the weakest
part of the whole thing.

  • A new app icon. The old one was a dark slate square with three slightly
    darker rectangles in it; at Dock size it was a smudge, and it sat in the disk
    image right next to Apple's bright blue Applications folder. Same motif —
    three zones, the middle one wide — but lit.
  • The disk image has a window now, instead of opening as a plain file list:
    the app on the left, Applications on the right, and an arrow between them
    saying what to do. That drag is not decoration — running Zonas from the disk
    image or from Downloads makes macOS ask for the Accessibility permission again
    on every single launch, forever.
  • A demo GIF in the README and on the site: the layout file being edited from
    quarters to thirds, saved, and the next window landing in the layout it just
    described. Nothing clicked, nothing restarted.
  • A direct download link. Zonas.dmg is now uploaded alongside the versioned
    file, so releases/latest/download/Zonas.dmg always points at the newest
    build. Same bytes, same notarization — the ticket is stapled to the code, not
    to the file name.
  • The README opens with a download button and plain instructions rather than an
    argument about configuration files.

Installing

Requires macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. Universal: Apple Silicon and Intel.

  1. Download Zonas
    and open the file it saves.
  2. Drag Zonas onto the Applications folder, which is what the window now
    shows you. Do not run it from the disk image or from ~/Downloads.
  3. Open it from Applications. Nothing visible happens except a small grey
    icon appearing in the menu bar. That is expected: grey means it is running
    but has no permission yet.
  4. Click that icon → Accessibility Permissions…, and turn Zonas on in the
    panel that opens. macOS does not let any app move another app's windows
    without it. The icon stops being grey.
  5. Hold ⇧ Shift, drag any window, and let ⇧ go over a zone. Press ⎋ to
    leave everything where it was.

Upgrading needs nothing: drag the new copy over the old one. Your layout file is
not touched, and the Accessibility permission survives, because it is tied to the
signing certificate rather than to the particular build.

Known rough edges

  • First launch still explains itself only here and on the website. There is
    no welcome window yet. It is the next thing being built and the largest gap in
    the project.
  • One layout at a time. Multiple layouts and rules that pick a layout per
    monitor — including monitors that are not plugged in — come after that.
  • The editor cuts and moves zones. It cannot yet type exact numbers, draw a free
    overlapping zone, or manage layouts; the file does all three.
  • Starting a drag on top of a modal sheet moves the window behind it instead of
    doing nothing.
  • Everything here was measured on one Mac with one screen attached. If something
    behaves oddly on a multi-monitor desk, that is the most likely place for it.

Signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple.

SHA-256  30cec519cecc8e61bd63a28a4923d127cfcf64f59de14a4782fa5727257a1c3a
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