{"id":24804,"date":"2021-11-21T07:30:27","date_gmt":"2021-11-21T15:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/?p=24804"},"modified":"2021-11-21T15:27:16","modified_gmt":"2021-11-21T23:27:16","slug":"spaces-macos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/2021\/11\/spaces-macos\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I Don\u2019t Use Spaces on macOS"},"content":{"rendered":"

I know a lot of people (like Bart) love spaces on macOS and couldn\u2019t live without them, but for some reason, I cannot figure out how to make them work for me. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I like the idea<\/em> of spaces but they seem to make my workflow much less efficient.<\/p>\n

What are Spaces?<\/h2>\n
\"System
System Preferences Showing Mission Control Gesture<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before we get in too deep, let me explain what spaces are, just in case someone isn\u2019t familiar with the concept. On macOS, if you do a four-fingered swipe up on a Magic Trackpad or double-tap with two fingers on a Magic Mouse, you\u2019ll reveal all of your open windows on your desktop, and the menu bar at the top will say \u201cDesktop\u201d (or Desktop 1 if you have an external display attached). This view is called Mission Control.<\/p>\n

You can also get to Mission Control with an Apple Keyboard using the F3 key. If you\u2019ve got a Touch Bar Mac, you\u2019re on your own figuring out which virtual key to use. I tested it and couldn\u2019t find a combination to make the option available with Touch Bar.<\/p>\n

Once you have Mission Control activated, if you bring your cursor to the top of the screen, the area where \u201cDesktop 1\u201d was displayed will expand to reveal a thumbnail of your desktop with all of its open windows sprinkled all over it. Desktop 1 is your one and only space.<\/p>\n

On the far right of the screen, you\u2019ll see a + button inviting you to add another space. Another method to create a second space is to drag the app you want in a separate space up onto the area at the top of the screen. It will automatically create it when you let go.<\/p>\n

The app you drag up into its own space will be full-screen in that space. If you drag a second app into that space, Mission Control will put the two apps in a 1\/3-2\/3 split view, and keep filling the screen. You can modify that split ratio by sliding the drag handle between the two apps.<\/p>\n

Switching Between spaces<\/h2>\n

Now that you\u2019ve created a new space with that application, you can no longer see it because you\u2019re still in Desktop 1. To switch to the new space you just created, you have a couple of options. If you repeat the gesture or function key dance to go into Mission Control, you can then tap on the space you want to enter at the top of the screen.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s fun once or twice, but you\u2019ll probably want a more efficient way to switch spaces. A four-finger swipe right\/left on a Magic Trackpad or a two-finger swipe on a Magic Mouse will flip between them. If you prefer keystrokes control-left\/right arrow will flip you between spaces.<\/p>\n

What Problems Do spaces Solve?<\/h2>\n

Now that we know what spaces are, we know how to make them, and we know how to move between them, let\u2019s back up and answer the question of what problem are we trying to solve?<\/p>\n

I can see several problems that spaces could solve for me. First of all, no matter how many displays I have and how big they are, I still end up with windows littered all over the place and I\u2019m constantly moving them, and hiding apps to get things out of my way. Right now I\u2019ve got my 14\u201d MacBook Pro hooked up to the 30\u201d XDR display and for fun, I hooked up a vintage 27\u201d Apple Cinema Display, and yet, I’m still moving windows to try to see what I\u2019m working on.<\/p>\n

It is humanly possible to live a spaces-free life and not have the anarchy with which I live. I\u2019ve seen it done, in my own house. Steve has a 27\u201d iMac with a 27\u201d LG 5K display, and most applications live in very specific locations. He\u2019s got his messaging applications Telegram and Messages and Tweetbot on the LG, arranged just so, and he uses Chrome in the middle of his iMac\u2019s screen. I haven\u2019t studied what else he has arranged but I know his displays look the same every time I walk into his den.<\/p>\n

I have tried to be disciplined but invariably I\u2019m working in 12 applications at once and they cannot maintain position and still allow me to get things done.<\/p>\n

If I put apps into different spaces, they\u2019d stay clean and neat because they\u2019d either be in full screen or split-screen mode so my untidy habits couldn\u2019t take over.<\/p>\n

Bart is very good at compartmentalizing his tasks, and I think that\u2019s one of the reasons he likes spaces. I imagine he keeps his messaging apps in their own space. This allows him to focus on the task he\u2019s working on, rather than having scrolling Twitter feeds or messages coming in and distracting him. You may have noticed that Bart is highly productive, and I think his use of spaces and other methods to focus is a big part of the reason why.<\/p>\n

In contrast, I have Telegram and Messages and Mail and Slack updating constantly in front of my eyes while I\u2019m trying to write a blog post or outline a video tutorial. If there\u2019s an animated GIF in any of them, all hope of focus is lost. In fact, while I\u2019m trying to write this, I\u2019ve got the Trackpad gestures Preference Pane open and I can\u2019t stop looking at it out of the corner of my eye because it\u2019s got an animation on it.<\/p>\n

It would seem that I could benefit from using spaces to minimize these distractions and help me focus.<\/p>\n

Problems I Have with Spaces<\/h2>\n

However, in my repeated attempts over the past five years to make spaces work for me, after no more than a day, I disable them again. I think I can articulate the reasons why, and maybe someone or many someones can help me figure out how to get over these hurdles. The main reason I keep abandoning spaces is that it feels far less efficient.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll walk through some examples so I can explain what I mean.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s say I want to work on a blog post for the show. I write in MarsEdit, and as I\u2019m describing how to do something in an app, I take screenshots of that app. I have them open in Preview so I can save them to a specific directory in the Finder, and then I drag them into MarsEdit from the Finder. If I\u2019m going to focus on blogging, that means I need MarsEdit, Preview, the Finder, and the app in question all in the same space.<\/p>\n

Remember I explained that you get two apps in split-screen in a single space? Turns out you can\u2019t drag the third app into the space. That means in my blog space I\u2019d need the app and MarsEdit in one space, and after I save a screenshot, I have to flip back to the space with the Finder, and then how do I drag that one screenshot into MarsEdit? I end up dropping out of spaces to do it.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a workaround to this problem. You can assign apps to specific spaces, all spaces, or no spaces. I am not sure what that last option does. Let\u2019s walk through how I would add the Finder to all spaces so that if I need to drag in an image from the Finder it would be available to me wherever I was. First, you need to create a second space, and I think this only works if you create an empty space with the plus button in Mission Control. Once an app is in full screen in a space, assigning an app to that space doesn\u2019t seem to do anything.<\/p>\n

\"Assign
Assign Finder to All Desktops<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Right-click in the dock on the icon for the app you want to show in all spaces. If it\u2019s not already in the dock, you\u2019ll need to launch the app so it\u2019s in there for you to right-click on it. In the popup menu, choose Options and then under Assign To, choose which desktop you want to assign it to, or in my case, I would choose All Desktops.<\/p>\n

The reason this is useful, beyond being able to see the Finder in all Desktops, is that when it opens in that new, empty space, it does not open in full screen. Now you can open another application in that space, such as MarsEdit, Preview, and the app I’m writing about.<\/p>\n

Now here\u2019s the downside to allowing an app to be in all spaces, aka desktops. The first problem is that if an app is on all desktops, it is exactly the same in all desktops. If I open my weekly folder for my blog posts in Desktop 2, it opens in that same folder in Desktop 1. How is that helpful at all? If I\u2019m trying to focus on programming on one desktop, and blogging in another, I would literally never want the Finder open to the same place.<\/p>\n

This happens with other apps too. Let’s say I assign Safari to all desktops, and when I\u2019m focusing on programming I want pbs.bartificer.net<\/a> open in that space. If I decide to take a break and blog for a while, in my blogging space, Safari will also be open to pbs.bartificer.net. If I change it in my blogging space and later go back to programming, I will have lost my place on Bart\u2019s site.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another big problem. I notice that after a while, I\u2019m assigning more and more apps to every space because I need them there, which means I\u2019ve recreated the anarchy I had in the first place.<\/p>\n

I also have trouble if I get too many spaces open. Even with three separate desktops, I find myself flipping and flipping trying to figure out where I want to be. It seems to help to have different wallpaper backgrounds dedicated to the different contexts in which you want to work.<\/p>\n

For example, programming seems to lend itself to a darker view. I\u2019m not sure why that is, because I generally don\u2019t like dark backgrounds to my apps, but I find myself working in VSCode with a dark background more often than not. If I have my code up in one space, I can right-click on the desktop and change the background to a dark grey. Even with a grey VSCode window, this looks pretty good. It\u2019s clear at a glance which context I\u2019m in.<\/p>\n

Now here\u2019s another irritation of spaces. I did what I just described, setting the programming desktop to dark grey. This launched System Preferences to the Desktop and Screen Saver pane for me to change the background. So far, so good. I wanted to set the backgrounds of my other spaces, so I flipped over to my blogging desktop and decided to change the color of the background there.<\/p>\n

I right-clicked on the desktop, chose Change Desktop Background, and guess what happened? It flipped me over to my programming space because I\u2019d left System Preferences open in that space. How annoying is that? Ok, quit System Preferences, flip back to my blogging space, right-click on the desktop again and open System Preferences to change the color. That is super inefficient, and that kind of thing happens constantly when I\u2019m working with spaces.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another example. In my blogging space, I took a screenshot for the show notes. As I mentioned, I have my screenshots automatically open in Preview so I can entitle them, copy the name I give it, and then save it to the right folder. When I took the screenshot in my blogging space, it flipped me over to my first desktop. Why? Because Preview was open in that space from a previous screenshot. But that\u2019s not all. When Preview opened, the new screenshot I had taken was not there. I flipped back to my blogging space and the new screenshot was there! If it knew enough to open the screenshot in the right space, why did it flip me to the other space first? Makes no sense.<\/p>\n

Side effects like this really interrupt the workflow for me. If I can\u2019t predictably know where a window is going to show up, how can I stay focused, which is the whole purpose of using spaces?<\/p>\n

Even with spaces dedicated to certain activities and with the apps activated that I can predict I\u2019ll need in each space, there are constant one-offs. Right now I need to send a message to my cat sitter. I have a dedicated space for messaging apps, but I need to refer to my calendar to tell her which dates. Guess what? Calendar isn\u2019t activated for my messaging space.<\/p>\n

I either have to flip back and forth (and this could be a flip across multiple spaces) and hope that my little pea brain can remember the dates as I flip, or I have to pull one of the apps into the other space, thereby defeating the entire purpose of spaces.<\/p>\n

I found one way to be a bit more efficient in switching spaces. If you click on the dock icon of the app you want to see, it automatically flips you to the right space. I like that because I don\u2019t have to remember which desktop the app is in, nor do I have to flip multiple times to get to one that might be 3 spaces over.<\/p>\n

Spaces vs Desktops<\/h2>\n

You may have noticed that I\u2019m using the terms space and desktop interchangeably. I\u2019m doing that on purpose because I don\u2019t actually understand when to use which term. When you\u2019re setting up spaces, it shows you the name of the desktop in Mission Control. So are you switching to a new desktop when you go there or a new space?<\/p>\n

\"Desktops
Desktops 1, 2, 3, and 4 on Main Display<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To make this more entertaining, if you have multiple displays, such as a laptop and an external monitor, they have their own, independent set of desktops. Right now, my main external display is showing Desktops 1, 2, 3, and 4. The Apple Cinema Display is showing Desktop 5, and the internal display on the MacBook is showing Desktop 6.<\/p>\n

\"Desktop
Desktop 6 from MacBook Pro<\/br>(Note it’s taller to fit below the notch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019m in Desktop 3 on the main display, so does that mean the space I\u2019m in is really Desktops 3, 5, and 6? If I use a four-finger swipe on the main display and it changes me to Desktop 4, is the space now defined as 4, 5, and 6? What defines a space anyway?<\/p>\n

Right now I only have one desktop created on the internal display and the Apple Cinema Display, but I could keep going and create multiple desktops on them and create complete anarchy. And what happens to all of these spaces when I unplug my laptop from these displays? Do they collapse in on themselves forming some kind of black hole in spaces?<\/p>\n

Yes, that\u2019s exactly what they do. As I unplugged the two displays, the desktops all collapsed into the laptop until I had Desktops 1-6 all on the laptop. So now what is a space?<\/p>\n

How to Remove Spaces<\/h2>\n

One thing I haven’t explained is how to get rid of spaces. Or are they called desktops? Whatever. If you create a desktop by making an app go full screen, simply switching to that desktop and using the green button in the upper left to take it out of full screen will remove the desktop.<\/p>\n

If you’ve dragged a second app into a full-screen desktop so that the two apps show in a split-screen view, it’s a little bit trickier. Use your gesture or keystroke to see Mission control, and when you hover over the desktop with the two apps in split-screen, you’ll see a double arrow pointing inwards show over the thumbnail. Click that and your desktop will vaporize and both apps will jump into whatever desktop you have open.<\/p>\n

If you’ve got a desktop with apps littered all over it (like I do already), then hovering over the thumbnail in Mission Control will show you an X button, which will close the desktop and pour those apps all over one of the other desktops.<\/p>\n

I have to admit that when I closed out all of the desktops after running all of these experiments, I was kind of overwhelmed with how much information was on my screen. I’ll have to go back to my method of using command-option-H to hide all applications except the one I’m currently using as a way to maintain what’s left of my sanity.<\/p>\n

Bottom Line<\/h2>\n

I think you might have a flavor by now for why I keep reverting to my annoying window-littered, distraction-filled computing life without spaces. I want to enjoy spaces, I truly do. But every time I work with them I find too many problems. I might give it a whirl with programming because that’s the most challenging thing I do, but for everything else, it seems like pure aggravation for me. If you have methods or strategies that help you work around these problems I have with spaces, I’d sure like to hear about them.<\/p>\n

Maybe if I told myself that I had to live with spaces for 3 weeks straight weeks, I would find a pattern to the spaces\/desktop madness and learn to love spaces.<\/p>\n

I did that many years ago when I told myself I had to drive the speed limit for 3 months, and if I hated it after that I could go back to my evil ways, and I\u2019ve been driving the speed limit ever since.<\/p>\n

But I think loving spaces would be harder than loving driving the speed limit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I know a lot of people (like Bart) love spaces on macOS and couldn\u2019t live without them, but for some reason, I cannot figure out how to make them work for me. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I like the idea of spaces but they seem to make my workflow much less efficient. What are Spaces? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[4907,4906,275,1104,4905],"class_list":["post-24804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-posts","tag-confusion","tag-desktop","tag-focus","tag-macos","tag-spaces"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/System-Preferences-Showing-Mission-Control-Gesture.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24804"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24835,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24804\/revisions\/24835"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}