I have an automation need for window arrangement. I run two monitors with multiple screens open during the working day (right now 15). Every time my computer restarts, it arbitrarily rearranges my open programs and opens others that I have no intention of using, causing me to spend a lot of time re-arranging everything.
I would love to reduce this friction to a shortcut that could be fired off the stream deck or a desktop icon that would open and place my programs in their designated sizes, on their designated screens.
I do not have the time or inclination to work through the learning curve of trying to get Moom/Magnet/shortcuts/Apple Scripts/ or other automation voodoo to handle this frustration. I would like to find a power user SME that has the time and interest to solve this problem for some financial compensation.
Meanwhile, may I suggest you launch the Feedback Assistant app in macOS and logged a ‘complaint’ or feedback to Apple. Remembering windows position in a multi monitor set up is a basic, fundamental functions of an OS. Hopefully, the more reports that Apple received, it will bring to their attention to have this fixed. It’s ridiculous that it wasn’t looked at after so many years!
Having multiple monitors is not a “basic, fundamental” setup. In fact, many users have never used more than one monitor and many would be surprised to learn you could connect a second monitor (or more), especially to a laptop.
Also, unless your supplemental monitors are Apple products, they have little financial incentive to fix this. And many people can’t afford $1600 to $5000 for an Apple Display as an extra screen. So they purchase third-party, cheaper monitors. So they’re essentially an aftermarket part. Perhaps the issues aren’t seen on an Apple display, but I can’t afford to find out
The fact is that in the advertisement and product pages of Mac mini or Mac Studio, Apple says that it supports up to three or four 5K monitors. They did not say one monitor only. They did not advertise that it works only with Apple Studio Display. And I’m only asking for windows that stay in their positions, not rocket science stuff. So, yes, there is an expectations that the OS should do this on multi monitors setup if they are pushing for multi monitors. If the windows do not stay put after a wake from sleep or reboot, then it is clearly a bug that needed to be fixed. Sadly, this has been ignored for years!
Poor OP have to pay someone to come up with a hack to get this capabilities. I have to use a combinations of Moom and Keyboard Maestro to achieve things that are expected of modern OS.
Definitely recommend at least learning Moom, if not willing to learn Keyboard Maestro. You’ll inevitably end up wanting to tweak your saved layout or add another one. Simple saved layouts would be a nice first-class feature in the OS and the trajectory suggests we’ll get it before too long, but don’t hold out and make things harder for yourself in the meantime.
Hyperfocus seems to work the best so far, but only in new open screens. There may be a setting that I have not found that will allow a screen setup to not only put X in the right half and Y in the left but also doing it after opening a screen.
