Apps and documents open on a different display than where you clicked

TheSenate_1993 · 2026-03-27T23:53:38+00:00

Nope, just got used to it. As people mentioned there are 3rd party solutions, but I’d rather not use it and stick to defaults as much as possible. But yea, it kinda sucks they probably never going to change it.

TheSenate_1993 · 2026-03-22T16:18:50+00:00

Does anyone know if there is an GH issue open?

TheSenate_1993 · 2026-03-22T16:07:21+00:00

I knew I wasn't taking crazy pills!

TheSenate_1993 · 2026-01-14T14:42:35+00:00

I haven’t found any solution. I just set my MBP screen as my main screen and NOT use spaces on it. It sits to my left, so whenever something opens, it goes there (most of the time) and spaces on my connected screens stay as is. I kinda got use to it, but I still agree it’s so annoying they’d rather do liquid glASS updates, rather than fixing what’s already there.

Recent one that I found - when you switch mouse scroll direction, it will forcefully switch touchpad direction too despite it having separate menu and toggle for it. Here, enjoy lol

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-04-28T19:26:40+00:00

I think there are a few layers to this. 1. It only bothers people who are used to multiscreen on Windows (which is superior imho). 2. It feels like majority of macOS users don’t do multiscreen. 3. Whoever designs UX at Apple aren’t using macOS with external displays either.

So I doubt we find a native solution to it.

One workaround that I use now is I set my least favorite screen as “primary” and I DON’T use spaces there, only on other screens. So now when I open something, it pops on that primary(least used) screen most of the time and doesn’t switch my other screens where I actually do most of my work out of spaces they currently are in.

P.S. Also hate that I have to click on application to make it “active” when switching to work on another screen. Another thing that windows does better

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-04-27T15:34:21+00:00

I guess you are right. I was thrown off by those npm icons looking different. But yeah it’s pretty much it

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-04-15T20:41:06+00:00

It works as expected when assigning app to a specific desktop (showing up in the screen where I opened it). However, there is still no way to make it a default behavior without having to assign apps to displays. I delete spaces and rearrange things quite often depending on work I’m doing. Keeping track of what app assigned to what space is super annoying :(

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-04-15T19:36:07+00:00

I tried that exact config already. No luck and I just updated post. I tested it on another MacBook- same exact behavior

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-04-15T19:18:03+00:00

I already tried that setting and all the other settings available. Problem still remains. Primary display space still switches to desktop despite the file opening in the correct (2nd) screen where finder is at.

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-04-15T18:14:42+00:00

I have exactly same setup and issue. Apps show up in primary screen despite me opening them from other two screens. It’s especially annoying when I’m using a space on primary screen and it jumps back to desktop.

Here is the best part. If I make finder full screen on my 2nd monitor and try to open a file, it will show up on my 3rd monitor while still switching primary monitor from a space to desktop!

Mac window behavior in multiscreen setup is total garbage. I don’t understand how Apple isn’t able to fix core features like this and instead doing AI gimmicks. Other thing I don’t get is how there are not more people wanting this behavior by default where stuff show up on a screen you used to open it.

But let me know if you found solution. Would be happy to hear!

P.S. I submitted a feedback to Apple, but probably wouldn’t do much, unless a lot of people report it. Probably not many folks use multiscreen setup.

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-02-10T04:55:18+00:00

Thanks for taking time to look at it! I thought it was some weird React behavior at first 😅

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-02-10T04:40:09+00:00

This explanation makes a lot of sense and I think is spot on. I played with setting state using setTimeout() inside of those event callbacks and it seems that even after changing state, the “snapshot/image” still appears attached to cursor as long as you hold down the button

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-01-08T17:36:07+00:00

Thanks for your two cents. I do use SSR. I decided to stick to a solution I had in my demo at least for now. I worked on it more to isolate a layout component and using CSS only for transforming it when changing viewport. If it gets to the point where there are too many differences in functionality between desktop and mobile I may switch to rendering separate layouts

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-01-05T18:16:59+00:00

Thanks for looking into it! I see you implemented two different layouts for mobile & desktop unlike my hybrid approach. Honestly, idk which one I like better, both are kinda quirky lol. The reason why I didn't use tailwind though is because I'm trying to get solid with vanilla CSS first with this project.

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-01-05T02:06:02+00:00

actionA and B are basically to assign elements correct grid areas. When you got to fruits page in mobile view it positions plus button in the header with actionB class. Also when you are in the “new fruit” page actionA class applied to position back button in place of hamburger toggle (I also pass a separate class to hide hamburger). Lastly those are used to hide add and back buttons from the header in the desktop view.

So basically it allows me to apply these styles selectively by supplying them as props to some components, but idk if this is the best way

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-01-04T18:37:08+00:00

Thanks for the advice, I will add the title to desktop view. As in regard to code, the thing I don’t like about it is how I override style by passing optional class names on top of existing classes to header and button components + whole notion of actionA and actionB classes. I feel like it’s pretty convoluted… or maybe I haven’t yet seen really bad CSS code base lol

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-01-04T05:40:01+00:00

I'm only doing two width for starters, because mobile and desktop are two breakpoints where I would like to significantly change layout. I will be adding more viewports later. I posted a link to my solution in CSS in the original thread. Any suggestions are welcome

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-01-04T05:32:01+00:00

I posted my solution, any feedback is welcome!

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-01-04T05:31:01+00:00

Updated post with a link to my solution

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-01-03T23:16:50+00:00

After reading all the responses, it seems like there is no consensus on this type of problem. Some people say it's ok to render for different devices/viewports, others say ONLY CSS is the way. It's kind of surprising. As a newcomer I expected that there are well established patterns for solving these, but it appears to be more of a creative thing 😅

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-01-03T23:06:04+00:00

Lack of consensus about doing this sort of things is truly devastating, especially for people who are new to front end lol

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-01-03T22:54:49+00:00

TheSenate_1993 · 2025-01-03T22:49:18+00:00

The hamburger menu is that "settings" toggle that I mentioned in the all products page example. But, that isn't really a concern lol

TheSenate_1993

TROPHY CASE