[HN Gopher] Show HN: Re-Implementing the macOS Spatial Finder
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Show HN: Re-Implementing the macOS Spatial Finder
Modern macOS versions open folders in seemingly random positions
and sizes. This set of scripts restores the behaviour known to
classic macOS, where: - folders remember where they were on the
screen - folders remember how big they were This enables you to
utilise the brain's superb spatial memory for file management.
Author : dailyanchovy
Score : 40 points
Date : 2025-10-01 20:58 UTC (4 days ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| p_ing wrote:
| While the Finder really sucks, this is jarring. I just wish the
| Finder remembered the view type (List, Icon, etc), but jumping
| the window size all around is difficult to look at and may block
| other elements (windows, desktop) I do want to see.
| dailyanchovy wrote:
| Ah yes, that may be an issue. But that is solved by not
| installing the "window_title_changed" hook, so that the scripts
| only take effect when new Finder windows are opened. In that
| case, windows never move around. All the points you mentioned
| are issues with the default behaviour of Finder (e.g. when
| opening a new Finder window as is, you cannot predict where it
| will open and so it may block other elements).
| p_ing wrote:
| Yes, when opening a new instance of Finder, I expect that the
| position won't be what I expect. But moving folder to folder
| it will stay the same. Sadly the Finder doesn't seem to
| respect previous types of views (List, Icon, etc) but I see
| you have a solution for the window size changing.
|
| Thanks!
| mmulet wrote:
| This looks useful! A lot of the time, I open a Space to work on a
| project and I want all my folders arranged in a certain way.
| Until now, I've been using Shortcuts, but it would be nice if
| Finder just remembered where everything should go.
| bapak wrote:
| > seemingly random positions and sizes
|
| No they don't? I'm on Sequoia and Finder windows open in exactly
| the position of my last window. Height does vary on the view
| style though.
|
| This looks maddening, it's the complete opposite of what I'd
| want.
|
| > seemingly random positions and sizes
|
| _Indeed, so let 's open each folder in an actually random
| position and size, whatever I sized it 3 weeks ago, really._
| dailyanchovy wrote:
| You can just choose not to use this. Nothing bad about having
| the choice, so no need to be negative.
| leakycap wrote:
| Do you understand what the phrase "Spatial Finder" means?
|
| You say: "windows open in exactly the position _of my last
| window_ " (hint: this is called browser behavior, not spatial
| behavior)
|
| Spatial Finder: windows ignore your _last window_ and open to
| "whatever I sized it 3 weeks ago" (each window space, position,
| size, etc is individually remembered by folder)
|
| You would be served to read up some Finder history, like the
| link to arstechnica featured on the github, so you can
| understand what Spatial Finder means before weighing in on a
| tool specifically designed to bring back that feature.
| leakycap wrote:
| I still use a Mac OS 9.2.2 based machine as my second brain, as
| no other file system I've used works like the human memory in the
| same way the spatial Finder does.
|
| Great job bringing something similar to the modern Finder!
| cosmic_cheese wrote:
| Interesting, but I think part of what made Classic Mac OS'
| spatial Finder work is that every folder only ever had a single
| window associated with it (similar to how in the physical world,
| spaces like folders and drawers only have a singular location)
| and opening a folder opens that window. It feels a touch strange
| to apply spatial logic to an Explorer-style navigator file
| manager.
| dailyanchovy wrote:
| I see. While making this I found that if you hide the Finder
| sidebar and toolbar (both are options in the menu), then your
| scenario plays out. In a way it's nicer than the video on my
| github.
| cosmic_cheese wrote:
| Yeah, single-window mode has been in the Finder for a very
| long time (wanna say since 10.1 or something), but compared
| to the OS 9 Finder it's always been a bit flaky and will
| sometimes forget window sizes+positions. I figure that it's
| probably never gotten the level of attention required to make
| it polished.
|
| It's also missing the open folder indicator that the Classic
| Finder had, where folders that had their window open
| somewhere had a different icon (filled with a stipple
| pattern). This is a bigger problem than it sounds like,
| particularly with OS X having multiple desktops and making it
| easier to lose windows.
| dcrazy wrote:
| Finder still supports spatial navigation mode. You just have to
| turn off the sidebar.
| immy wrote:
| Ever since iTunes, I've always wanted to do this for music.
| Realizing I'm probably not going to get around to build that.
| Nowadays, would love it for Spotify.
| jccc wrote:
| > Only folders inside the Documents folder are affected.
|
| That's quite a caveat. The reason for it is:
|
| > size and position are stored in a hidden .framedata.json file
| in that folder. When a folder is opened, this file is used to
| restore its state.
|
| Couldn't this information be stored centrally in the user's home
| for any folders opened/moved/sized, avoiding this limitation?
| dailyanchovy wrote:
| Oh that's not a limitation, it was a choice. You can remove
| that restriction by changing the appropriate line to scan ~
| instead of ~/Documents.
| krackers wrote:
| There's already a ds_store file littered around, and presumably
| these must be backwards compatible. So if the format were
| reverse engineered (maybe it already is) you could probably
| stuff in some data in there.
| hyperhello wrote:
| I don't think Spatial Finder is as useful as it once was. The
| reason is that these web interfaces block the whole screen, so I
| generally need to move the browser to the side, beep open a
| finder window, drag the file in, move the browser back, etc. What
| I would really like to have back from those days is to drag a
| folder to the bottom of the screen and have it turned into a
| little tab, so I can have a "CS602" tab for example during that
| class. Alternatively, how about putting the tab in the menu bar
| and doing it as a little popup? I'd probably pay $5 for that
| right now if it was implemented in a not annoying way.
| noduerme wrote:
| Why not put an accordion folder in the dock?
| hyperhello wrote:
| Not a bad idea, but the dock has gone to pot too. For example
| I just dragged an alias of a folder there and it doesn't even
| understand I wanted the folder.
|
| Everything seems to be at the point where you want to invite
| the developer over, get him drunk, and make him swear at his
| own product until he agrees the experience is not great. Of
| course there is no "the developer" anymore.
| likeclockwork wrote:
| Move the browser to the side? I can never understand why anyone
| would want to manually shuffle windows around as a disorganized
| stack.
|
| From my perspective the desktop metaphor UX was obsolete the
| moment it was conceived of. All anyone has to do is look at the
| physical desks of a thousand random people and it should be
| immediately obvious how little value there is in recreating
| that chaos.
| hyperhello wrote:
| It made a lot more sense back before every agent in the
| system had an interest in shipping the org chart and making
| their piece as cumbersome as possible to increase ad revenue.
| NaOH wrote:
| On the Mac it works to start dragging a file from one place
| and, while keeping the dragged file selected with the
| mouse/trackpad, using Command-Tab to switch to another
| application. If that's the Finder, once there Spring-loaded
| Folders can be activated/navigated while retaining the selected
| file.
| krackers wrote:
| The love for the spatial finder is the one thing I've never
| understood. It seems to fall apart when you work with a non-
| trivial number of files. For someone who has grown up comfortable
| with the abstractions of files and filesystems, what advantages
| do you get with this "spatial" metaphor, compared to just working
| directly with the hierarchy (e.g. list view or miller columns)?
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(page generated 2025-10-05 23:00 UTC)