[HN Gopher] Alan.app - Add a Border to macOS Active Window
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Alan.app - Add a Border to macOS Active Window
Author : donatj
Score : 35 points
Date : 2025-11-26 19:12 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (tyler.io)
(TXT) w3m dump (tyler.io)
| smcleod wrote:
| This has been a serious problem since macOS Tahoe. Whoever signed
| off on the UI for Tahoe needs a serious schooling in UI/UX design
| principles - it's incredibly hostile to users. Not only does it
| make it impossible to distinguish between overlapping windows as
| this tool seeks to mitigate, there's many confusing UI elements
| and lack of contrast not to mention why it has so much padding on
| everything - you're left with far less usable space.
| swyx wrote:
| i cannot wait for OpenAIPhone and then OpenAIMac to come out
| and make Apple wake the fuck up
| throw-the-towel wrote:
| Somehow it's so cute that the name of the app is, well, a _name_.
| tailspin2019 wrote:
| Maybe derived from "a line"?
| nexton wrote:
| As an Aussie, I assumed it was a reference to:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Border
| mbreese wrote:
| In reading more from this guy's blog, he also wrote a game
| called "Steve".
|
| https://stevethegame.com/
| nreilly wrote:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allan_Border Is a pretty famous
| cricketer.
| who-shot-jr wrote:
| There is also https://github.com/FelixKratz/JankyBorders
|
| Bizarre that this has not been fixed by Apple, it has been an
| annoyance well before Tahoe. Relying on the three dots in the top
| left corner to see which window is on top gets frustrating.
| phantasmish wrote:
| Oh damn, this has been causing me trouble when working in half-
| and-half and quartered windows as recently as this week. I'll
| be installing the one you linked, or the one the thread-link
| points to. Thanks, didn't occur to me this would be a thing but
| of course it is.
| Atreiden wrote:
| Always glad to see more software in the window management space,
| especially for MacOS.
|
| Any reason to use this over JankyBorders? I'm using it alongside
| Aerospace right now and forget sometimes it isn't built-in. Kind
| of weird to me that after all this time this is such a sparsely
| implemented feature. But the combo with Aerospace works well.
| Only thing missing is support in Aerospace for a toggle to have a
| window expand to the size of it's container. Really liked that
| feature in Yabai, made working with multiple tiled terminals
| really nice
| evaneykelen wrote:
| I'm surprised this feature isn't part of the built-in
| Accessibility Settings. Neat little app!
| treetalker wrote:
| A similar app I really like is HazeOver, which is a configurable
| dimmer for everything on the screen except the front window.
|
| https://hazeover.com/
| CharlesW wrote:
| HazeOver is _great_ , even when configured to be very subtle.
| zaius wrote:
| That is an A+ demo video - dimming the background of the page
| in sync with the effects in the video is very clever.
| lanewinfield wrote:
| I love how the site reflects the darkness of the screen in the
| youtube video. nice touch!
| l5870uoo9y wrote:
| Am I the only one who can't see what the problem is in that
| screencast? Click on the window you want to use or tab through
| until you find the right one.
| Jeremy1026 wrote:
| This is great, but do wish the border followed the radius of the
| native window's corners.
| phren0logy wrote:
| The recent direction of MacOS has been a good excuse to try out a
| few new linux distros. As someone who was away from linux for a
| while, the degree of UI customization continues to be both
| amazing and a little overwhelming, but it feels more polished
| than before. Taking a look at Niri and hyperland, it's hard to
| feel satisfied with the UI of MacOS.
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(page generated 2025-11-26 23:00 UTC)