Why small screens are hard
- A 13-inch MacBook Air has about 1,470 points of width. Split in four, each window gets a sliver.
- Full-screen apps each live in their own Space, so you can't glance at two at once.
- Overlapping windows mean constant digging with Mission Control or ⌘Tab.
- The Dock and menu bar take some of the height that's already limited.
Options compared on a laptop
| Approach | On a small screen |
|---|---|
| Full screen and Spaces | One app at a time; swiping between Spaces loses context |
| Snapping halves (macOS tiling, Rectangle) | Two windows work well; a third lands on top |
| Grid tiling (AeroSpace, yabai, Amethyst) | Everything visible, but tiles get too small past three or four |
| Scrolling strip (LanesMac) | One or two windows at full size, the rest beside them, one swipe away |
How LanesMac uses a small screen
- Each window keeps a useful width, for example half or two thirds of the screen, however many you have open.
- ⌃⌥← and ⌃⌥→ slide the strip just far enough to show the next window, so you never lose your place.
- Hold ⌃⌥ and swipe sideways with two fingers on the trackpad to glide along the strip.
- Stack a terminal above its logs in one column to use the height well.
- Windows always stop above the Dock, and gaps can be set down to zero to win back space.
- Plug in an external display and it gets its own strip, with its own focus and scroll position.