Show HN: LanesMac – A scrolling tiling window manager for macOS

LanesMac is a scrolling window manager for macOS. Open as many apps as you like. Nothing shrinks, nothing overlaps. Just scroll to the one you need.

Download free trialTry it on this page

Free for 24 hours, then $9.99 once. macOS 13 Ventura or later.

Thu 9:41

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lanesmac.com

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~/project > git status

On branch main

nothing to commit

~/project > cargo test

running 42 tests

test result: ok

~/project >

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←Focus left→Focus right⇧←Move left⇧→Move rightRCycle widthFFull screenCCentreSStackDPop out⇧TTabbed columnFocus borderDim inactive

LanesMac Strip active · Column 3 of 4

In the app, every shortcut above starts with ⌃ ⌥ (Control + Option). In this demo, point at the desktop and press the key on its own or with ⌃⌥, click a button, swipe sideways on your trackpad, or press and drag the desktop. You can also drag a title bar to reorder windows and click a Dock icon to open an app.

Notarized by Apple

Signed with Developer ID

No tracking inside the app

Accessibility is the only permission

Free updates, forever

See it on a real Mac

Nineteen seconds of LanesMac running on macOS. Nothing shrinks, nothing overlaps.

A grid tiler fits every window into the same rectangle, so each app you open makes the others narrower. In LanesMac, every window is a column on one long horizontal strip, and your display is a window onto part of it. Open something new and the strip simply grows.

Each new app cuts the screen into thinner slices.

The strip grows longer. No window gets smaller.

3 windows open. A grid gives each one a third of the screen. On the strip, every window still gets half.

Launch an app and its window takes the next spot on the strip, right after the one you were working in. It never lands on top of something else.

Press a key, or hold ⌃⌥ and swipe the trackpad, and the strip glides until the window you want is in view. It moves only as far as it needs to.

Your columns, widths and stacks are restored after a restart, and each display keeps its own strip, so your setup is where you left it.

If you've used a scrolling window manager on Linux, you already know how this works. LanesMac adds what you expect from a Mac app: a real settings window instead of a config file, trackpad gestures, and no need to disable System Integrity Protection.

Put two to five related windows in one column, like a terminal above its logs. Pull a window into the column beside it, pop it back out, and change each row's height.

When every window in a column needs the full height, switch the stack to tabs. A slim tab bar shows what's inside, and one key switches it back.

Cycle a window through 25, 33, 50, 66 and 75 percent, or nudge it wider and narrower. Whatever width you pick, it keeps when new windows open.

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Keep chat, music or a dashboard fixed to the left or right edge of the screen while the rest of the strip scrolls past it. Press the same key again to unpin.

Each monitor gets its own strip, focus and scroll position. Scroll your laptop without moving your external display, and send a window across with one shortcut.

Hold ⌃⌥ and swipe sideways with two fingers: the strip follows your fingers, then settles on the nearest window. Without ⌃⌥, apps scroll sideways as usual. You can also turn on three- and four-finger swipes in Settings.

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Type a few letters to jump to any open window, or zoom out to see the whole strip at once and pick one. Windows 1 to 9 are a single shortcut away.

❯ npm test && lanesmac notify --status success

The lanesmac command-line tool and lanesmac:// links let you focus windows, save and load layouts, and flag a column when a long job finishes. They work from Raycast, Alfred or any shell script.

Every default starts with ⌃⌥ Control and Option, which leaves plain ⌥ free for typing accented characters and jumping by word. Arrow keys and Vim keys both work, and you can rebind any of them.

Need a break? ⌃⌥Q pauses LanesMac and resumes it again.

LanesMac lives in your menu bar, and everything is set up in a regular settings window, from gaps and widths to every shortcut. There is nothing to compile and no dotfile to learn.

It asks for one permission, Accessibility, because that is the only way macOS lets any app move windows. It doesn't touch System Integrity Protection, and it never sends your data anywhere.

One-time payment, lifetime license, works on one Mac. No subscription and no account.

$9.99 for the first 20 customers, then $19.99

No code needed: the launch price is applied automatically at checkout.

Everything in LanesMac 1.0.3: the scrolling strip, stacks, tabbed columns, pinned columns, trackpad swipes and multiple displays

Free updates for every release

Works offline after a one-time activation, no account needed

Email support from the people who build it

Buy — $9.99Not sure yet? Try it free for 24 hours

Requires macOS 13 Ventura or later on Apple silicon or Intel.

Payments handled securely by Dodo Payments.

All sales are final: no refunds (terms). Please check the requirements first.

Instead of piling windows on top of each other, or slicing the screen into smaller and smaller tiles, a scrolling window manager places every window in one row of full-height columns. Your display shows a part of that row, and moving focus slides the row to the window you want. Linux users know the idea from PaperWM and niri. LanesMac brings it to the Mac.PaperWM for Mac

Rectangle and Magnet snap a window into a half or a third when you ask them to, but everything else still overlaps. yabai and AeroSpace tile automatically, but every new window splits the same screen again. LanesMac tiles automatically and lets each window keep its width. Extra windows simply wait off to the side until you scroll to them.vs AeroSpacevs yabaivs Rectangle

LanesMac requires macOS 13 Ventura or later. It is a universal app that runs natively on Apple silicon and Intel Macs.

macOS only lets an app move and resize other apps' windows through the Accessibility API. Every window manager on the Mac needs it for that reason. It is the only permission LanesMac asks for, and you can turn it off at any time in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility.

Yes. Every display gets a strip of its own, with its own focus and scroll position, so scrolling on your laptop never moves the windows on your external monitor. Press ⌃⌥N to send the focused window to the next display.

Yes. Two window managers moving the same windows will fight each other, and their shortcuts may clash. Quit Rectangle, Magnet, yabai, Amethyst or AeroSpace before you start LanesMac; it tells you if one is still running. If a few apps should never tile, float them with ⌃⌥T or add a per-app rule in Settings.

Yes. After the first launch you get 24 hours of free access with every feature included, no account and no card. After that, LanesMac needs a license.

No. Each license works on one Mac. To use LanesMac on a second Mac, buy another license for it.

Still curious? Read the full FAQ or contact support.

Download LanesMac and give the strip a day. Every feature is unlocked during the trial.

Download free trialBuy — $9.99

macOS 13 Ventura or later · Apple silicon and Intel Macs