man Ive been using i3wm and sway for the past year with arch/fedora. I bought an m1 air and im seriously considering selling it and getting a cheaper t480 Thinkpad. thing is, I absolutely LOVE the screen keyboard and trackpad on the m1. Im quite concerned of the longevity of this laptop since I paid almost 1000 euros for it....but the experience has been great. I might try out yabbai, cause if I can't fly around my laptop I might end up selling it. xD I truly can't recommend window managers enough. Once you get used to a wm of your choice, vim and the terminal. A computer becomes a TRUE fun experience, and not this slow...sluggish....menu clicking BS.
I agree -- keyboard based window management is amazing. I'll be honest I haven't tried Yabai since switching to an M1 mac, but my prior experience with it was fantastic. I wish there were more options for platforms outside Linux, however!
I use Arch with i3 + polybar on my personal computer, but at the company I work at, they require us to program using macbooks. As someone who is used to flying around my computer using only the keyboard using the macbook threw me off. This seems like a very good alternative, gonna try this out.
Long time linux user (Arch+i3+vim+tmux). How's the 9 month check in on this? I'm jumping on the MacBook Pro for the m1 until linux has a comparable. Might trade out macOS for arch soon though!
I'm about to migrate to mac os, and I'm really surprised how similar Yabai and skhd are to Bspwm and sxhkd, in terms of configuration. I'm really happy that I found this, thank you.
People have begged me to try this out given my preference for TWM's and terminals. One day, glad its working for you, seeing some of the behavior it seems like it may do what i need. What does it look like when you try to send a window/application to another workplace?
IIRC, it's super easy to set up and do with SIP disabled. Without SIP enabled, it's possible but requires a few scripts (which I grabbed from the video I mentioned). Seems to be working just fine for now!
As someone who comes from a i3 background, I can't get my head around the fact there seems to be no way to assign spaces to specific displays. This is a must have for any tiler. Also, Yabai is "Free Software".
I've actually moved to Windows 😱 but while I was using Yabai, it was working nicely for the most part. I think the fast paced OS upgrades have possibly caused challenges for the dev though IIRC.
I want to get into tiling because I use a 40 inch TV as a monitor so i need an efficient way to manage the extra real estate. Does Yabai support resizing tiles up and down? Im using amethyst and it only allows you to resize side to side which is a deal-breaker for mer.
This is a really cool program but I'm mostly stuck on how your terminal prompt is at the bottom even though there isn't anything else on the screen. How did you do that?
I think he has just added a function to his .bashrc that adds blank lines equal to the height of the terminal window. .bashrc is executed every time a new terminal window is opened. Google search for "stackoverflow keep shell prompt in the middle of page" then look at the answer posted by "enlico"
I'm not a keyboard shortcut focused user when it comes to window managers, will this work for me if I prefer to drag windows into set zones/grid? Currently very comfortably using Powertoy's FanzyZones on windows. But I'm thinking of switching to Mac.
This is bit more cumbersome to work with than FancyZones. You could try Amethyst or even Moom on Mac to get similar functionality that's less complex to handle.
I’m playing with this as well. Last I checked it depends on the app you are using. For instance you can hide the titlebar in iterm2, but most apps don’t allow it.
I like it quite a bit better - it's more customizable and feels like a well rounded window management experience. Amethyst feels like an app that wrangles windows.
oh my goodness, the moment when the windows automatically resized themselves. be still my heart. thank youuuu for showing off yabai!
RIGHT?
Great video, but in these keyboard centric videos you could use something like screenkeys to show overlay of keypresses
Yes! Sorry about that -- I'll do that in the future :)
man Ive been using i3wm and sway for the past year with arch/fedora. I bought an m1 air and im seriously considering selling it and getting a cheaper t480 Thinkpad. thing is, I absolutely LOVE the screen keyboard and trackpad on the m1. Im quite concerned of the longevity of this laptop since I paid almost 1000 euros for it....but the experience has been great. I might try out yabbai, cause if I can't fly around my laptop I might end up selling it. xD
I truly can't recommend window managers enough. Once you get used to a wm of your choice, vim and the terminal. A computer becomes a TRUE fun experience, and not this slow...sluggish....menu clicking BS.
I agree -- keyboard based window management is amazing. I'll be honest I haven't tried Yabai since switching to an M1 mac, but my prior experience with it was fantastic. I wish there were more options for platforms outside Linux, however!
I use Arch with i3 + polybar on my personal computer, but at the company I work at, they require us to program using macbooks. As someone who is used to flying around my computer using only the keyboard using the macbook threw me off. This seems like a very good alternative, gonna try this out.
I've found it to be really nice. There's a bunch of ways to rice this too including using Ubersicht
Long time linux user (Arch+i3+vim+tmux). How's the 9 month check in on this? I'm jumping on the MacBook Pro for the m1 until linux has a comparable. Might trade out macOS for arch soon though!
@@thatguynar nice, I’m on nixOS+qtile+polybar
I'm about to migrate to mac os, and I'm really surprised how similar Yabai and skhd are to Bspwm and sxhkd, in terms of configuration.
I'm really happy that I found this, thank you.
It really enabled me to come back to the mac from linux. It's so nice to use!
Thanks for the overview!
People have begged me to try this out given my preference for TWM's and terminals. One day, glad its working for you, seeing some of the behavior it seems like it may do what i need. What does it look like when you try to send a window/application to another workplace?
IIRC, it's super easy to set up and do with SIP disabled. Without SIP enabled, it's possible but requires a few scripts (which I grabbed from the video I mentioned). Seems to be working just fine for now!
@@EffectiveCo sweeeeet
I’ve been using Stage Manager again. It’s good for reducing clutter but also requires a lot of window swapping with cmd+tab.
Hey! Great video, did you upload your dotfiles on github or sth like that?
I haven't yet but I definitely should! I used the config files from the video I linked as a starting point however.
Great video. Thank you!
You are welcome!
As someone who comes from a i3 background, I can't get my head around the fact there seems to be no way to assign spaces to specific displays. This is a must have for any tiler. Also, Yabai is "Free Software".
It does seem to have its quirks, but it does well for having a small dev team and not being quite as mature as i3.
> I can't get my head around the fact there seems to be no way to assign spaces to specific displays
That's kind of a deal breaker for me
@@EffectiveCo i3 is a small team too lmao. sway as well. this is a joke.
Hey man, can we get an updated video on how Yabai is holding up for you?
I've actually moved to Windows 😱 but while I was using Yabai, it was working nicely for the most part. I think the fast paced OS upgrades have possibly caused challenges for the dev though IIRC.
@@EffectiveCo But why you moved? Tell us your story!
are you still using yabai
I want to get into tiling because I use a 40 inch TV as a monitor so i need an efficient way to manage the extra real estate.
Does Yabai support resizing tiles up and down? Im using amethyst and it only allows you to resize side to side which is a deal-breaker for mer.
It sure does!
This is a really cool program but I'm mostly stuck on how your terminal prompt is at the bottom even though there isn't anything else on the screen. How did you do that?
I think he has just added a function to his .bashrc that adds blank lines equal to the height of the terminal window. .bashrc is executed every time a new terminal window is opened. Google search for "stackoverflow keep shell prompt in the middle of page" then look at the answer posted by "enlico"
does "focus follows" mouse work in Yabai also with multiple screens?
question how does it work with opening tabs?
Do you have the config files stored somewhere?
😅 I've been intending to get them on GitHub for months
@@EffectiveCo probably still not here right? :P
would be also nice if you can make all the window corners sharp on macOS
Would be so nice
I'm not a keyboard shortcut focused user when it comes to window managers, will this work for me if I prefer to drag windows into set zones/grid?
Currently very comfortably using Powertoy's FanzyZones on windows. But I'm thinking of switching to Mac.
This is bit more cumbersome to work with than FancyZones. You could try Amethyst or even Moom on Mac to get similar functionality that's less complex to handle.
Sadly FancyZones is still KING! Can some give some advice for a Tile Manager for MacOS and Linux as easy as FancyZones.
probably not as easy, but most people using it are even more effective than FancyZones users: i3 and/or dwm
Yabai not working on Mac m1 :( I am using amethyst
Check out this GitHub Issue: github.com/koekeishiya/yabai/issues/725
Sounds like Yabai works on M1 but the scripting additions do not.
hey great vid but it's possible to hide application title bars in macos at all?
It might be possible, but I haven't gone that deep I'm afraid. Checking out /r/unixporn on Reddit for yabai setups might yield some helpful info!
@@EffectiveCo ok thanks!
I’m playing with this as well. Last I checked it depends on the app you are using. For instance you can hide the titlebar in iterm2, but most apps don’t allow it.
how to get rofi
How does Yabai compare to Amethyst?
it’s just better
I like it quite a bit better - it's more customizable and feels like a well rounded window management experience. Amethyst feels like an app that wrangles windows.
Thanks for the video! If have RSA issues get an ergodox ez!
Split keyboards, even the Microsoft Sculpt, are good for this :)
@@EffectiveCo split, ortholinear and with oryx for onboard customisation 🙂