Magnet 4+

Apple has done very well to declare Magnet an Invaluable Utility and list it in its grouping of best “Get Productive” apps - it’s a tiny little program that gives Finder and program windows on the Mac the “Snap” feature that Microsoft Windows has had for quite a while now. With Magnet you can effortlessly resize windows to fill any half of the screen (horizontal or vertical), quarter of the screen, 1/3 or 2/3 of the screen (vertically), or fill just the center or the entirety of the screen by dragging the window to the appropriate area at the edge of the screen or by hitting the associated key combo (all of which you can easily define). If that sounds complicated, it’s not - you’ll get used to it in seconds and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it. Think of it as the window-tiling feature in Microsoft Excel for the Mac…but for *everything*. Magnet makes it easy to compare lists, use screen space effectively and efficiently, present data consistently and attractively…you’ll find a use for it, and you’ll love it.

Magnet has become one of those absolutely essential programs that I immediately miss when I use a Mac that doesn’t have it running. It’s entirely worthy of its ludicrously high Customer Ratings; if you have the slightest inclination toward buying it, I heartily encourage you to do so.

I have tried ALL of the window management apps. Seriously all of them. Most of them require insane customization and memorization of shortcuts, causing a steep learning curve to build the system that you want, but Magnet is intuitive. There is almost no customization available and no customization needed. I figured it out in about 5 mins of playing around and have got more out of it than any of the other apps. I also like that it recognizes vertical screens and adapts the options unique to them. I have a complex monitor setup: at work I have an ultrawide monitor and a vertical monitor side by side. At home I have an super-ultra-wide (Samsung Odyssey 21:9 x 49") and this adapts to them all. I easily drag to the location and I love that I can drag across multiple zones quickly and it "magnets" to multiple zones and then sizes it to that size. This is so intuitive and flexible. I was a power user in < 5 mins. The other tools require hours of setup for all my specialty monitors. Sold on magnet for life. Thanks for trying something different instead of replicating the wheel. This is the way window management should be.

I’ve had continuous problems with this app since installing it. When using the menu on the top bar, apps reliably are resized to whichever part of the screen I choose. However, dragging an app to an edge of the screen to have it automatically resized only works sometimes. It’s so inconsistent. I’ve had Firefox open in more than one window and one of the windows would get picked up at the screen edge just fine, but then the other one wouldn’t. I’ve had apps that I’ve tried to resize by pulling them to the edge of the screen and it didn’t work over and over again, then the app just got chucked onto the next Desktop over rather than actually resize in the right way. It’s very frustrating! I’ve found myself resizing apps manually which really defeats the purpose of having this app. But, sometimes, it’s just less of a struggle. I’m sending a message to the support. Maybe they’ll be able to fix this. Update: I contacted support and nobody even bothered to respond to me. I waited a while so I certainly gave them enough of a chance to respond. I even offered to help them track down the issue. I consider this a real deal-breaker for developers not to care enough to respond to a paying customer. Considering this and the issues I’ve had with this app, I do not recommend it. If you do decide to get it, understand that there’s obviously no guarantee that it’ll work, or that you’ll get any support whatsoever if you encounter issues.