Applications layout saving not working, or needs better documentation/manual

[andrewnenakhov]

I have 4 displays and I have some apps running regularly, and I want them to be on their places once I connect laptop to 3 additional displays. I bought pro version and for a day it did what I wanted, disconnecting displays and connecting them again was ok. Next day I came to office and they are again not on their own places.

It is very unclear how it works. It appears to save app locations on various displays, and works for some time, but then it just stops, and it is very unclear how to make windows jump to their home position.

Something like 'Apply' button would be helpful on the right side of 'displays' line.

[rxhanson]

Sorry to hear things aren't working as expected here. Let's see if we can figure out what's going on. I do have plans to improve this UI, with things like an "Apply" button but haven't gotten to it yet.

Looks like you have the keyboard shortcut control+command+` configured for triggering the layout. Since there's no "Apply" button, you can use this to see if your layout is working as expected. Your layout is just for the Rectangle Pro prefs window, so I would expect this prefs window to move to that location when the keyboard shortcut is executed (or in your case when a display is connected).

If that doesn't happen, then we would be looking at a bug, and it would be helpful to get logs: hold the option key and select view logging in the menu bar menu and try the keyboard shortcut again.

Since this layout is just for the Rectangle Pro prefs window, maybe that's the issue? I'm guessing that you only have the Rectangle Pro prefs window here for the sake of reporting the bug, and that you would typically have a full layout of apps otherwise.

As for the manual, well, you're looking at it. Ideally, the app would be intuitive enough to not require additional documentation. Rectangle Pro has a lot of features, and really good UI takes significant time. I've balanced some parts of the app in the direction of prioritizing getting features out the door, knowing that I will need to improve the UI later. I already know the pain points of the App groups / custom shortcuts UI, but it does help direct my efforts where needed when I get direct feedback.

[andrewnenakhov]

Thank you for your answer, I actually took more time to test the options and now it looks to be working, when you add all the apps to a group. I'll just list things that were unclear to me at the beginning:

• Save current layout + record layout button. When I click on it, it looks like the button I press is a shortcut for Saving layout. If this shortcut is meant to activate the layout, the label next to it should probably be named differently, like, 'Shortcut to activate layout + record shortcut button'
• indeed, I only added Rectangle App to a group, but from the wording of the interface I was expecting that all opened apps are already added, and that 'rectangle app' that appeared on the screenshot is some way of displaying this group. Maybe a simple wizard would be helpful here where all available apps are listed and you need to use checkboxes to clearly add them to groups, and you are clearly told what you need to do to activate this setup
• last thing, It appears that the windows didn't snap into places because I didn't check the 'trigger on wake' checkbox. Mainly I assumed that 'trigger on display connected' would be sufficient - and I first connected the display, then woke the laptop.

Also a suggestion: turns out that pressing (i) button next to Applications label brings a rather helpful pop-up. Maybe this popup infromation should be given more prominent place on the interface, for example, shrink somewhat a list of layouts (when you first see it it is empty anyway), and put it in the lower right part of the window, making it collapsible, so experienced users can remove it and open more screen estate.

( i think you may close this issue )