Layout default preferences should depend on screen ratio

[gingerbeardman]

Describe the bug

• Thumbnail area is much larger than a full screen window when using portrait display

I use a portrait display and when I use AltTab it allocates more area than expected for each window thumbnail.

In the screenshot below, the highlighted window is a full screen Safari but you can see a lot of space below it.

Screenshot

Steps to reproduce the bug

1. Use a portrait display
2. Run AltTab
3. Invoke AltTab
4. See error

Expected

• thumbnail area should only be as big as full screen window

Actual

• thumbnail area is larger than full screen window

[lwouis]

Hi! Thanks for sharing this feedback!

I think the app is working properly. I think the issue is that your expectation is not matching the reality of the layout logic in the app. I think if you I asked you to actually draw what you think the app should present, you would start questioning your own position.

There are many ways to tile pictures on a screen. You can do what Mission Control does, and have very big differences in size. You can have very big thumbnails when the user only has a few windows open like 2 thumbnails would fill the whole space.

The way AltTab does it is to first fix things, so that position and sizes of thumbnails are dynamic, yet not too much. Your eyes can expect were the rows are going to be roughly, and where the 3rd thumbnail will appear for instance. First it fixes the size of the black background. That's a percentage of the screen, that you can customize in the preferences. Then it fixes the number of rows of thumbnails. That's also customizable. Then it will allocate more of less width for thumbnails according to the min and max number of thumbnails you set, while always preserving the ratio of images, so they are not distorted.

I suggest you play a bit with the preferences, and find a setup that you enjoy more. People have different tastes, and there is no way to ship a one-size-fits-all default. Someone who has a vertical display and 7 windows open like you will want quite different layout settings that someone with an ultra-wide monitor, that frequently works with 20+ windows at a time.

I'm closing this ticket as I can't see a bug here. If you think there are ways to improve the layout logic, please open a new improvement suggestion ticket, and specify in details how that new system would work 👍

[gingerbeardman]

Thanks, I had played about with the settings but I cannot make the area outlined in red shrink or disappear.

What is this space marked in red? Why would the thumbnail of a full screen need so much empty space underneath it?

It seems to be present underneath both rows of thumbnails:

I think if you I asked you to actually draw what you think the app should present, you would start questioning your own position.

Not at all, here is what I would expect the layout to be like:

(ignore the red lines a mistake whilst I edited these images)

On the official website, 2 rows does not have this extra space:

[gingerbeardman]

First it fixes the size of the black background. That's a percentage of the screen, that you can customize in the preferences.

I think this is the issue, you define the vertical size of things based on the dimensions of the screen. This makes a nice layout on a landscape display but on portrait display everything is stretched vertically.

So, I understand and agree that this is by your design.

However, I would say that this method of layout size calculation is not ideal for portrait displays.

[lwouis]

What if you put 2 windows side by side, splitting the screen 50% left and 50% right on your display? How does that look like in AltTab? Their ratio is going to be taller, and it may make use of the vertical space in red.

However, I would say that this method of layout size calculation is not ideal for portrait displays.

I have put hundred of hours in the current layout logic. That being said it doesn't mean it's the best it could be. It means that i'm not sure what could be done to improve. I need a clear algo/spec that mappable to an implementation, or better yet a PR to actually directly implement your vision

Also, could you try with more rows like 4 or 5 instead of 2 as you seem to have currently. It would make sense intuitively that on a vertical screen you would want more, and narrower rows.

Actually, that may be the takeaway here: we could have different defaults for different screen ratios so that the out-of-the-box experience is smoother. Mmm i like that idea!

[gingerbeardman]

Here's what I see with 2 windows of 50% width and 2 rows

[gingerbeardman]

And here is with 3 per row

[lwouis]

Yes, see, it all matches what I said. Now it's on you to decide your preferences based on the typical size of your windows. For instance, if you often have fullscreen windows, you may want more rows, so less tall, less of the empty space you highlighted in red. Note that that space is only empty because you have these window ratio. If you had slimmer windows as you have shown after, they would make use of the space.

It's all about the workflow you prefer. I, or any algo, can't make this decision for you ;) Based on the screenshot you seemed to want, I think you want 4-5 rows, with 3-4 column each. Have you tried something in that ballpark?

[gingerbeardman]

Yes, changing the values for "windows per row" and "rows of windows" I can reduce the space we are talking about.

So I think the defaults are great for landscape, but not great for portrait display. It's up to you what you do with this information, I guess.

Thanks for helping me with this. Feel free to close.

[lwouis]

Glad to hear you find preferences that work better for you! Btw I have been thinking on how to improve the complexity of the Preference UI for a while now. Maybe providing some presets like S, M, L, XL shirt sizes, but then there will always be people with specific hardware and preferences, and I don't want to remove customization from them. It's really tricky to not expose all the pipes, but still keep enabling all workflows.

I'll keep the ticket open because the idea to adapt the defaults depending on the main display ratio is a clear go I think. Note that I said main display. Currently AltTab shares the Appearance preference across all displays. Someone with a vertical and a horizontal monitor will have the same settings on both. Very complex scenario to handle. I don't even know where to start to support that! 🙉