What's new in Bower

Every change to Bower, newest first. You build Bower from source, so to get them, pull the latest code from GitHub and run ./install.sh again.

Version 1.2

  • New⌃⌥⇧ and an arrow swaps a window with the one beside it. In a tab group, ↑ and ↓ move the tab along.
  • New⌃⌥W makes a window wider in steps (½, ⅔, 90%, full) and ⌃⌥⇧W takes it back down. In Dock mode the neighbours share the rest.
  • New⌃⌥C centres a window, ⌃⌥B puts windows back in their places after an app moved them, and ⌃⌥M sends a window to your other display.
  • NewA focus ring: an optional line or soft glow around the window you're typing in. Settings › Appearance.
  • NewKeep space free along any edge of the screen, for a widget bar or a dock of your own. Settings › Dock.
  • NewBower's own windows can be Light, Dark or Automatic. Settings › Appearance.
  • NewMac setup, at the top of Settings › General, lists anything on your Mac that's stopping a feature, with a button to the right switch.
  • ImprovedMoving focus with ⌃⌥⌘ and an arrow carries on to your other display at the edge of this one. H J K L work as arrows with the focus and move keys.
  • ImprovedBrowser extension popups and other small panels stay where the app puts them instead of being tiled.
  • ImprovedA light tap on the trackpad when Bower gets permission and when setup is done.
  • ImprovedOpening several windows at once in Dock mode shares the screen out evenly instead of halving one corner again and again.
  • ImprovedAn app that brings itself forward on its own, like a VPN client or a chat app on a notification, no longer takes you to its layout. Switching to it yourself still does.
  • ImprovedBower no longer writes its settings file every few seconds while nothing changes.
  • NewHold a file or link dragged from another app over a tab, and after half a second that tab opens so you can drop it inside.

Version 1.1

  • FixedAfter the first swipe between layouts, pinching, rotating and smart zoom stopped working in every app until the next swipe. They work again.

  • NewEach profile of a browser can have its own layout. With an Edge or Chrome window of that profile in front, choose Bower's menu › the app › New windows open in.
  • NewA short What's New tour after you update, covering Claude and OpenAI keys and profile routes.
  • Improved"Zoom" is now called Expand, because it lets part of a layout fill the screen. Pinch out or press ⌃⌥= to expand, ⌃⌥- to go back a level, or ⌘⇧-drag a rectangle.
  • ImprovedBento Box and Dock mode make room for a window that can't get smaller than a certain size, by taking space from neighbours that can spare it. Before, it hung over the next tile or showed as an icon.
  • ImprovedThe About window opens in the middle of the screen you're on.
  • FixedThe Recipe and Save Workspace windows no longer have their bottom bar cut off.
  • FixedA new window routed to another layout (Edge in particular) no longer pops back onto the screen a moment after it opens.
  • FixedWindows that are slow to resize, like Claude and Edge, were taken to be too big for their tile and shown as icons.
  • FixedSwitching a display out of Dock or Tabs mode no longer leaves windows hidden or stacked.
  • FixedRunning Bower's tests while building from source no longer quits the copy you're using.

Version 1.0

  • NewClaude and OpenAI work for AI Recipes with your own key. Each key is kept in your login Keychain, "Get a key" opens the provider's page, and Bower picks a model for you.
  • ImprovedApps show their name and icon everywhere, never an identifier like com.apple.Safari.
  • ImprovedThe menu bar menu is grouped into This Display, the front app, Go, Workspaces, Recipes and Help, and a few settings moved to where you'd look for them.
  • ImprovedThe overview fades in and out, and windows move along a smoother curve.
  • ImprovedWhen a pinch can't expand, Bower tells you why: it's off on this desktop, there are no windows, or you're already all the way in.
  • FixedNew windows of an app could be mistaken for old ones and sent out of sight to another layout.
  • FixedOne pinch could do two things in a row, like closing the overview and then expanding.
  • FixedAfter a restart, windows of other layouts go out of sight again instead of staying on screen.
  • FixedIn Dock mode, snapping a window docks it on that side instead of laying it over the other tiles, and tab strips and gap handles follow when things move.
  • FixedThe Snap Wheel opened by middle-click or a three-finger tap acts on the window under the pointer.
  • FixedSmaller things: new recipes overwrote each other, Cancel in a recipe saved it, recipes couldn't be deleted, the welcome window's footer was cut off, Skip Setup didn't skip the lessons, and one route menu item removed the route.

  • NewDock mode: windows sit side by side and never overlap. Drag a title bar to an edge to dock it, onto the middle to make tabs, and drag the gaps to resize.
  • NewThe overview (⌃⌥O) shows every window on every display, with your layouts along the top. Expand (then called zoom) lets part of a layout fill the screen.
  • NewSaved views: ⌃⌥⇧ and a number saves what you're looking at, ⌃⌥ and the number brings it back. Back and forward too.
  • NewSwipe with three or four fingers to move between layouts. Bower takes the swipe from macOS so both don't happen; hold fn for macOS's own. A swipe that doesn't switch anything goes back to macOS.
  • NewPointing at a layout on the Snap Wheel shows its windows where they rest, and pointing at an action plays a small demo of it. The Window Mode picker plays one for each mode.
  • Newbower:// links, for Shortcuts, Raycast or your own scripts.
  • NewA full-screen window can stay in its layout instead of moving to a new desktop (Settings › General, on by default).
  • NewClicking an app in the Dock, or ⌘Tab, takes you to the layout its windows are in, and brings a background tab forward.
  • NewBower notices when macOS's edge tiling or Stage Manager would get in its way. Also new: Getting Started lessons, an update check you can turn on, logs and Report a Problem.
  • NewSimplified Chinese, and a button on each layout to clear it.
  • ImprovedNear a screen edge the Snap Wheel moves inward instead of being cut off, and pressing its shortcut or tapping again brings it to the pointer.
  • FixedWindows of apps started by a launcher script, like separate Claude profiles, couldn't be seen, snapped or sent to a layout.
  • FixedEdge windows lost their layout when Edge reopened. They're matched by profile now.
  • FixedBrowser windows from other layouts popped back when a window entered or left full screen.
  • FixedSettings could crash on its tab icons, a plain ⌘⇧-click didn't reach the app, and Esc now closes the overview from any app.

  • NewFirst release. Nine named layouts across every display, switched with ⌥1–⌥9. Native, Bento Box and Tabs modes for each display. Snapping with a live preview, the Snap Wheel, the Layouts Bar, Workspaces, an Offline shelf for unplugged monitors, windows that come back after an app restarts, AI Recipes and shortcuts you can change.
  • NewIn English, Persian, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese and Italian.
  • ImprovedThe Persian text was rewritten in a plain, everyday voice.

Something broken, or missing? Tell me. The full commit history is on GitHub.