TotalSpaces for Mac

2.9.9

2.9.9

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I bought an M1 MacBook Pro and still cannot get used to working with it without TotalSpaces. According to Binary Age, the developers, "The support in Big Sur is imperfect, and we are not able to support Apple Silicon macs at all. "So we have to admit that it’s the end of the road for TotalFinder and TotalSpaces2. We will not work on making TotalFinder or TotalSpaces2 work with the next version of macOS, and they will not be ported to Apple Silicon macs." That's the bad news. The good news is, "For a while now we have been working on a new version of TotalSpaces, TotalSpaces3. This version will work without modifying the system, and works with SIP enabled. It is a significant challenge to achieve an equivalent experience without the level of access that code injection provided us, but we believe it will be more than usable. "It is intended for Apple Silicon macs only (at this time), and is currently in private alpha testing."

Awesome, I love it as it! It really easy to see what is on individual desktops, and also makes it easier to move windows between desktops. Unfortunately broken under Big Sur. I will happily pay for an upgraded version!

Apple SIP is a valuable system protection measure. TotalSpaces requires it be disabled for installation and not be re-enabled. This is a major problem and for me at least means that TotalSpaces is unusable.

Version 2.8.7 was removed from the Developer's website due to significant bug. The current stable version is still 2.8.6.

2.7.9 just destroyed everything that was saved. I can't switch spaces, I can't set apps except for all spaces, I can only use 16x16 setting. every preference is gone. Time Machine does not work for this.

Hooray! I upgraded to Mojave and had some issues with this. Like others, this is an indispensable app; it's become part of the way I use my Mac. Oddly, the in-app updater takes it only to v2.75. How is this different?

I cannot live without this app.

Mojave beta 1 kills it completely. Hope it is updated soon. <sobbing>

1013.4 beta 4 kills the app, causes all screens to flash together

Updating TotalFinder and re-enabling SIP has disabled TotalSpaces2. I had to disable SIP again to get it to work. Will there be an update to TotalSpaces2 that allows re-enabling of SIP?

Why is this program listed as a new version when the version number is the same as the last one? where's the update?

Note that this app (like TotalFinder) has been discounted 50% (to $9) due to the fact that it will not work in El Capitan (though there is a workaround: turn off the new "System Integrity Protection"). More info at http://blog.binaryage.com/el-capitan-update/

While I understand that developers need to eat too, the idea of almost paying $20 for an app that mimics the Spaces function from an earlier version of the Mac OS (I am currently running Yosemite) is nuts. I understand that some users may have been really enamored of that earlier functionality, but considering that that was a fifth or a sixth the cost of the entire OS (before Apple began giving it away) it strikes me as too expensive.

WARNING: Apples recent security update (2015-01) for 10.8 *breaks* TotalSpaces 1.2.11 which still worked prior to this update. Now it's gone and I'm stuck without a solution.

Version 2.2.9 is not new. It was released last October.

The GRID is not present in Yosemite.Instead it returns you to a window that signifies your start page. I wrote to the Developer and so far no answer.

I've used this for about a week now and it would already be painful not to have it. I'm a pretty heavy spaces user, and being able to switch desktops instantly with no transitions has taken a ton of friction out of my workflow. The grid overview makes it much easier to see what's on each desktop. If you love virtual desktops, I can't recommend this enough -- especially for Linux users who find the slow transitions frustrating. What really sold me on TS2 is that it works with Mission Control instead of trying to replace it. Makes it much more stable, and even allows you to keep using the regular Mission Control overview (which I do).

Screen Casts Onlline does a fantastic review of this app and this is the reason I'm buying it. Thank you PRC

The original never worked for me, but (at least for the 15 minutes I've spent with it so far) TS2 is awesome. The Mission Control integration is seamless. With a single row arrangement and all transitions turned off, it makes desktop switching super fast, but I can still swipe up to see the regular Mission Control view (which I still prefer for certain things, like moving all windows that belong to the same app in one drag). Very cool.

There are now two versions of TotalSpaces: 1) TotalSpaces is for OS X Lion and Mountain Lion only, 2) TotalSpaces2 is for OS X Mavericks. TotalSpaces2 for Mavericks is a paid upgrade from TotalSpaces. Please download it and test it before upgrading your licence. Existing TotalSpaces users get a 40% Discount. Upgrades for recent purchases (since 10th June 2013) are FREE. Upgrade price is $10.80.

Excellent Software!

Very nice app! I am not a fan of mission control. Workflow is much easier/smoother in this app ;)

Does anyone know of an app that lets you spread ONE window across at least TWO spaces? This is where Spaces would be useful to me. As it is, it's just a useless eye-candy. (don't yell at me, I understand the use if you have multiple apps on each space, but most of the time you've got one window > one space, so it's just a "transition effect" for switching apps, ain't it? ;-)

I am registered with Total Spaces. I have been using it for a long time. Every now and then suddenly the GRID appears and I can not get off the Grid. I can't click on any thing on the grid and I can't use Force quit. It happens too often and I have to do a HARD Shutdown by holding the power button. It has gotten so bad that I can no longer have it as a log in item and I have quit it.

Wow! I had an older version that I turned off because it was too buggy, but 1.1.3 is fantastic! I have only been using 1.1.3 less than a day, but I am so impressed that I wanted to submit a quick review. It is working well with OS 10.8.2 on a MacBook Pro and a Mac Pro. Setup, hotkeys, functionality, interface are all excellent so far. It brings back the functionality of Apple's old Spaces, and more.

I'm putting in a new review for this version and I am giving it 5 stars. I am doing this so that the developer should get the recognition and appreciation he well deserves.In addition this runs great in ML bringing the feeling of Spaces that I love in My Snow Leopard Macs.

Great App as Spaces looks a lot better on ML. In fact Spaces are more like my Snow Leopard Macs with this great app.5 stars for sure.

Didn't have much luck with this. Immediately after I installed it, my desktop turned gray, the Dock disappeared (and wouldn't relaunch), and the TotalSpaces icon in the menubar was beachballed and wouldn't respond. Pretty much just hosed my machine until I uninstalled it. Not recommended.

Does this allow assigning a specific desktop to an external monitor ?

FINALLY! Despite it being 50% of the cost of then entire OS, this app brings back everything that made OS X phenomenal during its "Leopard" phase, and even improves upon the nightmare which is "Mission Control". It's essential and undoubtably the best app I've ever purchased for my Mac.

Nice update. As of 1.0.5, transitions are incredibly smooth. I love it!

Great App in every way!

This app simply does what it promises and is what I needed to restore my productivity on OS X after Mountain Lion update did its best to destroy it. Also lately there have been great improvements in both usability speed and stability. Now it feels really snappy with 9 desktops that I have renamed and use for different purposes. With this pace of changes it's soon going to surpass my customized Linux Compiz setup that I have spent a lot of time tweaking with. Good job!

total spaces really improves my workflow – recommended for all graphic designers and everyone else who works paralelly with multiple programmes! • 9 desktops, indesign in the middle, acrobat to the left, word n excell above, photoshop n illustrator below. mail n browser to the right. xtra stuff on the others. • things i wan't to pop up wherever i am unassigned. • with one or two alt+arrows i'm where i want – without digging in a jumble of windows. named desktops helps me remember where things are. • in over all view i drag windows manually if i need them to be beside each other while correcting texts or the like. i appreciate the neat lay out and the clear explanations on how to do what. and how TS has worked smoothly without even coughing once. showed it to a friend who said ”i want this”, obviously she needs a mac first...

This program remains extraordinarily buggy in its final release. It worked OK for a few minutes but then, once again (see my earlier post), when I hit the space bar when in overview mode, I thought my computer froze. But I found out that it was just running really slowly, taking sometimes more than a minute to respond to key and trackpad presses. Further (very slow) investigation found that the Dock, to which TotalSpaces apparently hacks into, was taking 1.6 GB (out of 4 GB) and using 50-80% CPU! Furthermore, I had installed it immediately after a system reboot and I noticed that the swap space had jumped to 5 GB. This obviously is unacceptable in any program especially a small utility such as this. It is possible that I aggravated it by opening Text Edit with 15-20 small files but this is a mild test. I am basing my review on the need for a program to be at least minimally useful and TotalSpaces fails that test. Just awful.

This app is awesome! I feel like I'm back to Snow Leopard, though I'm running Mountain Lion.

I like this App. It may not be perfect (yet) but I feel I got my money's worth.

Getting better and better and better. Please (Pretty Please), even grovel - can we have numbers option to be put on each desktop - that would really be the cream on the cake.

Wow. This is really buggy. The app's preferences say, "Use the space bar to toggle exposé when using the overview grid." So—if you press the space bar when viewing the overview grid, you will have to reboot because _all_ keyboard input is ignored, as are clicks. The only thing that works is the cursor but clicking does nothing. I temporarily set the preference to use three-finger swiping. I then decided this was dumb and I set the pref back to four-finger swiping, but three-finger swiping was still in effect. I quit and relaunched the program and got back four-finger swiping but now THREE-FINGER SWIPING IN MY BROWSER DOESN'T WORK which used to implement the forward and back buttons and I have no idea how to get it back. You broke my browser. If you use TotalSpaces, Mission Control will continue to run which is confusing but I suppose that is an Apple constraint. Missing from Total Spaces is the ability to Shift-drag while in grid overview to drag all the displayed windows from one space to another. Consider this a feature request. (But fix the freaking bugs first!) The developer should not be charging money for this beta software. 10.7.4 2009 MacBook Pro

Awsome ! Thanks' a zillion for bringing Spaces back ! Tried it and purchased two licenses right away but feel I owe you more for giving me Spaces back ! Keep up the brilliant work

I guess something is wrong with the leanest version. The overview grid just shows a blank black screen with a cursor for me. Currently I have reverted back to 0.10.3 which works great. Please fix it so I can get the long awaited fullscreen features. A few minutes without TotalSpaces made me super restless, as I realized how crippled Lion's multi tasking/window management is!

Excellent job so far! I love that I'm finally going to be able to move on from Snow Leopard, but what I really need is an option to switch desktops with a flick of the mouse combined with a modifier key. This is done beautifully in SL via Warp (http://www.ksuther.com/warp/). It's so quick to be able to just hold the option key down and move the mouse to the screen edge and switch over to a neighboring desktop. By having the modifier key you eliminate unwanted desktop switching and needing to add a delay. Thanks for considering!

Wow. I am just in awe of this app. I finally got used to mission control, but I missed some of the features of spaces. This is way better than either of them. my favorite part is the transition options. A few things to watch out for: -If you're using a Magic Trackpad/Mouse, it might freeze when you're changing the gestures in TotalSpaces, or also configuring the trackpad in system prefs with TotalSpaces open. Mine froze for about 2 minutes (although a regular mouse worked just fine while it was frozen). -After I enabled the gestures, every time I swiped it would switch 2 spaces. A simple shutdown and restart fixed the issue. A few suggestions to the developer: -This is obviously inspired somewhat by Compiz in Linux, it would be really cool to be able to change the way the full spaces view looks, for example under compiz you can view the desktop cube and spin it. Also, I don't know if it's just me but mine doesn't show a background in the full view, it looks like it does in the screenshots. Not a big deal but it would be cool. -Needs more gesture support, namely the ability to do a 4 finger swipe up for the full spaces view (as opposed to switching spaces that way, because I'm only using mine horizontally), just like mission control. -Any chance of a SL version? It seems like it's a mission control replacement rather than integration, so I feel like it should work. I tried some info.plist edits on 10.6.7 on my netbook but the app still remained crossed out. Really, really cool app. I have TotalFinder and TotalTerminal as well and I use them on a daily basis, this developer really knows how to make quality software.

This developer is doing Apple a favor, this makes me almost want to upgrade to Lion after all this time. Apple should really take a long, hard look of why only 40 percent of Mac users are actively using Lion right now.

Just in case you think I was wrong to write a comment before trying the app., I tried it, and an obligatory Preference choice I had to make was to assign each open app. to a particular desktop. 'Nuff said. The developer of this app. doesn't Get The Point Of It All any more than anybody else does. I. m. h. o. every one of these apps., Apple's incuded, is a snare and a delusion.

Here's what I want in a virtual desktop program (and I doubt I'm alone in this).I want a program that can work on a project-by-project basis as well as a program-by-program basis. What I mean is this. To support myself I have to churn out another children's book about that plucky little rabbit, and my hobby is writing anonymous death threats to public officials. And I use MS Word for both projects. I want a program that can handle this situation gracefully. I mean that, once I have my different desktops set up the way I want them for my different projects, I want a program that will accurately remember my chosen window preferences (on both my monitors). In fact I want a program which will accurately remember them across reboots. So far, I've tried 'em all, including Apple's various schemes, and none of them have come close to filling my needs. I'm about to download and try this one, maybe it will make me happier but I'm not very hopeful. Most of the people who write this kind of program seem out of touch with the way computer users actually work.

Switching to a space from a fullscreen app using the grid view does not work, since this version. It keeps me on the full screen app.

Wow, multiple monitors in Lion actually makes sense again! Bravo, BinaryAge! Thanks for this much-needed software. My only quibble: a short animation when triggering the overview grid would be nice, but this is just aesthetic. Functionally, TotalSpaces rocks!

Does everything I want it to do. Easy to set up. Seems to work flawlessly, at least so far. Spaces is back!

I agree with everyone expressing thanks to the developer to bring back Spaces. I also agree with some users, such as Shock-J, who point out that more features are needed so that this can be ready for prime-time and big-time on the Mac. The effects themselves may seem cosmetic, but the result would be an app that fits well into the user's overall desktop experience. More integration is needed with Mission Control. Here are some things to aim for: (1) A default transition into the grid that zooms back from the current desktop, as Mission Control does. (2) An ability to override MC's default swipe transition between desktops, so that whether the user changes desktops from within the grid overview or MC overview, they can still get the same transition, such as cube. (3) Along with #2, an ability to assign the same keyboard shortcuts to TS as to MC.

Excellent in every way! Reminiscent of Hyperspaces but has its own character and is very easy to use.

YES, YES AND YES! This is so close to perfect and can't even tell you. This developer is a superhero. Gestures have been added to the latest version. Two problems though... 1) Five fingers is a bit tough. Gotta get it down to at least four. 2) The swipe gestures are backwards!! Meaning the desktops change in the opposite direction of my gesture (and opposite of how Apple's gestures work, which is what we're all used to). To elaborate, if I have 3 desktops side by side and I'm on desktop 2, when I swipe from right to left, that means I'm moving desktop 2 offscreen to the left and bringing desktop 3 onscreen from the right. The desktops follow the motion of my hand. TotalSpaces is currently set up backwards where if I move from right to left (while on desktop 2), it moves me to desktop 1, presumably because desktop 1 is on the left and that's the direction I swiped in. But the desktop doesn't follow the motion of my hand. I moved from right to left, but the active desktop moved left to right... that's backwards. This needs to be flipped or give the end user a checkbox to choose which behavior they want. For people new to trackpads and gestures, this might be OK, but for experienced users, this will drive us crazy! I still totally love this app, but this has got to be addressed before it gets 5 star awesomeness.

Thank goodness someone has finally written some software that starts to fill the gaping whole Apple left with Spaces. This software is about two or three updates away from being awesome. Next steps to awesomeness are desktop labels and gestures. GOTTA have gestures. I use a trackpad at home and work and use the 3 finger swipe the change desktops. Going back to hotkeys will feel archaic. Thanks!

Hey, cool. It's the same developer who created TotalFinder (which I absolutely love - can't imagine my Mac without it). I'm still on 10.6.8, and one of the reasons I'm refusing to switch is the absence of grid-spaces in Lion. I'll keep watching this thread. Great idea, and good luck! ;-)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I cannot thank the developer enough for essentially bringing back VirtueDesktops. I have yearned for a superior virtual desktop manager for years to replace Apple's half-baked solution. I indeed hope as well that the memory requirements are kept to a minimum and that performance is very highly tuned. The last thing I want to add is another process to consume cycles and burden the sadly dated Mac OS X kernel any more.

Mission Control in Lion is a disaster, so I'm glad to see this program. (Obviously, the developer thinks so too.) I wonder if this program does away with the Mission Control feature where all of an app's windows from all spaces are grouped into the single reduced view. I suppose that's useful but should be an option, not the default. You can't even tell which space each window belongs to. I just want the Snow Leopard version of Spaces and Exposé back. Based on the developer's web site of contemplated changes, this looks like very much a work in progress, so I'll be keeping my eye on it. Let's hope it's not such a memory hog that it undoes its good intentions.

This is just great! ATM, I can use use all my desktops the way I did with Leopard/Snow Leopard. But the problem with full screen apps is still there. I'm sure this will be on the the dev's to-do. Apart from that, it works pretty well and does what it says. Great work!