ChainYourMac
Every window on one endless strip
One-time purchase · macOS 13 or later on Apple silicon
- Price
- $19.99 and up
- Category
- Utilities
- Requires
- macOS 13 or later
- Size
- 8.2 MB download
- Licenses
- 4 options Up to 20 activations
- Developer
- Snugbits indie
Click the desktop, then press ← and →. You can also drag it sideways or open apps from the Dock.
A working model, not a video. In ChainYourMac you hold ⌃ ⌥ with each key; here the keys work on their own too. Drag a title bar to reorder, and close a window with its red button.
ChainYourMac places your windows side by side on a horizontal strip that carries on past the edges of the screen. Open an app and its window takes the spot right next to the one you are using. Nothing overlaps, and nothing you already arranged gets smaller.
It is made for people who keep a lot open at once: an editor, a terminal and a browser, or notes, mail and chat. It suits a laptop screen as well as a wide monitor, and anyone who has used PaperWM or niri on Linux will feel at home.
Where grid tilers carve up the screen again with every new window, ChainYourMac keeps the widths you choose and lets you scroll. It is a native SwiftUI app with a Rust window engine built on Paneru, an open-source project under the MIT license, and every setting lives in a window instead of a config file.
The idea
A strip instead of a grid
Grid tilers split the same screen into smaller and smaller pieces each time an app opens. ChainYourMac makes the strip longer instead, so every window keeps the width you gave it and you simply scroll to it.
Grid tiling
ChainYourMac
Three windows each. Open a few more and watch what happens to their size.
Stacks and tabs
Share a column when it helps
Pull a window into the column beside it and the two stack top to bottom. Push it back out when it needs the room. One shortcut turns a stack into tabs, so each window gets the full height.
- Stack into the column on either side, and reorder within it
- Make any window in a stack taller or shorter
- Click a tab, or press ⌃⌥↑ and ⌃⌥↓, to switch
Widths and gaps
Sizes that stay put
Step a window through preset widths, let it fill the screen, or bring it to the center. The widths you set stay set, and the layout always leaves room for the Dock.
- Presets of 25, 33, 50, 66 and 75 percent, and you can edit them
- Gaps between windows and at the screen edges, down to zero
- Every change in Settings shows up on screen right away
Trackpad and keyboard
A swipe that follows your fingers
Swipe sideways and the strip moves with your fingers, one to one, then comes to rest on the nearest window. Prefer the keyboard? Every move has a Control-Option shortcut, and each one can be changed.
- A four-finger swipe by default, or three if you prefer
- Hold ⌃⌥ and scroll a mouse wheel to step through windows
- Jump straight to a window with ⌃⌥1 to 9
Multiple displays
One strip for each display
Every display keeps its own windows, focus and scroll position, and a single shortcut sends a window to the next screen. Each Space gets a strip of its own too.
- Windows stop at the edge instead of spilling onto the next screen
- Turn ChainYourMac off for one display, such as a presentation screen
- Your layout comes back after sleep, a locked screen or a restart
MacBook
External display
Features
Pinned columns
Keep one window fixed at the left or right edge while the rest of the strip scrolls beside it.
Strip indicator
App icons show where you are on the strip. Hold ⌃⌥ to keep it up, click to jump, drag to reorder.
Smart floating
Dialogs, Quick Look, image previews and fixed-size windows like Calculator float on their own.
Per-app rules
Choose apps that should always float, or give an app a fixed spot on the strip.
Session restore
Column order and stacks come back after a restart, without a reshuffle.
No config files
Every option has a control and applies instantly. A URL scheme, Raycast commands and a CLI cover automation.
Choose your license
Pay once. No subscription, no account.
1 Mac
1 activation
$19.99
one-time purchase
The standard license.
- Lifetime license
- Free updates
- Email support from the developer
3 Macs
Up to 3 activations
$49.99
one-time purchase
One key for all three.
- Lifetime license
- Free updates
- Email support from the developer
5 Macs
Up to 5 activations
$79.99
one-time purchase
One key for all five.
- Lifetime license
- Free updates
- Email support from the developer
20 Macs
Up to 20 activations
$299.99
one-time purchase
One key for a whole team.
- Lifetime license
- Free updates
- Email support from the developer
Every license is lifetime and includes all future updates. To move a license to another Mac, deactivate it in the app first. Checkout is handled by Dodo Payments.
Questions
Which Macs does ChainYourMac run on?
It needs macOS 13 Ventura or later on a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or newer). Intel Macs are not supported.
How many Macs can I use it on?
The standard license covers one Mac. There are also licenses for 3, 5 and 20 Macs, each a single key. To switch to a new Mac, deactivate the license in the app on the old one, then activate it on the new one.
What permissions does it need?
Only Accessibility. macOS lets an app move and resize other apps’ windows only through that permission, so every window manager asks for it. ChainYourMac needs no Screen Recording, no Input Monitoring and no changes to System Integrity Protection.
Does it collect any data?
There is no account and no telemetry in the app. Windows are managed entirely on your Mac, and the app does not read what is on your screen.
How is it different from PaperWM or niri?
It follows the same scrolling idea: windows sit in columns on a strip and you move along it. The difference is that ChainYourMac is a native Mac app, with a settings window, a trackpad swipe that tracks your fingers, and no scripts or config files to maintain.
Can I use it alongside Rectangle, Magnet or Stage Manager?
It works best on its own, because those tools move windows too. ChainYourMac’s Mac Setup screen checks your macOS settings and warns you when another window manager or snapping app is running.
How do updates work?
New versions arrive inside the app through Sparkle, the standard Mac updater, and every license includes them at no extra cost.
What happens after I buy?
Checkout is handled by Dodo Payments. The download and your license key arrive by email right away. Enter the key in the app and you are set.
