Drop windows onto layout pads — an open-source revival of Window Tidy for macOS 26+.
Window Tidy (Light Pillar, retired 2017) had one idea nothing else replicated well: while you drag a window, explicit layout pads pop up — drop the window on a pad and it snaps to that layout's position and size. Because the drop targets are pads, not screen edges, it behaves sanely on multi-monitor setups: dragging left moves to the left display instead of accidentally tiling.
The original is Intel-only and dies with Rosetta 2 (macOS 27 is its last stop). TinyWindow is a native Apple Silicon replacement with 1:1 interaction, and it imports your existing Window Tidy layouts.
- Drag any app's window → a strip of layout pads fades in on the screen under your cursor, and follows you across displays
- Hover a pad → it highlights and the target region is previewed on the destination screen; release → the window snaps there
- Layouts are per-layout grids (e.g. 6×6) with a drag-selected cell range; fixed-size layouts supported for import fidelity
- Option-key modes: always show / hold ⌥ to show / hold ⌥ to hide
- Pad strip position (bottom/top/left/right), pad titles, minimum drag distance, per-app blacklist
- Menu bar: apply any layout to the frontmost window, recover a window to the cursor's screen, launch at login
- One-click import of Window Tidy's
Layouts.data(layouts + Option/titles preferences) - ~0% idle CPU (the event tap receives nothing until you actually drag)
- Download
TinyWindow-x.y.z.dmgfrom Releases, open it, and drag TinyWindow into Applications (a zip is also provided). - Gatekeeper will block the unsigned build: System Settings → Privacy & Security → scroll to "TinyWindow was blocked" → Open Anyway (or
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/TinyWindow.app). - Grant Accessibility permission when prompted (required to move other apps' windows). Note: each release update resets this grant — a known limitation of unsigned builds.
- Recommended: System Settings → Desktop & Dock → turn off "Drag windows to screen edges to tile", so the OS tiling preview doesn't fight the pads.
Command Line Tools with the macOS 26 SDK are enough:
git clone https://github.com/TinyQAQ/TinyWindow.git && cd TinyWindow
make run # swift build + assemble dist/TinyWindow.app + launch
make test # run the check suiteStable dev signing (do this once): ad-hoc signatures change every build, which silently kills the Accessibility grant on each rebuild. Run scripts/dev-cert.sh — it creates a self-signed code-signing certificate named TinyWindow Dev, imports it, and verifies with a real signing test (it prints exact manual-trust steps if macOS refuses scripted trust). GUI alternative: Keychain Access (hidden on macOS 26 — it lives at /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications/Keychain Access.app, not the new Passwords app) → menu bar → Certificate Assistant → Create a Certificate… → name TinyWindow Dev, Self-Signed Root, Code Signing. make app picks the identity up automatically and the grant then survives rebuilds.
Quit TinyWindow, delete the app, then:
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/TinyWindow
defaults delete com.tinyqaq.TinyWindow
tccutil reset Accessibility com.tinyqaq.TinyWindowWindow Tidy（Light Pillar，2017 年停止开发）有一个至今没有被好好复刻的交互：拖动窗口时浮出显式的布局 pad，把窗口拖到 pad 上松手即应用该布局的位置和尺寸。因为投放目标是 pad 而不是屏幕边缘，多屏下体验极佳——往左拖就是去左边屏幕，不会被误触发贴边平铺。
原版是纯 Intel 应用，Rosetta 2 退役后（macOS 27 之后）就彻底跑不了了。TinyWindow 是 Apple Silicon 原生替代品，操作方式 1:1，并能一键导入你现有的 Window Tidy 布局。
- 拖动任意 App 的窗口 → pad 条淡入在光标所在屏幕，并跟随光标跨屏移动
- 悬停 pad → 高亮 + 目标屏幕上预览落点区域；松手 → 窗口精确就位
- 布局 = 独立网格（如 6×6）+ 拖选格子范围；同时支持固定尺寸布局（导入保真）
- Option 键三种模式：始终显示 / 按住 ⌥ 才显示 / 按住 ⌥ 隐藏
- pad 位置（上/下/左/右）、标题开关、触发距离、按 App 黑名单
- 菜单栏：直接把布局应用到前台窗口、把窗口找回到鼠标所在屏、登录启动
- 一键导入 Window Tidy 的
Layouts.data（布局 + Option/标题偏好一并迁移） - 空闲 CPU ≈ 0%（不拖动时事件 tap 收不到任何事件）
- 从 Releases 下载
TinyWindow-x.y.z.dmg，打开后把 TinyWindow 拖进 Applications（也提供 zip）。 - Gatekeeper 会拦截未签名构建：系统设置 → 隐私与安全性 → 找到"已阻止 TinyWindow" → 仍要打开（或执行
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/TinyWindow.app）。 - 按提示授予辅助功能权限（移动其他 App 窗口所必需）。注意：每次更新版本都需重新授权，这是未签名构建的已知限制。
- 建议：系统设置 → 桌面与程序坞 → 关闭"将窗口拖到屏幕边缘时平铺"，避免系统平铺预览和 pad 打架。
只需 Command Line Tools（含 macOS 26 SDK）：
git clone https://github.com/TinyQAQ/TinyWindow.git && cd TinyWindow
make run # 构建 + 打包 dist/TinyWindow.app + 启动
make test # 跑检查套件稳定开发签名（一次性）：ad-hoc 签名每次构建都变，辅助功能授权会随之失效。运行 scripts/dev-cert.sh 即可——它会创建名为 TinyWindow Dev 的自签代码签名证书、导入钥匙串并实际验签（若系统拒绝脚本设置信任，会打印精确的手动步骤）。图形界面备选：钥匙串访问在 macOS 26 里被隐藏（位于 /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications/Keychain Access.app，不是新的「密码」App）→ 打开后在顶部菜单栏 → 证书助理 → 创建证书…（名称 TinyWindow Dev、自签名根证书、代码签名）。之后 make app 自动使用该证书，授权在重编译后保持有效。
退出 TinyWindow、删除 App，然后：
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/TinyWindow
defaults delete com.tinyqaq.TinyWindow
tccutil reset Accessibility com.tinyqaq.TinyWindowMIT © 2026 TinyQAQ