Surely on more than one occasion you have resorted to manual placement of windows on your Mac to be able to work with several applications at the same time or, at least, have them in view. However there are applications like Magnet that allow you to do it in a really intuitive as well as comfortable way. In this article we analyze this application, which you can find in the Mac App Store itself, so it meets all the requirements demanded by Apple in its store.
What is Magnet and how much does it cost
Magnet is an application for macOS developed by Pavel Kozarek, with a very small size of only 3.1 MB. It is available in the Mac App Store and is available in several languages, among which Spanish , German, Czech, Chinese, and Korean stand out. , French, English, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Polish and Swedish. Although we must certainly say that it would not be strictly necessary for the application to be translated into several languages, since it is extremely easy to use and can be understood in practically any language. It has a price of 3.99 euros , which we already guarantee you is more than fair and worth paying for.
What’s the use
Today we use computers for a multitude of things, despite the fact that phones and tablets are gaining more prominence when acquiring new functions. The uses can be very varied, from a more professional to more recreational ones. In any of them we sometimes need a multitude of open applications, but sometimes it is extremely uncomfortable to be opening and closing windows. There is the possibility of dividing the screen with several windows natively, although there are not many possibilities that we have and not all the programs are available for it. Not to mention how tedious it is to adjust the size of the same to place it to our liking.
Magnet comes precisely to solve this problem that generates the use of various programs or applications, since it will allow placing these windows in various positions with the firm objective of completely adapting the Mac to our liking to work better. For example, watch a video as you write and keep an eye on the email. Although there are certainly many possibilities that it offers, since the limit of windows that can fit on a screen is very wide.
How Magnet is used
Magnet does not have an interface as such, that is, when you open it you do not see a window itself that shows you its functions. It really is an application that is located in the upper toolbar in order to access it and its functionalities more comfortably. You can configure the option to always appear in this place when you start the Mac, although we will see that later. At the moment we are going by parts, and the first thing that we must highlight is the only box that we have access to from the mentioned icon on the toolbar. Here you will find the following options to organize the windows of your computer:
- Left.
- Right.
- Above.
- Down.
- Up to the left.
- Up to the right.
- Down left.
- Bottom right.
- Left third.
- Two thirds left.
- Central third.
- Two thirds right.
- Right third.
- Next screen.
- Previous screen.
- Maximize.
- Center.
- Restore.
It really doesn’t take too much explanation of each one, more than the way to use them. You must place yourself in the window you want to place, go to the Magnet icon and click on the position you want, although you will also find keyboard shortcuts to activate it quickly, which you can see from the same box. The latter is interesting for those options that you use often, but since you may find it difficult to learn it, you can modify it yourself from Preferences. Also from this Preferences panel you can find useful options such as allowing the application to open when you start the Mac, being able to use it later or not, but having it already at hand in the toolbar.
Something to note is also that you can modify the size of the windows to your liking at any time, since there is no limitation to stay where you have marked them. In fact, the Magnet could serve as a guide to establish an ideal size and position for the windows and later expand or reduce their size to add more to your screen. Although as a negative point, surely the only one in our opinion, is that you cannot create predefined templates with the sizes and positions you want to always have on hand.
Mac compatible with Magnet
This application works with all those computers that have OS X 10.9 or later as the operating system, therefore it is also usable on older computers. Of course, it is more optimized in more recent versions. Something to note is that it is not usually recommended for some computers such as the 13 or 12-inch MacBook and even some 15 or 16-inch. Not because it will not work, because it will, but because in the end it is not used as much. The screens are perhaps too small to use more than two applications at the same time and even with two it could be small and in the end be uncomfortable for the eyes. That is why it is usually recommended more for an iMac, although if you use an external monitor with a considerable size, it will not matter what size your main screen is if you use it for this one.
Actually, as you verified in the previous section, it is very easy to use and it is not too mysterious to know the ins and outs of it. Magnet is focused on productivity and therefore will not generate any headache for users. Nor are there too many updates to it, since it is so easy to use that it does not require constant updates. Perhaps an optimization for new operating systems and equipment or bug fixes, but little else.
