Support display-specific custom window actions / zones for the same shortcut

[banagale]

I’m trying to migrate from Divvy to Rectangle Pro, and I’m running into a gap around per-display behavior.

My setup has two displays with different ideal window grids:

External display

I want six fixed locations using equal sixths of the screen:

• top left
• top middle
• top right
• bottom left
• bottom middle
• bottom right

Each position should use 1/6 of the display.

Laptop display

I want a simpler four-zone setup:

• top left
• top right
• bottom left
• bottom right

Each position should use 1/4 of the display.

What I’m looking for is the ability for the same command / shortcut for the cornering (top left, top right) to behave differently depending on which display the window is currently on.

For example:

• on the external display, a shortcut would place the window into a sixth-based zone
• on the laptop display, that same shortcut would place the window into a quarter-based zone

In Rectangle Pro, I’m not finding a way to define display-specific custom actions or display-specific sizing/position rules for the same shortcut.

This is in contrast to Divvy, where it just worked somehow.

I had to go back and check but i believe it just detected the monitor the user was on (perhaps the application was displayed on) and then the config was stored with the display type.

I don't see any way to even view "other" display configurations than what is currently being used, even though I know it is set.

The reason I mention this is I saw some past issues where this came up, and it sounded like complexity on how to reflect multiple displays to the user was holding up the feature.

With great respect to Rectangle and R pro, (I already hold a license) it is really amazing that Divvy seemed to look at the display the active window was on and use the correct corresponding positioning based on the hotkey.

What I’m asking for:

• support for display-specific custom window actions
• or support for different custom shortcut behavior per display
• or some equivalent feature that allows different zone systems on different monitors without requiring a completely separate shortcut set

This would be especially useful for people using:

• a large external monitor with a denser grid
• a smaller laptop display with a simpler grid
• mixed display sizes / resolutions / aspect ratios

Right now the apparent workaround is using separate shortcuts or external automation, but that is unfortunately a non starter.

I may have totally missed this information about the support, but if I'm right about the gap, I’d love support for this in Rectangle Pro. I'd even take a hacky mess w config files but it works option if it meant the behavior could ship faster.

[rxhanson]

Thanks for the detailed write-up. Indeed there is UI configuration complexity that has contributed to slowing this one down. Since you're up for config file surgery, I'll fix what I have for the next release (there's actually existing logic in there for this but it's currently a little broken). When that's fixed I'll let you know how to operate on it.

[banagale]

Right on, thank you! Config type stuff is no problemo these days. :)

[mziwisky]

I have a similar use case which I believe would be handled by this request, but I'll spell it out here in my terms.

I like how the built-in "thirds" option cycles Left-Middle-Right on a landscape display, but Top-Middle-Bottom on a portrait display. I have a custom "Two-thirds" shortcut which cycles Left-Right for my landscape displays, but I'd love to be able to make the same shortcut cycle Top-Bottom on my portrait displays.

So the ask here of configuring custom shortcuts per display would get the job done for me. Conditioning the config by whether the display is landscape or portrait (as opposed to hard-coding to a durable display identifier) would also do it. As would, in my narrow use case, adding a "first" and "last" Position option to the Custom Size & Position configs, where "first" means left on landscape monitors and top on portrait ones, and "last" means right on landscape monitors and bottom on portrait ones.

Love the app, thanks!

[rxhanson]

So I did end up adding this into the app, configurable only via config file manipulation and not yet in the ui, and I never got around to documenting it. I’m currently in the middle of moving and will at the very least provide instructions for modifying the config file to achieve this, and it’s high in my priority list for adding to the ui as well. It will be included in one of the upcoming releases.

[endquote]

Looking for this too.

I arrange my windows similarly on monitor vs laptop but with different sizes. Would be nice to be able to use the same hotkey for both. For now I just have them configured in the menu, with the first (larger=first) being monitor and second being laptop.

But I guess it would not be so hard to make shortcuts for each, and then an additional modifier for the monitor.

[rxhanson]

In a recent update, custom size and position was updated so you can add per display configuration using the plus button on an entry. I’ll be posting this to the guide this week.

[endquote]

Oh nice — exactly what I needed, and implemented better than how I was suggesting. I'm only a week-old user, still discovering things.