Dual monitors and fullscreen fiasco, is there a work around?

Trane Francks wrote:

NiqueXyZ wrote:

It's because he or she is an obvious troll, that's why they would suggest it and post something meaningless ^_~

http://whiskeyandcarkeys.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/obvious-troll-wedding.jp g

The alternative is that CT really wants the feature fixed and that I did a remarkable job of missing sarcasm. Or maybe CT was trying to use reverse psychology on Apple, as 36 pages of whinging by us hasn't gotten any results. 😀

For results (like them or not) you should post here:

Csound1 wrote:

For results (like them or not) you should post here:

Been there, done that. Several times, in fact. 😀

I think it's fair to assume that Apple has moved from supporting pro work to focusing on consumer and, maybe, prosumer usage. (With the latter, I feel as though I'm being very flexible.) The Mac Pro's recent refresh was laughable. And one really has to wonder why Apple even bothered with a Thunderbolt display. It remains an incredible piece of hardware in search of an operating system to make the best use of it.

To all the new people coming in who don't want to read all 4000 pages of this thread, and not liking this behavior on Mountain Lion, please go to this link to see the proposed solution:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3196329?answerId=16218117022#16218117022

And please go to:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

To submit the solution as a feedback suggestion to Apple; please be considerate in your response.

yudieg wrote:

This might not be closely related to this problem. I just want to point out another stupidity on Mac OS that never got fixed even I've waited for 5 years.

1. You Can't Cut file on finder because the stupid reason is "they" affraid if user dont paste the file, it will be deleted in limbo. Oh yeah, yes you can.. command + option + V (paste and move the file). How in the world regular user would know that?

By looking it up, here

John Kitchen wrote:

Csound1 wrote:

command + option + V (paste and move the file). How in the world regular user would know that?

By looking it up, here

Really? I can't see it. 😊

Then maybe you should be looking here instead: http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/

Sorry I do not have a great workaround even after just talking to an Apple Care supervisor. Their solution, after testing in their lab, is to maximize whatever you are trying to display on a second monitor, because using the full-desktop mode (by design) will cause the other monitor(s) to display the background image. The only suggestion to permanently fix this is to write Apple Feedback at http://www.apple.com/feedback/ so it may possibly be changed in the future.

According to the Apple Care supervisor, there is no functional reason for this flaw other than an explanation that the OS, including Mountain Lion, is not really meant for multiple displays.

Embarrasing.

Sort it out Apple. I have to use Quicktime 7 everytime I want to play a video fullscreen on my second monitor.

Just to remind anyone reading, please send feedback to Apple, if they get bombarded they might remove thier thumbs out of thier bums.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

I've posted my feedback here : http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

I want to use an external monitor, but when I use an app in fullscreen on my mbp display the external monitor only displays a gray screen. It's really buggin me, because I've been using an external monitor on my previous laptop which allowed me to (e.g.) watch football games on one screen and use chrome on the other.

Assuming that iOS creates a new screen object when I click the fullscreen button, the best solution would be to let the user decide to either pin one of these screenobjects to the secondary screen or to make an array of screen-objects that displays 2 of the objects in this array at a time: one on my mbp display and one on my external monitor.

Option 1 is fairly easy to implement. A screenid should be linked to a monitorid and that's it. It would be even better if I could choose to link an application in fullscreen to any screen. This way I'd be able to watch a footballgame on my mbp display and use chrome, any other application or the desktop screen on my external desktop.

Option 2 isn't that hard either. In the screenarray the appscreen (with the calculator, clock etc.) gets index 0, desktopscreen gets index 1 and the applications the user uses in fullscreen get index from 1 to unlimited. Then, if I have the desktopscreen opened on my mbp, the external monitor should display mbp-index + 1 (if the screen is on the right of the mbp, else the external monitor should display mbp-index - 1), which is the last application I used in fullscreen in this case. If I have the appscreen opened on my mbp, the external monitor should display the desktop screen and so on.

Please send your complaints to apple, because the current options for functioning of external monitors is completely r-e-t-a-r-d-e-d. So sad, just bought a new mbp and didn't know about this. I don't think that I would have bought a mpb if I had known all this. Apple should be ashamed..

Jaqinho wrote:

I've posted my feedback here : http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

Please send your complaints to apple, because the current options for functioning of external monitors is completely r-e-t-a-r-d-e-d. So sad, just bought a new mbp and didn't know about this. I don't think that I would have bought a mpb if I had known all this. Apple should be ashamed..

I can't believe that you spent so much money without bothering to check whether your wants and needs would be fulfilled by the purchase. Caveat Emptor indeed.

Today I read at "http://www.apple.com/osx/preview/";

==============

Multiple displays

Do more on this screen. And that one.

OS X Mavericks takes full advantage of every display connected to your Mac, giving you even more flexibility to work the way you want. There’s no longer a primary or secondary display — now each has its own menu bar, and the Dock is available on whichever screen you’re working on. You can have multiple app windows running on either display. Or run an app full screen on each one. Even show a desktop on one display and a full-screen app on another. Mission Control can give you a bird’s-eye view, making it easy to drag what you want where you want it. You can even drag it across the room, because now AirPlay and Apple TV can wirelessly turn your HDTV into a fully functional display.

===============

If you can make an app go full screen on a monitor and continue to use the other monitor(s) independently, then I too will be pleased that this has been addressed. If there are additional monitor/display features that speak to power users' needs then I will be doubly pleased.

In effect Apple will have fixed a "bug" or "downgraded display funcitionality" that Apple itself introduced to use (imposed upon us?) with successive OSX updates (10.7.x & 10.8.x). That's what I was looking for.

If, as SebCorbin says above, it will cost me US$29 to obtain this fix I will not be so pleased. Granted the cost is nowhere near the cost of a Microsoft Windows OS Upgade.

Still, I believe I should not have to pay for a fix to a problem I flagged with Apple Care some time back (as did many, I understand). Now that the fix has been announced, Apple Care should, I think, provide it to me at no cost.

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11359

"In many apps, including Calendar, Mail, and Safari, you can expand the window to fill your entire SCREEN."

Poor show Apple...blatantly forgetting about multiplie monitor users. I'd get fired for programming with neglect like that.

john lewis wrote:

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11359

"In many apps, including Calendar, Mail, and Safari, you can expand the window to fill your entire SCREEN."

Poor show Apple...blatantly forgetting about multiplie monitor users. I'd get fired for programming with neglect like that.

Those apps mentioned do expand to full screen exactly as described, I fail to see the relevance of your last paragraph.

Complain to Apple, we are just users like you, what do you expect us to do? (assuming that we agree with you)

Csound1 wrote:

john lewis wrote:

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11359

"In many apps, including Calendar, Mail, and Safari, you can expand the window to fill your entire SCREEN."

Poor show Apple...blatantly forgetting about multiplie monitor users. I'd get fired for programming with neglect like that.

Those apps mentioned do expand to full screen exactly as described, I fail to see the relevance of your last paragraph.

Complain to Apple, we are just users like you, what do you expect us to do? (assuming that we agree with you)

It wasn't mentioned in the Lion demo that when your notebook screen is your primary display, your expensive Thunderbolt display will be rendered into $1000 wallpaper for the duration of your full-screen session. So, while the initial app behaves as expected, the rest of the operating system does not. Nobody who has used an extended desktop arrangement would ever expect their external monitors to be blanked out simply through the act of replying to e-mail.

The technicality of saying that it works exactly as the API docs say it will just isn't helpful. The behaviour of full-screen apps in Snow Leopard, e.g., QuickTime, fill the screen of whichever monitor you have the app windowed, leaving the other monitor alone. People get used to that. A guy with an array of 3 Cinema Displays will rightly get very cranky when he replies to e-mail and two of his displays go dark after upgrading to Lion.

And for those of us with systems featuring a 32-bit EFI, the problem remains entirely unsolved. Mavericks is only a solution for those users who are willing to buy new hardware. Those who are not/cannot get to live with Apple's best implementation of their worst designed feature.

*shrug*

This thread has 55 pages now, with the result that the question has branched. Nevertheless, for this original question, I found the answer I needed here: Can I have 2nd monitor apps keep windows there? (see contribution by Barney-15E, first page currently).

Briefly: the answer is in the correct use of spaces via Mission Control. Be sure and select "Displays have separate Space" (OS 10.12.6 and probably much earlier).

After logging out and logging in, when you select an application icon in the dock and right-mouse click, you get to choose which Desktop (1, 2, etc.).

It required some guesswork and a second log-out and log-in, but now I open Chrome on my built-in MacBook Pro monitor (Desktop 2) and my other applications on Desktop 1. I can run YouTube tutorials full screen on my built-in monitor, and do the rest of my work on on the external monitor.

WaldenGreen is right, people must not expect a solution coming from Apple. I didn't read all 17 pages of this thread so I don't know if it got posted already but here's a glitchy but working solution (thanks to Tom Medley):

1. Arrange the application windows you want to have on your second screen as you would like them. You will not be able to rearrange them once they are there.
2. Completely quit the applications you wish to use on your second monitor, e.g. terminal, Chrome.
3. Full screen your app
4. Using the trackpad, swipe with three fingers a little bit, so that just the edge of the next space is visible (but it won’t switch when you let go)
5. Keeping your fingers on the trackpad, hit cmd + space to open Spotlight and type in the name of the program you wish to launch on the second monitor
6. Hit enter to launch the program, wait for the window to display, then you can take your fingers off the trackpad.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 for any other apps you wish to launch!

This solution is far from perfect, but it works reliably so it’s a usable workaround until !@$%? actually fix this.

I recommend experimenting different scenarios keeping steps 456 in mind. Also, the VLC app works great for videos once configured! I know, I know... almost everyone knows that one but just in case...