⚡ FlashSpace

FlashSpace is a blazingly-fast virtual workspace manager for macOS, designed to enhance and replace native macOS Spaces. No more waiting for macOS animations.

🚧 This project is still in early development. 🚧

⚙️ Installation

Requirements: macOS 14.0 or later.

Homebrew

brew install flashspace

Note

The app is now available in the main Homebrew repository. If you previously installed it from wojciech-kulik/tap/flashspace, you should switch to the main repository by following these steps:

brew uninstall flashspace
brew untap wojciech-kulik/tap
brew install flashspace

Download Binary

See: Releases Page.

Build From Source

See: Build From Source.

🎥 Demo

The video shows a sample configuration where I use 3 workspaces and switch between them using hotkeys.

FlashSpace.mp4

👉 How it works

FlashSpace allows to define virtual workspaces and assign apps to them. Each workspace is also assigned to a specific display. When you switch to a workspace, the assigned apps are automatically presented and all other apps from the assigned display are hidden.

The app allows workspaces to be switched independently on each display.

✨ Features

• Blazingly fast workspace switching
• Multiple displays support
• Activate workspace on app focus
• Move apps between workspaces with a hotkey
• Floating apps visible across all workspaces
• Focus manager - set hotkeys to switch between apps quickly
• Cursor manager - auto-center the cursor in the active window
• Profiles - quickly switch between different configurations
• Configurable Menu Bar icon (per workspace)
• SketchyBar integration

⚖️ Project Values

• Performance - The app should be as fast as possible.
• Simplicity - The app should be easy to use and configure.
• Reliability - The app should work without glitches and unexpected behavior.
• Invisible - The app should help, not disturb.
• UNIX Philosophy - The app should do one thing and do it well - manage workspaces.

💬 How to use

1. Create a workspace.
2. Assign apps to the workspace.
3. Assign the workspace to a display.
4. Define a hotkey to switch to the workspace.
5. Save the workspace.

Now you can switch to the workspace using the configured hotkey.

🪟 Focus Manager

FlashSpace enables fast switching of focus between windows. Use hotkeys to shift focus in any desired direction. It also allows you to jump between displays.

FocusManager.mp4

📝 Notes

FlashSpace doesn't manage windows, so if you switch to a workspace and call another app that is not assigned to the workspace, it will be shown on top of the workspace apps.

I consider this as a desired behavior because it allows you to quickly access other apps without glitches or switching between workspaces.

This is a common issue with tiling window managers that they often cause glitches when a small pop-up window is shown or some unexpected app is opened.

If you want to hide the new app, you can simply use the hotkey again.

🖥️ SketchyBar Integration

FlashSpace can be integrated with SketchyBar and other tools. The app runs a configurable script when the workspace is changed.

You can enable the integration in the app settings.

Configuration Example

Only Active Workspace

sketchybarrc

sketchybar --add item flashspace left \
  --set flashspace \
  background.color=0x22ffffff \
  background.corner_radius=5 \
  label.padding_left=5 \
  label.padding_right=5 \
  script="$CONFIG_DIR/plugins/flashspace.sh" \
  --add event flashspace_workspace_change \
  --subscribe flashspace flashspace_workspace_change

plugins/flashspace.sh

#!/bin/bash

sketchybar --set $NAME label="$WORKSPACE - $DISPLAY"

All Workspaces

sketchybarrc

sketchybar --add event flashspace_workspace_change

SID=1
WORKSPACES=$(cat ~/.config/flashspace/workspaces.json | jq -r ".[].name")

for workspace in $WORKSPACES; do
  sketchybar --add item flashspace.$SID left \
    --subscribe flashspace.$SID flashspace_workspace_change \
    --set flashspace.$SID \
    background.color=0x22ffffff \
    background.corner_radius=5 \
    background.padding_left=5 \
    label.padding_left=5 \
    label.padding_right=5 \
    label="$workspace" \
    script="$CONFIG_DIR/plugins/flashspace.sh $workspace"

  SID=$((SID + 1))
done

plugins/flashspace.sh

#!/bin/bash

if [ "$1" = "$WORKSPACE" ]; then
  sketchybar --set $NAME label.color=0xffff0000
else
  sketchybar --set $NAME label.color=0xffffffff
fi

🚧 Limitations

The app is still in early development and has some limitations:

• It doesn't support individual app windows yet.

🛠️ Build From Source

FlashSpace uses XcodeGen to generate the Xcode project from the project.yml file.

1. Clone the repository.
2. Navigate to the project directory.
3. Run brew bundle to install dependencies.
4. Run xcodegen generate.
5. Open FlashSpace.xcodeproj in Xcode.
6. Click on the FlashSpace target, click on the Signing & Capabilities tab, and select your team.
7. Build & run the app.

Remember to run xcodegen generate every time you change branch or pull changes.

If you want to generate the project with configured signing, you can run:

XCODE_DEVELOPMENT_TEAM=YOUR_TEAM_ID xcodegen generate

You can also set this variable globally in your shell.

💛  Sponsors

Big thanks to all the sponsors who support this project 🍻!

Monthly Sponsors

One Time Sponsors