Apps moving spaces after unlocking

[Raz0rEdge]

I recently switched computers to a Mac Studio running Monterrey and rather than transferring apps/settings from my old Mac Mini, I set up the new machine and only brought over the things that mattered.

I'm seeing a very bizarre and annoying thing with my apps moving from the spaces they are supposed to be on as I wake up the Mac from sleep.

My current setup is a Mac Studio with 2 monitors. Both monitors have multiple spaces on them. I run a single app in each of the spaces to make the most use of the real estate.

My current setup is...

Display 1
Space 1 - Browser
Space 2 - Chatting app
Space 3 - Chatting app 2
Space 4 - Chatting app 3

Display 2
Space 1 - IDE
Space 2 - IDE 2
Space 3 - iTerm
Space 4 - DB browser
Space 5 - DB browser 2
Space 6 - Music player
Space 7 - Mail

Display 2 is my primary screen.

This was the same setup on my Mac Mini.

My mac is setup to turn the display off (go to sleep) after 15 mins of inactivity, same as before. After it goes to sleep and I return to it, I click on the trackpad or keyboard to wake it up and more often then not I find that the browser and chatting app from display 1 spaces 1 & 2 have now moved over to whatever space I happen to be on on display 2.

I then have to move the apps back to where they were supposed, this annoying me to no end.

In Mission Control, I have the option for "When switching to an application.." and "Displays have separate spaces" checked, the other 2 options are unchecked. I'm going to experiment with unchecking the first one and see if it does anything.

But in the meanwhile, does anyone else have this happen to them and if so, any insights on how to avoid this?

 

[MacInWin]

I don't see that happening on my M1 MBP, but you can try to anchor the apps by right clicking on the icon on the Dock when the app is launched, then "Options" and assign the app to the Display of choice. I don't know if that will keep it in the right Space, but at least it will be on the right Display.

 

[IWT]

Ashwin, I don't have a Mac Studio and I'm behind in having macOS Big Sur; but I was just wondering if this might help????....

Enter Mission Control > Preferences > is "Automatically rearrange spaces based on most recent use" checked.

Just a thought....

Ian

 

[Raz0rEdge]

I don't see that happening on my M1 MBP, but you can try to anchor the apps by right clicking on the icon on the Dock when the app is launched, then "Options" and assign the app to the Display of choice. I don't know if that will keep it in the right Space, but at least it will be on the right Display.

Jake, I will try this, it's odd since I didn't have to do with my Mac Mini previously. Also, without me anchoring the app, some apps always seemed to open up in the space I had previously used them on. I never understood how that was working (but was happy that it was).

Ashwin, I don't have a Mac Studio and I'm behind in having macOS Big Sur; but I was just wondering if this might help????....

Enter Mission Control > Preferences > is "Automatically rearrange spaces based on most recent use" checked.

Just a thought....

Ian

Ian, oh god, I hate that feature and is the first thing I turn off when I setup a Mac. I want the spaces the way I have them defined.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Unchecking the flag about when switching apps didn't do anything of value, so I'm now onto trying the anchoring.

 

[ferrarr]

Did you do the macOS update yet?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Yeah, just updated to the latest this morning. And so far things seems to sticking to the desktop I put them on. I'll keep an eye for the next few days and report back.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Well, no dice. The apps are continuing to move to the primary monitor on whatever space it happens to be on. I have 3 spaces on Desktop 2 and one app in each of those spaces and they all move over to the space on Desktop 1.

Interestingly, my colleague is complaining about the same thing on his Mac Studio. This behavior, however, wasn't present on my Mac Mini with Monterrey, so not sure what's going on here.

Pinning the app to a specific space doesn't seem to work.

However, I'm finding something curious and want to see someone else using spaces can confirm this behavior.

I have 7 spaces on Desktop 1 (D1) and 4 spaces on Desktop 2 (D2). I'm running my browser on Space 8 on D2 and have assigned it as such and when I right-click on the icon and choose Options, it shows both Desktop on Display 2 and None selected. I have my chat app pinned to Space 9 on D2 and it's options shows only Desktop 9 on Desktop 2. If I quit the app and re-start, it correctly moves my D2 to S9 and then opens the app.

Perhaps it's the fact that both a specific space/desktop and None are selected that's breaking stuff. What do you all see?

 

[ferrarr]

I'm also noticing something similar, as well, on my Mini. A few apps will open only on the primary, even while watching full screen streaming Hulu.

I only have one space on my primary screen, but Music and Preview will still open there. I don't know if there is a difference, but I use the full screen Hulu button from the Safari window. so I'm not using Safari full screen, just Hulu.

Update: I did just test using Safari full screen and Preview still opened on the primary display although Music did not.

P.S. - I am using the dock on the secondary display to select the apps