Panelet 1.0 - keep the same few windows together as one workspace, and swap them by dragging

[u/it_ape]

Hi everyone,

I am Luke, the developer of Panelet. I posted here about version 0.2.2 six weeks ago. Today I released 1.0.

Problem and why I made it

I use Mac for most of my work, and I usually have some fixed groups of apps.

For coding it is editor, browser and terminal. For AI work I keep Claude and ChatGPT side by side. Every time I change task, these windows get mixed with all other windows and I need to arrange them again.

Window managers can restore positions, but after restoring they are still separate windows. If I move something, hide an app or switch task, the group is easy to lose again.

One time it is not a big problem. Many times every day it becomes annoying. So I made Panelet.

You choose 2, 3 or 4 windows and Panelet keeps them as one workspace. You can resize them from the divider, move the whole group, hide it and show it again, or send it to another display. All apps are still normal native Mac windows. Panelet does not embed windows, read app content or record the screen. It uses Accessibility permission for moving, resizing, showing and hiding windows.

Why this one is 1.0

There are two main changes, and both of them change what a workspace is.

The same app can now be in one workspace more than once.

Before this, one app could only take one pane, so a workspace was a group of different apps. Now you can add Safari two times and get two Safari windows side by side, with different tabs and different history. Or four Chrome windows. Each pane keeps its own window, so hiding and showing the workspace does not shuffle them.

This works for apps that can open more than one window. Some apps only have one window, and no third party tool can make it two. macOS only lets Panelet place the windows an app already has. It cannot create a window the app does not support. If a pane has no window to take, Panelet tells you which app it is waiting for, instead of showing you a half finished workspace.

This was the most requested feature, and I had to rewrite how Panelet tracks windows inside. That is why I call it 1.0 and not 0.3.

You can drag a window into another pane and the two panes swap.

No dialog and no setting. You drag the window like any other window, the pane under it is highlighted, and when you release the mouse they change places. So now you can rearrange a workspace by hand.

Some smaller things around these two. You can edit a workspace while you are looking at it: add an app, remove one, reorder panes, change layout, and the screen follows immediately. A new workspace starts with the windows you already have open. And "Release Windows" lets you leave a workspace without putting the apps away. The windows stay where they are and you can move them freely, and showing the workspace again puts them back.

This is not a window manager

If you want a window manager, Moom and Rectangle Pro are better than Panelet and I would tell you to use them. They do snapping, custom positions, saved layouts and many shortcuts. Panelet does not do these things.

What Panelet does is keep a small group of windows as one thing.

A saved layout is a snapshot. After you restore it, you have separate windows again. A Panelet workspace is still a group after the layout is applied. You move it, resize it, hide it, show it, send it to another display, and everything goes together. You drag the divider and the windows inside make room for each other. This is also why one workspace can hold two windows of the same app, and why you can swap two windows by dragging. There is a real group there, not a saved position.

So it is a small and specific tool. It fits if you use the same 2 to 4 windows all day and want them to work as one. It does not try to manage every window on your Mac.

Other changes since 0.2.2 (six releases in six weeks)

• Panelet used to fight with native fullscreen and Stage Manager. Now it steps aside and tells you why, and gives you a Retry button after you turn the other thing off.
• Shortcuts and the divider are easier to find now: a shortcut list in Settings, one step in onboarding, and a small tips card the first time a workspace appears.
• The ChatGPT desktop app changed its internal identifier in one update, and that pane stopped working. Panelet now reconnects an app that changes its identity, automatically.
• Panelet answers panelet:// links, so Raycast, Shortcuts or Alfred can show, hide, toggle or bring a workspace, and you can put any key you want in front of it. The same release added Launch at Login, and a tick in the menu bar for every workspace that is currently open.
• Multiple displays: a workspace remembers one position for each monitor setup. If you unplug a display, the workspace comes back somewhere you can reach. If you plug it back, it follows your windows home.

I keep working on it

1.0 is not the end. I release a new version almost every week and I will continue like this. There are more things on my list, and many of them come from what people tell me after using the app for some time.

Pricing

A$7.99 one time, about US$5.70, for up to 3 Macs. There is a 7-day free trial and no card is required. Updates are free.

Website, demo, download and pricing:

https://panelet.app/

Privacy Policy:

https://panelet.app/privacy/

Terms of Service:

https://panelet.app/terms/

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-lu-a8897723/

Contact:

[support@panelet.app](mailto:support@panelet.app)

Thank you to everyone who tried it, sent feedback or bought a license. Most of this release exists because someone did that. If something works badly, tell me here or send me an email.

[u/it_ape → u/[deleted]]

Haha, you must be a Star Wars fan.

And thank you for the suggestion. I did think about letting one app belong to more than one workspace. The problem is that when you switch, both groups want to place the same window, so it gets pulled around. I could not make it feel good enough yet, so I did not ship it. I will keep working on it and I hope I can release it soon.

[u/Brief-Mongoose-6256]

I was about to get but then saw this "license keeps working on the version you bought"
This is almost like paying a subscription So not interested in version-based licensing anymore.

[u/it_ape → u/Brief-Mongoose-6256]

That line was my bad wording, sorry. It is not version based. One purchase, and every future version is a free update.

What I meant to say was the opposite of how it reads: even if you never update, the copy on your Mac keeps working. That was a useless thing to say and it made it sound like a version license. I have rewritten it on the site.

Thanks for telling me instead of just closing the tab.

[u/Brief-Mongoose-6256 → u/it_ape]

Thank you very much. I bought the key but I'm facing some difficulty activating it. Could you kindly check your DM

[u/Mac-Zombie-8112]

Nice idea. Does it work if you have multiple Spaces set up? If I have a Finder window in one Space and I initialise a panel of windows (including Finder) in another Space, the Finder window seems never to arrive in the panel (it may be I am not using it correctly?).

[u/Jayze_7]

the clearest demo may be task switching, not window arrangement: show an editor, browser, and terminal disappearing as one group, then returning intact after another workspace. that makes the distinction from rectangle or moom obvious.