KTApple

<p align="center"> <img src="Assets/KTApple.png" width="128" alt="KTApple icon" /> </p> <h1 align="center">KTApple</h1> <p align="center"> <strong>KDE Plasma KWin Tiling — reimagined for macOS</strong> </p> <p align="center"> <a href="https://github.com/m96-chan/KTApple/releases/latest"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/v/release/m96-chan/KTApple?style=flat-square" alt="Release" /></a> <a href="https://github.com/m96-chan/KTApple/actions/workflows/test.yml"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/m96-chan/KTApple/test.yml?branch=main&style=flat-square&label=tests" alt="Tests" /></a> <a href="LICENSE"><img src="https://img.shields.io/github/license/m96-chan/KTApple?style=flat-square" alt="License" /></a> <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/platform-macOS%2014%2B-blue?style=flat-square" alt="Platform" /> <img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Swift-6-orange?style=flat-square" alt="Swift 6" /> </p>

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A tiling window manager that brings the flexibility of KDE Plasma's KWin Tiling to macOS. Design your tile layout visually, drop windows in with Shift+Drag, and resize by dragging boundaries — no config files needed.

<p align="center"> <a href="https://youtu.be/isBXA214bcE"> <img src="Assets/demo-thumbnail.jpg" width="600" alt="KTApple Demo" /> </a> <br /> _{▶ Watch the demo on YouTube} </p>

Why KTApple?

Existing macOS tiling WMs force you into fixed layouts or text-based configs. KTApple takes the approach KDE Plasma got right: a visual editor where you design the layout you want.

| | KTApple | yabai | AeroSpace | Amethyst | Rectangle | |---|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:| | Visual Tile Editor | Yes | — | — | — | — | | Free Tile Placement | Yes | BSP only | i3 tree | Fixed | Presets | | Shift+Drop Placement | Yes | Zones | — | — | Snap | | Gap-Drag Resize | Yes | — | — | — | — | | No SIP Required | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | | GUI Settings | Yes | CLI | TOML | GUI | GUI |

Quick Start

Install via Homebrew

brew tap m96-chan/homebrew-tap
brew install --cask --no-quarantine ktapple

Or download manually

1. Grab the .dmg from Releases
2. Move KTApple.app to /Applications
3. Remove quarantine: xattr -cr /Applications/KTApple.app
4. Grant Accessibility permission in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility

[!NOTE] KTApple is ad-hoc signed (no Apple Developer Program). Gatekeeper bypass via xattr -cr or Homebrew --no-quarantine is required.

Key Features

Visual Tile Editor (⌃⌥T)

Split, resize, and delete tiles through an interactive GUI. Layouts are stored in normalized 0.0–1.0 coordinates — resolution-independent and portable.

┌────────────┬──────────┐
│            │   Top-R  │
│   Left     ├──────────┤
│   (60%)    │ Bottom-R │
│            │  (40%)   │
└────────────┴──────────┘

Shift+Drop Window Placement

Hold <kbd>Shift</kbd> while dragging any window. A tile highlight appears — release to snap the window into place.

Gap-Drag Resize

Drag the boundary line between any two tiles. Both adjacent windows resize in real time.

Keyboard Shortcuts

| Shortcut | Action | |---|---| | <kbd>⌃</kbd><kbd>⌥</kbd><kbd>T</kbd> | Open tile editor | | <kbd>⌃</kbd><kbd>⌥</kbd> + Arrow | Move focus | | <kbd>⌃</kbd><kbd>⌥</kbd><kbd>⇧</kbd> + Arrow | Move window | | <kbd>⌃</kbd><kbd>⌥</kbd><kbd>F</kbd> | Toggle float | | <kbd>⌃</kbd><kbd>⌥</kbd><kbd>M</kbd> | Toggle maximize | | <kbd>⌃</kbd><kbd>⌥</kbd><kbd>=</kbd> / <kbd>-</kbd> | Expand / shrink tile |

Architecture

KTApple
├── TileManager         Per-display tile tree management
├── TileEditor          Visual tile editor (SwiftUI)
├── WindowManager       Window ops via Accessibility API
├── HotkeyManager       Global shortcut registration
├── DragDropHandler     Shift+Drag detection & tile snapping
├── GapResizeHandler    Boundary drag-resize handling
├── LayoutStore         JSON layout persistence
└── DisplayObserver     Monitor hotplug observation

<details> <summary><strong>Tile Tree Structure</strong></summary>

Tiles follow the same tree model as KWin:

RootTile (Screen)
├── Tile (Left, 60%)
│   ├── Tile (Top-Left)
│   └── Tile (Bottom-Left)
└── Tile (Right, 40%)
    ├── Tile (Top-Right)
    └── Tile (Bottom-Right)

Each node carries:

• proportion — Size relative to siblings (0.0–1.0)
• layoutDirection — Horizontal / Vertical
• children — Arbitrary child count
• windowIDs — Assigned windows

</details> <details> <summary><strong>macOS API Usage</strong></summary>

| Layer | API | |---|---| | Window Operations | AXUIElement (Accessibility API) | | Window Enumeration | CGWindowListCopyWindowInfo | | Global Events | CGEvent Tap / NSEvent.addGlobalMonitorForEvents | | Hotkeys | Carbon.HIToolbox (RegisterEventHotKey) | | Display Monitoring | CGDisplayRegisterReconfigurationCallback | | UI | SwiftUI |

</details>

Requirements

• macOS 14.0+ (Sonoma)
• Swift 6 / Xcode 16+ (to build from source)
• Accessibility permission
• No SIP disable required

Documentation

| Guide | Description | |---|---| | Getting Started | Installation, setup, first steps | | Keyboard Shortcuts | Full shortcut reference | | Architecture | Internals for contributors |

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue first to discuss what you'd like to change.

git clone https://github.com/m96-chan/KTApple.git
cd KTApple
swift build
swift test

License

GPL-3.0