flash

Flash and AeroSpace

AeroSpace “is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS”: tree-based tiling, its own emulation of virtual workspaces, i3-style binding modes, a TOML config and a CLI. It is MIT Swift for macOS 13+, about 23,000 stars, in public beta (v0.21.3 in July 2026), needs no SIP change, and is not notarized. Flash does not tile; the two are complementary, and the overlap is only window placement and keyboard modes.

	AeroSpace	Flash
License, price	MIT, free	MIT, free
Platforms	macOS 13+	macOS 14+
Permissions	Accessibility; one private API (_AXUIElementGetWindow)	Accessibility; no private APIs
Windows	Automatic tiling, tiles and accordion layouts, workspaces, multi-monitor pool	Named positions, proportional frames, placement rules by app and title, directional focus, minimize, native full screen
Modes	i3 binding modes in aerospace.toml	NORMAL, INSERT, COMMAND, TERMINAL for all input, with per-app actions
Hints, bar	None; exec-on-workspace-change for bars	Hints in every app, status bar, widgets, popups
Configuration	TOML, auto-reload option, CLI	TOML, live reload, CLI
Maintenance	Beta, releases every few weeks	1.0.0, October 2026

Where AeroSpace is stronger

• It is a window manager. Automatic tiling, workspaces that survive monitor changes, and an i3 vocabulary; Flash only moves the focused window where you tell it.
• Lower macOS floor.
• A large user base and a documented stability policy (no SIP, one private API, no ricing).

Where Flash is stronger

• Everything that is not tiling: hints, modes, search, bar, widgets, popups, plugins.
• Public APIs only and a notarization path.
• Placement rules without a tiling model, for people who want a few windows pinned and the rest left alone.

Flash features you might like

• window_focus --direction=left|right|up|down and --direction=next| previous|behind for focus without tiling (windows).
• window_move --position=lefthalf and proportional frames as quick manual layouts.
• mouse_screens to jump the pointer to a display.
• A bar segment showing #{flash.active_app}, next to an AeroSpace workspace source.

Using both

Keep AeroSpace for tiling and workspaces. Give Flash the hint, mode and bar keys, and leave AeroSpace’s alt-based bindings alone. A shell source can show the focused workspace in Flash’s bar:

[statusbar.sources.workspace]
command = ["aerospace", "list-workspaces", "--focused"]

Flash’s placement rules and AeroSpace’s tiling will fight over the same window; use one or the other per app.

Checked 2026-10-14 against the AeroSpace README and guide.

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