Prevent apps from opening on the monitor that is being streamed onto

[libmilos-so]

I'm using BetterDisplay exclusively for virtual monitor streaming. Along a MBP (monitor 1), I have a sub-full HD portable external monitor (monitor 2), and I'm using BetterDisplay to create a virtual monitor (monitor 3) that I then stream to the physical one. My workflow is basically boot -> start virtual monitor stream (3 -> 2) -> do everything else -> stop stream -> shutdown.

Occasionally, some apps will start on the monitor 2, and to move them somewhere else, I have to stop the stream, move them from monitor 2 to monitor 1, then start the stream again (and optionally move them to monitor 3). Sometimes I don't mind it, sometimes it feels like such a chore.

Is there a way for BetterDisplay to, in the future, detect apps opening on e.g. monitor 2 and move them automatically to 1 or 3?

I've since created a helper script that lets me run e.g. fixwindow "Google Chrome" in the terminal, which would move Chrome's windows to monitor 1, but it requires me to give the terminal app accessibility permissions, which really makes me unease.

In case anyone needs it, here's the script:

fixwindow() {
    local app="$1"

    if [ -z "$app" ]; then
        echo "Usage: fixwindow <ApplicationName>"
        return 1
    fi

    osascript <<EOF
tell application "System Events"
    tell process "$app"
        repeat with w in windows
            try
                set position of w to {300, 100}
            end try
        end repeat
    end tell
end tell
EOF
}

Just append it to your ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc and you can run fixwindow APP_NAME (in case it's two words, you have to put it between "quotes", like for Google Chrome above)

[waydabber]

Yes, this is something I will probably work on, but for now the app tried to stay out of window management stuff. However you can simply assign a hotkey to hide/unhide the stream, so you don't have to stop and restart the stream whenever such a thing happens.

(note: apps should not simply pop-up uninvited on an extended display normally, but I understand from time to time somehow this happens anyway.)

[libmilos-so]

I didn't notice that feature at all, and it even works super fast 😅

Thanks, this should work much better than the script above