Problems using Affinity apps in MacOS Spaces or Full Screen mode.

[Grum]

I prefer to use Publisher, Designer and Photo in full screen mode so each has their own Space. I also have the MacOS Finder set to its own Space/Desktop. e.g.

There are a couple of problems with this setup:

1. Double-clicking a file in the Finder doesn't switch to the application's Space so it seems that the file hasn't opened. To clarify, the Finder remains on screen although the menu bar changes to the relevant application. I need to manually switch to the application's Space to see the newly opened file - or if I double-click the file a second time in the Finder, it does switch to the correct Space. (this is currently my workaround - quadruple clicking!)

n.b. there is one scenario when double-clicking a file does switch to the application's Space correctly - when the document has missing fonts. I assume the error message somehow forces the application to be displayed.

2. Dialog boxes occasionally don't appear when in full screen mode. For example in Publisher, File > Export doesn't show the Export dialog and clicking on any menu or button just produces an error beep. If I switch to another application or the Finder then back to Publisher, the Export dialog box then appears and works as normal. When this happens, quitting the Affinity apps and reopening them usually fixes it. This behaviour isn't consistent though and I've not noticed any particular action that might trigger it, so I appreciate that it is going to be difficult to replicate and debug. I thought it was worth mentioning though as it seems related to the 1st problem.

Sorry for such a long post to report a seemingly minor bug - but it does annoy me every day so would love a fix or solution!

Thanks,
Graham.

P.S. I'm using Affinity apps v2.4 and macOS 14.3.1 on a Mac Studio M1 but I've been experiencing these problems since v2.0/macOS 13. I've also tried every variation of the Mission Control settings:

[NathanC]

Hi @Grum,

On 3/2/2024 at 11:40 AM, Grum said:

1. Double-clicking a file in the Finder doesn't switch to the application's Space so it seems that the file hasn't opened.

Thanks, I can also replicate this so I've updated the existing issue internally and bumped it with your report.

On 3/2/2024 at 11:40 AM, Grum said:

2. Dialog boxes occasionally don't appear when in full screen mode.

I've not been able to re-produce this in fullscreen mode so far so it will be quite tricky as you say to get this logged, i'll keep trying a few things but if you do notice anything which can cause this to happen let me know. 👍

[Juhani]

I can also replicate the first issue logged by @Grum .

There seem to be an additional issue with full screen mode on macOS 14.6.1 when running Affinity 2.5.4 on an external display. You can see on the attached screen recording that whenever I enter or leave full screen mode the canvas jumps around to some arbitrary place, so that it has to be recentered again, no matter what zoom level I'm at. This only seems to happen when I run Affinity on my large external display though, not when I run it on my native/main MacBook's monitor.

 

 

Probably not a related issue is that whenever I open any Affinity apps on my external monitor the New Document window always comes up on my main monitor, so I have to click on it and switch it over manually every single time to the working external monitor, which is somewhat annoying. However, once I do this, close the New Document window and reopen it, then it correctly appears over the Affinity app on my external monitor.

[NathanC]

Hi @Juhani,

On 9/2/2024 at 10:10 AM, Juhani said:

There seem to be an additional issue with full screen mode on macOS 14.6.1 when running Affinity 2.5.4 on an external display. You can see on the attached screen recording that whenever I enter or leave full screen mode the canvas jumps around to some arbitrary place, so that it has to be recentered again, no matter what zoom level I'm at. This only seems to happen when I run Affinity on my large external display though, not when I run it on my native/main MacBook's monitor.

This is one that is currently logged, so i've bumped the existing issue with your report. 👍

On 9/2/2024 at 10:10 AM, Juhani said:

Probably not a related issue is that whenever I open any Affinity apps on my external monitor the New Document window always comes up on my main monitor, so I have to click on it and switch it over manually every single time to the working external monitor, which is somewhat annoying. However, once I do this, close the New Document window and reopen it, then it correctly appears over the Affinity app on my external monitor.

For me this depends on the display that's currently in focus, for example if I launch Photo 2 from the dock on my external display and I continue to work on that display when Photo 2 launches the 'New Document' dialog will appear on that same external display. However, If I repeat this test but click over onto my main display during the launch process the app will continue to launch on the external display however the New doc dialog will appear on the main display.

[Juhani]

1 hour ago, NathanC said:

Hi @Juhani,

This is one that is currently logged, so i've bumped the existing issue with your report. 👍

For me this depends on the display that's currently in focus, for example if I launch Photo 2 from the dock on my external display and I continue to work on that display when Photo 2 launches the 'New Document' dialog will appear on that same external display. However, If I repeat this test but click over onto my main display during the launch process the app will continue to launch on the external display however the New doc dialog will appear on the main display.

Yes it seems Photo requires an extra click after the launch to set the focus on the external display again to get the new window to open up on top of the application. I wish it didn't need that manual focus set and would remember my previously set preference.