Feature Request: Restore windows to their original macOS Desktops/Spaces after quit/restart

[nfonrose]

Context:

• Some users work with multiple Fork windows spread across different macOS Desktops/Spaces.
• When quitting and restarting Fork (e.g. after an update), all windows are currently restored onto a single Desktop/Space.

Feature Request:

• Restore each window to the macOS Desktop/Space it was previously on.

Additional benefit:
This would significantly improve the update experience. Right now, restarting Fork requires manual rearranging of windows, which discourages frequent updates. With proper restoration, updates would feel completely painless.

[DanPristupov]

Windows are saved and restored by macOS. Do other applications spread across different desktops get restored as you expect? I just tried TextEdit, and all windows were restored on the active desktop.

[nfonrose]

From what I understand, macOS handles part of the window restoration, but it requires proper cooperation from the app (via AppKit state restoration APIs) to remember which Space each window belonged to.

With regard to what other apps do, it's very mixed:

• Chrome (tested with multi-profile activated), iTerm2 and IntelliJ IDEA absolutely nail it (perfect restoration to the exact Space they were on)
• VSCode, SublimeText, MacOS Terminal and Arc ... don't

PS: I'm on macOS Sonoma 14.8.1 (with "Close windows when quitting an application" disabled).

[nfonrose]

I've crafted a small PoC on how to restore windows to their previous Spaces reliably (without relying only on MacOS's behaviour). It contains a README.md with a "tech summary" section that explains:

• how it works
• why it has to use undocumented APIs

I hope it can help!

https://github.com/nfonrose/misc-poc-restore-macos-windows-to-previous-space