Ventura Starting apps on Multiple Screen system issues

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Ventura Starting apps on Multiple Screen system issues

I have a Macbook Pro with the M1 Pro chip, i use multiple screens when the MacBook is in "Clamshell" mode.

When I select an app to start the app automatically opens up on the "prime" display regardless of which of the displays is nominated as "Prime". Normally if I wanted an app to open on a particular screen i would select that screen using the mouse, then open the app and all is well.

But no longer in Ventura...this is a pain Apple and should have been identified in Beta testing...

JohnW

MacBook Pro 14″, macOS 13.0

Posted on Oct 31, 2022 01:06 AM

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Answer 1

Oct 31, 2022 01:21 AM in response to welshguru

I will have to test this a little later, as I’m away from my mac.

This is something that I have used before but I have not yet tried in Ventura.

Just to make sure we’re on the same page: are you clicking on the menu bar on one display to make that active, then launching an application using Spotlight (command-space, type a few letters and press enter) and it does not launch on that display? Are you using some other method to launch the application?

Also: is this perhaps a problem specific to the use of the mac in clamshell mode? (clamshell mode is something that I have not used; I use two and sometimes three displays, one of them being the MBP internal display)

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Answer 2

Oct 31, 2022 01:35 AM in response to welshguru

Well, I have just done a few tests with two screens - not in clamshell mode, mind you, as I only have an additional screen at the moment, and no external keyboard and pointing device.

My MBP display is the main display, and I have an external 1080p display.

I clicked on the external display, and it became "active" (its menu bar lights up and the one in the built-in is dimmed); I pressed Command-Space to open Spotlight, and typed part of the name of an application (TextMate in one instance, Skim in another); and it started on the external, so it seems to be working here as it always has.

Note that once I select the display, there are no clicks until the application is launched, and the display remains "active".

Maybe the problem is then only in clamshell mode. Or maybe you are using a different method - perhaps one where the other display become active in the interim, causing the application to appear there instead?

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Answer 3

welshguru Author

Level 2

176 points

Oct 31, 2022 02:04 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Hi,

Thanks for your response. The only difference that I can see is that I use the Dock to start most of my apps, which I did Pre Ventura, and it worked fine then... this behavior is new in Ventura for me...... and a pain to be honest.

JohnW

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Answer 4

welshguru Author

Level 2

176 points

Oct 31, 2022 02:42 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Hi,

Yes I know a number of users that prefer not to use the Dock, but considering Apple went to some trouble to get the Dock up and running some years back it is obviously important to some users, like myself, so why have they not made sure its function is consistent across OS releases??

Thanks

JohnW

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Answer 5

welshguru Author

Level 2

176 points

Oct 31, 2022 04:34 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Thanks,

I raised a Feedback ticket based on this thread....... will they do anything?? who knows..... i am on their beta testing program for IOS and over the last several years i have not received one message of feedback from them......... i think they are getting way too focused on their own importance and do not listen to genuine users that much anymore....

Thanks Again for your interest.

JohnW

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Answer 6

Oct 31, 2022 04:49 AM in response to welshguru

You are not likely receive a reply, but that does not mean it won't be heard.

I have had bugs that I reported being fixed relatively quickly, whereas others have remained forever...

Some changes may have have deliberate (in which case they are unlikely to be reversed, unless there is a public outcry), others may have been bugs that they deem important enough to be fixed. I would not hold much hope on this one, since it probably affects a very small minority of users, and there are workarounds - it is not that hard to drag a window to the other display.

Going in a different direction, there may be another way for you to ensure that the application starts where you want it.

It requires having at least two spaces on one of the screens. Then you can click and hold on the Dock icon of an application (say, Mail), choose Options and then choose "Desktop on Display 2". This will make Mail start automatically on display 2 (all the time).

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Answer 7

welshguru Author

Level 2

176 points

Oct 31, 2022 10:47 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Luis Sequeira1 wrote:

Going in a different direction, there may be another way for you to ensure that the application starts where you want it.

It requires having at least two spaces on one of the screens. Then you can click and hold on the Dock icon of an application (say, Mail), choose Options and then choose "Desktop on Display 2". This will make Mail start automatically on display 2 (all the time).

Yes, I did realize that I could specify a specific screen, but it did not register as a possible solution at the time, so that's a possible solution but i have noticed a strange set of behaviors for example if I have an Excel spreadsheet file on the Prime display as a short cut (alias). If I go to the secondary display and select an unused "Space" then go back to the excel shortcut on the Prime display and select it surprise surprise it will open correctly in the unused space on the secondary display.. Also, I have noted that if you select COntrol and then select an App in the Dock in my case it normally has None selected, but if you then select for example Display 2 it will open the app in that display on the Space that I have open, however, back in the Dock the App still has Display2 and the None option both selected........that does not sound right to me.

So i have got some form of workaround I will stick with that for now and see if anything develops from Apple.

thanks JohnW

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Answer 8

Oct 31, 2022 02:13 AM in response to welshguru

I never use the Dock; it stays hidden all day and hardly ever see it.

I tried it now just to test, and I see the same thing that you do.

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Answer 9

Oct 31, 2022 04:29 AM in response to welshguru

Good question, but only Apple might know the answer...

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Ventura Starting apps on Multiple Screen system issues

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