Yesterday, I presented a list of 10 different tips that I thought any new Mac owner should know. As stated in that walkthrough, I don’t consider every recommendation on the list to be an absolute must-follow for new Mac users. There are a few items on the list, however, that are staples in my opinion.
For example, I would hate it if every minimized window on OS X occupied its own space on the Dock. For that reason, I rush to enable the “Minimize window into application icon” option (found in System Preferences → Dock) after every new install. But enabling such a feature comes with its own caveat — it’s hard to know exactly what’s behind an app icon on the Dock once you’ve minimized its respective windows. Thankfully, there’s a handy Mac utility that allows you to preview app windows by hovering over icons in the Dock.
HyperDock ($9.99 on the Mac App Store) is a must-have app for OS X in my eyes, as it brings the ability to preview what’s running in the dock without fully opening an app window. When HyperDock is active, simply hovering over an open app in the Dock will reveal a small preview window displaying its current state.
I find HyperDock to be especially useful when you have more than one window open for a single application. HyperDock will allow you to preview both windows right from the dock without opening either window.
The great thing about HyperDock is that the previews can be large enough to actually display content therein. It even updates the small preview screenshot of the apps running in your Dock to show their current state. For instance, if your Twitter timeline is refreshed, you’ll see a preview of the timeline’s latest state, even if the app is minimized into the Dock.
But HyperDock doesn’t just stop with window previews. Along with tons of customization options to change the look and size of said previews, the utility adds window snapping into the mix. While it’s true that Apple implemented iOS 9-esque side-by-side multitasking in OS X El Capitan, HyperDock’s window snapping capabilities bring much more flexibility to the table. For example, you can easily use HyperDock to snap a 2×2 grid of windows together in order to display four apps on screen at once.
Lastly, you might enjoy the fact that HyperDock adds special window previews to certain apps like Calendar, iTunes, and even Spotify. By hovering over the Dock icons of certain apps, it’s possible to enjoy enhanced functionality like music controls, calendar events, etc.
Needless to say, HyperDock is one of the very first apps that I install on my Mac. It’s an app that I go out of my way to tell people about — it’s just that good. You can find HyperDock on the Mac App Store for $9.99. You can also download a 15-day trial version of the utility outside of the Mac App Store, which can be licensed for only $6.95.
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I feel like Hyperdock is something that should be built in to OS X. It’s really great.
Personally, I think that have something better called mission control.
I use both.
Everything about your tips are ways of making a Mac feel more like a Windows PC. Definitely nothing in here that’s of much interest to me.
Gregorio, it’s not so much of “trying to make it a Windows PC”, as it is just useful software. I’m certainly not a fan of Windows, but I must admit that it does some things right; Window snapping, and dock previews are just a couple to name a few. Even Apple realizes that it’s useful, although side-by-side multitasking on OS X El Capitan isn’t as flexible.
I second that.
Btw… why put the dock on the side?! I also care about screen real estate, so I just use auto hiding.
The Dock is useful to me, and I don’t like Auto Hide due to the delay. Yes, I know that you can eliminate the delay via a Terminal command, but I appreciate other features of an always visible dock as well. Try it for a week!
HyperDock actually has a toggle to speed up the Auto Hide delay. It’s in Advanced -> Speed up Dock’s autohide.
Oh don’t get me wrong. While EYE personally don’t like it on the side YMMV.
I think though, that it would not have hurt to also mention that option:
“If you value your vertical screen real estate, I recommend putting the dock on either the left or right sides of the display, or choose the option for it to auto-hide.” Something like that.
Because monitors are wide these days.
I glance at the Dock all the time (on the right side of my 27″ iMac) in order to check the date, see which apps are active, note how many unread emails I have, and see which pages I have minimized. Hiding the Dock doesn’t work for me.
I auto hide aswell.. most of my apps run in Fullscreen.. I even hide safari toolbars in fullscreen to just have content real estate.. when in a fullscreen app, I just swipe for mission control and dock appears fast… swipe back and I’m back where I was..
“Btw… why put the dock on the side?”
Because it has been there since 1989.
Yeah fantastic tool. For the snapping it’s nice to be able to set up keyboard shortcuts to do it so that you press the up, left or right key while holding one other and the app will snap to full screen or the left or right halves.
Good point, I like using shortcuts as well.
I’ve been using it so long I forget that its not part of the base system.
Some of this functionality exists out of the box in OS X, specifically showing what items are hiding behind the app icon once you’ve enabled the “Minimize windows into application icon” option. If you have multiple windows (or even one) minimized into an icon, long-tapping / force-touching the trackpad will show them neatly stacked side by side along with a little preview and the title
Mahmoud, are you referring to what happens when you click and hold on an icon in the dock? Curious to see what you mean. I know about the Finder preview, which is basically just text, but perhaps there is something else that I am missing. Please let me know and provide a screenshot as well, maybe that can be a part of a future post!
It’s like the Finder preview on steroids. I took a screenshot that I wanted to post with my original comment but wasn’t sure how (this is the first time I comment!!). I’ve uploaded it to my server. Here it is http://mimzo.com/95prev.png
I mean when you click and hold (a heavy click on a Force-Touch enabled trackpad) when you have windows minimized to an icon. See this screenshot I made earlier (but didn’t know how to post) http://mimzo.com/95prev.png
Ah, gotcha. I don’t have a Force Touch enabled Mac or a new Magic Trackpad. Forgot that was a thing. That’s very true, but I like being able to hover to get my previews without any additional requirements. Also, if you use a mouse, this is a non-starter. Still, thanks for reminding me about that! And welcome, look forward to more of your comments.
ForceTouch is not the only way to display the app’s windows; if you’re keyboard oriented, you can press Ctrl+down (Ctrl+Up is mission control) and it will display the active app’s windows, and alternatively you can double right click on the app icon in the dock (works with MagicMouse2, not sure if it works with other mice, but it should).
I mostly just 3 finger swipe up to show mission control and all live previews are shown.. even videos playing live… for window management I purchased Magnet app..
Half the time i forget that i have the snapping function — i rarely use it…
As for previews – that’s what mission control is for — i hardly ever minimise…no need to really…
It would be nice though if Apple implemented these as options BUT i don’t think they are work $9.99 — you must really have issues with using a mac or really want a window like mac to shell out $9.99
$9.99 for an app that provides convenience and saves time isn’t too high of a price to pay in my opinion. The app has probably paid for itself by now, since I’ve had it for several years.
as a person who works mostly on a laptop with a simple gesture can show all my open windows, and with a simple user interface all ready – $9.99 to add a few extra things is a lot…
This just gives you other options and are built on top of existing solutions…
I would be interested in better snap features – but theres no point in me trying it because I’m not willing to spend $9.99 just to do things a different why that could or could not save me time depending on what task i am doing.
This is not something useful…until Apple adds it to next OS X and revolutionize how you preview a running app found in the dock. Why don’t we accept some simple things? Whenever i read 9to5Mac comments, it’s getting more like “Apple=god” Apple can make mistakes too or there can be some areas that Apple falls behind. I’m a happy Apple user but i’m not blind and I appreciate this article. Wonderful article Jeff, i learned this thanks to you and i have been looking something like this for a long time, keep up the good work!
Its good not sure if I would spend 10 bucks for it
Good article Jeff. Convenient features. For window snapping I used to use BetterSnapTool but nowadays I switched to Moom.
Do you know if there is a program for closing any window displayed in Mission Crontrol/Expose? Such feature would be great!
Love it.. Im sold !
So….basic desktop functionality that Windows has had for years is a $10 “upgrade” on OSX? It’s breathtaking the sacrifices some people will make in the name of being fashionable, trendy, cool etc.
Just note that HyperDock is not being supported anymore and has many issues with 10.11. It randomly stops working and then you need to disable/enable to get it to work. A few moments later it might stop working again. The developer did not reply neither. Disappointed.
with Hyperdock, can I close pop-up windows by x-ing them out, without opening them, in their preview mode ?