Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Rectangle VS Spectacle App

Compare Rectangle VS Spectacle App and see what are their differences

Rectangle logo Rectangle

Window management app based on Spectacle, written in Swift.

Spectacle App logo Spectacle App

Move and resize windows with ease.
  • Rectangle Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-20
  • Spectacle App Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-18

Important note: Spectacle is no longer being actively maintained

Rectangle videos

SKYWALKER RECTANGLE TRAMPOLINE REVIEW!!!

More videos:

  • Review - Skywalker Rectangle Trampoline Review #1
  • Review - Marvin Malton 160 Rectangle Flying Hour Watch Review

Spectacle App videos

Demo of Spectacle App for Mac

More videos:

  • Review - Spectacle App Showcase: Window Management, Manipulation, & Organization for Mac (2017)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Rectangle and Spectacle App)
Mac Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Window Manager
76 76%
24% 24
OSX Tools
72 72%
28% 28
Screenshot Annotation
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Rectangle and Spectacle App

Rectangle Reviews

Best 6 Mac Window Managers
Rectangle shows that you don’t need to dip into your bank account to get window resizer tools. This free Mac window manager lets you manage multiple windows using keyboard shortcuts, menu options, or by dragging and dropping. Just like Magnet, you can split your screen up into quarters, thirds, or halves.
Source: mackeeper.com
Top 6 Window Manager Apps for Mac
Most window manager apps for Mac support multiple monitors. They can help you move windows between screens and create custom layouts for each monitor. Many window manager apps – such as BetterSnapTool, Magnet, and Rectangle – offer this functionality.
The 6 Best Mac Window Management Tools
However, it might take some time for you to get used to the shortcuts in the Rectangle app since there are many. Furthermore, you can also add some of your apps to exceptions if you want to keep them away from Rectangle's shortcuts.

Spectacle App Reviews

Moom vs Magnet vs Spectacle
While custom sizes can only be done with Moom, the predefined window sizes are provided by Magnet and Spectacle out of the box, but can also be configured manually with Moom. It’s also possible to assign keyboard shortcuts. So, in this case, if you want all the features, Moom can do them all.
Source: medium.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Rectangle seems to be a lot more popular than Spectacle App. While we know about 451 links to Rectangle, we've tracked only 4 mentions of Spectacle App. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Rectangle mentions (451)

  • Ask HN: What macOS apps/programs do you use daily and recommend?
    - Rectangle: window management [https://rectangleapp.com/]. - Source: Hacker News / 5 days ago
  • Ask HN: What macOS apps/programs do you use daily and recommend?
    MicDrop - Add a global "mute microphone" button in the status bar (https://getmicdrop.com/) AltTab - Give the same (sane) behaviour to cmd+tab as alt+tab on Windows (https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/) Rectangle - Window snapping (https://rectangleapp.com/) Maccy - A clipboard history manager (https://maccy.app/) DropZone - Add a "shelf" zone in the same way as Dropover. It's less good than Dropover, but it's... - Source: Hacker News / 5 days ago
  • AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS
    Https://rectangleapp.com is the spiritual successor. - Source: Hacker News / 8 days ago
  • AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS
    Not to drop this kind hacker’s competitor, but I’ve been a happy user of https://rectangleapp.com/. Will definitely be checking this out instead tho, even though I’ve paid for rectangle — any demo that has SublimeText windows in it is a demo I trust! - Source: Hacker News / 8 days ago
  • Updating My Mac Window Shortcuts Strategy for Optimal Workflow
    Rectangle’s installation is incredibly straightforward. Its immediate out-of-the-box functionality was a pleasant surprise. For anyone seeking to reduce the friction of window management on their Mac, Rectangle is a solution I wholeheartedly recommend. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
View more

Spectacle App mentions (4)

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Rectangle and Spectacle App, you can also consider the following products

Magnet Window Manager - Magnet Developers

Greenshot - Greenshot is a free and open source screenshot tool that allows annotation and highlighting using the built-in image editor.

yabai - A tiling window manager for macOS based on binary space partitioning

Moom - Move your mouse over the green zoom button in any window, and Moom's mouse control overlay will appear (as seen in the above animation).

ShareX - ShareX is a free and open source program that lets you capture or record any area of your screen...

BTT Remote - A remote control for you Mac, using your iPhone or iPad