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Rectangle VS Ananicy Cpp

Compare Rectangle VS Ananicy Cpp and see what are their differences

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Contents:
  1. ยป Base Details
  2. ยป Videos
  3. ยป Reviews
  4. ยป Alternatives

Rectangle logo Rectangle

Window management app based on Spectacle, written in Swift.

Ananicy Cpp logo Ananicy Cpp

Ananicy rewritten in C++ for much lower CPU and memory usage.
  • Rectangle Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-20
  • Ananicy Cpp Landing page
    Landing page //
    2025-12-29

Rectangle features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Rectangle offers an intuitive user interface that makes window management straightforward and user-friendly.
  • Customizable Shortcuts
    Users can easily configure keyboard shortcuts to better suit their workflow, making window management faster and more efficient.
  • Free
    Rectangle is available for free, making it accessible to anyone without the need for a financial investment.
  • Frequent Updates
    The app receives regular updates, introducing new features and ensuring compatibility with the latest macOS versions.
  • Lightweight
    Rectangle is a lightweight application that doesn't consume many system resources, ensuring smooth performance even on older Macs.

Possible disadvantages of Rectangle

  • Limited Advanced Features
    Rectangle lacks some of the more advanced features found in paid window management applications, such as multiple monitor support and more complex window arrangements.
  • MacOS Only
    Rectangle is only available for macOS, so users of other operating systems are unable to take advantage of its features.
  • Occasional Bugs
    Some users report occasional bugs or unpredictable behavior, which might require troubleshooting or waiting for a future update.
  • Learning Curve for Shortcuts
    While customizable shortcuts are a benefit, there is an initial learning curve for users to memorize and effectively use these shortcuts.
  • Basic Aesthetic
    The app's design and aesthetic are quite basic, lacking the polish and visual appeal found in some other similar tools.

Ananicy Cpp features and specs

  • Automatic NICENESS
    Ananicy Cpp automatically adjusts the niceness of processes, which optimizes their CPU usage according to the priority level that it determines best for system performance.
  • Improved System Responsiveness
    By prioritizing critical tasks and deprioritizing less important ones, Ananicy Cpp can help in maintaining a more responsive system.
  • Customizable Rules
    Users can define custom rules for different applications to control their scheduling behavior, providing a high degree of customization for performance tuning.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, it's freely available for anyone to use, modify, and contribute to, which fosters a community-driven approach to development.

Possible disadvantages of Ananicy Cpp

  • Complex Configuration
    Setting up and configuring Ananicy Cpp may be complex for users who are not familiar with system-level process management.
  • Limited Use Case
    Ananicy Cpp may not significantly benefit users on systems with ample resources and low load, as the niceness adjustments are more impactful in resource-constrained environments.
  • Potential Compatibility Issues
    There could be compatibility issues or unexpected behavior with certain software that may not respond ideally to changes in process priority.
  • Limited Documentation
    The documentation available might not be comprehensive enough for new users to easily understand and effectively use Ananicy Cpp to its fullest potential.

Analysis of Rectangle

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Rectangle is highly regarded for its ease of use, extensive customization options, and the fact that it is free and open-source. It provides essential functionality without unnecessary complexity, making it suitable for both casual users and power users who need efficient window management.

Why this product is good

  • Rectangle is a popular window management tool for macOS, known for its simplicity and ease of use. It allows users to efficiently organize and resize application windows using customizable keyboard shortcuts or by dragging windows into pre-defined areas of the screen. This can enhance productivity by minimizing the time spent arranging windows and improving multitasking capabilities.

Recommended for

    Rectangle is recommended for macOS users looking for a straightforward, lightweight solution to manage application windows. It is particularly beneficial for those who frequently work with multiple applications at once, including developers, designers, and anyone who values a tidy and organized desktop environment.

Analysis of Ananicy Cpp

Overall verdict

  • Ananicy Cpp is a solid, lightweight auto-nice daemon that improves system responsiveness by automatically managing process priorities, and it's a well-optimized C++ rewrite of the original Ananicy with better performance and lower resource usage.

Why this product is good

  • It's a C++ reimplementation of the original Python-based Ananicy, offering significantly lower CPU and memory overhead
  • Automatically adjusts process nice levels, ionice, scheduling policies, and cgroups to improve system responsiveness under load
  • Uses configurable rules, making it flexible and easy to tune for specific workloads
  • Open source and actively maintained, with community-contributed rule sets available
  • Helps keep desktop environments smooth even during heavy background tasks like compiling or file indexing

Recommended for

  • Linux desktop users who want better system responsiveness under heavy load
  • Power users and enthusiasts comfortable configuring daemons and rules
  • Gamers or creators running demanding foreground applications alongside background processes
  • Users of resource-constrained systems who need a lightweight alternative to the original Ananicy
  • People running distributions like Arch, CachyOS, or other performance-focused setups

Rectangle videos

+ Add

SKYWALKER RECTANGLE TRAMPOLINE REVIEW!!!

More videos:

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  • Review - Marvin Malton 160 Rectangle Flying Hour Watch Review

Ananicy Cpp videos

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Rectangle and Ananicy Cpp)

Rectangle

Ananicy Cpp

Mac Tools
100 100%
Mac Tools
0% 0
Command Line Tools
0 0%
Command Line Tools
100% 100
Window Manager
100 100%
Window Manager
0% 0
Monitoring Tools
0 0%
Monitoring Tools
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 Ananicy Cpp

Rectangle Reviews

Best 6 Mac Window Managers
Rectangle shows that you donโ€™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 โ€“ such as BetterSnapTool, Magnet, and Rectangle โ€“ offer this functionality.
Source: www.maketecheasier.com
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.
Source: www.makeuseof.com

Ananicy Cpp Reviews

We have no reviews of Ananicy Cpp yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Rectangle seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 479 times since March 2021. 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 (479)

  • Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Released
    As a both old Linux and now decade user of MacOS, after I got used to no middle-click paste and no focus-follows-mouse: 1. Keyboard shortcuts are Emacs, Ctrl-A: start of line, E: end of line, K: kill selected or to end of line, Y to paste, etc. https://support.apple.com/en-au/102650#text 2. Karabiner elements (FOSS) fixes keyboard mappings outside of the Settings: https://karabiner-elements.pqrs.org/ 3. I have the... - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Native Instant Space Switching on macOS
    Every macOS user uses Rectangle.app โ€” https://rectangleapp.com The ones who don't use it is because they donโ€™t know it exists. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Native Instant Space Switching on macOS
    I use https://rectangleapp.com/ and enjoy it. I have shortcuts to move windows to the left/right half of the screen, and cycle between monitors. This, combined with native cmd+tab and cmd+` is enough for me. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Make macOS consistently bad (unironically)
    Rectangle [1] is pretty much essential for me because of this. I use only a few keypresses (maximize window, move to one of the halves of the screen horizontally) but that is enough. My mouse very rately interacts with the borders of any window, or those buttons. I had to click on the green one that you mentioned in order to see what it did (yuck). [1] https://rectangleapp.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Make macOS consistently bad (unironically)
    I use Rectangle [1] for window management. I only use three shortcuts: full screen, left half of the screen, and right half of the screen. My editors and chrome are always running in one of these modes. But for other apps like Messages, Notes, Music, etc - yeah I don't usually expand them to full screen. [1] https://rectangleapp.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
View more

Ananicy Cpp mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Ananicy Cpp yet. Tracking of Ananicy Cpp recommendations started around Dec 2025.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Rectangle and Ananicy Cpp, you can also consider the following products

Magnet Window Manager - Magnet Developers

Ananicy - Ananicy - is Another auto nice daemon, with community rules support (Use pull request please)

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

htop - htop - an interactive process viewer for Unix. This is htop, an interactive process viewer for Unix systems. It is a text-mode application (for console or X terminals) and requires ncurses. Latest release: htop 2.

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

Process Lasso - Process Lasso is NOT yet another task manager.

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