Tiling Shell Brings Advanced Window Snapping to Ubuntu – OMG! Ubuntu

If you’re looking for a more powerful and configurable window tiling experience on Ubuntu, look no further than Tiling Shell, a new GNOME Shell extension which super-charges window snapping with a host of interactive features.

Ubuntu improved its own window tiling capabilities last year by making the Tiling Assistant GNOME Shell extension part of the default desktop install. Out-of-the-box, the distro supports quarter-tiling, horizontal half-tiling, and has tiling prompt to quickly snap other open apps.

And this was a much welcome addition to the Ubuntu desktop. It finally fulfilled a long-standing feature from users of the distro, and was something I had been using daily.

Yes, that’s past-tense.

I’ve disabled Ubuntu’s Tiling Assistant in favour of Tiling Shell — and here’s why.

Tiling Shell: Pointer-Led Window Tiling

Tiling Shell does everything Ubuntu’s own tiling add-on does and more: it’s more advanced, it’s more configurable, and it’s more interactive.

It also works with multiple monitors (even if they use different scaling); has multiple preset tiling layouts; and several ways ways to interact.

As efficient as keyboard-driven window tiling is (and it is) I am a mouse-first person. Tiling Shell is (at the time I’m reviewing it) very pointer-led and visual, giving those who can’t adapt to keyboard-based window tiling a powerful drag-and-drop alternative.

You can see Tiling Shell in action in the following video. I wanted to use GIFs in this post but they turned out too large, so quickly cut the screen recordings together in this clip (it has no commentary or sound; it isn’t a polished promo):-

For me, it’s Tiling Shell’s on-screen Snap Assist (only visible when moving a window) which is the real USP. Using this, I’m able to quickly snap windows to a choice of advanced layouts rather than, in the past, snap things to sides/corners and resize manually.

Better yet, those default layouts are editable and you can create your own custom tiling layouts and save them. If you regularly use a specific tiling arrangement with a specific set of apps I recommend creating a custom layout, which the on-screen editor makes easy:

To go back to that on-screen Snap Assist, which peeks into view whenever you drag a window. While it is is helpful, it’s not mandatory. You can disable it, or leave it enabled but only use it when you need.

Tiling Shell allows you to snap windows to a chosen area without dropping your window in to a zone in the snap assist. Instead, hold the ctrl key as you move a window and tiling layout appears on screen. Drag a window over a zone, then release to ‘snap’.

You can set the active layout this mode uses from the panel indicator (or the snap assist) – just click on the layout you wish to make active. The next time you hold the ctrl key and drag a window, that layout is the one that appears.

To make a window span multiple zones in a layout without editing or switching to a different layout you can press the ctrl and alt key when dragging a window and move it over the multiple zones you wish to fill, then release.

Tiling Shell features at-a-glance:

• Predefined tiling layouts (editable)
• Create custom layouts using on-screen editor
• On-screen snap assist when moving window
• Option to set inner and outer gaps around windows
• Panel indicator applet (can be disabled)
• Control behaviour, e.g., restore windows snap when untiled

With Apple (belatedly) adding proper window tiling to its own desktop OS in this year’s macOS Sequoia update, those of us Linux may be feeling smug. After all, we’ve long enjoyed configurable, powerful window snapping features of our own.

But Tiling Shell takes things up a gear.

If you pine after keyboard-driven tiling window managers other distros and desktop environments provide, but you don’t wish to abandon your mouse or GNOME Shell, give Tiling Shell a try and see if it offers what you need.

• Get Tiling Shell on GNOME Extensions

I’m eager to know what you think of this extension, so don’t be afraid to share your thoughts and suggestions on how this could be even better down in the comments!