Rotara for Mac

Spaces, finally done right.

A workspace for every project. Every window exactly where you left it. One key to get anywhere.

Join now and get Rotara from $19 at launch instead of $29. Free 14-day trial.

Your editor is behind a browser. Your notes are buried under another project. Keep the windows that belong together in a workspace of their own.

Workspaces

Same app. Separate projects.

Keep one Safari window with your client work and another with your research. Add the notes, files and tools each project needs. When you switch workspaces, that project's windows come back.

Window by window.

Keep separate browser, editor and Finder windows with the projects they belong to.
Instant.

No sliding between desktops. Pick a workspace and its windows are already there.
Just as you left it.

The window you were in comes back in front. Apps you hid stay hidden, and minimized windows stay minimized.

Stay where you are

Ask for an app. Get it here.

Open Safari from the Dock, Spotlight or Raycast. If it has no window in this workspace, Rotara opens one right here, and you stay put.

Works with apps that provide a New Window command. For other apps, Rotara switches to their existing workspace.

Without Rotara

Thrown somewhere else.

By default, macOS switches to a desktop where the app already has an open window.

With Rotara

A new window, right here.

Safari opens a window in this workspace. Its windows in your other projects stay separate.

Going to a window instead? ⌘ tab, a notification or a link takes you to whichever workspace it's in.

Nothing to relearn

One new key. Right under Tab.

Caps Lock sits right under Tab, where your hand already is for ⌘ tab, and it barely gets used. Rotara puts it to work without taking anything away: on its own, it's still Caps Lock.

⌃ caps lockYour workspaces.
⌘ caps lockApps in this workspace.
⌘ tabSame as always, just smarter: this workspace's apps come first.
⌘ `Cycle through this app's windows in the current workspace. Hold for a window pie.

Prefer different keys? Change the shortcuts in Settings.

Swipe, just like Spaces.

The swipe you already use to move between desktops now moves between workspaces. Same fingers, no slide. The next workspace is simply there.

Swipe ← →Next or previous workspace, with three or four fingers, as set in your Trackpad settings.
⌃ ← →The same, from the keyboard.
⌃ 1–9Straight to any workspace.

Pie menus

One key. Everything in reach.

Press ⌃ Caps Lock for workspaces or ⌘ Caps Lock for apps. A pie menu opens around your pointer. Move toward what you want and click.

Workspace pie.

Recognize each workspace by its stack of app icons. Click the project you want to get back to.

App pie.

Just this project's apps. ⌘ tab lists every app you have open. The app pie shows only the ones in this workspace.

No need to be precise.

Just move toward the app you want and click. Anywhere in its slice counts, even well past the ring.

Apps stay where you put them.

Each app keeps its spot in the pie, so a week in, your hand knows where everything is.

Bring your window along.

Move your current window to another workspace with ⇧-click. You'll follow it there. Add ⌃ to send the window and stay where you are.

Spin off

Give any window a space of its own.

That quick bit of research turned into a project. Hold ⇧ and click + in the workspace pie to give its window a new workspace. Rotara names it for you and takes you there.

Use ⌃⇧-click on + to create the workspace and send the window there while you stay put.

Smart Freeze

Idle projects stop slowing your Mac down.

Heavy apps sitting idle in other workspaces are paused, so they stop using your processor. Switch back and they pick up instantly, exactly where they were.

processor use while paused. Less heat, more battery.

Instant

back to work the moment you switch in

Only when it's safe.

Smart mode checks for processor activity, audio, camera use and running terminal commands before pausing a heavy app.

Your call.

Choose Smart, Always or Never for each app. Common messaging, music, mail and VPN apps are excluded by default.

Pinned apps

Some apps belong everywhere.

Keep your music player or chat app around while you work. Pin an app and switching workspaces leaves its windows alone. Show or hide it whenever you need.

Always within reach.

Find pinned apps at the bottom of the app pie. Click one to bring it up over your workspace, and ⌥-click to hide it again.
Your music stays with you.

Spotify and Music are pinned by default. Pin other apps from the menu bar or Settings.
Unpin any time.

Its windows move into the workspace you're in.

Peace of mind

Nothing gets lost.

Quit Rotara and every window comes back on screen. Reopen it and your workspaces sort themselves back out.

Restart your Mac and your workspaces come back as macOS reopens your windows.
An app updates or crashes? The windows it reopens go back to their workspaces.
Switching never closes a window. Rotara only hides the ones you're not using.
Delete a workspace and its windows move to Main. Nothing closes.

The details, handled.

Rename and clear out.

Hover a workspace in the pie and press return to rename it. Press delete to remove it after confirming. Its windows go to Main, your starting workspace. Done with a project? ⌥ delete closes its windows too.

Your keys.

Choose the shortcuts that suit your keyboard. The pie shortcuts also work with Raycast's Hyper Key.

Raycast and scripts.

Create and switch workspaces or move a window with the Raycast extension. Use Rotara's URL scheme for those actions in your own scripts.

Always know where you are.

The menu bar shows your workspace's number, and its name appears for a moment every time you switch.

Your order.

Drag workspaces or apps around their pies, like icons in the Dock. Workspace shortcuts follow the new order. Main always stays at 1.

A quick tour.

Learn the shortcuts by using them. The first-launch tour brings practice windows for you to move between workspaces.

Like Spaces, built around projects.

Spaces gives each project a desktop, but finding an app still means picking from every app you have open. Rotara adds an app pie with only this workspace's apps, and ⌘ tab lists them first.

	Spaces	Rotara
Switching apps	`⌘` `tab` lists every open app, from every desktop	`⌘` `caps lock` shows only this workspace's apps. `⌘` `tab` still lists them all, this workspace's first
Opening an app with no window here	Switches to its desktop by default	Opens a window here when the app supports it
Switching projects	Slides between desktops	Instant
Seeing what's where	Mission Control's thumbnails	The workspace pie, each one's apps on it
Moving a window	Drag it to another desktop in Mission Control	`⇧`-click a workspace in the pie
Workspace names	Desktop 1, Desktop 2	Auto-named when you spin off a window, or named by you
Idle apps elsewhere	Keep running	Heavy ones paused until you're back

Pay once. Keep it.

No subscription. Both options include the same app. Standard comes with a year of updates, Lifetime with every future update.

Standard

$19$29

Waitlist price

Every feature on this page
Keep using the version you own
1 year of updates
1 Mac

Join the Waitlist

Best value

Lifetime

$32$49

Waitlist price

Every feature on this page
Keep using the version you own
Every future update, new features included
Up to 3 Macs

Join the Waitlist

Free for 14 days. No account, no card.
30-day money-back guarantee.
Your data never leaves your Mac.

Questions.

How is it different from Stage Manager?

Stage Manager keeps your other windows as thumbnails along the side of the screen. Rotara takes up no screen space: your windows stay exactly where you put them, and your workspaces stay out of sight until you press a key.

Is it a tiling window manager, like AeroSpace?

No. You choose where your windows go and how big they are. Rotara groups them into workspaces and brings back the ones you need.

Do I still need Spaces?

You can use Rotara within a single macOS desktop. Your projects live in Rotara's workspaces, so you don't need to create a separate Space for each one. The trackpad swipe and ⌃← ⌃→ you use for Spaces move between workspaces instead.

Does it work with more than one display?

Yes. A workspace holds your windows on every display, and switching changes all of them at once.

Do I need Raycast?

No. Rotara's pie shortcuts work without Raycast. If you already use Raycast's Hyper Key, they work with that too. You can change the shortcuts in Settings.

Does it work with every app?

Rotara groups windows individually when an app makes them available through macOS Accessibility. For apps that don't, it manages the app as a whole. Opening a new window in your current workspace also requires the app to provide a New Window command.

What does Rotara have access to?

Rotara needs Accessibility permission to manage windows. It reads window titles and file paths where available to name workspaces. Your data never leaves your Mac, and there's no account. Rotara only contacts its own server to check your trial or license, sending the license key, an anonymous ID for your Mac and the app version. Nothing about your windows or apps.

Can I try it first?

Yes. Every feature is free for 14 days, with no account and no card. If you buy it and it isn't for you, get a full refund within 30 days.

Can I use it on more than one Mac?

Standard works on one Mac at a time, Lifetime on up to three. Moving to a new Mac takes one click in Settings.

What do I need?

A Mac running macOS Ventura or later.

What happens after Standard's year of updates?

You keep the version you own, and it keeps working. Want every future update? Upgrade to Lifetime from Settings at any time by paying the difference.

When can I get it?

Rotara is still in development. Join the waitlist to hear when it launches and get Standard for $19 instead of $29, or Lifetime for $32 instead of $49.

Every project,
in its place.

Coming to Mac. From $19 if you join the waitlist now.

Free 14-day trial. No account, no card.