P: Support for native full-screen mode on macOS

[hijax_pl]

I must say that full screen apps is a wonderful idea. I can start in such a way some of the apple apps (safari, imail, numbers) - I like switching between them. It will be desirable to enable this option for Ligtroom & Photoshop (both CS and Elements) to behave in similar way under new Mission Control stuff...

[NB, colourmanagement net]

@jane-e yeah, thanks Jane, see what you mean about the mode they want - I saw the explanation of policy from J453 and pointed the poster to it. 

Neil

have a good week

[SpetznazA]

It's 2023, and it has been 13 years since the introduction of the Fullscreen framework. It is disheartening to witness the lack of progress from a company as resourceful as Adobe. [removed]

[João Padilha]

Can't this work just like Figma? Figma belongs to Adobe now, so maybe this can change in the future... I hope that they don't remove this feature from Figma

[Conrad C]

I hope that they don't remove this feature

By @João Padilha 

Although we have no proof, it is unlikely to be removed from any apps that already have it, because it‘s not like it’s prohibited. There are several Adobe apps that do support macOS native full screen mode, such as Adobe Lightroom, Lightroom Classic, and Acrobat. They have supported macOS native full screen mode for many years.

The problem is that they have not implemented it for some of their oldest applications, such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, which already offered their own cross-platform full screen modes in the years before macOS added its own.

Adobe Lightroom Classic is an interesting exception. It contains commands for both macOS native full screen mode and for the cross-platform full screen mode it had before macOS added one, which many are used to. This means no one is disappointed, but it’s also confusing because the two full screen modes offer different features.

[Birbrajer]

Why does it work in Acrobat? Extremely annoying not to have that feature in InDesign, Bridge, Photoshop!!! How long are we going to wait?!

[44140]

Voicing my daily annoyance that Adobe apps are literally the only apps on my computer that don't support standard MacoOS window management features and as a result also borks literally every other third-party menu accessibility and window management tools i.e. BetterTouchTool, Swish, Lasso, Rectangle, Palletro, Homerow, etc. etc...

[Alexander262849709n7n]

Why not give your users the OPTION?

Sure, there are many legitimate reasons why the MacOS windowing system is not fit for some users. Fine.

But a lot of us would like a real MacOS full screen option too.

Really begs the question here. Why not give your users the choice to toggle between your system and macos full screen?

Please consider this. It truly is a mystery why it has to be either one or the other. Sounds like a false dillemma.

[SnapperCridge]

I'd argue that Adobe (like many other software companies) doesn't look hard enough into their customer base. As some with ADHD (VAST), It's almost a requirement for me to work full screen. It's much easier when software use has similarities, so adding this would help many of us in the design community. And contrary to the few studies that have been done, it's more than many people think it is.

[Sv32190751lh1c]

Photoshop does not open in full screen mode. What could be the problem

[Jeff Arola]

Photoshop does not support the macOS full-screen mode, but has it's own Full Screen Mode when an

image is open by clicking on the F key or going to View>Screen Mode.

More here about the reason why:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-ideas/p-support-for-native-full-screen-mode-on-ma...

[44140]

This problem is old enough to go to middle school.

[minty32211]

In July of 2011, at the start of this thread, we were on Mac OS X Lion (version 10.7). Just for fun, list of Mac operating systems released since then.

1. OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) - Released in July 2012
2. OS X Mavericks (10.9) - Released in October 2013
3. OS X Yosemite (10.10) - Released in October 2014
4. OS X El Capitan (10.11) - Released in September 2015
5. macOS Sierra (10.12) - Released in September 2016
6. macOS High Sierra (10.13) - Released in September 2017
7. macOS Mojave (10.14) - Released in September 2018
8. macOS Catalina (10.15) - Released in October 2019
9. macOS Big Sur (11) - Released in November 2020
10. macOS Monterey (12) - Released in October 2021
11. macOS Ventura (13) - Released in October 2022
12. macOS Sonoma (14) - Will be released in September 2023

[caseydude]

Just adding my voice here to the many who want Photoshop (and other apps) to support the Mac's native fullscreen mode. Weirdly, expanding my app to fullscreen had worked fine for me until the other day. Not sure if it was upgrading to 2024 or the Mac's updates (or some third party app no longer functioning for me), but Adobe's own fullscreen mode changes my whole Mac workflow, feeling pretty bummed about that. Please find a way to do both, Adobe: Mac's easy single-screen fullscreening and the Adobe version for multi-screen users. Thanks!

[zetak]

Go to > view > full screen with menu bar 

[jane-e]

@zetak wrote: Go to > view > full screen with menu bar 

Your screenshot shows Adobe Photoshop's full screen mode, which is not the same as macOS native full screen mode.

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-apps-in-full-screen-mchl9c21d2be/mac

Read the correct answer from @J453 . It's pinned at the top of the page.

Jane

[44140]

Also note that the "correct" answer is over a decade old. Thank you. 

[defaultc5k0o0z0c1i0]

Guys, they're literally NEVER going to add this. Adobe has held this "higher-than-thou" mentality on this matter, refusing to listen to its Mac users for over a decade. Staff don't even reply in here anymore, it's clear they have NO interest in even entertaining an option.

Do yourselves a favour and switch to someone that does care to provide this feature AND listens to its customers' feedback. Serif makes a similar suite of products and charges one upfront and very reasonable fee. Stop paying bloated monthly fees to Adobe until they show they care enough about us Mac users to bring this quintessential requirement to their most popular app after 12 years.

To this day, this still remains one of the highest upvoted threads on the Ideas forum here for Mac users, and they've all but abandoned it. Almost 12K views, nearly 350 comments and 12 years, just swept under the rug and blissfully ignored. It's not worth it. You don't need to pay $30+ a month for just Photoshop for this kind of gleeful neglect and treatment. As a fellow designer, I've kept up in this thread for the other Mac designers that deserve an app that respects as many workflows as possible, including arguably the most used one today. Nothing says clutter like having to share Photoshop with all of your other quick use applets, completely obscuring your desktop and taking priority over several things on your Finder.

If they cared, they would be crawled out of their hole and at least sparked some community debate on what limitations there may be, any kind of roadmap or expectations, anything else. The fact that they refuse to have any developer/staffer acknowledge it anymore shows just how little they care about this. 12 years later, and people are still begging for this feature, and it's a ghost town of abandoned Mac users waiting on nothing together.

Money talks. Refuse to pay for this, switch to Serif's Affinity suite and speak with your wallet. Enough of us stop paying for this disrespect, and it would force them to actually care.

[defaultc5k0o0z0c1i0]

Oh, by the way, as an aside? Referencing replies from 2012 when macOS native full-screen was barely new and in an adaptation period for both developers and users? Irrelevant after 12-13 years afterwards. J453's 11 year old response boils down to "you can't use multiple displays" (not an issue if users could pick either option themselves), and "you can't open multiple document windows in one Space" (who uses multiple windows? Use tabs. They exist in one document window, and can even be split screened into several configurations already built into Photoshop). Today, 99.99% of macOS apps allow this feature. My independently developed MP3GainExpress app that has no business and real merit going full screen has the option.

People aren't asking to replace the current Photoshop full-screen functionality. Just add the native macOS full screen functionality on top. With Apple Silicon laptops holding as much power as the desktops nowadays, a huge chunk of users don't even work on mutiple screens. Leave the Photoshop full screen option in for those that do, but put some effort into having the option for the large amount of people who use Spaces to organize their workflows. The supposed users who have "accepted the trade-offs and don't want to lose the functionality" can just opt to continue using Photoshop's full screen option and ignoring a native macOS option. Why is it that the minority userbase have an opinion that they want the existing Photoshop full screen are immediately acknowledged, and the large majority over 12 years who just want a simple extra toggle that doesn't step on any existing features completely ignored? I also don't care about having to re-do the framework, just have the guts to acknowledge it's a decade+ old deficiency and let users know you're starting to work on it. I'm sure with that, we'd be happy to wait. It's the fact that after 12 years, they've completely abandoned this community. 

Imagine accepting that after Photoshop users want a native full-screen mode, Adobe's "correct" answer is that Lightroom now supports it, while Photoshop continues to get the shaft. That is the level of attention they are giving this.

[Alexander262849709n7n]

You would think that more than 10 years after the initial response, it would be time to take another look at this, but I guess nah?

[44140]

12 years, 4 months and 18 days

[Lumigraphics]

This ship has sailed, come back, sailed again, and is now mothballed in Texas. Full screen is apparently not changing.

[Jesper Storm Bache]

With Photoshop Beta 25.4 (20231203.m.2422) you will notice that we now use the default window buttons.

If you are a pre-release user, then you can get an early peek at support for macOS native full screen by selecting:

EnableMacNativeFullScreen from Preferences > Early Access.

Note: native full screen is a replacement for the existing mode, and it requires that the application container is turned on.

[caseydude]

WOWOWOW! Sounds like a dream! Hope it makes its way into the general product soon! 

[44140]

YES!!!!!!! Happy to hear that it's being tested in Photoshop, hopefully InDesign and Illustrator will follow as well. 

[André34727600lqoa]

In 2024, we find ourselves still unable to enjoy the immersive experience of fullscreen mode in the majority of Creative Cloud Apps.  When will Adobe address this issue and provide users with the much-awaited fix? Only time will reveal the answer.