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App does not remember if Sidebar is visible or hidden

Min 5 years ago updated 5 years ago 7

Sidebar reverts to hidden after closing app so each time the app is run, the sidebar has to be manually switched to visible.

Very annoying and easy to fix.

Under review

Hello,

I cannot reproduce this problem in the latest version of Textastic for Mac. For me, the state of the sidebar is saved.

In Textastic -> Preferences -> Advanced, is "Restore files and windows when re-opening Textastic" checked?

I have tried both options. The sidebar only remains visible if I reopen a file.

I do not want files to reopen. I am unlikely to edit the same file repeatedly.

I want the sidebar to remain open and, ideally, for the folder placed there to remain in place at all times. From that folder on the sidebar, I can open and edit any source file I want. Why would the program want to behave in any other way?

Well, if the "Restore files and windows when re-opening Textastic" is checked, it will basically restore the last session with all open windows, items in the sidebar and files. If it is not checked, it will not restore anything.

Precisely. That is the problem I was highlighting.

Perhaps those two unrelated settings could be dealt with separately - Restore files (for anyone who might need that) and Restore windows (for most users).

Every other program I have, including Safari from which I am sending this, remembers if a sidebar is visible. Safari does not also insist on opening my last webpage as well (unless I want it to).

I'm using the macOS/Cocoa state restoration mechanism to restore files and windows, so I don't think I can easily separate them, sorry.

I hope you can live with the workaround you mentioned for now.

+1

Update:

As a workaround, I have created an empty, read-only file to keep the sidebar open without the app opening a real source file by default (which I would then have to close every time before starting work).

When I come to rate this program on the App Store, it is likely to get 4 stars as it stands - from which you may assume that I really like it a lot.

Understood. I would just set a variable in the prefs file to indicate whether an element should be visible or not at startup but that was all a long time ago and I no longer code software.

With 'Restore ..' checked, I have found that the app sometimes open with files that were not open when I closed it. On one occasion, it opened a single file which I had worked on but had closed before closing the app. On another occasion, it opened about a dozen files on which I had worked but had closed well before closing the app.

This happened regardless of if I had closed files by clicking the x on the tab or by using Command-w.

I still like the app but the number of stars is reducing.