I’ve found a way around the useless full screen implementation in OSX, thanks to Geet Duggal. Here’s a refined version of the procedure, where I’ll have Xcode full screen on one monitor, and terminal and Chrome open on my secondary monitor:
- Arrange the application windows you want to have on your second screen as you would like them. You will not be able to rearrange them once they are there.
- Completely quit the applications you wish to use on your second monitor, e.g. terminal, Chrome.
- Full screen your app (Xcode)
- Using the trackpad, swipe with three fingers a little bit, so that just the edge of the next space is visible (but it won’t switch when you let go)
- Keeping your fingers on the trackpad, hit cmd + space to open Spotlight and type in the name of the program you wish to launch on the second monitor (terminal)
- Hit enter to launch the program, wait for the window to display, then you can take your fingers off the trackpad.
- Repeat steps 4-6 for any other apps you wish to launch!
This solution is far from perfect, but it works reliably so it’s a usable workaround until Apple actually fix this.
