Igor Pro Instances in seperate spaces macOS (how-to)
** This workaround doesn't seem to stick. I can't seem to figure out why - if anyone has insight, I'd appreciate it. **
On windows OS, the Igor workspace is contained within a single window, so it is easy to tell which instance of Igor Pro you are using at any given time.
On macOS, however, multiple instances makes for a mess and it's difficult to tell which instance you are working with.
We can assign different apps to different "spaces" in macOS, but if the app instance has the same app name, it will not launch.
Workaround:
1. Duplicate "Igor Pro 9 folder"
2. Launch the new Igor64.app. Once it loads, quit it. This step prevents an error later.
3. Right click the new Igor64.app and choose "Show Package Contents" , then navigate to the enclosed "Contents" folder.
4. Edit info.plist, find the "CFBundleName" key and replace the associated string with a new name, then save so it looks like this:
<key>CFBundleName</key> <string>Igor64_2</string>
5. Open the new Igor64.app. Switch to the desired space. Right click the dock icon and choose options -> assign to - this desktop
Optional: To help me keep organized, I also changed the icon of the second instance (see attachment) and turn off "Displays have separate Spaces".
Igor does things in ways that Mac OS doesn't expect. An application with multiple windows is expected to have all windows being of the same kind, with each an independent document. Clearly, Igor doesn't behave that way.
One consequence is that Igor doesn't play well with Spaces. Our apologies- there really isn't anything we know to do about this. I tried for about a week to figure out how to work around it!
February 26, 2025 at 09:22 am - Permalink