Need some help?

Frequently Asked Questions

• Why doesn't Hyperspaces run under Mac OS X Lion?
• Is Hyperspaces usable without having Apple’s Spaces enabled?
• I have an older Mac – will Hyperspaces run well on my computer?
• When I set a custom desktop image for my space, the translucent menubar still shows my old desktop image - why?
• I would like the desktop label to be shown above (or beside) the Dock - not underneath it.
• Can I disable the animation that occurs when switching between Spaces?
• I got Hyperspaces through MacHeist - why don’t I see any updates?
• Is Hyperspaces localised to different languages?
• How do I uninstall Hyperspaces?
• I've turned off the Dock icon, and I can't find the preferences
• Making Hyperspaces and Cocoatech's Path Finder to play nice
• I set my desktop pictures to rotate — why can't I see them while Hyperspaces is running?
• Hyperspaces loses my space customisations on reboot — help!
• I use gfxCardStatus to switch my MacBook Pro to integrated graphics, and everything stops working!
• Hyperspaces is not showing a desktop picture when I login to my Mac

Why doesn't Hyperspaces run under Mac OS X Lion?

Unfortunately Apple have made changes in Mac OS X Lion that prevent Hyperspaces from running. At this stage, there is no way to work around these changes and as much as I'd like to be able to, Hyperspaces will not be coming to Mac OS X Lion (Hyperspaces still works great under Leopard and Snow Leopard).

Is Hyperspaces usable without having Apple’s Spaces enabled?

No, it’s not. Hyperspaces sits on top of Apple’s Spaces, and does not provide virtual desktop functionality on its own.

I have an older Mac – will Hyperspaces run well on my computer?

It’s worth a try, but chances are that you may need to tell Hyperspaces not to use Core Animation on your Mac. You can do this by opening the Hyperspaces preferences and setting the Advanced » Desktop Animation Speed to 0 seconds. This will force Hyperspaces to render your desktop image, desktop labels and desktop colors using traditional Quartz 2D rendering.

When I set a custom desktop image for my space, the translucent menubar still shows my old desktop image - why?

It’s not possible to draw beneath the system menubar, so the translucent background does not get updated when Hyperspaces draws the desktop image. You have two options to make this less jarring:

1. Turn off menu translucency for the current space, or for the entire system.
   
2. Let Hyperspaces change the system desktop image to be the same as the custom desktop image when changing spaces. This is not enabled by default, but you can turn it on by going into the Hyperspaces preferences and enabling General » Set the desktop picture when changing spaces.

I would like the desktop label to be shown above (or beside) the Dock - not underneath it.

You can do this by going into the Hyperspaces preferences and disabling Your Spaces » Label » Display label under the Dock.

Can I disable the animation that occurs when switching between Spaces?

Yes, you can! You'll need to be running Mac OS X 10.6.4 or higher, then just follow these steps:

1. Open /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app
   
2. Copy and paste the following into the terminal window and then press enter:
   defaults write com.apple.dock workspaces-swoosh-animation-off -bool YES && killall Dock

If you'd like to re-enable the animation, just do the following:

1. Open
   
2. Copy and paste the following into the terminal window and then press enter:
   defaults delete com.apple.dock workspaces-swoosh-animation-off && killall Dock

I got Hyperspaces through MacHeist - why don’t I see any updates?

The version of Hyperspaces that was given away as part of the MacHeist promotion in 2009 was for a specific release - version 1.0. If you'd like to continue receiving updates (until version 2.0), please purchase a copy.

Is Hyperspaces localised to different languages?

No, not yet. We fully intend to localize Hyperspaces in a future release, and we're collecting statistics via Hyperspaces’ Sparkle updating mechanism as to which languages are being used, and which languages we should focus on first.

How do I uninstall Hyperspaces?

The easiest way is just to make sure that Hyperspaces isn't running, and move the application to the trash. If you'd like to remove all traces of Hyperspaces, you will need to remove two additional files:

• ~/Library/Application Support/Hyperspaces
• ~/Library/Preferences/com.thecocoabots.Hyperspaces.plist

"~" is shorthand for your home directory.

I've turned off the Dock icon, and I can't find the preferences

If you disable the Dock icon in Hyperspaces, all of the functionality you would normally get to via that icon is also available via the system menubar. In particular, the preferences, help and quit menu items are found by right-clicking on the Hyperspaces icon in the menubar (or holding down the 'Control' key while click for one-button mouse users). You can see the resulting menu in the image below:

Making Hyperspaces and Cocoatech's Path Finder to play nice

Hyperspaces and Cocoatech's Path Finder are both capable of drawing your desktop picture for you, but if you want them to play nice together you'll need to choose which one you want to use.

Letting Hyperspaces draw your desktop means that you can have different desktop pictures and colors for each of your spaces. If you choose to use Path Finder to draw your desktop you won't have access to the desktop picture and color settings in Hyperspaces. You can use desktop text labels with either product drawing your desktop.

• I want Hyperspaces to draw my desktop picture
• I want Path Finder to draw my desktop picture

I want Hyperspaces to draw my desktop picture

If you want to have different desktop pictures for each of your spaces, you should make Path Finder's desktop transparent by following the instructions on Cocoatech's site. They have an easy to follow FAQ available - "How can I get Path Finder's desktop to change automatically, like Apple's Finder?" - I've copied CocoaTech's instructions here for your convenience:

1. Show the Path Finder desktop (Path Finder » Show Path Finder Desktop).
   
2. Bring the desktop "forward" (click on it and make sure it is the frontmost item).
   
3. Open the view options palette (View » View Options or Command+j) - you should see "Desktop Options" at the top
   
4. Click on the "Set Colors..." button, select "Desktop" in the drop-down menu, and make sure that "Show Desktop Background" is not checked.
   
5. Now you'll need to deactivate the Apple Finder's desktop. In Path Finder, open (Path Finder > Preferences) and switch to "General". Uncheck "Hide Finder's desktop" and relaunch the Finder when asked.
   
6. Now set your Desktop Background preferences in the System Preferences application as you like and the automatic changing mechanism should work with Path Finder.

Once you've completed these steps, Path Finder will no longer draw the desktop picture, and Hyperspaces will show through.

I want Path Finder to draw my desktop picture

If you'd like Path Finder to draw your desktop for you, keep in mind that you won't have different desktop images for each of your spaces. Follow these instructions:

1. Open the Hyperspaces Preferences.
   
2. Navigate to "Your Spaces » Image".
   
3. Make sure that "Show image: On the Desktop of this display" is not checked.
   
4. If you followed the instructions in "I want Hyperspaces to draw my desktop picture" above, you'll need to reverse the changes you made.

I set my desktop pictures to rotate — why can't I see them while Hyperspaces is running?

By default, Hyperspaces will display it's own desktop image above the system desktop image. This means that if you have chosen to have your system desktop image change on a time interval, you will not see this change. Hyperspaces allows you to turn off it's own desktop drawing so that you can continue to see the system provided desktop image, and still have text labels and colors for each space.

Enabling or disabling the desktop image for a space:

1. Open the Hyperspaces Preferences.
   
2. Select the Your Spaces toolbar item.
   
3. Select the space (or spaces) that you would like to enabled or disable the desktop image for in the space selection view.
   
4. Ensure that the Image tab is selected.
   
5. Check/uncheck the Show image: On the Desktop of this display checkbox to enable/disable.

If you disable desktop images, the color Blend mode controls will also be disabled, and the custom desktop image will not be drawn for the selected space.

Hyperspaces loses my space customisations on reboot — help!

If Hyperspaces appears to be losing your settings when you reboot, please try the following steps:

1. Download this AppleScript, and expand it if necessary;
2. Move the file somewhere like your Documents folder, or your Applications folder;
3. Open up "System Preferences.app → Account → Login Items";
4. Click the "+" button, then navigate to where you placed the "Launch Hyperspaces After 15 Second Delay" script and select it;
5. Remove "Hyperspaces.app" from the Login Items list if it is still in there (this is critical).

I use gfxCardStatus to switch my MacBook Pro to integrated graphics, and everything stops working!

Switching graphics cards manually on newer MacBook Pro models is not supported by Apple, and it can cause rendering problems for Hyperspaces. If you need to switch your graphic cards manually, please quit Hyperspaces before doing so, and relaunch it afterward.

Hyperspaces is not showing a desktop picture when I login to my Mac

This problem occurs when Hyperspaces is set to Hide on login, and to use a Dock Icon — luckily there's an easy fix:

1. Go to "System Preferences → Accounts"
   
2. Ensure that your user account is selected in the list to the right of the window under "My Account"
   
3. Select the "Login Items" tab from the left-hand pane
   
4. Make sure that the checkbox next to "Hyperspaces" is not checked
   
5. Close "System Preferences"

Once you've done this, you should quit and re-open Hyperspaces — your desktop picture should now be visible.

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