While shiny new features are lovely, what I find most frustrating with Apple OS updates is when a long-standing bug doesn’t get fixed … update after update after update.

For me, there is one that Mac bug which really stands out, that has been annoying me for literally years, and I completely fail to understand why the company hasn’t fixed it …

That’s apps appearing on the wrong desktop after a restart when using Spaces. I wrote about this back in 2021, though it had already been happening for quite a few years by then, so I reckon this bug is well on its way to earning its 10-year Achievement Award.

I use three desktops on a single monitor: one for Home, one for Work, and one for temporary apps (that is, ones I want open for a while, but don’t want cluttering up either of my main desktops). I use the Magic Trackpad four-finger swipe to switch between them.

I also have my Mac set to reopen apps after a restart.

After I perform a restart, however, I often find that some apps are on the wrong desktop – as well as apps that are set to All Desktops only showing on one. This frequently happens with Safari, and even happens with Finder windows (one advantage of a large monitor is I tend to leave my Downloads folder permanently open).

Hundreds of you responded to say you’d experienced the same thing, with some of you also reporting it after waking a Mac from sleep.

Apple does seem to have fixed one related phenomenon: Some apps also used to open on a ‘phantom’ desktop. That is, I’d see the opening animation, and it would whizz off to the right, but not appear on any desktop. Calendar and Notes were the prime culprits there, but I haven’t seen this one happen for some time.

Wrong desktop, though: Every. Damn. Time.

Are there Apple bugs that you’ve seen happening consistently for years now? Please post in the comments, and I’ll do a roundup to see whether we can bring them to Apple’s attention.

Photo by Mariusz Dabrowski on Unsplash

While shiny new features are lovely, what I find most frustrating with Apple OS updates is when a long-standing bug doesn’t get fixed … update after update after update.

For me, there is one that Mac bug which really stands out, that has been annoying me for literally years, and I completely fail to understand why the company hasn’t fixed it …

That’s apps appearing on the wrong desktop after a restart when using Spaces. I wrote about this back in 2021, though it had already been happening for quite a few years by then, so I reckon this bug is well on its way to earning its 10-year Achievement Award.

I use three desktops on a single monitor: one for Home, one for Work, and one for temporary apps (that is, ones I want open for a while, but don’t want cluttering up either of my main desktops). I use the Magic Trackpad four-finger swipe to switch between them.

I also have my Mac set to reopen apps after a restart.

After I perform a restart, however, I often find that some apps are on the wrong desktop – as well as apps that are set to All Desktops only showing on one. This frequently happens with Safari, and even happens with Finder windows (one advantage of a large monitor is I tend to leave my Downloads folder permanently open).

Hundreds of you responded to say you’d experienced the same thing, with some of you also reporting it after waking a Mac from sleep.

Apple does seem to have fixed one related phenomenon: Some apps also used to open on a ‘phantom’ desktop. That is, I’d see the opening animation, and it would whizz off to the right, but not appear on any desktop. Calendar and Notes were the prime culprits there, but I haven’t seen this one happen for some time.

Wrong desktop, though: Every. Damn. Time.

Are there Apple bugs that you’ve seen happening consistently for years now? Please post in the comments, and I’ll do a roundup to see whether we can bring them to Apple’s attention.

Photo by Mariusz Dabrowski on Unsplash