In Lettera, when click one of the sidebar buttons, the sidebar opens toward the main content section, narrowing that section, rather than expanding to the side. It’s a lot easier to have it move out than shrink the content section, because if you’re writing something, you then have to resize the window.
I know different apps have a different approach. Pages and Numbers open in and iA Writer opens out. Mail opens in, but most people probably keep the sidebar open on Mac. Safari also opens in. But neither of those two apps are for creating content in that window; with Mail, you create a new message in a new window.
One possible option is offer a setting or an Option key click which changes the behavior. I’m not sure what most people expect, but when writing, it’s frustrating to have my viewport shrunk.
iA Writer and BBEdit open out. It’s not a relic. There are other apps that open out too.
Sometimes I need to see the sidebar to select files, or I’ve get several files I need to access. In BBEdit, it’s great when you’re diffing two files. Then when I write, I don’t need to see it.
Window chrome? Do you mean toolbars and widgets? So a full-screen focus mode like Scrivener has, but not the standard macOS full screen mode? I wouldn’t use it, because I use a text editor for writing articles, and often need to refer to a browser window or an app while I’m working, but I’m sure some people would want that.
“it’s a relic” and “other apps (still) do it” can both be true
Window chrome as in toolbars, buttons, sidebars, yes. Not necessarily full-screen. Just easier to focus on the words and not make things permanently “in the way”. – Was just fishing for why you fiddle with the sidebar, could be wrong about your actual use case.
One other use case, given the way the sidebar currently works, is to access a file to copy, drag, or move it someplace. Or to attach to an email. If the sidebar is for managing files, then people will use it to manage files.
I’m a writer, not a developer, but I know there are devs who keep files for projects in the sidebar in BBEdit and switch between them often, checking or copying code, rather than opening a lot of tabs.
It’s a bit different, since Scrivener is designed to manage complex projects, and the sidebar - or the Binder is Scrivenerese - is one of its essential tools.
