Multiple Windows on Mac — Power-User Workflows

On iPhone and iPad, MotionEdge runs in one window because the OS is built that way. On Mac, you can open as many independent windows as you want — and that's where deep swing analysis really opens up. If you think of MotionEdge on Mac the way you think of Finder (multiple folder windows side by side) or Preview (multiple images open at once), you're already in the right mental model.

This article walks through what windows you can have open, how to open them, and the workflows that make all of it worth doing.

The mental model

Every Mac app you already use lets you open multiple windows of the same thing. Finder has a window per folder. Safari has a window per topic you're researching. Preview has a window per file. MotionEdge follows the same pattern: every meaningful surface — a swing, the AI Coach, a comparison, the session statistics — can live in its own window. They don't replace each other; they sit side by side.

The payoff: instead of clicking back and forth between one swing and the next, you put them on screen at the same time. Instead of switching contexts between reviewing a swing and asking the AI Coach about it, you keep both visible. On a 16" laptop screen or any external display, this is the single biggest workflow upgrade Mac gives you over iPad.

What windows you can open

How to open each window

Open a new main window

File → New Window in the menu bar. A second main window opens with the same data — sessions, swings, AI Coach pane — but completely independent. Useful for comparing two sessions, or for having one window pinned to a coaching student and another to your own swings.

Open a swing in its own window

Three ways, pick whichever fits your flow:

• Double-click any swing card. Anywhere swing cards appear — session detail, All Swings tab, search results — a double-click opens that swing in a standalone Swing Review window.
• Right-click → Open in New Window. Same result, useful when you want the swing in a new window without dismissing what's currently focused.
• Click from the sidebar Recents section. Recently-opened swings show up in the sidebar under "Recents" — clicking one opens it in a new window.

A Swing Review window has everything you need to analyze that one swing: video, filmstrip, metrics, drawings, AI Coach pane, sharing controls. It's the same surface as the in-app swing view, just untethered from the main app's navigation.

Open a new AI Coach window

• ⇧⌘A is the keyboard shortcut.
• Or Window menu → New AI Coach Window.
• Or right-click AI Coach in the sidebar → Open in New Window.

Each AI Coach window can hold a different conversation. You can have one open for a recent range session and another for a long-running "swing change project" conversation — they don't collide.

Open a swing comparison

Select two or more swings and start a comparison from anywhere in the app — the comparison opens in its own window. You can have multiple comparison windows open at once, comparing different pairs.

Open session statistics

From any session, open the session stats view — it opens as its own window. Useful for keeping last week's session stats visible while reviewing today's swings in another window.

Concrete workflows the bigger screen unlocks

Side-by-side swing comparison (without the formal comparison tool)

Open Swing 1 in a Swing Review window. Open Swing 2 in another. Place them side by side. You now have two fully-independent reviewers — different videos, different drawings, different scrub positions — running simultaneously. Useful when you want freeform comparison without the linked playback of the formal Comparison view.

Range session + reference swing

Open a Swing Review window for one of your reference swings (a swing you know you hit well, or a pro swing you've imported). Keep it pinned on one side of the screen. Work through your range session in the main window. Every time you spot something interesting, glance at the reference for the contrast.

AI Coach during analysis

Open AI Coach in its own window. Open the swing you're analyzing in another. The AI Coach has access to your swing data either way, but having both visible means you can read the AI's response while scrubbing the actual frames it's referring to — instead of switching tabs to look at one or the other.

Coaching a student while practicing your own swings

Open a main window scoped to a student's session. Open a second main window with your own data. Each has its own sidebar, its own selection, its own AI Coach pane. You don't lose your place in either when switching focus.

Lesson review on an external display

Sessions in one window on your laptop screen, a single Swing Review window full-screen on an external monitor. The student watches the big screen while you navigate on the laptop. The two stay synchronized to whatever you open from the laptop side.

Side-by-side session stats

Open last month's session stats in one window. Open this month's in another. Track the trend lines without flipping between sessions.

Standard macOS window behavior

MotionEdge respects the standard macOS conventions you already know from Finder, Safari, and Preview:

• ⌘W — close the focused window. The app keeps running with the other windows.
• ⌘N — opens a new session (overridden from the default New Window to do something more useful). To open a new main window, use File → New Window in the menu bar instead.
• ⌘` — cycle between MotionEdge's open windows.
• Window menu — lists every open MotionEdge window. Pick any one to bring it to the front.
• Mission Control (⌃↑) — shows all your windows at once, including all MotionEdge windows, so you can pick the one you want visually.
• Spaces / full-screen — drag a Swing Review window to a separate Space or maximize it on an external display. The other windows stay where they are.

Tips for organizing your workspace

• Decide which window is the "navigator." Usually that's the main window — it's where you find swings, sessions, and shared content. Treat the Swing Review and AI Coach windows as detail surfaces you open from it.
• Stage left, detail right. A common layout: main window on the left half of the screen, Swing Review or AI Coach window on the right. Mirrors the way Finder + Preview works.
• Don't be afraid to close. Open as many windows as you need to think; close them with ⌘W when you're done. The app doesn't slow down with extra windows open, but a cluttered Window menu is harder to navigate.
• External displays multiply this. With a second monitor, you can dedicate one display to a full-screen Swing Review and use the laptop screen for navigation. This is the closest you can get to a coaching studio setup on a single laptop.

Why this isn't available on iPhone or iPad

iOS and iPadOS are designed around a single foreground app surface. iPad does support Split View and Stage Manager, but you can only run one MotionEdge "scene" — the OS doesn't expose the same multi-window primitive that Mac does. On Mac, every WindowGroup the app defines can be instantiated independently. That's a fundamental Mac advantage, and we use it.

If you have a Mac, the answer to "how do I see two swings at once?" is almost always "open them in two windows."