macOS: quick terminal auto hiding dock not restored when keyboard used to switch spaces

[mitchellh]

Discussed in #5617

^{Originally posted by criphc February 6, 2025}
the issue: dock not restored to not autohidden after closing quick terminal.

how to reproduce:

1. set dock to the right and "Automatically hide and show the Dock" to false
2. open quick terminal in a desktop space
3. switch space to a native fullscreen window with the quick terminal open
4. close the quick terminal
5. switch back to desktop space

example:

Screen.Shot.2025-02-07.at.11.18.17.mp4

[mitchellh]

Important detail for reproduction: you must be moving to a fullscreen space. If you move to a desktop space this bug does not occur.

[liby]

After several attempts to fix this, including tracking fullscreen states, space changes, and adding various timing mechanisms, the problem remains stubbornly difficult to solve reliably. This has led me to question the fundamental design decision:

• Should Quick Terminal affect the Dock's visibility at all? Given that Quick Terminal is not a full-screen window but rather a floating/overlay window, it seems questionable whether it should modify the system-wide Dock state.

Perhaps we should reconsider this design decision and let Quick Terminal coexist with the Dock without modifying its visibility? The complexity and unreliability of the current approach suggest this might be a better direction.

[mitchellh]

Perhaps we should reconsider this design decision and let Quick Terminal coexist with the Dock without modifying its visibility? The complexity and unreliability of the current approach suggest this might be a better direction.

This is what iTerm2 does, perhaps for this reason. I'd be fine looking into that. I think it looks a lot worse but if we can't fix this issue I agree a better approach is warranted.

I'll take a look too to see if there is anything to be done here.