How to get the monitor's "Work Area" (excluding Taskbar/Dock) for window positioning?

[yihleego]

Hi there!

I am currently trying to implement a window that automatically snaps/sticks to the bottom of the screen (similar to a desktop widget or an overlay).

Current Approach: Currently, I am calculating the window position manually: top = screen_height - window_height

The Problem: This logic does not account for the system UI, such as the Windows Taskbar or the macOS Dock. As a result, my window ends up being partially covered by the taskbar or overlaps it, rather than sitting right above it.

What I need: Ideally, I need to calculate the position like this: top = screen_height - window_height - taskbar_height

Or, even better, access the monitor's "Work Area" (the available screen space excluding system bars).

My Question: Does it expose any API to:

1. Get the height of the Taskbar/Dock?
2. Or retrieve the bounds of the usable "Work Area" for a specific monitor?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

[NiklasEi]

Did you find a solution you could document here?

[yihleego]

Did you find a solution you could document here?

I haven't found a solution yet, as I realized I should probably check with the winit community.
I will update this thread with any findings 😄.

[osenberg-x]

Can you obtain the actual available desktop space (excluding the Dock) by calling the native macOS system APIs through FFI?

[yihleego]

Yes, absolutely.
I've actually already managed to get the 'Work Area' on macOS.
However, I'm looking for a cross-platform solution. My current approach requires pulling in a lot of extra dependencies—ones that winit already uses internally but doesn't expose.
So, I'm wondering if it would be better to implement this feature directly within winit.