diff --git a/src/api-wrappers/HelperExtensions.swift b/src/api-wrappers/HelperExtensions.swift
index d3f4b2e3..02f18658 100644
--- a/src/api-wrappers/HelperExtensions.swift
+++ b/src/api-wrappers/HelperExtensions.swift
@@ -193,15 +193,6 @@ extension DispatchQoS {
     }
 }
 
-extension NSTextField {
-    func setWidth(_ width: CGFloat) {
-        frame.size.width = width
-        // TODO: NSTextField does some internal magic, and ends up with constraints. We need to add our own to force its size
-        // I wish there was a better way to only set the frame.size
-        addOrUpdateConstraint(widthAnchor, width)
-    }
-}
-
 extension NSImage {
     func appIconFixedSize(_ size: NSSize) -> CGImage? {
         var rect = NSRect(origin: .zero, size: size)
diff --git a/src/logic/Appearance.swift b/src/logic/Appearance.swift
index a559d55c..bb43e0b8 100644
--- a/src/logic/Appearance.swift
+++ b/src/logic/Appearance.swift
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ class Appearance {
     // derived
     static var font: NSFont {
         if #available(macOS 26.0, *) {
-            return NSFont.systemFont(ofSize: fontHeight, weight: .semibold)
+            return NSFont.systemFont(ofSize: fontHeight, weight: currentStyle == .appIcons ? .semibold : .medium)
         }
         return NSFont.systemFont(ofSize: fontHeight)
     }
@@ -155,7 +155,6 @@ class Appearance {
         windowCornerRadius = 23
         cellCornerRadius = 10
         edgeInsetsSize = 7
-        maxWidthOnScreen = isHorizontalScreen ? 0.6 : 0.8
         windowMinWidthInRow = 0.6
         windowMaxWidthInRow = 0.9
         rowsCount = 1
diff --git a/src/ui/main-window/ThumbnailTitleView.swift b/src/ui/main-window/ThumbnailTitleView.swift
index 49f0f4da..d1cbe41c 100644
--- a/src/ui/main-window/ThumbnailTitleView.swift
+++ b/src/ui/main-window/ThumbnailTitleView.swift
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ class ThumbnailTitleView: NSTextField {
         self.init(labelWithString: "")
         self.font = font
         textColor = Appearance.fontColor
+        // drawsBackground = true
+        // backgroundColor = .red
         allowsDefaultTighteningForTruncation = false
         translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
     }
@@ -13,6 +15,19 @@ class ThumbnailTitleView: NSTextField {
         heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: fittingSize.height).isActive = true
     }
 
+    func setWidth(_ width: CGFloat) {
+        frame.size.width = width
+        // TODO: NSTextField does some internal magic, and ends up with constraints.
+        // we can't use addOrUpdateConstraint for some reason, otherwise it will only actually apply after the UI is shown twice
+        // i tried everything and ended up removing all constraints then adding a fresh one. This seems to work
+        let toRemove = constraints.filter {
+            ($0.firstItem as? NSView) === self && $0.firstAttribute == .width ||
+                ($0.secondItem as? NSView) === self && $0.secondAttribute == .width
+        }
+        toRemove.forEach { removeConstraint($0) }
+        widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: width).isActive = true
+    }
+
     override func mouseMoved(with event: NSEvent) {
         // no-op here prevents tooltips from disappearing on mouseMoved
     }
diff --git a/src/ui/main-window/ThumbnailView.swift b/src/ui/main-window/ThumbnailView.swift
index 81692edd..92598b4b 100644
--- a/src/ui/main-window/ThumbnailView.swift
+++ b/src/ui/main-window/ThumbnailView.swift
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import Cocoa
 
 class ThumbnailView: FlippedView {
     static let noOpenWindowToolTip = NSLocalizedString("App is running but has no open window", comment: "")
+    // when calculating the width of a nstextfield, somehow we need to add this suffix to get the correct width
+    static let extraTextForPadding = "lmnopqrstuvw"
     var window_: Window?
     var thumbnail = LightImageView()
     var windowlessIcon = LightImageView()
@@ -276,20 +278,19 @@ class ThumbnailView: FlippedView {
         let availableRightWidth = view.isLastInRow ? 0 : CGFloat(view.numberOfViewsInRow - 1 - view.indexInRow) * viewWidth
         let totalWidth = availableLeftWidth + availableRightWidth + viewWidth
         let maxLabelWidth = min(totalWidth, maxAllowedWidth)
-        return maxLabelWidth - Appearance.intraCellPadding * 4
+        return maxLabelWidth - Appearance.intraCellPadding * 2
     }
 
     private func updateAppIconsLabelFrame(_ view: ThumbnailView) {
         let viewWidth = view.frame.width
-        let labelWidth = view.label.fittingSize.width
+        let labelWidth = view.label.cell!.cellSize.width
         let maxAllowedLabelWidth = getMaxAllowedLabelWidth(view)
         let effectiveLabelWidth = max(min(labelWidth, maxAllowedLabelWidth), viewWidth)
-        var leftOffset = CGFloat(0)
-        var effectiveLabelWidth = max(min(labelWidth, maxAllowedLabelWidth), viewWidth)
+            - (view.isFirstInRow && view.isLastInRow ? 4 : (view.isFirstInRow || view.isLastInRow ? 2 : 0)) * Appearance.intraCellPadding
         var leftOffset = -Appearance.intraCellPadding * 2
         if view.isFirstInRow && view.isLastInRow {
             leftOffset = -Appearance.intraCellPadding * 2
-            effectiveLabelWidth -= Appearance.intraCellPadding * 4
+
         } else if view.isLastInRow {
             leftOffset = max(0, effectiveLabelWidth - viewWidth + Appearance.intraCellPadding * 2)
         } else if !view.isFirstInRow && !view.isLastInRow {
@@ -547,6 +548,28 @@ class ThumbnailView: FlippedView {
         return ThumbnailsPanel.maxThumbnailsWidth() * Appearance.windowMaxWidthInRow - Appearance.interCellPadding * 2
     }
 
+    static func widthOfComfortableReadability() -> CGFloat? {
+        let labTitleView = ThumbnailTitleView(font: Appearance.font)
+        labTitleView.stringValue = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz-abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz-abcdefghijk" + extraTextForPadding
+        Logger.error(labTitleView.font)
+        return labTitleView.fittingSize.width
+    }
+
+    static func widthOfLongestTitle() -> CGFloat? {
+        let labTitleView = ThumbnailTitleView(font: Appearance.font)
+        var maxWidth = CGFloat(0)
+        for window in Windows.list {
+            guard window.shouldShowTheUser else { continue }
+            labTitleView.stringValue = window.title + extraTextForPadding
+            let width = labTitleView.fittingSize.width
+            if width > maxWidth {
+                maxWidth = width
+            }
+        }
+        guard maxWidth > 0 else { return nil }
+        return maxWidth
+    }
+
     static func minThumbnailWidth() -> CGFloat {
         return ThumbnailsPanel.maxThumbnailsWidth() * Appearance.windowMinWidthInRow - Appearance.interCellPadding * 2
     }
diff --git a/src/ui/main-window/ThumbnailsPanel.swift b/src/ui/main-window/ThumbnailsPanel.swift
index b150bf6d..6abaf434 100644
--- a/src/ui/main-window/ThumbnailsPanel.swift
+++ b/src/ui/main-window/ThumbnailsPanel.swift
@@ -61,6 +61,17 @@ class ThumbnailsPanel: NSPanel {
     }
 
     static func maxThumbnailsWidth() -> CGFloat {
+        if Preferences.appearanceStyle == .titles,
+           let readableWidth = ThumbnailView.widthOfComfortableReadability(),
+           let widthOfLongestTitle = ThumbnailView.widthOfLongestTitle() {
+            return (
+                min(
+                    NSScreen.preferred.frame.width * Appearance.maxWidthOnScreen,
+                    readableWidth + Appearance.intraCellPadding * 2 + Appearance.appIconLabelSpacing + Appearance.iconSize,
+                    widthOfLongestTitle + Appearance.intraCellPadding * 2 + Appearance.appIconLabelSpacing + Appearance.iconSize
+                ) - Appearance.windowPadding * 2
+            ).rounded()
+        }
         return (NSScreen.preferred.frame.width * Appearance.maxWidthOnScreen - Appearance.windowPadding * 2).rounded()
     }