I've used BetterTouchTool to create named touchbar buttons for some of the functions I use semi-frequently in Jet brains IDEs. Things where I don't have the keyboard shortcuts memorized. So I have "Declaration", "Find Usages", "Rename", etc... I find that quite useful.
Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines
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Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines
#202The only thing genuinely useful on the touchbar is the fingerprint reader, after you enable the PAM module. Well technically the reader isn't part of the touchbar, so I guess that doesn't count now that I think about it.
I dislike the fingerprint reader and don't use it on my tbMBP. Someone could physically force me to use the fingerprint reader, or might just cut off my finger to use it, which is even worse. I wish macOS had a built in TOTP system.
I don't like using fingerprints because my fingerprint is literally left on the reader. Anybody with a scotch tape can get a copy of my fingerprint left on the reader or the screen. That's like writing down your password on a post-it on your monitor. Anybody dedicated enough can then make a fake finger that can log in.
Not that I'm worried about someone pulling this spy operation on me but if my laptop is lost or stolen, I won't have the peace of mind.
Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines
#203Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't forget the huge price hike "because of the touchbar" that included the non-touchbar model.
That's their "because we know you'll buy it anyway" factor.
I know I’m just one guy, but I was planning on an upgrade before they released it and I did not, in fact, buy it anyway.
Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines
#204[deleted]
Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines
#205Earlier quoted context omitted.
You can pry my model m from my cold dead fingers. Haptics is no substitute for actual physical feedback.
Have you tried pressing the home button on iPhone 7 or 8, or clicking a trackpad on a recent MacBook Pro?
Yes. Still, you can pry my mechanical keyboard from my cold, dead hands.
The home button on the new iphones feels _weird_, almost as if there's this strange, unnatural delay to the click actually occurring. For something that purports to be "just like real life" it does a poor job.
The click on the mbp trackpads is not too bad though.
Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines
#206I am really "worried" about two features coming out of Apple the past few years: The touch bar mentioned here and the "3D touch" feature of the iPhone 7+. These are "obviously" bad interaction designs yet they come out of a company having almost infinite resources when it comes to design. What is going on here? Is it the marketing department taking over? Is it "we have created this chip and now we have to use it some…
Have you actually used 3D touch? Because I use it just about every day, so much so that it's one of the biggest things I miss when using phones that don't have it. It also isn't touted as a major selling point anymore -- it just quietly exists, serving an extremely useful purpose as a better "right click" for touch screens.
The touch bar I agree is major marketing hype.
Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines
#207I was upset about the touch bar because of the esc key since I am a heavy vim user. Then someone recommended I switch my esc and caps lock keys, now it doesn't bug me anymore. The caps lock key is in a much more convenient position for the esc function anyways.
What annoys me is that this esc capslock swapping option only shows up on macs with touch bar. If I should get used to it I need it on all of my machines.
That's not true, it started showing up in Sierra when the MBP's with touchbar were released. But every mac gets the option.
Source: I also made the switch to capslock-as-esc when I got the TB MBP and it made me decide to switch the keyboard on my other two macs as well.
Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines
#208> I decided to steal this feature and make the "coffee break" button. It locks the laptop and switches the screen off. Ctrl+cmd+q = lock screen. Display will dim/sleep shortly after that. (Found this out myself not too long ago, I think because of HN). Incidentally, I just switched the touch bar to the standard function key display with fn switching to the buttons just like the keyboards of old. I found I almost neve…
It's also a stock button you can add to the touchbar...
Re: Making the Touch Bar useful by abandoning Apple guidelines
#209Earlier quoted context omitted.
True, but its 13" non-touchbar max specs are same as touchbar 13". So the comparison isn't really fair.
The touch bar 13" has 4 Thunderbolt ports and Intel Iris 650 graphics, compared to the non-touch bar with 2 ports and Intel Iris 640.
Adding on: the touchbar 13" has 3x3 MIMO wifi (supporting up to 1300Mbps), while the non-touchbar one only has 2x2 MIMO wifi (going up to 867Mbps).