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The core mistake Apple made with the Touch Bar was to focus on application-specific actions rather than cross-application ones, something BetterTouchTool actual
by mortenjorck 6y ago
The core mistake Apple made with the Touch Bar was to focus on application-specific actions rather than cross-application ones, something BetterTouchTool actually remedies quite well.
It never made sense to duplicate actions that professional users already know the keyboard shortcuts for. You already have muscle memory for all of those, and even if you're learning a new app, it's faster long-term to learn the shortcut than to look down and hit a non-tactile spot on the Touch Bar every time.
For controlling other applications than the currently active one, however, the Touch Bar is great. I have BetterTouchTool set up to show my currently playing music, my next calendar appointment, and the weather, plus BTT's built-in clipboard management tool. I actually miss it when I'm working on my non-Touch Bar personal laptop.
- breck 6y agoMy hunch was that TouchBar wasn't about the keyboard, it was about the screen. They were looking to do away with the laptop screen entirely, and the keyboard would be the computer. You would always need to plug your laptop into an external display. Many people mostly just plug their laptop into external monitors anyway. The benefit is you could cut the cost of the laptop drastically and make it more robust. But to do that, you would still need some display on the keyboard for various scenarios (mostly to resolve any connection issues with the display), hence the TouchBar. But just a theory.
- Polylactic_acid 6y agoImo the core mistake is that it replaced the top row of buttons. Those media keys are super useful very frequently. Having to tap the expand button and wait for an animation makes them much less useful. They had plenty of space to leave the old row in and make the touchbar for application specific buttons.
- ncrmro 6y agoIf you hold the volume or brightness button and start dragging you don’t have to wait for the animation
- perryizgr8 6y ago> The core mistake Apple made with the Touch Bar was to focus on application-specific actions rather than cross-application ones You mean like those F keys that have existed on top of keyboards for decades? Lol.