4 ms·

Show HN: Keynavish – Control the mouse with the keyboard (Windows)

23 points by lesderid 6y ago

galkk 6y ago
This is also standard feature for qmk based keyboards (ergodox, dactyl etc): https://beta.docs.qmk.fm/using-qmk/advanced-keycodes/feature_mouse_keys https://beta.docs.qmk.fm/using-qmk/advanced-keycodes/feature... It doesn't require any special support and works in every OS. Here is how it looks in ZSA visual configuratior, for example: https://configure.ergodox-ez.com/moonlander/layouts/ZrQev/EoqQY/3 https://configure.ergodox-ez.com/moonlander/layouts/ZrQev/Eo...
- lesderid 6y ago
  keynavish (and the original keynav) use a different cursor movement system, as they work with a grid that you can recursively split/move to be centered around the target position, but yes, the end result is more or less the same as the qmk feature. One advantage you get with this method is that you can e.g. bind a key that sets the grid size and position to match the active window, which you obviously can't do in keyboard firmware (example: https://lesderid.net/keynavish-demo.webm https://lesderid.net/keynavish-demo.webm).
arkenflame 6y ago
For MacOS folks, I made a hammerspoon plugin which works similarly: https://github.com/msolomon/griddle https://github.com/msolomon/griddle
villgax 6y ago
Check out pointer control in macOS under Accessibility. You can move the pointer with you head & perform clicks with tongue out/smile/eyebrow raises etc too!!
rijoja 6y ago
Nice, what alternatives are there for linux here. Or rather what do people here prefer?
- aruggirello 6y ago
  On KDE you can choose to control the mouse with the numeric keypad under accessibility settings - no need for external apps. BTW we also have KDE Connect, where you can control your mouse with your smartphone too.
  - rijoja 6y ago
    hm that is good to know! Haven't used KDE for a while though but maybe it's time to take it for a spin again. Ah it seems that there is this program called keynav. Something I guess I could have guessed. For browsers I love to use these pentadactyl/vimium/... extensions. Would there be anything similar for reguar desktop applications. I get that it would be a huge effort to support all the different toolkits though.
    - lesderid 6y ago
      > Ah it seems that there is this program called keynav. Yep, I wrote this as a direct clone of the original keynav, so I can use the same config file on both operating systems. > For browsers I love to use these pentadactyl/vimium/... extensions. Would there be anything similar for reguar desktop applications. I get that it would be a huge effort to support all the different toolkits though. You can bind arbitrary keys to control the grid, and the default bindings are vim-like, but it only goes down to the window level. Interesting idea though, probably doable with LD_PRELOAD stuff.
      - rijoja 6y ago
        Nice of you to keep the same format as the original. Unfortunately keynav doesn't seem to be working all that well in Ubuntu 20.20, I am a bit interested in fixing this somehow. The LD_PRELOAD approach might be a good idea actually. I do have some further ideas on how to do this and some practical use cases as well.
        lesderid 6y ago
        > Unfortunately keynav doesn't seem to be working all that well in Ubuntu 20.20, I am a bit interested in fixing this somehow. I assume you mean Ubuntu 20.10? I tried it and it works fine for me in an Ubuntu 20.10 VM. Are you using Wayland perhaps? > I do have some further ideas on how to do this and some practical use cases as well. Feel free to contact me if you want to discuss it, could be a fun project. My contact info is on https://lesderid.net https://lesderid.net.

23 points by lesderid 6y ago

This is also standard feature for qmk based keyboards (ergodox, dactyl etc): https://beta.docs.qmk.fm/using-qmk/advanced-keycodes/feature_mouse_keys https://beta.docs.qmk.fm/using-qmk/advanced-keycodes/feature... It doesn't require any special support and works in every OS. Here is how it looks in ZSA visual configuratior, for example: https://configure.ergodox-ez.com/moonlander/layouts/ZrQev/EoqQY/3 https://configure.ergodox-ez.com/moonlander/layouts/ZrQev/Eo...

lesderid 6y ago
keynavish (and the original keynav) use a different cursor movement system, as they work with a grid that you can recursively split/move to be centered around the target position, but yes, the end result is more or less the same as the qmk feature. One advantage you get with this method is that you can e.g. bind a key that sets the grid size and position to match the active window, which you obviously can't do in keyboard firmware (example: https://lesderid.net/keynavish-demo.webm https://lesderid.net/keynavish-demo.webm).

arkenflame 6y ago

For MacOS folks, I made a hammerspoon plugin which works similarly: https://github.com/msolomon/griddle https://github.com/msolomon/griddle

villgax 6y ago

Check out pointer control in macOS under Accessibility. You can move the pointer with you head & perform clicks with tongue out/smile/eyebrow raises etc too!!

rijoja 6y ago

Nice, what alternatives are there for linux here. Or rather what do people here prefer?

aruggirello 6y ago
On KDE you can choose to control the mouse with the numeric keypad under accessibility settings - no need for external apps. BTW we also have KDE Connect, where you can control your mouse with your smartphone too.
- rijoja 6y ago
  hm that is good to know! Haven't used KDE for a while though but maybe it's time to take it for a spin again. Ah it seems that there is this program called keynav. Something I guess I could have guessed. For browsers I love to use these pentadactyl/vimium/... extensions. Would there be anything similar for reguar desktop applications. I get that it would be a huge effort to support all the different toolkits though.
  - lesderid 6y ago
    > Ah it seems that there is this program called keynav. Yep, I wrote this as a direct clone of the original keynav, so I can use the same config file on both operating systems. > For browsers I love to use these pentadactyl/vimium/... extensions. Would there be anything similar for reguar desktop applications. I get that it would be a huge effort to support all the different toolkits though. You can bind arbitrary keys to control the grid, and the default bindings are vim-like, but it only goes down to the window level. Interesting idea though, probably doable with LD_PRELOAD stuff.
    - rijoja 6y ago
      Nice of you to keep the same format as the original. Unfortunately keynav doesn't seem to be working all that well in Ubuntu 20.20, I am a bit interested in fixing this somehow. The LD_PRELOAD approach might be a good idea actually. I do have some further ideas on how to do this and some practical use cases as well.
      - lesderid 6y ago
        > Unfortunately keynav doesn't seem to be working all that well in Ubuntu 20.20, I am a bit interested in fixing this somehow. I assume you mean Ubuntu 20.10? I tried it and it works fine for me in an Ubuntu 20.10 VM. Are you using Wayland perhaps? > I do have some further ideas on how to do this and some practical use cases as well. Feel free to contact me if you want to discuss it, could be a fun project. My contact info is on https://lesderid.net https://lesderid.net.