3.0.0 will be the biggest update to Mac Mouse Fix so far!
Bringing together many features that I've worked on for a long time to finally deliver this awesome value proposal:
Make your $10 mouse as good as an Apple Trackpad.
And you can test it now! I'm really excited to hear your guys' feedback!
Here is everything that's new:
1. Click and Drag to Scroll
You can now Click and Drag to Scroll freely in any direction!
It also allows you to go back and forward in Safari, mark messages as read in Mail, and do anything else you can do with a two-finger swipe on an Apple Trackpad!
I worked hard to implement the feature to this quality standard. But as a result, as you play around with it, I think you'll find it really "just works"!
2. Scroll Gestures
Mac Mouse Fix now supports Scroll Gestures!
That means you can trigger actions by scrolling while holding down a mouse button!
Scroll Gestures let you get even more functionality out of a single mouse button in a super intuitive way.
In this beta, there are the following Scroll Gestures:
- Desktop & Launchpad allows you to reveal the Desktop or open Launchpad by scrolling either up or down. This feels super fluid and intuitive because it simulates pinching with 4 fingers on an Apple Trackpad.
- Move between Spaces lets you switch between Spaces by scrolling up or down. This feels super fluid as well since it simulates swiping on an Apple Trackpad with 3 fingers. However, I'm not sure if this is redundant since you can already Click and Drag to move between Spaces. Let me know what you think!
- Zoom in or out lets you take a closer look on the web or elsewhere. This was already available in Mac Mouse Fix 2 by holding the Command (⌘) key while scrolling, but now you can do it more easily using just one hand!
- Horizontal Scroll lets you scroll left and right. You can also use it to navigate between pages in Safari and other apps because simulates swiping with 2 fingers on an Apple Trackpad.
- Swift Scroll lets you scroll large distances with minimal effort.
- Precise Scroll lets you scroll small distances and use sensitive UI Elements like volume sliders with precision.
- App Switcher lets you switch between recent apps, just like pressing Command-Tab (⌘ + ↹) on your keyboard. This feature has some bugs and I'm not sure it's very useful, since you can already easily access the Tab Switcher from your keyboard, so I'll probably remove it later. Let me know what you think, though.
3. Inertial Scrolling
Inertial Scrolling makes scrolling on your mouse feel just as fast and fluid as an Apple Trackpad.
Inertial Scrolling creates long and very smooth animations. On a scroll wheel, long animations generally come with the tradeoff of less control.
But Mac Mouse Fix 3 implements some smart algorithms to give you a great intertial feel while still offering a lot of control.
By the way, if you download this Beta, I think you'll be one of the first humans to use scroll bouncing from a mouse! I think that's kinda cool.
4. Other Scrolling Improvements
I rewrote most of the scrolling code for MMF 3. This allowed me to implement many other small features and improvements:
- There are now 2 additional keyboard modifiers so you can not only Zoom in or out with Command (⌘), and Scroll Horizontally with Shift (⇧), but also Scroll Swiftly with Control (^) and Scroll Precisely with Option (⌥).
- You can now see and customize all 4 keyboard modifiers using a beautiful and intuitive new UI.
- Always-On Precise Scrolling lets you scroll precisely even without holding down a modifier key by moving the scroll wheel slowly.
- Horizontal Scroll Input from your mouse is no longer ignored, but instead it's smoothed and inverted just like normal vertical scroll input. If your mouse has a tilt wheel or a horizontal scroll wheel it should feel much nicer now.
- The Scroll Direction Invert Settings are now independent of the System Settings allowing for a less complicated UI.
- Scroll settings can now be combined more freely. For example, you can use Mac Mouse Fix's Scroll Speed even when Smooth Scrolling is disabled. Or you can use macOS's Scroll Speed when Smooth Scrolling is enabled. (Note: I personally don't like macOS' Scroll Speed at all and I can't think of reasons why anyone would prefer it. So if you do prefer it I'd be very interested to learn more about your experience! You can reach out through the "ⓘ About" Tab.)
5. Menu Bar Item
Mac Mouse Fix now has a Menu Bar Item so you can always see when it's enabled!
The Menu Bar Item has a beautiful icon, and it also allows you to quickly disable certain features of Mac Mouse Fix so you can play a game or use an app without Mac Mouse Fix interfering.
Of course, you can also still disable it for a cleaner Menu Bar.
6. App-Specific Settings Have Been Removed
App-Specific Settings are gone for now. However, I do plan to bring them back in a much more robust and powerful form in the future.
For now, I think the quick settings in the Menu Bar Item are a better, if less convenient, solution.
They solve the most important problems of the old App-Specific Settings:
- App-Specific Settings didn't work with some programs like command line executables. This included popular apps like Minecraft.
- App-Specific Settings had many limitations like they didn't allow you to turn off buttons entirely, which was a problem for many gamers.
Another thing to consider is that the old App-Specific Settings were originally designed as a bandaid for some apps being incompatible with the old scrolling system. But now, with the new scrolling system precisely emulating Touch Scrolls coming from an Apple Trackpad, most of these incompatibilities should be fixed anyways! So there should be less of a need for what the old App-Specific Settings were best at.
I hope everone is okay with that! Let me know your thoughts!
7. UI Overhaul
I've completely rewritten the UI to be more beautiful and powerful while still retaining the simplicity and ease of use that people love about Mac Mouse Fix.
Here's what's new:
- The UI is now split up into different tabs. This cleans things up and allows Mac Mouse Fix to provide additional settings that are important to people without the UI becoming too complicated or overwhelming. This will also allow me to extend Mac Mouse Fix with new features in the future.
- I added subtle and delightful little animations all over the new UI that make it easier to navigate and add a feeling of polish.
- Options that depend on other options will be hidden and the layout will adjust with beautiful subtle animations. This keeps things as simple and streamlined as possible. So you don't have to waste time and brainpower looking at options that you don't need to be thinking about.
- The new UI features small hints for options that can otherwise be confusing.
- The new Action Table design makes it much clearer how to add and remove Actions, which many people were confused by. It also shrinks and grows to fit the number of Actions so you don't have to resize it manually.
- The new About Tab features a beautiful layout, and puts additional options for support, feedback, and more at your fingertips.
- Some existing UI strings have been improved.
- There's now a new option to Lock the Mouse Pointer during Click and Drag Gestures. I don't have one to test, but this should be very nice for Trackball-Mice!
8. Monetization
Mac Mouse Fix 3 will be free for 30 days and then cost $1.99 to own.
I know that paying for something that used to be free is not the best feeling, but I hope I can convince you that it's a really good thing for the project!
Like for every other aspect of Mac Mouse Fix, I paid great attention to making the user experience as simple and pleasant as possible:
- The 30 free days are smartly implemented. Mac Mouse Fix only counts the days on which you actually use it. So there's no pressure to use the app before the time is up, and you can make an informed decision whether you want to buy the app or not without any stress.
- After the 30 free days are over, paying for the app is extremely simple and fast. You can use all the payment methods you love like Apple Pay and PayPal, and it only takes 2 clicks to pay from inside the app via Apple Pay!
- After you bought the app for $1.99, activating your license is also extremely simple. I actually put a link on the checkout screen in the web browser that takes you directly into the app and opens the screen for entering the license for you!
- After you activate your license, there's a cute randomized thank you message on the about tab. (I heard there are even some super secret rare ones...)
- Your license is synced via iCloud so it will automatically be available on all your computers!
By helping Mac Mouse Fix financially, you can also help me spend a lot more time on it and make it the best mouse driver EVERRR.
I also love spending time on Mac Mouse Fix, so that would also make me happy :)
Will Mac Mouse Fix still be Open Source?
Yes. Mac Mouse Fix will still be open source, and I don't plan to change that at any point.
This also means you can use Mac Mouse Fix for free by building it from source and disabling the licensing checks. That's perfectly fine, I just discourage sharing these cracked versions online.
And of course, on the next update, you'll get a non-cracked version which means you'll have to do this again for every update. (Or just pay $1.99 for the greatest mouse driver ever! :)
Anyone will also still be able to use source code from Mac Mouse Fix in their free and commercial products as long as they don't just sell a copy of Mac Mouse Fix without adding their own contribution.
Learn about the details in the new MMF License which MMF 3 will be licensed under.
Will I have to pay to use the Mac Mouse Fix 3 Beta?
No. You can just use your 30 free days. The free day counter probably won't reset when the stable version of Mac Mouse Fix 3 releases, since that would be extra stuff to design and implement and I don't think anyone will care too much. (Let me know if you do). But I will extend the number of free days if the beta goes on for more than 30 days.
Can I get Mac Mouse Fix for free if I already donated?
Yes! If you bought me a milkshake before the 10th of September 2022, you can write an email to noah.nuebling.public@gmail.com with "Milkshake Karma" in the subject and a screenshot as proof and then I'll send you a 100% off discount code or something!
9. Internationalization
With the UI rewrite, it's now possible to translate Mac Mouse Fix into different languages!
I already translated it into German, my native language, and you can translate it into your language, too!
I plan to write a more detailed guide on this in the future, but if you want to give it a go, here's a small overview of the steps:
- Download the source code
- Add your language to the project
- Put your translations into the
.stringsand.stringsdictfiles throughout the project - Commit your changes and create a pull request
If your translation is added to the project you'll get 10 MMF copies for free, and of course, you'll be credited as a contributor. I heard you can also leave your personal message by changing some of the (secret rare thank you messages) on the About tab.
Maybe I'll add more perks in the future. Let me know if you have any ideas for that!
10. How You Can Help
You can help by sharing your ideas, issues and feedback!
The best place to share your ideas and issues is the Feedback Assistant.
The best place to give quick unstructured feedback is the Feedback Discussion.
You can also access both these places from within the app on the "ⓘ About" tab.
Thanks for helping to make Mac Mouse Fix better! 🚀