A couple people dream up an idea and put it out there for free. Cummon...if it works in a way that benefits some people, why do others have to go negative on it?
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'TouchSwitcher' and 'Rocket' Apps Let You Switch and Launch Apps From the Touch Bar
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My quick findings after using the touch bar. There is ample space for an escape button on the left, that would have calmed some of the criticism. Also, they should have cut the number pad keys in half and double the size of the touch bar (honestly make it as big as possible). It's very useful overall but it isn't perfect.
I never use the function keys. I use tons of quick keys though. So this touchbar has got far more use from me than the fn row ever did. I have it setup so clicking the fn key brings up the audio controls because I never need fn keys. It's great and doesn't feel like an extra step since one hand clicks fn while the other clicks next song. The touchbar is not a game changer but it is actually useful and flows just fine. It will not disappear in the next mac. Can't wait to see how it integrates into studio one. I think that will be very useful.
I agree it could have been taller though. I don't miss the height but it would have been nice.
Random thought. I actually really like the touchbar in calculator.
I agree it could have been taller though. I don't miss the height but it would have been nice.
Random thought. I actually really like the touchbar in calculator.
Let's be frank Apple, you said touch screens are not very ergonomic, but looking up and down on 2 screens is worse!
By using the space normally reserved for physical keys that were used all the time.
Nice!
This thing has only been out a few weeks. We're just seeing the beginning of devs starting to get their mind around the possibilities (and, as mentioned in this story, the limitations).
People work with their computers in MANY different ways... the Touch Bar is definitely going to add new options for everyone. Each individual thing might not be for everyone... but what's wrong with more/new options?
This thing has only been out a few weeks. We're just seeing the beginning of devs starting to get their mind around the possibilities (and, as mentioned in this story, the limitations).
People work with their computers in MANY different ways... the Touch Bar is definitely going to add new options for everyone. Each individual thing might not be for everyone... but what's wrong with more/new options?
Did you read the story? It talked about _two_ Touch Bar apps. The second one, Rocket, sounds like what you want (a "dock" in the Touch Bar).
They've solved the problem of "How can I look even more trendy with my new $4000 MacBook Pro at the coffee shop so that I can show off to all of these random strangers?" The MBP is becoming more about looks and less about getting work done. It has become a glorified MacBook Air. It's a fashion statement more than a computer. It's a device that has lost all sense of direction. It's a laptop that not only forgets about but doesn't care about its core user base.
As a professional consumer of Apple hardware, this is what I'm hearing from Apple: "If you're a professional, then the MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, and iPad Pro are not for you. Buy an iMac every two years you idiot." And like the lemming I am, I will fall in line this spring when they update for my work machine and at home when the hex-core Coffee lake iMacs come out.
That's not how it works. You need to hit the app icon on the menu bar first. Then it only fits like 5 apps there until you need to start scrolling to find the one you want. So first you need to drag the cursor to the menu bar, go to the touch bar, and look for the app you want, and back to the trackpad. If I had an option to have a mini dock there or within a touch of a button in the touch bar, that would be much better.
The vast majority of computer users are regular people who don't even know what a Function Key is, so a Touch Bar would appeal more to them. The only bad news is that it took a "pro" computer to introduce the Touch Bar in the first place, but I thought you could just enable virtual function keys anyways.
OK, but you still have to take your hands off the keyboard (and your eyes off the screen) to find a tiny target on the touchbar. Since you're starting this thing off with a keyboard shortcut, might as well just use option+tab in the first place.
And for non-running apps, I'm sure it's still faster to use the keyboard-based launcher of your choice (Spotlight, Alfred, etc) to quickly type part of the name of the app.
The touch bar is a very elegant solution for a nonexistent problem. Mac users should celebrate!
Again: you seem to be looking at the wrong app.
Look at Rocket: http://julianthayn.com/rocket
It fits _10_ apps and is "invoked using a keyboard shortcut"
I'm pleasantly surprised to see that developers can make apps for the touch bar that do not require the Mac App Store.
easy to poo-poo these apps b/c they don't seem very useful. but hey, it's something new and they're examples of people trying to figure out ways to utilize the touch bar. no one really knows how useful or redundant the touch bar is, but it's apps like these that help people see what is useful, what is not, etc. we need more of these kinds of people instead of the "critics" who pan apps without trying to come up with useful alternatives.
Could this thing get any more gimmicky? LOL, this thing is almost as much of a fail as thunderbolt.
The responses to all the touchbar threads are eerily reminiscent of the early responses to the iPod, iPhone and iPad launch threads.
Yep.
In the same way people yelling about the removal of USB2 ports and headphone jacks sound exactly like people yelling about the removal of ethernet ports, ADB ports, CDROM ports, floppy ports, firewire ports, etc.
Apple is always moving forward. If they weren't... we would never get anywhere. All of these luddites that rail against every new thing Apple does are almost always wrong. Apple does still have misses like any other company... but nowhere near the the amount everyone here predicts!.
I really don't think anyone can have anything approaching an informed opinion on the Touch Bar without putting in some time with it. Fiddling with it in the Apple Store ain't gonna cut it.
I like it. I don't love it but it's an improvement over what it replaced for my usage which is good enough for something in its infancy with very little software support at the moment.
I do love seeing people with existing workflows dub anything they don't need/want as "useless."
I like it. I don't love it but it's an improvement over what it replaced for my usage which is good enough for something in its infancy with very little software support at the moment.
I do love seeing people with existing workflows dub anything they don't need/want as "useless."
Disagree, the touch bar isn't that far from the screen. And the slider functionality works just fine without looking at it once you have your finger down. I'm a fast typist that doesn't have to look at the keys to type, but I still have to look at the function row for any of those keys anyway (I can't blindly hit F6 or something every time I want it). I don't see a difference there with the Touch Bar (except now I get a context sensitive hint at what the F key actually does in the app).
if you go into keyboard settings the touch bar can be set to display function keys by default