Question for magic mouse users – any tips on how to use ergonomically?

[Marty_Macfly]

Hi all,

I got the magic mouse, as part of getting the M1 iMac.

I was intrigued to use it, and I’ve gotta say not initially getting on with it, at all well.

I tried playing with it, and also changing the mouse preferences on the Mac. However I noticed the mouse preferences messed up my existing ergonomic mouse.



Some questions:

1. On Monterey, is there any way to save separate preferences for different mouses?

2. Any tips on how to use the mouse ergonomically?

3. Any tips on how to be more precise with the mouse?





The below is a YouTube video I saw on this, but I pretty much tried what the chap did.

The magic mouse has been around for ages, so there must be a knack to this, which users do.

Hope you can help 😀

Martin


Edits:
Spelling and Paragraphing!

 

[Marty_Macfly]

Tried to past link again

 

[xraydoc]

Step 1: replace Magic Mouse with something else.
Step 2: there's no step two.

 

[jagolden]

Skip the Magic Mouse. Stick with a Logitec or Microsoft mouse.
However keep a wired one on hand for unforseen emergencies.

 

[YMark]

The Magic (nothing magical about it) mouse, might be one of the worst products Apple has ever come out with. @xraydoc and @jagolden are spot on.

 

[Seiko4169]

I’ve got a lot of mice, Logitech, razor and apple etc and I still find a place for the Magic Mouse. And no not the bin.

Casual web browsing and scrolling / swipe related workflows suit it very well. Kind of a mouse / track pad experience in one.

As soon as I need precision, large movements between app windows, drag drop etc I know I’m using the wrong tool.

YMMV obviously

 

[Fishrrman]

OP asks:
"any tips on how to use ergonomically?"

Yes.
Get A DIFFERENT mouse.

I'd recommend Logitech, one with the "unifying receiver".
But don't use the Logitech control software -- it's clunky.
Instead, use either:
- SteerMouse
or
- USB Overdrive.

 

[ader42]

I spent quite a few years doing work for the Display Screen Ergonomics industry / helped train thousands of users across the public and private sectors.

Ergonomically there is nothing wrong with the Apple Mouse.

Ergonomically you want the wrist to be as flat as possible - this means the Apple mouse is about as ergonomic as you can get as it is so nice and flat.

Ergonomically you want your chair to be at the correct height so your arms are at a 90 degree angle and your wrist flat. Arm rests on your chair can help achieve this. Wrist rests can be useful if you do not have a flat mouse, i.e. to raise your wrist so it is flat when using a tall mouse.

Lots of people don't care about being ergonomic for health reasons - they care more about functionality at the long-term expense of their wrists - these people denigrate the Apple mouse.

 

[Marty_Macfly]

Such negativity from the 'Nay Sayers' out there! 🤣



I'm looking at this as a chance to learn a new skill with a new piece of tech, instead of chucking the Magic Mouse into a drawer to gather dust, just because I don't automatically gel with it. Hope others find this of use as well.


There must be a knack to using the mouse



I'm hoping, come the working weeks, we hear from creative professionals who use the Magic Mouse, and what they can advise. The chaps and gals who do detailed tricky work, who scrub through timelines, who do artistry work etc.

Also, hearing advice from others who simply use the mouse for mainstream stuff - Would be really useful as well.



My 2 pennies worth 😇

Best Wishes
Martin




Edit:
Divisive topic it appears, carefully rewording, or not! 🤣

 

[Marty_Macfly]

I spent quite a few years doing work for the Display Screen Ergonomics industry / helped train thousands of users across the public and private sectors.

Ergonomically there is nothing wrong with the Apple Mouse.

Ergonomically you want the wrist to be as flat as possible - this means the Apple mouse is about as ergonomic as you can get as it is so nice and flat.

Ergonomically you want your chair to be at the correct height so your arms are at a 90 degree angle and your wrist flat. Arm rests on your chair can help achieve this. Wrist rests can be useful if you do not have a flat mouse, i.e. to raise your wrist so it is flat when using a tall mouse.

Lots of people don't care about being ergonomic for health reasons - they care more about functionality at the long-term expense of their wrists - these people denigrate the Apple mouse.

Hi Ader,


Many thanks for taking the time to reply, much appreciated 👍



Can I ask a question:

I'm finding my biggest issue is doing the 'secondary click' with the Magic Mouse.

To get a comfortable position to do this, I end up compromising how I'm holding the mouse, and it all goes down hill from there.


What's the best way to do 'a secondary click'?

I heard that in the past, apple mouses did not have '2 buttons' - You had to hold the CMD button down and click the mouse, to do the secondary click. Is this the best ergonomic way of using the Magic Mouse? The MacOS does not appear to give this as an option at all. Is it still possible?


Hope you can advise.

Martin

 

[Marty_Macfly]

I spent quite a few years doing work for the Display Screen Ergonomics industry / helped train thousands of users across the public and private sectors.

Ergonomically there is nothing wrong with the Apple Mouse.

Ergonomically you want the wrist to be as flat as possible - this means the Apple mouse is about as ergonomic as you can get as it is so nice and flat.

Ergonomically you want your chair to be at the correct height so your arms are at a 90 degree angle and your wrist flat. Arm rests on your chair can help achieve this. Wrist rests can be useful if you do not have a flat mouse, i.e. to raise your wrist so it is flat when using a tall mouse.

Lots of people don't care about being ergonomic for health reasons - they care more about functionality at the long-term expense of their wrists - these people denigrate the Apple mouse.

Hi Ader,


Here is me saying 'only one question'! 😂


Last question!:


Is the 'magic tracker pad' simply the better option, if I have both?


I've been using a magic track pad for a while already, and I can fly around the screen, with precision, with no hassles at all on the Imac - I'm use to the laptop track pad already I suppose, which helps the learning curve.


Hope you can advise 😀


Best Wishes
Martin

 

[ader42]

I’m right-handed. Personally I tend to have two fingers on the mouse, one on the top left for primary click and one on the right for secondary click. This feels perfectly natural to me and very comfortable.

I have the mouse set up to use two-finger swipes for switching spaces.

Apple make the best trackpads - but when I had a separate trackpad I ended up only using it with swipes. I don’t mind using the one on my MBP but intend to get an Apple magic mouse for that too as I now have the MBP elevated on a stand.

 

[Marty_Macfly]

I’m right-handed. Personally I tend to have two fingers on the mouse, one on the top left for primary click and one on the right for secondary click. This feels perfectly natural to me and very comfortable.

I have the mouse set up to use two-finger swipes for switching spaces.

Apple make the best trackpads - but when I had a separate trackpad I ended up only using it with swipes. I don’t mind using the one on my MBP but intend to get an Apple magic mouse for that too as I now have the MBP elevated on a stand.

Hi ader,

Argh, I’m left-handed, and the Mrs is right-handed.

Thinking about it I may be leaning towards simply using the trackpad, as the secondary click is universal on the trackpad. It’s simply 2 finger click, regardless if left or right handed.

That way, the iMac is set up straight away for me and the Mrs, on my login et cetera.

Will persevere with this query about the magic mouse, seeing as I’m here, but think I’ll be using the magic trackpad on the iMac, downstairs in the family room.

Best wishes
Martin

 

[salamanderjuice]

Hi Ader,


Many thanks for taking the time to reply, much appreciated 👍



Can I ask a question:

I'm finding my biggest issue is doing the 'secondary click' with the Magic Mouse.

To get a comfortable position to do this, I end up compromising how I'm holding the mouse, and it all goes down hill from there.


What's the best way to do 'a secondary click'?

I heard that in the past, apple mouses did not have '2 buttons' - You had to hold the CMD button down and click the mouse, to do the secondary click. Is this the best ergonomic way of using the Magic Mouse? The MacOS does not appear to give this as an option at all. Is it still possible?


Hope you can advise.

Martin

This is one of the many flaws of the Magic Mouse. It still only has one physical button and detects right clicks by detecting where you are touching. Because of this it's kind of crap at picking up right clicks when pressed too close to the right edge. I think BetterTouchTool can let you remap right click to some other gesture that's perhaps more ergonomic although I have not tried.

You should be able to still CMD Click but honestly just get a different mouse if the MM is not comfortable. It really doesn't have enough going for it to really justify the effort. Apple doesn't and hasn't really ever made great mice. Passable at best.

 

[SjoukeW]

As a software developer I use the Magic Mouse when I have to do a lot of clicking. Also right click happens often. I never experienced any problems with it.
I really like the fact that I can use it with both hands as I am a left handed person.
A lot of mice are sheer impossible to hold while being left handed.
In the settings I changed to tracking speed to maximum speed so I don’t have to move the mouse around that much.
Using 2 4K screens and have to move the cursor to the other end one mouse mat was not enough space. That setting had to be fixed first.
For small changes while typing I use the MacBooks touchpad. That is also on maximum tracking speed by the way.

 

[salamanderjuice]

I'm left handed too and I think there's a lot better ambidextrous or true left handed mice out there. One of the few Logitech mice that can actually be ambidextrous, the G903 for example. I also swap left/right clicks after having gotten used to it using my left handed Razer Naga and the G903 lets you swap profiles with a button press so I can easily hit one button and the left/right mouse buttons swap. Plus that gets stored on the mouse itself so I can just plug into any computer and it just works.

 

[maflynn]

Such negativity from the 'Nay Sayers' out there

Not nay sayers, just us apple folk who tried it, and saw how horribly designed it is. Plus the issue is that there are so many better mice out there, for less money.

 

[Marty_Macfly]

Not nay sayers, just us apple folk who tried it, and saw how horribly designed it is. Plus the issue is that there are so many better mice out there, for less money.

Hey, I’m just a slow learner!

Best wishes
Martin

 

[ader42]

Hi Ader,


Many thanks for taking the time to reply, much appreciated 👍



Can I ask a question:

I'm finding my biggest issue is doing the 'secondary click' with the Magic Mouse.

To get a comfortable position to do this, I end up compromising how I'm holding the mouse, and it all goes down hill from there.


What's the best way to do 'a secondary click'?

I heard that in the past, apple mouses did not have '2 buttons' - You had to hold the CMD button down and click the mouse, to do the secondary click. Is this the best ergonomic way of using the Magic Mouse? The MacOS does not appear to give this as an option at all. Is it still possible?


Hope you can advise.

Martin

I would just stick with the secondary click being on the right side of the top of the magic mouse, when I use a Magic Mouse I have my two fingers on the top and it's pretty much no different to using a normal mouse except the two mouse buttons are "invisible".

 

[meson]

There's a reason that there is a Magic Mouse in a drawer in my desk at work, and one at home in my wife's desk drawer. Apple hasn't designed a decent mouse since they looked like a beige generic mouse with a single button. The Magic Mouse, in theory, seems like an interesting mouse/trackpad hybrid with its multitouch capabilities, but in the end doesn't do either job well.

If right clicking and switching between left/right handed users, there is always the old school control-click and option-click for right and middle clicks. I still use the key modifiers nearly all of the time because they were ingrained in me decades ago before Apple started releasing devices with multitouch capabilities.

The Magic Trackpad is excellent, and my choice for an input device.

 

[August West]

I picked up a Magic Mouse last year when I upgraded to my M2 mini. And while I loved the functionality of it, I detested the ergonomics so ended up returning it. It was very uncomfortable for me after few minutes of use so I went back to my basic Logitech mouse that has to be approaching 2 decades old but still works great. Wish they would redesign the Magic Mouse so it would be reasonably comfortable to use.

 

[MikeDr206]

Step 1: replace Magic Mouse with something else.
Step 2: there's no step two.

This is the way. After struggling with the dam* thing for way too long, I bought a Logi Anywhere mouse and am happy.

 

[JimmyG]

>snip<

Some questions:

1. On Monterey, is there any way to save separate preferences for different mouses?

2. Any tips on how to use the mouse ergonomically?

3. Any tips on how to be more precise with the mouse?

>snip<

Hi Marty,

As I use the Magic Mouse exclusively I've never looked into whether there is a way to provide for different preferences for different mice.

As for the other two questions, I'll suggest you might be over-thinking all of this...when I got my 2011 27" iMac I fell in love with the Magic Mouse and ditched all of my other mice, it was and has been the most intuitive mouse I've ever used. I basically looked at one of Apple's tutorials on how it operated and off I went! I said it then, and I say it to this day...Apple perfected the mouse, I have no reason to look further.

Having said that, any device must meet a user's satisfactions...some folks are trackball lovers, some, multi-button lovers...me, the Magic Mouse has become an invisible appendage, I stopped looking further. I truly give zero thought when using it, it's just become THE natural way for me to operate my computer...everything else would just feel queer to use now. YMMV.

My best advice for anyone when it comes to a mouse, is find one you "get on with" and get with your life. If you're fighting with the Magic Mouse, maybe it's not for you, find something else. That's all I've got.

Jimmy G

 

[smirking]

Partly because I struggled badly with repetitive stress injuries for a decade, I own well over a dozen mice of all sorts of shapes and sizes. I tried everything in search of something I could use comfortably without pain. I learned to use all kinds of keyboards and input devices in different ways so I totally identify with what you said about seeing this experience as a challenge to develop different skills.

The Magic Mouse is one of the devices I have. It's not one of my favored ones, but I found that doing a fingertip mouse grip works best for it. That's where the base of your palm rests on the table and you lightly pinch the sides with your thumb and little finger. You use your other slightly flexed fingers to stabilize the movements.

I actually find it quite comfortable to use it that way and combined with the ability to create custom gestures, I got a lot of mileage out of my Magic Mouse. My big complaint about is that because it’s symmetrical in shape, there's no way to feel when the mouse is getting skewed and because the fingertip grip is a light grip, you can't tell when the mouse has gone diagonal on you or you may need to look down when putting your hand on it.

 

[H_D]

Wow, amazing lot of hate for the AMM. Which I personally like, no other product has a touchpad on top and that makes the Magic Mouse super productive, especially when partnered with Better Touch.

Better Touch should help you with the secondary click, you can basically do ANYTHING with the Mouse, it really is worth the effort of learning how to programthe gestures once.

Also, as someone with RSI, I find that switching devices help, so use the AMM, one of the more ergonomic Logitechs maybe, a Wacom Pen, the trackpad and so on, switch tools. Also take short breaks, do some physiotherapy and mild regular training to get the muscles to release the tension, if you find the time.