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Think we'll get momentum scrolling on our trackpads soon?
- Thread starter TheSpaz
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I'm doubtful about it. If anything, Apple would release a new MacBook (Pro) and tout it as a new feature and reason to buy it.
It doesn't sound like a very difficult thing to implement on any trackpad with 2+ finger scrolling. Apple will prob just wait until after the holiday season to release this.
I'm just wondering when Apple will finally return to a dedicated CLICKER on the MacBook Pro. I don't like all this trackpad/clicker all-in one stuff. I like to actually have a clicker, that works like one should!
I like the one clicker better. By day I use a dedicated clicker on a MacBook and at home I have a MacBook Pro- only thing that bugs me about the macBook Pro is the sharp edges just below the trackpad near the "latch"- it scrapes up my thumb at times.
On topic- what is momentum scrolling for those that don't know....like me! (although I have a guess)
for example, when reading through these long posts, you have to scroll up and up and up and up to get to the top of them, momentum scrolling understands that you want to get to the top and speeds up the farther you scroll.
I like using the 3-finger swipe up or down in Firefox to get to the top or bottom of a page.
Don't scold me because I'm not referring to momentum scrolling. Please. My self esteem is already at an all-time low.
Don't scold me because I'm not referring to momentum scrolling. Please. My self esteem is already at an all-time low.
The momentum scrolling appears to be a combination of hardware and software. The Magic Mouse continues to send packets during and after you "flick scroll" (in other words, they continue after you lift your finger). I'm not sure the multi-touch trackpads are capable of that, but I haven't monitored their output. Perhaps someone else want's to look into that.
Just knowing there's hardware involved (on the Magic Mouse side) leads me to believe we won't see the feature implemented through a software update on our current machines. I hope I'm wrong - I was already flicking my trackpad after I got my iPhone - now, the tendency is even worse
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Just knowing there's hardware involved (on the Magic Mouse side) leads me to believe we won't see the feature implemented through a software update on our current machines. I hope I'm wrong - I was already flicking my trackpad after I got my iPhone - now, the tendency is even worse
.I'll admit, I've never tried this 'momentum scrolling' that everyone's talking about, but I have to agree... two fingers to scroll up / scroll down, three to go top / bottom of a page seems simple enough to me, I'm not sure why we'd need much more than that...
...but then, my usage is rather limited, so it's entirely possible there are other useful purposes I'm missing.
Honestly, I just know that it annoys the heck out of me when Word decides to tell me that I obviously want to start scrolling faster just because I've scrolled down more than two or three times, when 95% of the time, I'm scrolling slowly for a reason.
But still, given that all trackpad functions seem to be activate / deactivate -able for users that do / don't want them, no harm in including it if they can.
Yep. You can "flick" to scroll and you'll get the same faster/farther you flick, the faster/farther the scroll handle moves functionality.
Momentum scrolling sounds interesting, and i'll be curious to try out that link ssdar posted. i found it a helpful bit of information, and as difficult as it may be for you to comprehend 'Spaz,' the sharing of information on here is for more than just your own benefit.
I seriously doubt Apple will put it into the trackpads. If you have ever used the Magic Mouse and momentum scrolling you would know how laggy and bad to use it is, and putting that on the trackpads unless they have improved it would just be a silly move.
King Mook Mook
King Mook Mook
Momentum scrolling is as smooth and controllable on my 17" ubMBP as an iPhone. I can't speak for others, of course, but I suspect I'm not alone. If your system isn't behaving this way, there's probably something else going on (maybe Bluetooth interference?).
Good old Smartscroll, it's a great bit of software. I also have a button on my Wacom pen mapped to it, so I can flick left,right, up and down pages like I'm on an iPhone.
Yeah you're probably right. However I only use it for Safari and when I use it seems weird and quite laggy.
King Mook Mook
Uh, you have an iPod Touch per your sig. I think you have tried momentum scrolling. Although the Magic Mouse momentum does work slightly differently than the Touch/iPhone, it holds momentum longer.
The momentum scrolling appears to be a combination of hardware and software. The Magic Mouse continues to send packets during and after you "flick scroll" (in other words, they continue after you lift your finger). I'm not sure the multi-touch trackpads are capable of that, but I haven't monitored their output. Perhaps someone else want's to look into that.
Just knowing there's hardware involved (on the Magic Mouse side) leads me to believe we won't see the feature implemented through a software update on our current machines. I hope I'm wrong - I was already flicking my trackpad after I got my iPhone - now, the tendency is even worse
That's not exactly how it works. The Magic Mouse doest not send information after you scroll, it only sends info while you scroll, and OS X figures out the rest (the momentum scrolling part). It's entirely possible to get momentum scrolling with a normal trackpad via software alone, as it makes sense that the OS knows at which speed you are scrolling, so it can also calculate at which speed the scrolling should continue when you are no longer scrolling. This would also be implementable on any mouse, the only thing is most "conventional" mice have notches and don't scroll pixel by pixel, but line by line, which makes scrolling choppy anyway, so momentum scrolling would look bad.
So I am 100% sure that it is possible to get momentum scrolling on any computer that has a scrolling trackpad, so yes, we could see such an update. However, knowing Apple and reading about the 10.6.2 seeds, it is highly unlikely that we will see momentum scrolling with trackpads anytime soon. I think it would come in OS X 10.7. Apple doesn't like to rush things, as we saw with the pinch and swipe gestures, Apple made those available on older MacBooks and MacBook Pros like a year after it appeared on the MacBook Air. I'm sure they don't need time to develop these features since they already exist, they just want users to get a Magic Mouse if you want momentum scrolling. If you got it as an OS update, you wouldn't buy the Magic Mouse.
Marketing strategy!
I didn't consider buying the Magic Mouse because it has momentum scrolling. Plus, people who use the trackpad, probably aren't worried about buying a mouse.
My Bamboo Touch has momentum scrolling already. I don't see why it hasn't been put on the MacBook Pros already.
Run the Bluetooth developer tool "PacketLogger". During momentum scrolling, packets are sent after a finger is lifted. If you do normal scrolling, they stop when motion is stopped.
Which tool did you use to determine there's no information sent after the finger is lifted? I'm no Bluetooth expert, but I do have a lot of hardware<>software development experience. The PacketLogger's raw data was a good enough data point for me to form the opinion I posted. If I'm way off base, I'd be happy to run a different experiment. I only did this one because I was very curious myself and, because of my experience, it was something right up my alley.
Because momentum scrolling seems to be a function of the mouse hardware/firmware itself, we would need to wait until it's implemented in the trackpads. It could be simulated, but if it would have the same functionality as the current implementation (in Apple's eyes), we probably would have seen it by now (even with the scroll ball or scroll wheels). I would love to see it implemented on my ubMBP, but I have my doubts.