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On the other hand, this is the first application of the Touch bar that has me at all interested. I keep a lot of my windows wide open and anytime I need to access a lower scrollbar I run into the annoying issue of my dock getting in the way. If I no longer need the dock because my programs are in the Touch bar, I'd see that as a positive. My dock is always getting in the way so if there's some way to keep it off screen, I'm all for it.

Of course, I might find it too much of a hassle to reach over and tap on an icon on the laptop instead of using my mouse or attached keyboard.
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Programmers still use the ESC key in the function row?
You're joking, right?
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Touch typists want physical keys (I can touch type a little but only letters)

More of this please. Yes, I like real buttons. I have yet to find a virtual interface that performs at the level of a real one. Many of the touch interfaces are also harder on my hands and have contributed to the repetitive strain injuries in my hands because the devices are awkward to hold or position your body over and result in some really bad habits during use.
 
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More of this please. Yes, I like real buttons. I have yet to find a virtual interface that performs at the level of a real one. Many of the touch interfaces are also harder on my hands and have contributed to the repetitive strain injuries in my hands because the devices are awkward to hold or position your body over and result in some really bad habits during use.

The mouse is the course of repetitive strain and having Apples touch bar means you have to change hand positions. I have not used a mouse for years and now have no problems with my hand.
 
Not the iPad, everyone said it was just a big iPod touch and couldn't see the point.
I still view it as that now and I'm on my third! I bought the mini and TBH even that rarely gets used as I always have my phone to hand, we use it mainly for testing of sites and that's it!
 
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Two free third-party Touch Bar apps have been making the rounds this week that may be of interest to some owners of new MacBook Pros. The apps essentially offer alternative ways of accessing pre-existing macOS functions.

TouchSwitcher adds an icon to the right side of the Touch Bar that when tapped brings up a list of currently running apps for quick app switching, similar to the Command + Tab keyboard shortcut.

Screen-Shot-5-800x453.jpg

One limitation of the Touch Bar discovered by TouchSwitcher's developer is that only one non-system control can be displayed in the right-hand strip, meaning other Apple apps compete for the same space.

iTunes for example overrides TouchSwitcher when music is played, and the TouchSwitcher app must be restarted to make it re-appear in the control strip. To manually regain access to the default media control button, users can long press on the TouchSwitcher app icon to quit it.

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Another new app called Rocket lets users launch apps from the Touch Bar. Rather than live in the system control strip on the right though, Rocket is a standalone app that can be invoked using a keyboard shortcut, whereupon it displays a list of app icons along the left side of the Touch Bar.

TouchSwitcher and Rocket (listed as a beta) can be downloaded for free directly from the developers' websites.

Article Link: 'TouchSwitcher' and 'Rocket' Apps Let You Switch and Launch Apps From the Touch Bar
imagine...the same motion and effort and you could touch the screen and have more features. Touch bar is a fail...should have just made it a touchscreen instead.
I have a 2015 rMBP and would love to have a touch screen MBP. But the Touch Bar is pointless and limiting
 
in my touch bar at all times say in lieu of the silly Siri icon
...
That would be neat but of course Apple closed that portion of the touch bar to media controls, Siri, Mute, etc.

That's how TouchSwitcher works.

And having to re-launch Touch Switcher regularly because other apps overwrite it? Dumb.

There's a shortcut to bring the icon back if it gets misplaced.
 
What's the point of the dock then?

and now looking at TWO screens, is the solution? Jobs is rolling in his grave
 
The mouse is the course of repetitive strain and having Apples touch bar means you have to change hand positions. I have not used a mouse for years and now have no problems with my hand.

All of this depends. There are many different kinds of mice and many types of pointer devices besides a mouse that give you options of finding the least stressful way of inputting for you and the way you work. My issue with touch screens is that there is only one way to use them and you often have to hold them while you thumb or crane your neck.

I have close to two dozen mice/pointer devices and over a dozen keyboards. It took that much trial and error to find the right combo that I could use comfortably without pain.

For some people moving more is helpful. For others, finding a set position and not moving too much does the same. I'm a developer now, but I used to work in a field related to ergonomics.
 
That's how TouchSwitcher works.



There's a shortcut to bring the icon back if it gets misplaced.
That's how TouchSwitcher works.



There's a shortcut to bring the icon back if it gets misplaced.

No, thats not how touch switcher works. Touch switcher launches apps that are already opened. I want to launch apps of my choosing like the dock. 2 different things.
 
I want to launch apps of my choosing like the dock. 2 different things.

Come on, the app is less than a week old, give it some time to cook. Now you can swipe left to reveal Dock apps that are not running yet.
 
As someone who always disabled the shortcut keys in favor of the function keys, I won't be remotely disappointed if the Touch Bar falls flat on its face.

It's almost comical that this Touch Bar revelation of theirs would come with the "pro" series laptops, because anyone who makes in depth use of adobe apps (and probably loads of other design software) will simply lament the loss of the function keys because countless keystroke shortcuts require them.

I don't think any professionals want to bank their user experience on "Touch Bar support"

The function keys are still there and they work exactly as they did before - and if you don't want the far superior shortcuts Adobe are crafting you can force all Adobe apps to just show F1 to F12 just like before without evening having to press FN button. So even the old functionality is identical (perhaps better? As now you don't need to disable the short cut keys customwide, you can still have keyboard, screen brightness and volume everywhere else, but force just F1 to F12 in specific apps that you want them on...a lot better)

And when you say "countless" you mean about 8 - they swap windows in Adobe software, that's it.
 
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Come on, the app is less than a week old, give it some time to cook. Now you can swipe left to reveal Dock apps that are not running yet.

It doesn't work half as good as you expect. I have iTunes running most of the time. The multimedia icon in the touch bar replaces the touch switcher icon. They both basically fight for the same space back and forth. It's worthless at this point. It's not the devolver'a fault, apple only allows one app to use that space.

What I do is actually use rocket launcher. I use the bettertouchtool app and customized my trackpad so that a gesture launches the app and it appears on my touch bar, saving the hasstle of going to the menu bar.
 
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Do you 2-3 hours worth of battery life like it?

Granted theres other factors (smaller battery, extra fan etc) but at the end of the day thats what your losing in the 13in TB.

I'm not mad at you early adapters, but so far its not an improvement for basic stuff that I use. eg - i just know that "volume up" is the second key from the right without looking.

That said, I *think* I could map the volume keys to Command + - , and i'll be happy to see an improved touchbar in a laptop with 12+ hours battery, but at this stage its mostly drawbacks (for me).

This machine gets about 7-8 hours of battery life right now (i7 and 16GB) on WiFi while coding. The number of times I need more battery life than that is... well... yes, I'd say I get significantly more use out of the Touch Bar and that includes the fact that I'm generally on an external keyboard. Having a single keypress for "lock screen" is something I use constantly. And the Touch Bar also includes Touch ID on the laptop which, quite frankly, is awesome.

I also think the number of people touch typing in the function key area are SIGNIFICANTLY smaller than the number of people that will benefit from the Touch Bar. Every change is going to have an adverse effect on someone. With that said, in my use, I think the Touch Bar is going to help and be more useful to average users rather than professionals—at least professionals in their professional workflow.

I've found I use it most in apps that I'm less familiar with/don't use a whole lot. That might sound like a negative, but I don't think it is. I mean, the reality is, I hardly touch my mouse in my professional workflow (or at least significant portions of it) and I'm not sad it exists.
 
After a few days of use I think what would make the touch bar incredibly useful is if we could build some advanced workflows that work with one button press. For instance in Safari a one press clip to Evernote button would be useful, opening the share menu isn't a useful shortcut at all as I still have to mouse there.

It'd be great to be able to include our own automator and applescripts scripts on the bar
 
Hi,

I'm trying to get Rocket working on my 13" TB, but v0.7 does nothing (just a blank Touch Bar), and v0.6 shows the recent apps, but the Dock button doesn't work. Any ideas?
 
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