Why do people hate the Touch Bar?

[Madonepro]

Hate is a very strong word. I do not hate the touch bar. I think that the idea of a secondary screen on a keyboard is not a bad one and I can see how people who glance down at the keyboard a lot would find it useful to have important app functionality quickly and clearly accessible via a touch bar interface.

The trouble with the idea is that there are many of us who do not look at the keyboard and rely on the function keys always being in the same place. I do not often change my keyboard or screen brightness, so I have the function keys enabled by default.

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I use many applications where I am always using the function keys because they are shortcuts For example, F5 does something and Shift + F5 does something similar and so forth. Touch bar functionality is not useful to me. I can rely on F5 always being in the same place and my muscle memory can help to easily find it and not touch something else.

People have mentioned Teams, and other such applications, that include commonly used functions like a mute button on the touch bar. I am not sure how that is more useful than just using the mute button in the teams GUI itself. Personally I just memorise shortcuts. Cmd + shift + M to toggle mute on and off quickly. As a bonus the shortcut is similar when I have to use Teams on a Windows machine (ctrl + shift + m). That, to me, is far more useful than a separate button on a touch screen taking up the function keys.

I think a much better solution overall would have been to find a way to integrate a touch bar into the design without taking away the function keys. When you take away functionality and replace it with something that is arguably not as useful that is regression. I think this is the main reason why some people do not like the touch bar.

Interesting how you state two shortcuts to use mute, and suggest you could also use the mute button in the GUI, yet the first two require 3 button presses, the GUI option requires moving the mouse and the Touch Bar requires just one touch!
Too many have got wrapped up in it being a change they don't like, so lets bag it out. I have found it very useful, for instance I like to use F5 in the old days, now I just do command + R, same thing.

 

[Madonepro]

It's so amazing for little things like that and those situations pop up all over the place. But for me it's always like a nice surprise and then I forget all about it. Like someone else mentioned, I think Apple was on the right track here, but I think developers just don't care about it. I'm sure they have their reasons, but I really do wish that most apps had some kind of TouchBar integration. I would use it daily if that were the case.

Sadly it's the said developers holding it back. They don't like it, so we by default won't benefit from that. I hate the function keys, what do the serve that the Touch Bar doesn't? Dimming the screen, turning the volume up. Are we still using MS DOS? No! Move on and forward.

 

[theSeb]

Interesting how you state two shortcuts to use mute, and suggest you could also use the mute button in the GUI, yet the first two require 3 button presses, the GUI option requires moving the mouse and the Touch Bar requires just one touch!
Too many have got wrapped up in it being a change they don't like, so lets bag it out. I have found it very useful, for instance I like to use F5 in the old days, now I just do command + R, same thing.

My hands are usually on the keyboard. It’s not really that interesting. Maybe some people use their computers by holding the mouse 95% of the time. I don’t. The Touch Bar shortcut you mention falls apart since I would have to take my eyes off the screen. I do not usually do this as I tried to explain in the post you quoted.

 

[Gudi]

Why do people hate the Touch Bar?​

Easy! Humans have a spatial memory. Just like squirrels burying hazelnuts, we like to find things exactly where we left them. 🐿

Unfortunately the Touch Bar is highly context sensitive and changes all the time. Shortcuts are hard to memorize, easy to execute and impossible to discover by accident. Once learned a user can execute a shortcut as naturally and automatically as a reflex. 🌰

Touch Bar functions are easy to discover, impossible to memorize [spatially] and therefore hard to execute. You must always look where and what to tap. This little bit of effort distracts from your actual work and breaks your work flow. That’s what people actually complain about.

 

[Madonepro]

My hands are usually on the keyboard. It’s not really that interesting. Maybe some people use their computers by holding the mouse 95% of the time. I don’t. The Touch Bar shortcut you mention falls apart since I would have to take my eyes off the screen. I do not usually do this as I tried to explain in the post you quoted.

Why would people be holding their mouse? Surely they'd be using the trackpad, or maybe they don't like that either.
I find I don't need to look up at the Touch Bar, as I know where things are.

 

[chabig]

Why would people be holding their mouse? Surely they'd be using the trackpad...

I agree. Mice are so '90s.

 

[spiderman0616]

I agree. Mice are so '90s.

I agree as well, but my job unfortunately doesn’t. I use lots of software that’s just better with a traditional mouse. On my personal Mac it’s trackpad all the way though. Have never even paired a mouse to it.

 

[spiderman0616]

Easy! Humans have a spatial memory. Just like squirrels burying hazelnuts, we like to find things exactly where we left them. 🐿

Unfortunately the Touch Bar is highly context sensitive and changes all the time. Shortcuts are hard to memorize, easy to execute and impossible to discover by accident. Once learned a user can execute a shortcut as naturally and automatically as a reflex. 🌰

Touch Bar functions are easy to discover, impossible to memorize [spatially] and therefore hard to execute. You must always look where and what to tap. This little bit of effort distracts from your actual work and breaks your work flow. That’s what people actually complain about.

I think this is valid as well. I’m not usually one to brag, but I type pretty freaking fast—I started learning “formal” typing when I was 14 and I’m almost 44 now, so if ANYTHING on that traditional QWERTY layout changes, I’m going to catch it immediately. I’ll adjust and move on, but only until the next change happens.

Since I’m literally almost never looking down at the keyboard other than to find weird symbols that I don’t use often, the Touch Bar goes largely neglected. It’s so pretty and colorful and has very useful features. I just rarely ever see them if I’m doing “hands-on-the-keyboard” type of work. Quick glance down to get my hands in the right spot and that’s the extent of how much I look at the keyboard.

 

[bobcomer]

Easy! Humans have a spatial memory. Just like squirrels burying hazelnuts, we like to find things exactly where we left them. 🐿

Unfortunately the Touch Bar is highly context sensitive and changes all the time. Shortcuts are hard to memorize, easy to execute and impossible to discover by accident. Once learned a user can execute a shortcut as naturally and automatically as a reflex. 🌰

Touch Bar functions are easy to discover, impossible to memorize [spatially] and therefore hard to execute. You must always look where and what to tap. This little bit of effort distracts from your actual work and breaks your work flow. That’s what people actually complain about.

That's an excellent way to describe the problem.

 

[bobcomer]

Why would people be holding their mouse? Surely they'd be using the trackpad, or maybe they don't like that either.
I find I don't need to look up at the Touch Bar, as I know where things are.

I still use a mouse, even on my laptops -- I hate trackpads, they never work as well for me.

fwiw, almost all desktop users use Mice, and there's still a lot of desktops out there...

 

[za9ra22]

Touch Bar functions are easy to discover, impossible to memorize [spatially] and therefore hard to execute. You must always look where and what to tap. This little bit of effort distracts from your actual work and breaks your work flow. That’s what people actually complain about.

This deserves a 'like' - it is the most cogent explanation of the Touch Bar 'problem' given here. It certainly matches my experience precisely, and explains why I find it just a tiny bit more comfortable working with F-keys instead.

It actually does seem such a tiny differential between the two, but those 'little bits of effort' relating to Touch Bar use are distinctly disruptive to my focus and workflow.

That said, the Touch Bar on my MBP is a very cool feature to look at. Except that isn't where I'm supposed to be looking!

 

[jeyf]

dont get rid of the touch bar. This is the only part of the MBP keyboard that works

 

[theSeb]

Why would people be holding their mouse? Surely they'd be using the trackpad, or maybe they don't like that either.
I find I don't need to look up at the Touch Bar, as I know where things are.

Taking my hands away from the keyboard to a trackpad is still taking my hands off the keyboard

 

[AZhappyjack]

Easy! Humans have a spatial memory. Just like squirrels burying hazelnuts, we like to find things exactly where we left them. 🐿

Unfortunately the Touch Bar is highly context sensitive and changes all the time. Shortcuts are hard to memorize, easy to execute and impossible to discover by accident. Once learned a user can execute a shortcut as naturally and automatically as a reflex. 🌰

Touch Bar functions are easy to discover, impossible to memorize [spatially] and therefore hard to execute. You must always look where and what to tap. This little bit of effort distracts from your actual work and breaks your work flow. That’s what people actually complain about.

Agreed. And when you add in the accidental activation of apps/actions caused by the accidental brushing of the TB, it only gets worse.

Perhaps Apple could include some sort of sensitivity setting similar to what they used for stuff like haptic feedback or TouchID on the iPhone, it would improve the usability/user experience to some degree... but otherwise, this post is spot on.

 

[spiderman0616]

dont get rid of the touch bar. This is the only part of the MBP keyboard that works if you have a Mac from before 2020.

Fixed that for you.

 

[jeyf]

hmmm; did you ever have that long term relationship in your life would havve been better off just not happening??
my apple.

 

[Maconplasma]

Hopefully Apple doesn't listen to a single naysayer. I love the TB. So much more useful than those boring static keys. Been a Mac user exclusively for well over 20 years and the most use I've gotten from those static keys was changing the volume and brightness. Didn't even use the brightness anymore after Apple began using automatic screen brightness control.
I love how the TB changes with each app giving so much more use so I no longer have to drill down through menus in the menu bar searching for a function. Much of these functions are in the TB.

If anything Apple could improve on the TB by adding haptic feedback and possibly a larger TB. Apple please do not listen to the naysayers. They are on their high horse thinking that their negative feedback will control what Apple does. ef em.

 

[AZhappyjack]

If anything Apple could improve on the TB by adding haptic feedback and possibly a larger TB. Apple please do not listen to the naysayers. They are on their high horse thinking that their negative feedback will control what Apple does. ef em.

No one is on a high horse, and no one can realistically expect anything said here to move the needle for Apple. It’s simply a discussion.

But making it larger or adding haptic feedback will do nothing to affect the workflow interruption caused by a simple inadvertent brushing of the TB.

 

[Maconplasma]

No one is on a high horse, and no one can realistically expect anything said here to move the needle for Apple. It’s simply a discussion.

But making it larger or adding haptic feedback will do nothing to affect the workflow interruption caused by a simple inadvertent brushing of the TB.

I've had/have 3 MacBook Pros with the TB. I'm a devout touch typist and never once have I ever brushed up against the TB. That's an issue unique to some but not the majority. Also it's weird how you're speaking up for everyone. You have no idea what people's agenda here are to be such a liaison in defense for them. 🙄

And there are definitely quite a few here on their high horse. They act like if they don't like the TB then everyone else should feel the same way they do. They hammer it quite hard here. SMH.

 

[gustavopi]

I feel like you're maybe talking about the mouse pad area. The TouchBar doesn't make any sound unless you hit the power button or the Esc key.

Yes, I mistook each other. My oldbook does not have one, I only have tested in apple stores. So I will tell you what it seems to me. It seems the old competition of who will make the keyboard with more keys. It's a solution that doesn't seems Apple like (Steve won't like it). A touch screen would be better, or less worst. This, of course, is an option of somebody is just looking and testing, I might change my mind, happened before.

 

[bunnspecial]

Interesting how you state two shortcuts to use mute, and suggest you could also use the mute button in the GUI, yet the first two require 3 button presses, the GUI option requires moving the mouse and the Touch Bar requires just one touch!
Too many have got wrapped up in it being a change they don't like, so lets bag it out. I have found it very useful, for instance I like to use F5 in the old days, now I just do command + R, same thing.

I haven't used Teams since about this time last year(my old workplace used it, my new one uses Zoom).

Unless I'm actively presenting, I stay on mute, and I have mute on entry set as default for meetings I host.

In any case, Zoom has a convenient cross platform temporary unmute button-the space bar. Hold it down when you're speaking, release when not. Considering that the space bar is the easiest one to find on the keyboard, even someone who doesn't touch type should be able to find it.

The only touchbar function I use regularly that's not a simple button on a standard keyboard is DND. Even then, it's not exactly complicated since Opt+clicking on the message center enables and disables it. BTW, I wish other Zoom presenters would learn to use the DND function since I hate hearing emails, etc dinging in the background.

 

[Significant1]

The only touchbar function I use regularly that's not a simple button on a standard keyboard is DND. Even then, it's not exactly complicated since Opt+clicking on the message center enables and disables it.

DND is a standard key now on the new macbooks.

 

[AZhappyjack]

I've had/have 3 MacBook Pros with the TB. I'm a devout touch typist and never once have I ever brushed up against the TB. That's an issue unique to some but not the majority. Also it's weird how you're speaking up for everyone. You have no idea what people's agenda here are to be such a liaison in defense for them. 🙄

And there are definitely quite a few here on their high horse. They act like if they don't like the TB then everyone else should feel the same way they do. They hammer it quite hard here. SMH.

I cannot speak for the others. I simply stated that I had not notice anyone on a "high horse".

As for the Touch Bar, personally I hate it for reasons that I have already delineated. As for the others, it doesn't matter to me if you (or they) like it or not... as I have stated, I don't like it... and I sold my MBP and replaced it with an M1 MBA in large part because of the Touch Bar.

Carry on.

 

[Madonepro]

I still use a mouse, even on my laptops -- I hate trackpads, they never work as well for me.

fwiw, almost all desktop users use Mice, and there's still a lot of desktops out there...

Yes, and none of them have a Touch Bar either.

 

[BlueTide]

Probably been iterated in far too many times, in far too many variations:

• Too easy to touch by accident
• Requires me to look what I want to touch
• Didn't have any use case for it

Times are numerous I wondered what the f* is going on when my finger was resting on escape key. That got better later. But it did not stop me from accidentally muting my computer and missing several meetings. Add that I never figured out what to use it for, in the apps that I need to use.