Looking for Testers for Multi-touch Customization App

[whenders0n]

I've been working on an application to allow people to customize the multi-touch trackpad on their Macbook airs. It is a preference pane that allows you to pick and app and a gesture (zoom in, zoom out, swipe left, swipe right, etc) and make it perform a custom keyboard shortcut. See the attached screenshot for an idea. I'm hoping to release the app soon but I was hoping I could find a couple eager testers first. A good tester would know how to use Console.app to watch the log, be able to submit bugs or crash reports, and (obviously) own a MBA. Please email me at william.c.henderson (at the host) reed.edu if interested. Thanks,

William

Update: Public beta now available at http://wcrawford.org/

 

[whenders0n]

Reminder: this app will NOT enable gestures on any computer other than the MBA (and presumably the MBP if it ever gets updated). The purpose is to allow you to customize the behavior of gestures when your computer recognizes them, NOT to enable your computer to recognize them in the first place. Thanks for asking,

.wc

 

[thesdx]

Wow, I can't wait until this officially comes out. I would test it if I had my MBA, but I'm still saving up for it. I like how you can tell it to perform keyboard shortcuts for individual apps. It gives you a lot of flexibility.

 

[ccclapp]

...if you can make it work in Boot Camp, Ill be happy to test

 

[jman2003]

cool, I want to but i dont want to ruin my shiney, new macbook air!

 

[whenders0n]

cool, I want to but i dont want to ruin my shiney, new macbook air!

It's just a preference pane and an input manager. Beta yes but totally un-hacky. Worst case scenario you uninstall them and your back to a clean machine. Best,
wc

 

[whenders0n]

...if you can make it work in Boot Camp, Ill be happy to test

Sorry - since its a Cocoa (software-only) solution, I'd have to write separate Windows drivers from the ground up (which isn't going to happen). It's possible that I may be able to get it to work in Parallels, though.

 

[xparaparafreakx]

Ill be happy to test it. I want to try it with lots of apps.

 

[Jimmie Geddes]

I'd be happy to test it as well.

 

[whenders0n]

Thanks guys. I will have a solid beta ready by the end of the week.

 

[whenders0n]

Also looking for names. I'm thinking Multiclutch. Anyone?

 

[R.Youden]

Also looking for names. I'm thinking Multiclutch. Anyone?

Sounds like a pretty damn good name that.

I would like to have a play, but unfortunately I have no MBA so I can just guess what it will be like. Now if you want an icon and a basic website thrown together for it let me know, I want a little project to work on.

 

[netdog]

Put me on the beta-tester list

 

[whenders0n]

The website needs to be on my wordpress server but I'd love it if you want to do some design for it. And of course and icon would be welcomed. At this point Multiclutch is the theme.

 

[Jimmie Geddes]

Also looking for names. I'm thinking Multiclutch. Anyone?

Great name!!! I'm looking forward to testing, and congrats on being the 1st known 3rd party to incorporate the MBA's multi-touch into other apps Best of luck, can't wait to use it and talk about it on my site.

 

[designed]

Hey, this is brilliant! I thought about something like this when I visioned that I'd probably like my MBA to switch Spaces with the three-finger swipe instead of navigating Safari or whatnot.

Will join when I finally get my MBA...

 

[chickenninja]

once you get your basic left right swipping down you should try and rig it so that it can record a sequence of moves. so you could say draw a smilie face and BAMB! you get a smilie icon, dont forget the corners of the trackpad and how they could be used for expos'e. as far as a name i dont like multiclutch because the word clutch is out of place, the sound is nice..
call it "tips" or "tipZ" and have a zorro swipe that you can use to open the app.
"Glide"
"brush"
"air slide"
if you ever program into it a firmness controll you should have the levels of strength have names like "feather" "breeze" "rain" "scratch"
if i had an air id help a out

 

[nagromme]

Cool! And if you could add support for scroll-up and scroll-down (and maybe left and right) - the two finger gesture, I mean - that would be great for some apps that have no use for conventional wheel scrolling.

Wish I had an Air to help. I don't.... yet

I'd use this in games for sure.

 

[whenders0n]

Hey, this is brilliant! I thought about something like this when I visioned that I'd probably like my MBA to switch Spaces with the three-finger swipe instead of navigating Safari or whatnot.

Will join when I finally get my MBA...

That's a good idea. I just added 'Global' app settings, but unfortunately the current version posts events to a given app (not globally) so Spaces won't catch it. I could rewrite the key-posting layer a bit and make it work. I'm not sure if its a good idea though because in Carbon apps it's never going to work. What do you guys think?

 

[shreddog]

Sounds interesting. I'm in.

 

[maximilianblue]

count me in

 

[whenders0n]

Beta 1 Sent

Thanks to all who emailed. Beta 1 just went out and things are coming along really nicely. I've been using it for several days for swipe-tabbing in Safari, pinch-minimizing globally, and zooming to open and close emails in Mail. You can even define some sequential gestures (ie a Pinch In, Pinch out in a continuous motion). I've attached a screenshot of how it's coming along and the beta testers should feel free to chime in on their experience. Again, if you'd like to be on the beta list please EMAIL me (william dot c dot henderson at the server reed dot edu) and I will put you on it. For everyone else, I'm hoping to have a semi-public beta within a week or two if things keep going well. Best,

wc

 

[Jimmie Geddes]

Just sent you an email to ask if I could beta test. It looks like it's coming along great.

 

[whenders0n]

The second beta is available. This beta is very stable and has no known issues. I'm hoping that the general release will be available sometime in the next week or two.

 

[dahcheet]

Did you see what Apple sent in to the Patent Office?

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/19/apple-patent-hints-at-advanced-multitouch-features-iphone-cop/