14 votes

MOS brings macOS' smooth scrolling to any mouse

13 comments

  1. [3]
    AugustusFerdinand
    Link
    Smooth scrolling is hardware locked to Apple devices only? What kind of crap is that?

    The biggest (only?) issue with using a non-Apple mouse on macOS is losing that smooth scrolling, also known as kinetic scrolling.

    It might seem like a silly detail, but it’s such a nice feature that I really miss when it’s not there.

    Smooth scrolling is hardware locked to Apple devices only? What kind of crap is that?

    7 votes
    1. [2]
      ButteredToast
      Link Parent
      I don’t think so, the difference I believe lies in how mice/trackpads send scroll data. The overwhelming majority send it in relatively chunky increments at a low interval that need to be...

      I don’t think so, the difference I believe lies in how mice/trackpads send scroll data. The overwhelming majority send it in relatively chunky increments at a low interval that need to be interpolated in software to be smooth (which macOS doesn’t provide) where Apple mice and trackpads, as gesture-based devices, send scroll data continuously with a polling rate somewhere between 90-200hz depending on hardware, OS version, etc which makes their scrolling smooth without interpolation.

      Kinetic scrolling is what allows the user to “throw” the scrollview and have it continue to drift without continued input from the user, and I’m a bit surprised to see the author conflating it with smooth scrolling. macOS doesn’t apply this to scrolling from scroll wheels because that’d feel kinda strange, especially with mice like my G604 that have a freewheeling mode that essentially implements this in hardware.

      20 votes
      1. rodrigo
        Link Parent
        Thanks for the clarification, @ButteredToast! Until now, I thought smooth and kinetic scrolling were the same. I'll update the post when I find some spare time.

        Thanks for the clarification, @ButteredToast! Until now, I thought smooth and kinetic scrolling were the same. I'll update the post when I find some spare time.

        2 votes
  2. [5]
    saturnV
    Link
    If the author is talking about what I think they are, something similar exists on the MX Master mice, and I really enjoy using it

    If the author is talking about what I think they are, something similar exists on the MX Master mice, and I really enjoy using it

    5 votes
    1. [4]
      VoidSage
      Link Parent
      Yeah I have an MX master and the scrolling is very smooth - no noticeable difference between my Mx master and my Magic Mouse

      Yeah I have an MX master and the scrolling is very smooth - no noticeable difference between my Mx master and my Magic Mouse

      2 votes
      1. gary
        Link Parent
        Huh, wonder what we're doing or using differently. I'm browsing on Safari with an MX Master 2 and the free scrolling is quite jerky. When scrolling at high speed, the frame rate feels like it's...

        Huh, wonder what we're doing or using differently. I'm browsing on Safari with an MX Master 2 and the free scrolling is quite jerky. When scrolling at high speed, the frame rate feels like it's 30fps. When I decelerate, the wheel sometimes moves with no movement on the page at all. I haven't used a Magic Mouse in a few years now, but I still have a Magic Trackpad and that is worlds different from third-party mice.

        3 votes
      2. [2]
        VoidSage
        Link Parent
        Interesting, now you’ve got me thinking that I need to run a test again - it’s been a couple years since I switched, so it’s possible I’m remembering wrong

        Interesting, now you’ve got me thinking that I need to run a test again - it’s been a couple years since I switched, so it’s possible I’m remembering wrong

        1 vote
        1. gary
          Link Parent
          Yeah if you happen to try it again and know what settings you did to make it work, I'd love that. I saw this solution as a result of @rodrigo's post (thanks btw!), but I'm not a fan of Logi...

          Yeah if you happen to try it again and know what settings you did to make it work, I'd love that. I saw this solution as a result of @rodrigo's post (thanks btw!), but I'm not a fan of Logi Options. If I could get mouse behavior to work well on macOS it'd go a long way to helping me like the platform.

          3 votes
  3. [2]
    hungariantoast
    Link
    Hi @rodrigo, I think this is a mistake. I'm pretty sure smooth scrolling and kinetic scrolling are different things. Smooth scrolling is when the scrolling input is animated or continuous, rather...

    smooth scrolling, also known as kinetic scrolling

    Hi @rodrigo, I think this is a mistake. I'm pretty sure smooth scrolling and kinetic scrolling are different things.

    Smooth scrolling is when the scrolling input is animated or continuous, rather than an instantaneous "jump". That seems to be what you've written about in your blog post.

    Kinetic scrolling, also called inertial or momentum scrolling, is when the scrolling input persists after user input stops.

    Your smartphone is a great example of this. Open up some web page on your smartphone, and quickly drag your finger across your phone's display and then lift your finger off of it. Notice how the scrolling motion persists for a few moments after you pull your finger away? That's kinetic scrolling. Your phone is simulating the inertia or momentum of your scrolling input and persisting it after your actual input (finger on touchscreen) stops.

    3 votes
    1. rodrigo
      Link Parent
      You're right. @ButteredToast had given a heads-up on this, I just haven't updated the post yet. Thanks!

      You're right. @ButteredToast had given a heads-up on this, I just haven't updated the post yet. Thanks!

      3 votes
  4. [3]
    mild_takes
    Link
    I would really like this for trackpads on Linux laptops. People have mentioned before that Apple's really nice trackpads are probably nice mainly because of software. For proof, take a Mac and...

    I would really like this for trackpads on Linux laptops.

    People have mentioned before that Apple's really nice trackpads are probably nice mainly because of software. For proof, take a Mac and install Linux on it... boom, the trackpad is no longer special.

    I'm curious what other people think about their mice in general though? Apple's scrolling is great, but overall I find that something like a G305 (NOT ON MACOS) is substantially better ignoring scrolling.

    1 vote
    1. mayonuki
      Link Parent
      Just because the hardware does not seem special without the software doesn’t mean the hardware isn’t special.

      Just because the hardware does not seem special without the software doesn’t mean the hardware isn’t special.

      3 votes
    2. babypuncher
      Link Parent
      There is a hardware component that makes Macbook trackpads special as well, but this particular feature is software-driven. The hardware feature I'm referring to is called "force touch". There are...

      There is a hardware component that makes Macbook trackpads special as well, but this particular feature is software-driven.

      The hardware feature I'm referring to is called "force touch". There are no buttons in the trackpad, instead the entire surface is pressure sensitive, and when you push hard enough to register a "click", you get extremely convincing force feedback that actually feels like a clicky button press. It's so convincing that most people who don't know about this have no idea that they aren't really actuating a button under the trackpad.

      2 votes