Trackpad++: Alternate Trackpad Driver for BootCamp

[john.chen]

hi , i want to know why the newest version can't choose the action "app switch" and "the Current Window minimize" ? maybe the newest version is for 2018 macbook pro have the touch bar, but before 2015 version the action is very useful

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@john.chen: Thank you for feedback. With the recent version of Trackpad++ you can swipe up with 4 fingers for Windows 10 'Task View' feature. This feature shows the thumbnails of all open apps, and from there you can visually switch between the apps with a single click. The same gesture can be instead configured for 3 fingers.
To minimize the open windows, you can swipe down with 4 fingers (and again, this Trackpad++ gesture can be assigned to 3 fingers instead of 4 if you wish).
These gestures are implemented in the Trackpad++ driver for all supported models (please see http://trackpad.forbootcamp.org/#requirements)
If these gestures do not work for you, this is an abnormality... Please try to reinstall the Trackpad++ in such case.

 

[john.chen]

@john.chen: Thank you for feedback. With the recent version of Trackpad++ you can swipe up with 4 fingers for Windows 10 'Task View' feature. This feature shows the thumbnails of all open apps, and from there you can visually switch between the apps with a single click. The same gesture can be instead configured for 3 fingers.
To minimize the open windows, you can swipe down with 4 fingers (and again, this Trackpad++ gesture can be assigned to 3 fingers instead of 4 if you wish).
These gestures are implemented in the Trackpad++ driver for all supported models (please see http://trackpad.forbootcamp.org/#requirements)
If these gestures do not work for you, this is an abnormality... Please try to reinstall the Trackpad++ in such case.

thanks bro，i still think i have the function "app switch" is better and by the way i feel when i use the three fingers swipe up open the task view the first time always failed maybe because of the Palm Rejection function?

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@john.chen: all multi-touch gestures implemented in Trackpad++ need an exact matching number of the touch contact points. For example, 3 or 4 finger up swipes need accordingly 3 or 4 touch points, so it's true that no other finger or palm shall be contacting with trackpad anywhere, or the planned gesture may not be detected. But, if used properly, the gestures should work very reliably.

 

[lucky1082]

@lucky1082: I want to be as fair as possible... Do I appreciate your feedback? Yes, absolutely, thank you very much!
But, there are other factors... For every public release, the driver is carefully tested first. Not just by myself, but by multiple people. And yes, the changes or fixes can as well be based on the feedback from end-users. The Trackpad++ is downloaded quite often, so any noticeable defect always results in multiple emails from users, as a rule within 1-2 days after the release. But, the current stable branch for Macbook Pro 2013's trackpad has been built on August, 17. And so far nobody else has reported such issues with it. There was no feedback regarding the low gestures sensitivity or missing response (and also I personally found these items OK when re-testing!). I'm sorry, but we cannot change this further, and neither publish the new version based on your sole feedback. You can keep the file which I provided and overwrite it whenever you want to use this super-sensitive mode. But we cannot make it even more sensitive, this may not be stable! Thank you for understanding.

I think you are right. However, we can make the program much better and release testing version for end-users evaluate it before release official one. I think there are many things your team can improve to optimize this program. I have the laptop Dell Vostro 14" 3468 and i see that the swipe back and forward with 3-finger excellent, very short swipe, very fast and accuracy, in my opinion, it's much better than Mac touchpad on this function.
I used the file you made for me in many days and see that it's better than the previous one. One more time, thank you so much for this one!

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@lucky1082: Happy end of the recent discussion! Now quite a lot of people have tested your proposed modification of the Trackpad++ version for classic Macbook Pro. As all of the feedback has been good, now we have merged these changes into release branch. That means, today's public build of the Trackpad++ comes with the same changes as you tested few last weeks. So the file I had sent to you earlier isn't needed anymore, because you can download the Trackpad++ normally whenever needed.

 

[lucky1082]

@vladimir: Sound Great! I'm pleasure to hear this feedback from you. Swipe shorter more ~2mm, it will be perfect. I really want to help you make this software better. You can adjust such short swipe for 3-finger and 4-finger gestures. I have some more proposals to improve your software, hope you will consider to apply them:
- Add inertia for scrolling, after release fingers the scroll still continue run for a while.
- When fingers swipe and release very fast the scroll will speed up very fast to fast go up to the top or bottom of long page. It combines with inertia function to do this.
- Add drag with 4-finger gesture (click and hold 4 fingers to activate drag, after that we can drag with one finger, similar current 3-finger drag). We want to use 3-finger for 'Middle mouse button click' and 4-finger for drag.
- Modify the 'Pinch-to-zoom', i see this function not smooth, not sensitive and usually not response to the gesture.
Thank you for your time!

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@lucky1082: Trackpad++ driver supports all Macbook models from 2009 to 2018. But, as the trackpads are physically different, the driver code is also different across multiple generations. More than that, with some Macbook generations, trackpad appears visually the same, but is totally different for programming, and even is connected to different hardware interface (first USB protocol, then SPI protocol, etc.)
The above statement was to explain the below:
All of the items from your wishlist (except too exotic 4-finger drag) are already there in the current build of Trackpad++ for the recent models. Sorry but the first non-Retina/unibody models have become aged, and actually right now we don't have such model anymore. For this reason, from now on, there are no big changes in the driver version for 2009+ classic unibody Macbook Pro, and we cannot talk about your further wishlist for this model, sorry...

@All: Late-2018 Macbook Air has been supported! Trackpad++ driver for the new model is Microsoft-cross-signed, as well.

Just to remind, the 64-bit Trackpad++ driver for all models has become cross-signed. So Windows 10 recognizes and fully trusts the driver. Also for this reason there is no dependency on a PPA tool anymore. This is especially important for Mid-2018 and Late-2018 models, because they have an Apple T2 coprocessor chip, and therefore the Secure Boot EFI feature, which totally restricts the unverified drivers on Boot Camp.

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@All: Have somebody got a (just updated!) Mid-2019 Macbook Pro? Specifically, the version with 8-core CPU, I think it should identify itself in macOS as Macbook Pro 15,3. If you install the Boot Camp, please try the Trackpad++. Would be great to know if the trackpad hardware/id has changed. Thank you in advance!

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@All: Good news! Mid-2019 Macbook Pro 13" and 15" models have been fully supported. In addition, Trackpad++ driver component is cross-signed for these new models.

 

[PippoApps]

Hello there.
Will trackpad++ work with Bluetooth magick trackpad connected to Windows 10?
Thank you!

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

No, Trackpad++ driver works solely with the built-in trackpads of Boot Camp-enabled Macbook / Pro / Air.
But, there exists a different project for Magic Trackpad, for which there has been a thread there at MacRumors since 2015 I think: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...r-gestures-more-now-in-windows.1850762/page-8

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

Updated 2019 version of the entry-level 13" Macbook Pro (2 Thunderbolt ports) has been fully supported. Surprisingly it got a totally new hardware ID, that's why it was needed to support this model separately. So, as of today, all 2019 models are supported, with cross-signed Trackpad++ drivers.

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

Wow, Apple releases 16-inch Macbook Pro today. Just announced, actually! Anybody who gets the new model and is willing to help to enable the trackpad gestures, please email/PM me. I'm wondering is trackpad the same as in 15-inch model (hardware ID could tell). Also the drivers for the new model can be analyzed, so please contact me whenever you get the one.

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

I added support for 16" Late 2019 Macbook Pro. The stable public build has become available today. All gestures and enhancements for 2/3/4 fingers now work well with the new model. Plus I reworked the scroll further: it's very fluid in most apps (not in MS Edge though, but you can check Firefox, Opera, Chrome... even Start Menu scrolls better than ever, feels close to macOS native scroll). Tested with Windows 10 November Update. Enjoy ✌

 

[j454647a]

Many thanks for your hard work! Drivers work fine with my Mid-2019 MacBook Pro. However is recent MacBook Air (Early-2020) supported? I bought one for daughter this and tried to setup yesterday. But this one isn't supported yet, true?

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@j454647a: Just supported, actually! I was going to write there about it. If you tried before today, please try again. Thank you for feedback!
@All: So yes, Early 2020 Macbook Air and updated Mid 2020 13" Macbook Pro have both been supported by Trackpad++! Apple keeps changing certain things under the hood, and trackpad is not an exclusion. This time totally new hardware IDs have been introduced, but all works now.

 

[szab100]

Hi @V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r, maybe you remember me, I wrote you emails about issues with the new MBPro 16" (and Windows Insider versions, but I doubt it's because of that), mostly related to using the laptop in "desktop" modce, eg. the display lid is closed and is entirely used with external display(s). In this mode, the macbook automatically disables the trackpad hw / vendor windows driver and unfortunately, Trackpad++ exits as it cannot reach the vendor driver / touchpad hardware. In my opinion, this could be easily fixed on your end, by adding "polling" support for reaching the touchpad hardware/driver, instead of the hit-or-miss single initialization on startup (which most probably is causing the unexpected exit). So I hope you can add this feature, as it is super annoying if someone uses his laptop in mixed laptop/desktop mode.

The main reason I am posting here now is about another issue (which I also mentioned to you in my emails): the mouse pointer randomly freezes sometimes for a few moments or the pointer moves to a random location on the screen.. Due to the issues above, I stopped using TP++, but resumed to use today & updated to the latest version as nowadays I'm mostly using it in normal 'laptop' mode. It seems that the main cause of these issues is the new, enormous touchpad that the new MBPro 16" has (in my opinion, it is overkill). The MacOS driver most probably has a lot of optimizations around palm-detection/rejection, so this is much less of an issue. However, using (trying, unfortunately) TrackPad++ for a while again, it seems TP++ has no similar optimizations at all, making it super duper hard to use it normally (it's hard to type on these new macbooks without my palm reaching the sides of the touchpad).. Is it possible that you start thinking this way and implement some useful optimizations to mitigate these issues ?!? While proper palm-detection/rejection would be preferred, at first one useful workaround would be to allow the users to limit the active size of the touchpad (vertical / horizontal), adding inactive "margins" to the sides of the touchpad, so unintended palm touches could be eliminated..

Thanks in advance!

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@szab100: Hi, thank you for feedback. Strange, as no model I owned ever disabled trackpad driver when lid is closed. Anyway, Trackpad++ depends on an Apple-provided lower level driver. So, by getting it disabled from EFI or BootCamp self-logic, Trackpad++ will simply not work, either. I'm not putting too deep explanation there, so please simply trust my words.
On trackpad size and palm rejection: according to very minimal (2 users in a year) feedback on this topic, normally users doesn't touch the trackpad accidentally that much. All these years since introduction of the giant trackpads in 2016 no other user ever asked me to limit active size of trackpad, so I'm sorry but this cannot be considered unless there is far more than single request in several years... The Trackpad++ native option 'eliminate accidental input when typing' does work for me, and again, it works quite well according to long-term feedback from people. It's disabled by default, though. You can set it ignore all pointer movemement or just the clicks.

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

Test message