Enabling the F4 key in macOS(boinkor.net)
boinkor.net
Enabling the F4 key in macOS
https://boinkor.net/2017/11/enabling-the-f4-key-in-macos/
69 comments
To be clear, this advice would generally apply only when you have "Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" switched OFF in the keyboard preferences.
And for further clarification, OFF is the default.
What I don’t understand is what the author expected. If they set this setting to ON, then they won’t see the issue. If it’s OFF, then they expect a feature that isn’t an included feature anymore?
And for further clarification, OFF is the default.
What I don’t understand is what the author expected. If they set this setting to ON, then they won’t see the issue. If it’s OFF, then they expect a feature that isn’t an included feature anymore?
I'm not using macOS, but it sounds like the Dashboard key, which now does nothing, is not sending F4 instead.
Unfortunately that's simultaneously perfectly consistent while it also violates the principle of least surprise:
- It remains technically correct - the Fn keys are in "do special thing mode", and this key has no special thing associated with it any more
- It is now a dead key, which is extremely confusing because, now that it does absolutely nothing __under the default configuration__, it's arguable as to why it's even there anymore. From the "my computer is a physical thing that humans interact with" standpoint (as distinct from the "behold my mathematically perfect 4GHz calculator" standpoint), it kinda makes a lot of sense for that key to go "oh I just send F4 because I don't do anything special" to me. In fact NOT doing that would irritate me no end!
Anecdotally, this reminds me of the recent 1+2+3 calculator incident in iOS: it's pretty obvious all the frontline developers at Apple have touch-bar MacBooks (something something "politically-correct forced dogfooding", oooooo) so this inconsistency fell through the cracks.
Apple is starting to fragment from the bottom up in a big way...
Unfortunately that's simultaneously perfectly consistent while it also violates the principle of least surprise:
- It remains technically correct - the Fn keys are in "do special thing mode", and this key has no special thing associated with it any more
- It is now a dead key, which is extremely confusing because, now that it does absolutely nothing __under the default configuration__, it's arguable as to why it's even there anymore. From the "my computer is a physical thing that humans interact with" standpoint (as distinct from the "behold my mathematically perfect 4GHz calculator" standpoint), it kinda makes a lot of sense for that key to go "oh I just send F4 because I don't do anything special" to me. In fact NOT doing that would irritate me no end!
Anecdotally, this reminds me of the recent 1+2+3 calculator incident in iOS: it's pretty obvious all the frontline developers at Apple have touch-bar MacBooks (something something "politically-correct forced dogfooding", oooooo) so this inconsistency fell through the cracks.
Apple is starting to fragment from the bottom up in a big way...
Surely you can see an argument for it potentially being more confusing that F4 sends a keystroke to your active application but none of the F keys do?
Non-macOS user here on a random laptop: when I type Fn+<some key> and that key doesn't have a special function that can be invoked using the Fn key, the result is the same as not holding the Fn key.
If the behaviour of the Fn key were inversed (i.e. keys with special functions perform that function unless the Fn key is held down), I would still expect regular keys to work normally no matter where on the keyboard they are. The F# keys aren't special.
If the behaviour of the Fn key were inversed (i.e. keys with special functions perform that function unless the Fn key is held down), I would still expect regular keys to work normally no matter where on the keyboard they are. The F# keys aren't special.
> extremely confusing
And some other hyperbole. Reality check: just about no one uses the function keys, normal users can’t be bothered to remember what they do.
Which is why Apple prints the functions they want to promote on them so these at least get some use.
And some other hyperbole. Reality check: just about no one uses the function keys, normal users can’t be bothered to remember what they do.
Which is why Apple prints the functions they want to promote on them so these at least get some use.
Though I disagree with what you consider “least surprise”, that’s a helpful point of view, thanks.
F4 on my computer is Launchpad, and Dashboard is invoked by pressing Fn-F12. Are you confusing the two?
Depends how old your keyboard is:
https://www.macstories.net/news/apple-keyboards-receive-very...
https://www.macstories.net/news/apple-keyboards-receive-very...
I completely forgot about the dashboard, I can't remember the last time I looked at it. It used to be such a big deal / selling point of OS X.
It's where html's <canvas> element came from
I use it daily. It's on my 2010 era keyboard and I get annoyed when I'm using my laptop and it's not there
What widgets do you use? I generally prefer the slim widgets that are now available in the today view but I suppose that they can't convey as much information.
Can't speak for the parent, but I still keep a few around just as a quick reference on things:
My company does a lot of international work, so I have a row of clocks at different world times set up in a neat row. I also managed to find an old installer for istatpro's widget, which is still my favorite widget of all time (lots of computer usage information at a quick glance, very slim and real time). When I still had a mac as my work computer, I used the calendar widget frequently. I also had some webpage made widgets of our Salesforce reports and tools to quickly reference without having to open a tab for salesforce or keep it open elsewhere; the periodic snapshot of the page was enough. I keep a 5 day weather forecast up as well with some basic weather information.
I use it as...a dashboard honestly. Every time I find myself frequently searching for common information, I find a widget for it and swipe over quickly. They use almost no resources, they're always fast to update when I need the information, and they're out of the way. Maybe it's just because I was really excited about Dashboard from way back when and it's part of my workflow, but I find it super useful still for managing a lot of "often needed needed but not in real-time" data points on a single laptop screen.
My company does a lot of international work, so I have a row of clocks at different world times set up in a neat row. I also managed to find an old installer for istatpro's widget, which is still my favorite widget of all time (lots of computer usage information at a quick glance, very slim and real time). When I still had a mac as my work computer, I used the calendar widget frequently. I also had some webpage made widgets of our Salesforce reports and tools to quickly reference without having to open a tab for salesforce or keep it open elsewhere; the periodic snapshot of the page was enough. I keep a 5 day weather forecast up as well with some basic weather information.
I use it as...a dashboard honestly. Every time I find myself frequently searching for common information, I find a widget for it and swipe over quickly. They use almost no resources, they're always fast to update when I need the information, and they're out of the way. Maybe it's just because I was really excited about Dashboard from way back when and it's part of my workflow, but I find it super useful still for managing a lot of "often needed needed but not in real-time" data points on a single laptop screen.
It’s a testament to the fact that widgets generally don’t add enough value to be worth the hassle.
I've got one of those Macs with a TouchBar and even when my touchbar is showing F-keys, F4 sometimes just doesn't send anything (to any program). There's no way that my case has anything to do with the settings you are talking about.
This is kind of short on details but a few things I’m curious about...
First, function keys are not necessarily “normal” when pressed; by default they also require “fn” to be pressed, otherwise they perform a system function (Dashboard, sound volume, etc.). And since you can turn off a lot of these features in System Preferences, I can imagine that these keys might be set to do nothing.
It is also possible for Mac applications to install system-wide hot keys, theoretically overriding even single key presses. At the very least you need to know what apps are currently running to debug this.
It is also possible to install your own keyboard overrides, through System Preferences. Need to check those.
I’m probably missing some other things. The Mac is extremely flexible when it comes to the keyboard.
First, function keys are not necessarily “normal” when pressed; by default they also require “fn” to be pressed, otherwise they perform a system function (Dashboard, sound volume, etc.). And since you can turn off a lot of these features in System Preferences, I can imagine that these keys might be set to do nothing.
It is also possible for Mac applications to install system-wide hot keys, theoretically overriding even single key presses. At the very least you need to know what apps are currently running to debug this.
It is also possible to install your own keyboard overrides, through System Preferences. Need to check those.
I’m probably missing some other things. The Mac is extremely flexible when it comes to the keyboard.
> The Mac is extremely flexible when it comes to the keyboard.
True, but the fact that macbooks ship with a keyboard lacking page up, page down, home and end just frustrates me to no end. Much smaller sized laptops manage to include those keys while maintaining comfort. And you cannot make up for missing keys with key combos.
True, but the fact that macbooks ship with a keyboard lacking page up, page down, home and end just frustrates me to no end. Much smaller sized laptops manage to include those keys while maintaining comfort. And you cannot make up for missing keys with key combos.
> And you cannot make up for missing keys with key combos.
If you're saying you can't replicate those keys with key combos: Fn-Up Arrow, Fn-Down Arrow, Fn-Left Arrow and Fn-Right Arrow perform PgUp, PgDn, Home, and End, respectively.
If you're saying key combos are not a suitable replacement for those keys being not present: Well, I make do, personally.
If you're saying you can't replicate those keys with key combos: Fn-Up Arrow, Fn-Down Arrow, Fn-Left Arrow and Fn-Right Arrow perform PgUp, PgDn, Home, and End, respectively.
If you're saying key combos are not a suitable replacement for those keys being not present: Well, I make do, personally.
Yeah, I personally prefer the fn+arrow key instead of having a dedicated key for these functions.
I take it you don't use them in key combinations then. Ctrl+Home, stuff like that.
Ctrl + FN + Up, right? It makes complete sense to me. Going back to Windows (gaming PC) feel really counterintuitive.
Yeah, I use Shift+Pg Up all the time in the terminal: on the laptop keyboard, at least, you can hit Fn+Shift or Fn+Ctrl with one finger and then the arrow key with another.
Home/End can also be accomplished with Cmd up/down.
Or (EDIT: whoops, Ctrl not Cmd) Ctrl-A and Ctrl-E, Emacs style. In fact, a lot of Emacs navigation combos work just about everywhere on macOS. I have a keyboard with all of the keys the laptop keyboard leaves off, but I find that I don’t use them on macOS.
Cmd-a is select all in OSX by default and Cmd-e does nothing for me. The capital versions don't do anything noteworthy for me either. In emacs, home/end would be M-< and M-> no? To your point, Ctrl-a/e/f/b/n/p all work as they do in emacs in OSX.
They meant ctrl-a and ctrl-e.
CMD-e used to be "eject selected disk" in Finder/desktop. Will thus also cause the error-"bloing"/"don't know what you want"- sound on most macOS versions, if nothing suitable is selected.
CMD-e is apply the selected text to the search input. Extremely useful, search for the next instance of a word you see on the screen is thus:
Double click word CMD-e CMD-g
Double click word CMD-e CMD-g
Don't know what (which program) you are referring to, I was referring to official MacOS shortcuts and the Finder [1] (Search for "Command-E")
[1] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236
[1] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236
[deleted]
Slightly different, in text documents at least. Cmd up/down move the cursor position to start or end. Home/End move the viewport but leave the cursor where it is.
I quite like that the Apple laptops maintain full sized keys instead of just jamming everything in
My laptop manages to include all keys without compromising on key size. It is a 14 inch HP. I'm sure a 15 inch MBpro can do the same easily.
Perhaps they feel it's valuable to maintain identical keyboard layouts across different form factors, including the 13" and 11" MacBooks? I know it's a pain in the ass to get used to the "clever" key positioning on every new Windows laptop I use.
> Perhaps they feel it's valuable to maintain identical keyboard layouts across different form factors, including the 13" and 11" MacBooks?
If true, that's the stupidest design decision I ever heard of.
If true, that's the stupidest design decision I ever heard of.
Why? It follows the principle of least surprise. Imagine if coke bottles had the "mouth" in a different position depending on the size of the bottle. While not an insurmountable obstacle it's not great either.
As long as we're discussing system-wide keycode tricks, I wrote a prefpane that allows you to hide the Mac's cursor at any time with a hotkey.
http://doomlaser.com/cursorcerer-hide-your-cursor-at-will/
Useful for when full-screen web videos flake out on this, recording the iOS simulator, and a number of other situations.
http://doomlaser.com/cursorcerer-hide-your-cursor-at-will/
Useful for when full-screen web videos flake out on this, recording the iOS simulator, and a number of other situations.
The keycodes listed in the article are wrong. F4 is 118; F5 is 96. Not sure why it worked for the author. For any interested, a full list of macOS keycodes can be found here: http://macbiblioblog.blogspot.com/2014/12/key-codes-for-func...
If you want to do a lot more to change keys, consider Karabiner: https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/
I use it to turn |\ into forwards delete (with fn \ emitting a \) and to turn caps lock into cmd-alt-shift. You can do some really crazy things with it if you’re sufficiently dedicated.
I use it to turn |\ into forwards delete (with fn \ emitting a \) and to turn caps lock into cmd-alt-shift. You can do some really crazy things with it if you’re sufficiently dedicated.
Be aware, though, that the newest version (Karabiner-Elements) has a bug where a key might get stuck. Which means you won't be able to login if SHIFT or a letter is stuck. I eventually removed it, because I lost work a few times because of this.
Works fine for me. Though I don't remap shift or any letters.
I prefer Hammerspoon to be honest. It's free, open source and you can modify pretty much everything on your Mac. Be it key bindings, hotkey sequences or automation of other software's behaviour and so on.
I use 'em both. Hammerspoon is amazing, however Karabiner nowadays has a nice GUI for remapping your keys. This makes for an extremely low entry.
As an aside, the original Karabiner developer has a donation page here: https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/pricing.html
As an aside, the original Karabiner developer has a donation page here: https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/pricing.html
Neat. Seems like a powerful way to do most common key remapping without a kext like Karabiner Elements.
Does it work for other arbitrary keys?
I don't think so. It should only work with this specific key.
I have similar troubles with the f11 key. I only use it in windows(step into) but it has never worked on Mac. I guess the next thing to do is try this milder fix for key 96+7?
While we're here does anyone know what the volume keys are for a non-apple keyboard attached to a Mac?
Depends on the keyboard I suppose; if you want to remap keys I recommend Karabiner: https://pqrs.org/osx/karabiner/
I use it with my WASD custom and it works great.
I use it with my WASD custom and it works great.
The standard USB volume keys should work.
It's stuff like this that routinely puts off power users from macOS.
I'd argue the ability to set system-wide keyboard shortcuts is a plus for pro users.
Without knowing the other settings in place (ie behaviour of other fn keys) it's impossible to know if this was required or not.
Tech people are terrible for working out over engineered solutions to simple configuration issues.
Without knowing the other settings in place (ie behaviour of other fn keys) it's impossible to know if this was required or not.
Tech people are terrible for working out over engineered solutions to simple configuration issues.
Agreed -- I would dump macOS for Debian in a second if it weren't for my workplace trying to standardize everyone on one OS. The fact that I have to buy a third-party app just to disable mouse/scroll acceleration and enable my mouse's extra buttons is absolutely ludicrous.
(if anyone is wondering, the third-party app I speak of is Smooze, and it's a godsend https://smooze.co/)
(if anyone is wondering, the third-party app I speak of is Smooze, and it's a godsend https://smooze.co/)
> Moustache: This app also includes a moustache.
finger-down-throat gesture accompanied by retching noises
At any rate, you can configure the "extra buttons" on most mice to do tasks on the Mac without special software. For example, I have a gaming mouse at home, and have one of the buttons configured to trigger Mission Control (showing miniature images of all windows open across all apps) merely through the Mouse pane of System Preferences. Also, games detect the extra buttons and can be configured to use them with no problem.
But yes, disabling mouse acceleration should be a built-in feature as well, and it is not.
finger-down-throat gesture accompanied by retching noises
At any rate, you can configure the "extra buttons" on most mice to do tasks on the Mac without special software. For example, I have a gaming mouse at home, and have one of the buttons configured to trigger Mission Control (showing miniature images of all windows open across all apps) merely through the Mouse pane of System Preferences. Also, games detect the extra buttons and can be configured to use them with no problem.
But yes, disabling mouse acceleration should be a built-in feature as well, and it is not.
Same goes for the macOS window manager, its utterly irritating for everyday tasks (think moving a window to another monitor and maximize in one go). Spectacle eased the pain a bit but I feel much more productive just back to Neon and work.
Generally if I buy hardware I expect the vendor to provide Mac support. Microsoft does with its keyboards, for example, so a mouse should be no different.
Power users already have the function keys set to be function keys (which is not the default), which is why I haven’t noticed this.
I’m not sure that’s true. Personally I use the volume, brightness, and media keys far more frequently than I do a function key. Setting them to be function keys by default would be a bit silly.
you can always set them to be regular function keys and use karabiner to override those media keys. that's the setup I have and it's pretty good.
In fairness, I've had to do far worse to get my middle mouse button working and my display to use the right resolution on Ubuntu in the past five years.
It was a misunderstanding on the part of the author not an issue with macos.
When this kind of thing happens it takes power from macOS
Get better touch tool
Apple feels like a hot mess right now. I spilled water into my wired keyboard, so they gave me a wireless one. The volume controls on it don't work. No magic combination of the Function key and F11 and F12 (I think? It's not in front of me) would work. The keyboard viewer showed a big blank. Plugging it in and turning off the wireless feature did nothing.
I stuffed it into a desk drawer, and stole one from the desk of a departed coworker. If I spill water in that, I might ask them to order me another wired one, if Apple still bothers making them.
I know it's a small thing. But reaching over to my laptop to adjust the volume, or hunting for it with my mouse is annoying. It's one small papercut out of many.
I stuffed it into a desk drawer, and stole one from the desk of a departed coworker. If I spill water in that, I might ask them to order me another wired one, if Apple still bothers making them.
I know it's a small thing. But reaching over to my laptop to adjust the volume, or hunting for it with my mouse is annoying. It's one small papercut out of many.
> Apple feels like a hot mess right now
Because you spilled water on your keyboard?
Because you spilled water on your keyboard?
The new wireless keyboard had the problem, not the damaged keyboard.
Maybe your F11/F12 keys are broken. It may not be a software issue.
I think the problem was with the keyboard not the OS... well, possibly the root problem is with your IT staff since they gave you a bad keyboard (unless they ordered it new, they shouldn't hand out equipment that hasn't been verified as working).
Dashboard and F4 share a physical key but they are not the same and you can hold down Fn to switch between the two, regardless of the keyboard preferences. To be clear, this advice would generally apply only when you have "Use F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" switched OFF in the keyboard preferences.
If you're using these keys as regular function keys, they work as regular function keys and have always done so.