MiddleDrag (nullpointerdepressivedisorder/middledrag)

MiddleDrag

https://github.com/nullpointerdepressivedisorder/middledrag
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MiddleDrag is a native macOS application that adds three-finger trackpad gestures for middle-click...

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# MiddleDrag

MiddleDrag is a native macOS application that provides three-finger trackpad gestures for middle-click and middle-drag functionality. It solves the problem of Mac trackpads lacking a middle mouse button, which is essential for panning in design tools (Figma, Photoshop), navigating 3D software (Blender, CAD applications), opening browser tabs in the background, and other workflows that rely on middle-mouse input.

The application works by using Apple's private MultitouchSupport framework to intercept raw touch data before the system gesture recognizer processes it. This allows three-finger gestures to generate synthetic middle-mouse events while leaving Mission Control and other system gestures intact. The architecture consists of a core layer for touch processing and mouse event synthesis, a manager layer for coordinating business logic, and a UI layer for the menu bar interface.

## Core Components

### MultitouchManager - Main Coordinator

The `MultitouchManager` is the central coordinator that manages multitouch monitoring, gesture recognition, and event suppression. It provides the main interface for starting/stopping gesture recognition and handling configuration updates.

```swift
import Foundation

// Access the shared MultitouchManager instance
let manager = MultitouchManager.shared

// Start monitoring for three-finger gestures
manager.start()

// Configure gesture settings
var config = GestureConfiguration()
config.sensitivity = 1.5           // Drag sensitivity (0.5 - 2.0)
config.smoothingFactor = 0.3       // Movement smoothing (0.0 - 1.0)
config.tapThreshold = 0.15         // Max tap duration in seconds
config.middleDragEnabled = true    // Enable middle-drag gestures
config.tapToClickEnabled = true    // Enable tap-to-click gestures
manager.updateConfiguration(config)

// Toggle enabled state (useful for menu bar toggle)
manager.toggleEnabled()

// Check current state
print("Monitoring: \(manager.isMonitoring)")
print("Enabled: \(manager.isEnabled)")

// Restart after sleep/wake
manager.restart()

// Stop monitoring completely
manager.stop()
```

### GestureConfiguration - Settings Structure

`GestureConfiguration` defines all adjustable parameters for gesture detection and mouse behavior, including sensitivity, timing thresholds, palm rejection options, and feature toggles.

```swift
import Foundation

// Create a configuration with custom settings
var config = GestureConfiguration()

// Basic gesture settings
config.sensitivity = 1.0                    // Drag speed multiplier (0.5 - 2.0)
config.smoothingFactor = 0.3                // EMA smoothing (0 = none, 1 = max)
config.tapThreshold = 0.15                  // Max seconds for tap recognition
config.maxTapHoldDuration = 0.5             // Max hold time before tap cancels
config.moveThreshold = 0.015                // Movement threshold for tap vs drag

// Feature toggles
config.middleDragEnabled = true             // Allow middle-drag gestures
config.tapToClickEnabled = true             // Allow tap-to-click gestures

// Palm rejection - Exclusion zone (bottom of trackpad)
config.exclusionZoneEnabled = true
config.exclusionZoneSize = 0.15             // Bottom 15% of trackpad

// Palm rejection - Modifier key requirement
config.requireModifierKey = true
config.modifierKeyType = .shift             // .shift, .control, .option, .command

// Palm rejection - Contact size filter
config.contactSizeFilterEnabled = true
config.maxContactSize = 1.5                 // Skip touches larger than this

// Window filters
config.minimumWindowSizeFilterEnabled = true
config.minimumWindowWidth = 100             // Ignore windows smaller than 100px
config.minimumWindowHeight = 100
config.ignoreDesktop = true                 // Skip gestures over desktop

// Title bar passthrough (for native window dragging)
config.passThroughTitleBar = true
config.titleBarHeight = 28                  // Title bar height in pixels

// Relift during drag
config.allowReliftDuringDrag = true         // Continue drag with 2 fingers

// Apply configuration to manager
MultitouchManager.shared.updateConfiguration(config)
```

### GestureRecognizer - Touch Processing

The `GestureRecognizer` class processes raw touch data from the multitouch device and detects three-finger tap and drag gestures. It uses a state machine to track gesture progression.

```swift
import Foundation

// Create a gesture recognizer with custom configuration
let recognizer = GestureRecognizer()
recognizer.configuration = GestureConfiguration()

// Implement the delegate protocol to receive gesture events
class MyGestureHandler: GestureRecognizerDelegate {

    func gestureRecognizerDidStart(_ recognizer: GestureRecognizer, at position: MTPoint) {
        print("Gesture started at: (\(position.x), \(position.y))")
    }

    func gestureRecognizerDidTap(_ recognizer: GestureRecognizer) {
        print("Three-finger tap detected!")
        // Perform middle-click action
    }

    func gestureRecognizerDidBeginDragging(_ recognizer: GestureRecognizer) {
        print("Drag gesture started")
        // Begin middle-drag operation
    }

    func gestureRecognizerDidUpdateDragging(_ recognizer: GestureRecognizer, with data: GestureData) {
        // Calculate movement delta
        let delta = data.frameDelta(from: recognizer.configuration)
        print("Drag delta: (\(delta.x), \(delta.y))")
    }

    func gestureRecognizerDidEndDragging(_ recognizer: GestureRecognizer) {
        print("Drag gesture ended")
    }

    func gestureRecognizerDidCancel(_ recognizer: GestureRecognizer) {
        print("Gesture cancelled (e.g., from possibleTap state)")
    }

    func gestureRecognizerDidCancelDragging(_ recognizer: GestureRecognizer) {
        print("Drag cancelled (e.g., 4th finger added for Mission Control)")
    }
}

// Set up the delegate
let handler = MyGestureHandler()
recognizer.delegate = handler

// Process touch data (called from DeviceMonitor callback)
// touches: UnsafeMutableRawPointer to MTTouch array
// count: number of touches
// timestamp: frame timestamp
// modifierFlags: current modifier key state
recognizer.processTouches(touches, count: touchCount, timestamp: timestamp, modifierFlags: modifierFlags)

// Reset state manually if needed
recognizer.reset()
```

### MouseEventGenerator - Event Synthesis

The `MouseEventGenerator` class creates and posts synthetic middle-mouse events using Core Graphics APIs. It handles click events, drag operations with cursor association, and automatic stuck-drag detection.

```swift
import Foundation
import CoreGraphics

// Create a mouse event generator
let mouseGenerator = MouseEventGenerator()

// Configure smoothing and movement settings
mouseGenerator.smoothingFactor = 0.3              // EMA smoothing (0-1)
mouseGenerator.minimumMovementThreshold = 0.5     // Min pixels to register movement
mouseGenerator.stuckDragTimeout = 10.0            // Auto-release after 10s inactivity

// Perform a middle-click at current cursor position
mouseGenerator.performClick()

// Start a middle-drag operation
// The cursor will be disassociated from mouse movement for smooth dragging
let startPosition = MouseEventGenerator.currentMouseLocation
mouseGenerator.startDrag(at: startPosition)

// Update drag with delta movement (called each frame)
// deltaX/deltaY are in pixels
mouseGenerator.updateDrag(deltaX: 10.0, deltaY: -5.0)

// End the drag normally
mouseGenerator.endDrag()

// Cancel an active drag (e.g., user added 4th finger)
mouseGenerator.cancelDrag()

// Force release a stuck middle-drag state
// Use when system state may be out of sync with tracking
mouseGenerator.forceMiddleMouseUp()

// Get current mouse location in Quartz coordinates
let currentPos = MouseEventGenerator.currentMouseLocation
print("Cursor at: (\(currentPos.x), \(currentPos.y))")
```

### PreferencesManager - Settings Persistence

`PreferencesManager` handles loading and saving user preferences to UserDefaults. It provides a thread-safe interface for managing all configuration options.

```swift
import Foundation

// Access the shared PreferencesManager
let prefsManager = PreferencesManager.shared

// Load current preferences
var prefs = prefsManager.loadPreferences()

// Modify preferences
prefs.launchAtLogin = true
prefs.dragSensitivity = 1.2
prefs.tapThreshold = 0.15
prefs.smoothingFactor = 0.3
prefs.middleDragEnabled = true
prefs.tapToClickEnabled = true

// Palm rejection settings
prefs.exclusionZoneEnabled = false
prefs.exclusionZoneSize = 0.15
prefs.requireModifierKey = false
prefs.modifierKeyType = .shift
prefs.contactSizeFilterEnabled = false
prefs.maxContactSize = 1.5

// Window filter settings
prefs.minimumWindowSizeFilterEnabled = false
prefs.minimumWindowWidth = 100
prefs.minimumWindowHeight = 100
prefs.ignoreDesktop = false

// Title bar passthrough
prefs.passThroughTitleBar = false
prefs.titleBarHeight = 28

// Hotkey bindings (Carbon key codes and modifiers)
prefs.toggleHotKey = HotKeyBinding(
    keyCode: UInt32(kVK_ANSI_E),           // 'E' key
    carbonModifiers: UInt32(cmdKey | optionKey)  // Cmd+Option
)

// Save preferences
prefsManager.savePreferences(prefs)

// Convert preferences to GestureConfiguration for use with MultitouchManager
let gestureConfig = prefs.gestureConfig
MultitouchManager.shared.updateConfiguration(gestureConfig)

// Track one-time prompts
if !prefsManager.hasShownGestureConfigurationPrompt {
    // Show first-run configuration dialog
    prefsManager.markGestureConfigurationPromptShown()
}
```

### DeviceMonitor - Trackpad Monitoring

`DeviceMonitor` interfaces with Apple's private MultitouchSupport framework to receive raw touch data from trackpads. It manages device lifecycle and callback registration.

```swift
import Foundation

// Create a device monitor
let deviceMonitor = DeviceMonitor()

// Implement the delegate protocol
class MyDeviceHandler: DeviceMonitorDelegate {
    func deviceMonitor(
        _ monitor: DeviceMonitor,
        didReceiveTouches touches: UnsafeMutableRawPointer,
        count: Int32,
        timestamp: Double
    ) {
        // Access raw touch data
        let touchArray = touches.bindMemory(to: MTTouch.self, capacity: Int(count))

        for i in 0..<Int(count) {
            let touch = touchArray[i]
            let position = touch.normalizedVector.position
            let state = TouchState(rawValue: touch.state)

            // Only process active touches (state 3 = touching, state 4 = active)
            if touch.state == 3 || touch.state == 4 {
                print("Finger \(touch.fingerID): (\(position.x), \(position.y))")
            }
        }
    }
}

// Set up delegate and start monitoring
let handler = MyDeviceHandler()
deviceMonitor.delegate = handler

// Start monitoring (returns false if no trackpad found)
if deviceMonitor.start() {
    print("Device monitoring started")
} else {
    print("No multitouch device found")
}

// Stop monitoring when done
deviceMonitor.stop()
```

### Touch Data Models

The touch data structures represent raw touch information from the MultitouchSupport framework, including position, velocity, pressure, and touch state.

```swift
import Foundation

// MTPoint - 2D point with utility methods
let point1 = MTPoint(x: 0.5, y: 0.5)
let point2 = MTPoint(x: 0.7, y: 0.3)

// Calculate distance between points
let distance = point1.distance(to: point2)
print("Distance: \(distance)")

// Calculate midpoint
let mid = point1.midpoint(with: point2)
print("Midpoint: (\(mid.x), \(mid.y))")

// MTVector - position and velocity
let vector = MTVector(
    position: MTPoint(x: 0.5, y: 0.5),
    velocity: MTPoint(x: 0.1, y: -0.05)
)

// MTTouch - raw touch data from framework
// (Received from DeviceMonitor callback, not constructed manually)
// Key fields:
//   - fingerID: Int32 - unique finger identifier
//   - state: UInt32 - touch state (see TouchState enum)
//   - normalizedVector: MTVector - position/velocity in 0-1 coordinates
//   - zTotal: Float - contact pressure/size (used for palm rejection)
//   - angle: Float - touch angle
//   - majorAxis/minorAxis: Float - contact ellipse dimensions

// TouchState enum values
// .notTracking (0) - finger not being tracked
// .starting (1) - touch beginning
// .hovering (2) - finger hovering
// .touching (3) - finger just made contact
// .active (4) - finger actively touching
// .lifting (5) - finger lifting off
// .lingering (6) - brief state after lift
// .outOfRange (7) - finger gone

// Check if a touch state should be tracked
let state = TouchState.active
print("Is touching: \(state.isTouching)")      // true
print("Should track: \(state.shouldTrack)")    // true

// TrackedFinger - enhanced finger tracking
let finger = TrackedFinger(
    id: 1,
    position: MTPoint(x: 0.5, y: 0.5),
    velocity: MTPoint(x: 0.0, y: 0.0),
    pressure: 0.8,
    timestamp: CACurrentMediaTime(),
    state: 4  // active
)
print("Finger active: \(finger.isActive)")
```

### UserPreferences and HotKeyBinding

`UserPreferences` is a Codable structure for persistent settings, and `HotKeyBinding` represents keyboard shortcut configurations.

```swift
import Foundation
import Carbon.HIToolbox

// Create default user preferences
var prefs = UserPreferences()

// All preference fields with their defaults:
prefs.launchAtLogin = false
prefs.dragSensitivity = 1.0           // 0.5 - 2.0
prefs.tapThreshold = 0.15             // seconds
prefs.maxTapHoldDuration = 0.5        // seconds
prefs.smoothingFactor = 0.3           // 0.0 - 1.0
prefs.middleDragEnabled = true
prefs.tapToClickEnabled = true
prefs.exclusionZoneEnabled = false
prefs.exclusionZoneSize = 0.15        // 0.0 - 1.0 (bottom portion)
prefs.requireModifierKey = false
prefs.modifierKeyType = .shift
prefs.contactSizeFilterEnabled = false
prefs.maxContactSize = 1.5
prefs.minimumWindowSizeFilterEnabled = false
prefs.minimumWindowWidth = 100.0
prefs.minimumWindowHeight = 100.0
prefs.ignoreDesktop = false
prefs.passThroughTitleBar = false
prefs.titleBarHeight = 28.0
prefs.allowReliftDuringDrag = false

// Configure hotkey bindings
// Toggle gesture recognition (default: Cmd+Shift+E)
prefs.toggleHotKey = HotKeyBinding(
    keyCode: UInt32(kVK_ANSI_E),
    carbonModifiers: UInt32(cmdKey) | UInt32(shiftKey)
)

// Open menu bar (default: Cmd+Shift+M)
prefs.menuBarHotKey = HotKeyBinding(
    keyCode: UInt32(kVK_ANSI_M),
    carbonModifiers: UInt32(cmdKey) | UInt32(shiftKey)
)

// Get human-readable hotkey string
print("Toggle hotkey: \(prefs.toggleHotKey.displayString)")
// Output: "⌘ Command⇧ ShiftE"

// Convert UserPreferences to GestureConfiguration
let gestureConfig = prefs.gestureConfig
MultitouchManager.shared.updateConfiguration(gestureConfig)

// Encode/decode for persistence
let encoder = JSONEncoder()
let data = try encoder.encode(prefs)

let decoder = JSONDecoder()
let loadedPrefs = try decoder.decode(UserPreferences.self, from: data)
```

### MultitouchFramework - Private API Bindings

`MultitouchFramework` provides Swift bindings to Apple's private MultitouchSupport framework for accessing raw trackpad data.

```swift
import Foundation

// Access the shared framework helper
let framework = MultitouchFramework.shared

// Check if multitouch hardware is available
if framework.isAvailable {
    print("Multitouch framework available")
} else {
    print("No multitouch hardware detected")
}

// Get the default multitouch device (built-in trackpad)
if let device = framework.getDefaultDevice() {
    print("Got default device: \(device)")

    // Low-level API usage (typically handled by DeviceMonitor):
    // MTDeviceStart(device, 0)          // Start the device
    // MTDeviceStop(device)               // Stop the device
    // MTDeviceIsRunning(device)          // Check if running

    // Register callback (use DeviceMonitor for proper lifecycle management)
    // MTRegisterContactFrameCallback(device, callback)
    // MTUnregisterContactFrameCallback(device, callback)
}

// Get list of all multitouch devices
if let deviceList = MTDeviceCreateList() {
    let count = CFArrayGetCount(deviceList)
    print("Found \(count) multitouch device(s)")
}
```

### Notification Names for State Changes

MiddleDrag posts notifications for important state changes that UI components can observe.

```swift
import Foundation

// Notification posted when device polling times out
// (no trackpad found within 5 minutes)
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(
    forName: .middleDragPollingTimedOut,
    object: nil,
    queue: .main
) { _ in
    print("Device polling timed out - no trackpad found")
    // Update UI to show disabled state
}

// Notification posted when a device connects during polling
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(
    forName: .middleDragDeviceConnected,
    object: nil,
    queue: .main
) { _ in
    print("Trackpad connected!")
    // Update UI to show enabled state
}
```

## Summary

MiddleDrag is designed for users who need middle-mouse functionality on Mac trackpads, particularly professionals working with design tools, 3D/CAD software, and development environments. The main use cases include panning canvas views in applications like Figma, Photoshop, and Blender; opening browser links in background tabs; closing editor tabs in IDEs; and navigating large documents without modifier keys.

The application integrates seamlessly with macOS through its menu bar interface and respects system gestures like Mission Control. Key integration patterns include using `MultitouchManager.shared` as the central coordinator, configuring behavior through `GestureConfiguration`, persisting settings via `PreferencesManager`, and observing notifications for state changes. The modular architecture with clear separation between touch processing (`GestureRecognizer`), event synthesis (`MouseEventGenerator`), device monitoring (`DeviceMonitor`), and UI management (`MenuBarController`) makes the codebase maintainable and testable.