I have BTT doing a few different things …
(EDIT: I also have BTT doing all 7 window snapping it is able to do)
reprogram window buttons
left click green window button maximizes the window (not full screen)
double click main menubar maximizes the window
double click window menubar minimizes that window
left click Music.app orange button enters mini player mode
3-finger swipes to adjust windows
3 finger swipe left … make window left half of current monitor
3 finger swipe right … make window right half of current monitor
3 finger swipe up … maximize window on current monitor
3 finger swipe down … minimize window on current monitor
4 finger swipes to move windows
4 finger swipe left/right … move window to “the other” monitor
4 finger swipe down … hide all windows
4 finger pinch … center window on current monitor
4 finger spread … center and resize window to ~ 80% of current monitor (calls a KBM action via keybinding)
In DEVONthink
3 finger click triggers my Keyboard Maestro pallet for DT (triggers KBM keyboard shortcut)
4 finger click triggers the highlight menu item (as I’m reading I can select text and highlight it quickly)
4 finger spread … go to annotation inspector (so I can write a short note)
In Safari (all of these trigger Safari keyboard shortcuts)
3 fingers down, tap left or right finger … go to previous/next tab
4 fingers down, tap left or right finger … go back/forward in tab history
In Skype
4 finger pinch mutes my microphone (mimics the “zip it” hand gesture) … triggers the Skype keyboard shortcut shift-cmd-M
4 finger spread unmutes my microphone (yes, its the same keyboard shortcut, but its fun to do both)
In OmniFocus, Outlook, Excel, and Safari … 3 finger click activates app-specific Keyboard Maestro pallets (tigger KBM keyboard shortcuts)
Globally, 3 fingers down and swipe the left one down … sleep computer
via BTT keyboard shortcuts (shift-opt-cmd + …)
J/K … maximize window left/right half current monitor
H/L … maximize window left/right third of current monitor
U/I … move window left/right quarter top of current monitor
N/M … move window left/right quarter bottom of current monitor
G … maximize window right 2/3 of current monitor
left/right arrow key … move window to left or right monitor
more-or-less mapped around J/K on the keyboard
In Skype meetings, I’ll often pin the Skype window to the left 2/3 of my main monitor and my notes to the right 1/3. That way I stay facing forward during the meeting.
BTT is the app that makes the Touch Bar shine – it is essential to using the Touch Bar to it’s full capability.
The other aspect of BTT that is better than other apps (including Keyboard Maestro, as far as I can determine) is the ability to active commands inside application contextual menus – especially command that do not have shortcuts.
Put the Touch Bar and contextual menu support together into a BTT action – very good automation.
I’ve been a long time user of both BetterTouchTool and BetterSnapTool. Since 99% of my computer use these days is on my iMac with a basic Logitech mouse, I’m using just BetterSnapTool there. I’ve got BetterTouchTool on my MBP, but no gestures configured anymore. For either these days its the snapping areas I make use of all the time.
I’ve got an external 27" monitor set up in portrait orientation. I’ve set up custom snap areas for the upper half and the lower half. When I log in, Calendar opens automatically and snaps to the upper half of the display and Omnifocus opens automatically and snaps to the lower half of the display. If I want the external monitor for something else, it just Control → to go to a clean space.
I currently use BTT for all my “text expander” snippets. I also use Golden Chaos for my MBP touchbar. I have mapped my mouse buttons for forward and back in safari and mission control.
Tip tap gestures are the best.
Tip tap left single finger = copy
Tip tap right single finger = paste
Tip tap left two fingers = close tab or archive (per app)
Tip tap right two fingers = new tab or reply all (per app)
Tip tap three fingers = move one space left
Tip tap four fingers = move one space right
Four finger swipe left and right = maximise window left or right
Four fingers swipe up = maximise full screen
Four finger swipe down = minimise window
Don’t forget click & force touch in corners, Great for opening specific apps (top left = mail/outlook, top right = safari).
Touch Bar mods, great.
Text snippets that are linked to keyboard shortcuts and or trackpad gestures.
Third party mouse stuff is excellent.
BTT is the first app I install on any new Mac, love that it is now in SetApp.
I extensively use the two-finger tap, two and three-finger tip-taps on my Magic Mouse to replicate similar functionality or semantics throughout apps.
In mail for instance:
two-finger tap: archive
tiptap middle (2 fingers fix): delete
tiptap left (1 finger fix): reply
tiptap right (1 finger fix): forward
This becomes the baseline for all apps, two-finger tap approves, validates, archives whenever I am, while tiptap middle (2 fingers fix) refuses, deletes, trashes wherever I am.
This has proved incredibly useful with Word. I use the tracking changes mode extensively (I’m a fiction writer) when going through novels with my editor. (Some chapters see two to five distinct passes and I write 800-page long books - that’s a LOT of changes and comments.) I have bound the tracking changes commands to specific keyboard shortcuts which are then fired through BTT gestures:
tiptap left (1 finger fix): add new comment or reply to comment
tiptap right (1 finger fix): delete comment
Also a very simple one I have is command-clic bound to a single tap in Safari. Allows to open links in new tabs with a simple tap of the mouse (the way middle-click works on Windows browsers).
Dimiss Notifications
I have an AppleScript widget that only shows the icons if one or more notifications are on the screen. If I click the button that appears an AppleScript dismisses all the notifications at the same time. As someone who uses Alert-style notifications for work, this script is super handy for when I wake my MBP up and there is a list of notifications down the right side of the screen.
WiFi Network
This is a simple AppleScript widget that just displays the name of the wifi network. This is probably unhelpful for most people, but my MacBook Pro is very often at a coffee shop, and if I am having connectivity issues it is usually because the computer has connected to the wrong Wi-Fi network. Just being able to look at the Touch Bar and seeing where I am connected to is a nice peace of mind.
Things: Next Todo
I think I got this from the GoldenChaos package, but I really like it. It is an AppleScript widget to show me the first ToDo on my Today list. Another thing I like being able to look down and see.
Zoom specific
With the sudden popularity of zoom, I didn’t want to have to worry about a bunch of keyboard shortcuts. So I simply mapped keyboard commands for muting and unmuting audio, switching the view, raising my hand etc. These only show up when Zoom is the active app.
Things specific
I have keys show up to instantly apply tags to any of my tasks, so I don’t have to remember the keyboard shortcuts. These only show up when Things is the active app.
If anyone’s interested in any of the above, let me know and I’ll post!
This is the function that got me to install BTT and buy it automatically. I’m pretty sure I cribbed this from Brett Terpstra, though I can’t for the life of me find a link to back that up.
Sam - oh my god, thank you!!! I can’t believe I didn’t know about this already.
After setting this up myself, I remembered that I never use the red or orange buttons either, so I just mapped red to “Maximize Window Left”, Orange to “Maximize Window Right” and Function Key-Green Button to “Restore Old Window Size.”
I love the “Show Menu Bar in Context Menu” action, but unfortunately (I’m guessing because of some other handy background utility I’ve got running) the menu only responds to arrow keys about half the time I invoke it and I end up having to reach for the trackpad anyway.
I’ve also got modifier clicks set up along the bottom and left edge of the trackpad to mirror the placement of the corresponding keys on the keyboard.
A three-finger tap sends mouse-down only, so I can grab and drag a file icon or other object without actually having to hold the mouse button or keep my thumb on the trackpad.
Update - I found I do use the Red button more than I thought, so I added the FN key to the trigger. Now the Red and Yellow buttons work as normal, but if I hold down the FN keys, they window snap to the left or right.