6 ms·

SteerMouse

60 points by mzehrer 2y ago

rcoilliot 2y ago
I’ve been using it for many years, I think it’s one of the oldest alternative mouse driver for Mac. Highly recommended to those who want to avoid the bloated (and now AI powered, for whatever it means) Logitech software.
- eurleif 2y ago
  AFAIK, the AI thing is just shortcut/macro button(s) to activate ChatGPT? It's not like they put AI in charge of determining where you meant to click, or anything goofy like that.
- andrei_says_ 2y ago
  Does it work with the additional buttons on logi mice?
  - Eric_WVGG 2y ago
    It works on my Razer mouse that has a freaking 12 number keypad on the side, so I'd bet heavily, and there's a free demo.
  - thejohnconway 2y ago
    Yes. It works on all buttons and scrollwheels on all mice I have ever tried (including several Logitech ones).
    - MiguelHudnandez 2y ago
      Some mice will have buttons that toggle lighting or tracking speed, I have a feeling these are the kinds of buttons that might not work with the app. Because they are just local buttons, they don't get sent to the OS.
      - eyelidlessness 2y ago
        It’s varied a lot by version of the software, and by iterations of the mouse models with such functionality. I recall at least one Logitech mouse where the buttons couldn’t ever be reprogrammed; at least one other where it was unsupported before a SteerMouse update; and others where they were supported like any other mouse button on arrival. Edit to add that IME most have fallen into the last category for a several years now.
  - kstrauser 2y ago
    It does on my MX Vertical. It also lets you set different actions per app. I've used that to bind the forward and backward buttons to do the right thing in most apps I touch so I have a universal shortcut for that navigation.
jwr 2y ago
As a data point, I use Keyboard Maestro for my extra Logitech mouse buttons, since I refuse to install the terrible Logi software.
- swozey 2y ago
  I love that Logitech has three apps. Logi+, Logi, Ghub. My keyboard only shows up in Ghub. My mice only show up in Logi/Logi+..
  - danaris 2y ago
    Oh, there's at least one more app—Logitech Options. Which the mouse I bought is supposed to work with, at least according to some people on the internet, but does not for me.
- kstrauser 2y ago
  KM doesn't recognize all my mouse's buttons. If it did, that'd be my pick too.
frou_dh 2y ago
I'm a happy SteerMouse user, but it should be noted that if all you want to do is flatten out the Acceleration curve then the native System Settings since macOS Sonoma let you disable acceleration.
- pohuing 2y ago
  That was possible in earlier versions with globalpreferences. The real killer feature is disabling the scroll acceleration.
  - pxc 2y ago
    That setting broke a long time ago. Hasn't worked for ages, which is why people have relied on more extreme approaches like those of SteerMouse, CursorSense (same author) and LinearMouse.
- pxc 2y ago
  Finally, Jesus Christ. They had broken their own builtin for this (historically handled via `defaults write` for at least 6 years, maybe longer.
thejohnconway 2y ago
Great piece of software, used it for years. It’s great knowing you can buy any mouse with whatever buttons and you can make it work just how you want.
T3RMINATED 2y ago
Informative, straight to the point, pleasant to look at.
mxschll 2y ago
I love the style of this website's content and layout. Informative, straight to the point, pleasant to look at.
- always2slow 2y ago
  2005 web style!
TechRemarker 2y ago
Never heard of it until DaringFireball mentioned the other day, which is presumably why it's on HackerNews today. Neat tool. https://daringfireball.net/linked/2024/05/06/hackett-logitech-mouse-driver https://daringfireball.net/linked/2024/05/06/hackett-logitec...
ranqet 2y ago
I just wanted to also suggest BetterMouse (https://better-mouse.com https://better-mouse.com). SteerMouse is great, but it lacks the ability to map gestures to the thumb button on the MX Master mice. BetterMouse allows you to do that and has a UI thats a bit more understandable.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- ryanjamurphy 2y ago
  Thanks for this recommendation. I've tried SteerMouse and other alternatives in the past and haven't stuck with them (can't recall why exactly) but would dearly like to get away from Logitech's software.
ilrwbwrkhv 2y ago
Amazing piece of software. This is what software should be: useful, super fast and gets out of the way. These days software is so needy and slow. Looking at you Slack.
- ibash 2y ago
  The industry has definitely lost an element of craftsmanship and desire to build great software for people.
- daed 2y ago
  To add to this: I bought a Steermouse license well over a decade ago. I paid once. I’ve been using it ever since and it’s maintained and updated. No subscription. Isn’t charging for updates. This is what software should be.
ezekg 2y ago
Until moving to Windows, this made my mouse on macOS bearable. Removed all accel with 1600 sens so that when I went from macOS for work to Windows for gaming back to macOS for work, I wouldn't lose my mind. Nowadays I just stick to Windows because WSL2 is pretty rad. But SteerMouse saved my sanity for quite a few years.
TymekDev 2y ago
If you need to adjust cursor speed and want scroll behavior to differ between the TrackPad and a mouse, then I can vouch for LinearMouse [1]. It is free of charge and open-source, and perfectly covers my needs. [1]: https://github.com/linearmouse/linearmouse https://github.com/linearmouse/linearmouse
zavertnik 2y ago
I have used SteerMouse for years after giving up on the dumpster fire that is Logitech's G-HUB for macOS for my G600, which has 12 side buttons + a the G-Shift button which when held acts a modifier for additional macros. My issue with SteerMouse is that when creating chord macros, it forces the original macro to only work when depressed, rather than activating upon press. I haven't been able to find a suitable replacement. Curious if anyone here on HN has worked around this in any way?
- kstrauser 2y ago
  Can you explain more of what you mean there?
  - ekaryotic 2y ago
    I believe the poster means that the macro operation is that of an astable multivibrator, whereas they would prefer that it be that of a one shot multivibrator.
    - kstrauser 2y ago
      Ah, got it. Yeah, I don't think there's a way to do that.
  - zavertnik 2y ago
    Haha, of course! So when you click a button on the G600 (and most other mice with side buttons), the button fires when you press down, just like the Mouse 1 or Mouse 2 button. On the G600, there is a third click button to the right of the right click, which is called G-Shift. When pressed, all of the side buttons have secondary assignments. Since you have to hold G-Shift to access this other layer, the macros are often referred to as chords in mouse customization software like Steermouse, since it requires two buttons to fire. To configure this, you need the G-Hub software, which is in a nightmarish state on macOS. To get around this, I use Steermouse. Steermouse lets me get around this, however with one trade off. If a side button has two assignments (one when pressed by itself, another when pressed with the G-Shift), then the button does not actually fire when its pressed, but instead fires when the button is depressed/let go of. I imagine this is just how Steermouse handles buttons which have more than one assignment. I haven't found a suitable replacement that is as robust as steermouse. Its one of the first apps I install on my mac, but this is one killer feature that I've only found in the G-Hub app.
atonse 2y ago
I'm a very happy user of SteerMouse for years now. The logitech app was very unstable (and increasingly bloated) to just be able to customize a couple of things for the MX Master 3. SteerMouse does all that, is hidden away in preferences where it belongs, and It Just Works™
- stronglikedan 2y ago
  Do you still get hyperscrolling without the logitech software?
  - atonse 2y ago
    Is that inertial scrolling? Then yes.
- kstrauser 2y ago
  It's a separate app now and doesn't live in preferences anymore.
chankstein38 2y ago
Question that is tangential, does a piece of software exist on windows that causes scrolling to act like it does on mac? I have a wheel mouse and I want to be able to flick it and have the page continue scrolling when the wheel is no longer in motion. Momentum to scrolling basically.
distantsounds 2y ago
mmm, $20 for the privilege of re-binding your mouse buttons! I sure do love the Apple software community! (there are _so_ many ways to do this on Windows for free.)
- frou_dh 2y ago
  Problem solved: https://linearmouse.app/ https://linearmouse.app/ Approximately the same features as SteerMouse but free. I've voluntarily donated to the dev, though.
- eyelidlessness 2y ago
  This complaint was more widespread before the vast majority of Mac users were MacBook users. Today it’s a niche within a niche. I personally didn’t mind the expense even when it was a much less niche use case.
- tky 2y ago
  There are many ways to do it free on a Mac, too, including vendor-provided software. SteerMouse fills a niche, it is not a requirement. Akin to, say, HydraMouse on Windows.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- ranger_danger 2y ago
  Yea but they're making money on simple things and you're not.
baxuz 2y ago
I used it for a long time until I got a Logitech mouse. Sadly, using GHUB is the only way to increase the USB polling rate to over 125hz, which is a must have for any display, much less a high refresh rate one. The difference is night and day.
yqiang 2y ago
Does anyone know of a tool similar to SteerMouse that let's you control Logitech keyboard settings (e.g., turn off the backlight)? It's the only reason I still have the Logitech software installed.
- XajniN 2y ago
  That should be possible without anything. Just use the key to reduce the backlight brightness (Fn+F4 on my MX Mechanical Mini).
  - yqiang 2y ago
    Unfortunately you can't seem to seem to turn it completely off on my MX Keys Mini. In the Logitech software there's a toggle to turn the backlight off completely.
lloeki 2y ago
Reminds me of USB Overdrive, a very nice piece of software that also covers e.g gamepads. Got a license back in the day to make some mouse that had a strange always-down button 14 behave. https://www.usboverdrive.com/ https://www.usboverdrive.com/

60 points by mzehrer 2y ago

I’ve been using it for many years, I think it’s one of the oldest alternative mouse driver for Mac. Highly recommended to those who want to avoid the bloated (and now AI powered, for whatever it means) Logitech software.

eurleif 2y ago
AFAIK, the AI thing is just shortcut/macro button(s) to activate ChatGPT? It's not like they put AI in charge of determining where you meant to click, or anything goofy like that.
andrei_says_ 2y ago
Does it work with the additional buttons on logi mice?
- Eric_WVGG 2y ago
  It works on my Razer mouse that has a freaking 12 number keypad on the side, so I'd bet heavily, and there's a free demo.
- thejohnconway 2y ago
  Yes. It works on all buttons and scrollwheels on all mice I have ever tried (including several Logitech ones).
  - MiguelHudnandez 2y ago
    Some mice will have buttons that toggle lighting or tracking speed, I have a feeling these are the kinds of buttons that might not work with the app. Because they are just local buttons, they don't get sent to the OS.
    - eyelidlessness 2y ago
      It’s varied a lot by version of the software, and by iterations of the mouse models with such functionality. I recall at least one Logitech mouse where the buttons couldn’t ever be reprogrammed; at least one other where it was unsupported before a SteerMouse update; and others where they were supported like any other mouse button on arrival. Edit to add that IME most have fallen into the last category for a several years now.
- kstrauser 2y ago
  It does on my MX Vertical. It also lets you set different actions per app. I've used that to bind the forward and backward buttons to do the right thing in most apps I touch so I have a universal shortcut for that navigation.

jwr 2y ago

As a data point, I use Keyboard Maestro for my extra Logitech mouse buttons, since I refuse to install the terrible Logi software.

swozey 2y ago
I love that Logitech has three apps. Logi+, Logi, Ghub. My keyboard only shows up in Ghub. My mice only show up in Logi/Logi+..
- danaris 2y ago
  Oh, there's at least one more app—Logitech Options. Which the mouse I bought is supposed to work with, at least according to some people on the internet, but does not for me.
kstrauser 2y ago
KM doesn't recognize all my mouse's buttons. If it did, that'd be my pick too.

frou_dh 2y ago

I'm a happy SteerMouse user, but it should be noted that if all you want to do is flatten out the Acceleration curve then the native System Settings since macOS Sonoma let you disable acceleration.

pohuing 2y ago
That was possible in earlier versions with globalpreferences. The real killer feature is disabling the scroll acceleration.
- pxc 2y ago
  That setting broke a long time ago. Hasn't worked for ages, which is why people have relied on more extreme approaches like those of SteerMouse, CursorSense (same author) and LinearMouse.
pxc 2y ago
Finally, Jesus Christ. They had broken their own builtin for this (historically handled via `defaults write` for at least 6 years, maybe longer.

thejohnconway 2y ago

Great piece of software, used it for years. It’s great knowing you can buy any mouse with whatever buttons and you can make it work just how you want.

T3RMINATED 2y ago

Informative, straight to the point, pleasant to look at.

mxschll 2y ago

I love the style of this website's content and layout. Informative, straight to the point, pleasant to look at.

always2slow 2y ago
2005 web style!

TechRemarker 2y ago

Never heard of it until DaringFireball mentioned the other day, which is presumably why it's on HackerNews today. Neat tool. https://daringfireball.net/linked/2024/05/06/hackett-logitech-mouse-driver https://daringfireball.net/linked/2024/05/06/hackett-logitec...

ranqet 2y ago

I just wanted to also suggest BetterMouse (https://better-mouse.com https://better-mouse.com). SteerMouse is great, but it lacks the ability to map gestures to the thumb button on the MX Master mice. BetterMouse allows you to do that and has a UI thats a bit more understandable.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
ryanjamurphy 2y ago
Thanks for this recommendation. I've tried SteerMouse and other alternatives in the past and haven't stuck with them (can't recall why exactly) but would dearly like to get away from Logitech's software.

ilrwbwrkhv 2y ago

Amazing piece of software. This is what software should be: useful, super fast and gets out of the way. These days software is so needy and slow. Looking at you Slack.

ibash 2y ago
The industry has definitely lost an element of craftsmanship and desire to build great software for people.
daed 2y ago
To add to this: I bought a Steermouse license well over a decade ago. I paid once. I’ve been using it ever since and it’s maintained and updated. No subscription. Isn’t charging for updates. This is what software should be.

ezekg 2y ago

Until moving to Windows, this made my mouse on macOS bearable. Removed all accel with 1600 sens so that when I went from macOS for work to Windows for gaming back to macOS for work, I wouldn't lose my mind. Nowadays I just stick to Windows because WSL2 is pretty rad. But SteerMouse saved my sanity for quite a few years.

TymekDev 2y ago

If you need to adjust cursor speed and want scroll behavior to differ between the TrackPad and a mouse, then I can vouch for LinearMouse [1]. It is free of charge and open-source, and perfectly covers my needs. [1]: https://github.com/linearmouse/linearmouse https://github.com/linearmouse/linearmouse

zavertnik 2y ago

I have used SteerMouse for years after giving up on the dumpster fire that is Logitech's G-HUB for macOS for my G600, which has 12 side buttons + a the G-Shift button which when held acts a modifier for additional macros. My issue with SteerMouse is that when creating chord macros, it forces the original macro to only work when depressed, rather than activating upon press. I haven't been able to find a suitable replacement. Curious if anyone here on HN has worked around this in any way?

kstrauser 2y ago
Can you explain more of what you mean there?
- ekaryotic 2y ago
  I believe the poster means that the macro operation is that of an astable multivibrator, whereas they would prefer that it be that of a one shot multivibrator.
  - kstrauser 2y ago
    Ah, got it. Yeah, I don't think there's a way to do that.
- zavertnik 2y ago
  Haha, of course! So when you click a button on the G600 (and most other mice with side buttons), the button fires when you press down, just like the Mouse 1 or Mouse 2 button. On the G600, there is a third click button to the right of the right click, which is called G-Shift. When pressed, all of the side buttons have secondary assignments. Since you have to hold G-Shift to access this other layer, the macros are often referred to as chords in mouse customization software like Steermouse, since it requires two buttons to fire. To configure this, you need the G-Hub software, which is in a nightmarish state on macOS. To get around this, I use Steermouse. Steermouse lets me get around this, however with one trade off. If a side button has two assignments (one when pressed by itself, another when pressed with the G-Shift), then the button does not actually fire when its pressed, but instead fires when the button is depressed/let go of. I imagine this is just how Steermouse handles buttons which have more than one assignment. I haven't found a suitable replacement that is as robust as steermouse. Its one of the first apps I install on my mac, but this is one killer feature that I've only found in the G-Hub app.

atonse 2y ago

I'm a very happy user of SteerMouse for years now. The logitech app was very unstable (and increasingly bloated) to just be able to customize a couple of things for the MX Master 3. SteerMouse does all that, is hidden away in preferences where it belongs, and It Just Works™

stronglikedan 2y ago
Do you still get hyperscrolling without the logitech software?
- atonse 2y ago
  Is that inertial scrolling? Then yes.
kstrauser 2y ago
It's a separate app now and doesn't live in preferences anymore.

chankstein38 2y ago

Question that is tangential, does a piece of software exist on windows that causes scrolling to act like it does on mac? I have a wheel mouse and I want to be able to flick it and have the page continue scrolling when the wheel is no longer in motion. Momentum to scrolling basically.

distantsounds 2y ago

mmm, $20 for the privilege of re-binding your mouse buttons! I sure do love the Apple software community! (there are _so_ many ways to do this on Windows for free.)

frou_dh 2y ago
Problem solved: https://linearmouse.app/ https://linearmouse.app/ Approximately the same features as SteerMouse but free. I've voluntarily donated to the dev, though.
eyelidlessness 2y ago
This complaint was more widespread before the vast majority of Mac users were MacBook users. Today it’s a niche within a niche. I personally didn’t mind the expense even when it was a much less niche use case.
tky 2y ago
There are many ways to do it free on a Mac, too, including vendor-provided software. SteerMouse fills a niche, it is not a requirement. Akin to, say, HydraMouse on Windows.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
ranger_danger 2y ago
Yea but they're making money on simple things and you're not.

baxuz 2y ago

I used it for a long time until I got a Logitech mouse. Sadly, using GHUB is the only way to increase the USB polling rate to over 125hz, which is a must have for any display, much less a high refresh rate one. The difference is night and day.

yqiang 2y ago

Does anyone know of a tool similar to SteerMouse that let's you control Logitech keyboard settings (e.g., turn off the backlight)? It's the only reason I still have the Logitech software installed.

XajniN 2y ago
That should be possible without anything. Just use the key to reduce the backlight brightness (Fn+F4 on my MX Mechanical Mini).
- yqiang 2y ago
  Unfortunately you can't seem to seem to turn it completely off on my MX Keys Mini. In the Logitech software there's a toggle to turn the backlight off completely.

lloeki 2y ago

Reminds me of USB Overdrive, a very nice piece of software that also covers e.g gamepads. Got a license back in the day to make some mouse that had a strange always-down button 14 behave. https://www.usboverdrive.com/ https://www.usboverdrive.com/