Removing Mouse Acceleration OSX

Level 6

17,782 points

Dec 8, 2010 3:39 PM in response to Aaaaaack!

Because there is little apparent demand for this (tens of millions of Mac in use & relatively few complaints about mouse behavior) it would be a good idea to contact those developers directly, letting them know you are interested in an alternate driver & what features you would like to see it offer. It really can make a big difference if developers know what users want.

Alternately, you might check out some of the third party mouses & mouse-alternatives. Many have drivers that offer more control over pointer characteristics.

Reply

baltwo

Level 9

62,374 points

Dec 8, 2010 5:37 PM in response to R C-R

In addition to feedback, if you want to report this issue to Apple's engineering, send a bug report or an enhancement request via its Bug Reporter system. To do this, join the Mac Developer Program—it's free and available for all Mac users and gets you a look at some development software. Since you already have an Apple username/ID, use that. Once a member, go to Apple BugReporter and file your bug report or enhancement request. The nice thing with this procedure is that you get a response and a follow-up number; thus, starting a dialog with engineering.

BTW, since I've been using mice and trackballs w/computers for almost 35 years and have no sense of what the issue is, but then I don't run windoze boxes or gaming consoles. I currently have all of my mouse settings at Fast and my 27" display set to 2560 x 1440—these 70-year old hands and eyes have no issues with mouse tracking or acceleration.

Reply

cheeseb

Level 1

28 points

Dec 9, 2010 4:24 AM in response to lomis1

I am close to releasing an application I call "Cursor Noodge." It uses a global hotkey to remove acceleration. This is, I believe, equivalent to the leftmost setting in the "Tracking Speed" slider in the Mouse and Trackpad panes of System Preferences. I think this isn't exactly what you're looking for, but watch for it just in case. It will appear within the next month or so at . It includes a bunch of other bells and whistles relating to the cursor systemwide, all aimed at the problem many people have when trying to position the pointer very precisely onscreen. It is also intended, in part, to assist people with motor control disabilities.

Reply

azpc

Level 1

10 points

Dec 11, 2010 9:35 PM in response to R C-R

In the last two years over 20% of my client base has moved to the mac. The number one complaint I get by far is the mouse movement.

I can't think of one client who likes the mouse movement on their new Macs.

They constantly complain to me that something is just not right on their new computer. Of course, I don't like having unhappy clients, therefore, I have been trying to get Apple to provide a few more settings so the user can adjust the tracking speed and the acceleration rate.

My clients and myself I might add, would like a faster tracking speed without upping the acceleration. Mouse Zoom and others seem to up the low end speed just slightly but really increase the acceleration. On a 27 inch screen the Magic Mouse has to be jerked to move the full vertical length otherwise I run out of mousepad.

I have been on the Mac platform for two years now and this is by far the biggest complaint I have about the platform. If Apple fixes this issue, I will be tempted to purchase a 17 inch MacBook Pro to go along with my iMac and iPad.

Reply

Dec 11, 2010 11:08 PM in response to lomis1

This is a really annoying "feature". The OSX track pad is great for browsing the web and so on.

However I also play video games like Starcraft 2. The mouse acceleration is incredibly annoying in any kind of gaming situation and I would much rather be able to not have it. I also wish Apple would go ahead and allow faster then 125 hz polling, as most gaming mice have 500 hz polling. If you can drop $1800 on a laptop I doubt you are going to drop $7 on a mouse, you would probably get a gaming mouse of a high end mouse if you were going to get a mouse at all, because the track pad is great for most every day uses. So Apple should support these mice and allow them to be used properly.

Reply

Dec 11, 2010 11:13 PM in response to xfiregrunt

Also with Steam now on the MAC + Blizzard games that have been on the MAC in the past (and SC2 finally works at about the same performance level as Windows) I don't think this is a "minority" issue. The MBP15 can be used for games, but it is annoying how your gaming mouse is handicapped and has super annoying acceleration when used in OSX. Also its annoying how the mouse can't have a 500 HZ response rate, I mean who buys a bad mouse when they drop $1800 on a computer.

I would say most gamers dislike acelleration as they have high DPI settings so they don't have to worry about it. For some reason my mouse at 2000 DPI is super stuttery and laggy and doesn't work at all like it does in Windows (Logitech G5)

Reply

R C-R

Level 6

17,782 points

Dec 11, 2010 11:22 PM in response to azpc

azpc wrote:
Of course, I don't like having unhappy clients, therefore, I have been trying to get Apple to provide a few more settings so the user can adjust the tracking speed and the acceleration rate.

What settings specifically would you like to see added? If you increase "tracking speed" (presumably you mean increasing pointer sensitivity to how far the mouse is moved), then it becomes more difficult to position the pointer precisely, even if you move the mouse very slowly. Apple's control maintains relatively low pointer sensitivity for small mouse movements at all settings for this reason.

To transverse large screen distances without sacrificing pointer precision or having to stroke the mouse repeatedly on the mousepad, Apple's "tracking speed" control primarily increases sensitivity to mouse speed. "Acceleration" is a bit of a misnomer. The control primarily changes the sensitivity to mouse speed, not how fast the speed changes, which would be acceleration sensitivity. (There is a small amount of what could be called negative acceleration sensitivity built into the driver. This prevents pointer position change inputs faster than the OS can service at very high mouse speeds, which would result in mistracking.)

The technique that works best for most Mac users is to start moving the mouse quickly in the general direction of the target & slow down as it is approached, so that the high precision/low distance sensitivity part of the response is used for final pointer positioning. Granted, it may take some time to get used to this & develop the "muscle memory" required, but once mastered it results in a very quick & efficient "mousing" interface (& one that reduces repetitive stress injuries).

But what does not work at all well is tentative, slow movements of the mouse when large screen distances need to be transversed. I have noticed this problem with many new users. Many set the control to a low setting because they say they are afraid they will not be able to position the pointer accurately at higher ones. It seems counter-intuitive to many of them that a higher setting would maintain precision & they resist suggestions to try them. But I often notice that a few months later many of them have upped the setting & have become very adroit mouse users that no longer even consciously think about the movements they make.

I don't know if this is the problem with any of your clients but it might be worth checking out.

Reply

bakerjuk

Level 1

0 points

Jan 19, 2011 4:05 PM in response to R C-R

R C -R

You make some very valid points, however you are stating things like they are fact. Here are some real facts.

1) People that use Macs range from 5 years to 100 years old. They are not all the same as you. My Gran moves the mouse so slowly she would ever hit the acceleration curve, My 5 yr old nephew cant control the mouse properly anyway. There are DTP users, graphics users, casual gamers and hardcore gamers.
2) Just because you believe something and it suits you doesnt mean it will suit everyone. See above.
3) It should not be up to Apple to decide how people want their mouse to behave, and its certainly should not be up to you or I. Apple need to understand that they don't know best, the end user does.

How about we all just agree there should be a range of settings that a user (who paid a shed load of money for what is branded as a quality/premium productivity enhancing product) to adjust to their personal taste whatever those may be. After all, the number on device you use is the mouse.

I personally have no belief Apple will listen to the users, mainly because researching has shown this to be a problem for a number of releases and the Fanboi's on here who say anything Apple is perfect and undermine any possible improvements.

I really don't care who made it, nor which is better Apple or MS. Currently my Mac is bordering on just being a very expensive pretty black box on my desk as I simply cant stand fighting with the mouse.

Reply

Feb 8, 2011 9:54 AM in response to lomis1

The mouse acceleration on OSX is very very annoying, is my only complain about OSX.
I have alot of friends with windows and sometimes they need to search something on my mac, and everyone who use my Magic Mouse ask me what is wrong with my mouse.

I really hope Apple fix or add more option to the mouse on Lion.

PS: Sorry for my english

Reply

Feb 17, 2011 6:14 AM in response to jfredsilva

I think people are getting slightly confused.

If you are using a Macbook with a trackpad, you get the tracking option and the choice to somewhat alter the settings to a degree.

If you have an iMac with a MagicMouse, you are stuck with mouse acceleration.

Ever tried playing a game or using photoshop with mouse acceleration? Its pretty much impossible

Reply

OptPrime

Level 1

0 points

Apr 24, 2011 3:30 PM in response to lomis1

Apple needs to fix this problem. The largest growing consumer base for OS X are migrators from Windows. While most of them will acknowledge the superiority of the OS X operating system over Windows, I simply cannot imagine anyone saying that OS X's mouse movement feels better than Windows.

I'm quite frankly becoming annoyed at the uncaring attitude portrayed by native Mac users. Clearly the message seems to be: "it doesn't bother me, so it shouldn't bother you".

I've submitted a request to Apple's developers. For a premium machine, I shouldn't have to rely on independent third-party utilities to adjust something so miniscule as mouse movement.

Reply

red_menace

Level 6

17,054 points

Apr 24, 2011 4:16 PM in response to OptPrime

Apple tends to design software based around the primary needs of the majority of users. Implementing every feature that anyone thinks should be included would lead to feature bloat and increased complexity which only benefits a small number of users. Simplicity and consistency tend to win over trying to match everything that others do.

Apple is more than willing to let third-party developers provide hacks tools or features that specialized users may want, so rather than continually making comments about things that no one here can do anything about, providing feedback directly to Apple (or writing your own driver) is the thing to do.

Reply

Chris CA

Level 10

82,476 points

Apr 24, 2011 4:24 PM in response to OptPrime

"Apple needs to fix this problem."

It's not problem in that it works exactly like it's supposed to.

It may not work like you want it to but it's not broken.

Reply

OptPrime

Level 1

0 points

Apr 25, 2011 10:13 PM in response to red_menace

You can resort to sarcasm by calling tools (hacks?) that fixes this problem a hack all you want but I will have to disagree with you that the majority of users find the current acceleration curve "user friendly". Well, you might be right, but again, current Windows users are the largest targeted market segment. We'll see about "majority".

Also, I've clearly indicated that I have provided feedback directly to Apple.

Reply

OptPrime

Level 1

0 points

Apr 25, 2011 10:15 PM in response to Chris CA

Chris CA:

Actually, it is broken. Your comment may be true if I was the only one complaining but clearly, I'm not. You might enjoy the current acceleration curve but there are others that do not. Hence, the curve is broken to the latter. All we're asking for is something simple. Give the end-user the ability to modify the acceleration curve.

Reply