MiddleDrag

The project follows several key architectural patterns to maintain loose coupling and testability:

• Protocol-Oriented Design: Used extensively for dependency injection (e.g., TouchDeviceProviding).
• Delegate Pattern: Used for loose coupling between components.
• Observer Pattern: Utilizes NotificationCenter for handling preference changes.
• Singleton Pattern: Used for shared managers where appropriate.
• Factory Pattern: Used for device creation within MultitouchFramework.
• Strategy Pattern: Used for configurable gesture recognition logic.

When extending MiddleDrag, determine the appropriate layer for your changes based on the following mapping:

To install without a package manager:

1. Download the latest .pkg installer from the Releases page.
2. Open the installer and follow the prompts.
3. Launch MiddleDrag from your Applications folder.
4. Important: Grant Accessibility permissions when prompted by macOS.

Verify Download Integrity

If you have the GitHub CLI installed, you can verify the cryptographic attestation of the downloaded package:

# Requires GitHub CLI: brew install gh
gh attestation verify ~/Downloads/MiddleDrag-{VERSION}.pkg --repo NullPointerDepressiveDisorder/MiddleDrag

You can install MiddleDrag using macOS package managers. Homebrew is the recommended method.

Homebrew (Recommended)

brew install --cask middledrag

MacPorts

sudo port install MiddleDrag

To build the project locally, ensure you have the necessary build tools installed (e.g., Xcode 16+).

git clone https://github.com/NullPointerDepressiveDisorder/MiddleDrag.git
cd MiddleDrag
./build.sh

Alternatively, you can open MiddleDrag.xcodeproj directly in Xcode.

MiddleDrag runs as a native macOS app in your menu bar (represented by a hand icon). It maps trackpad gestures to middle-mouse actions:

This is useful for:

• Browsers: Opening links in new background tabs or closing tabs.
• Design Tools (Figma, Photoshop): Panning the canvas.
• 3D Software (Blender, Maya): Orbiting and panning viewports.
• Development: Closing editor tabs in VS Code or Sublime Text.

Access settings via the MiddleDrag menu bar icon. Available configurations include:

• Enabled: Toggle gesture recognition on or off.
• Drag Sensitivity: Adjust the cursor speed during a middle-drag (range: 0.5x to 2x).
• Require Exactly 3 Fingers: When enabled, the app will ignore touches involving 4 or more fingers.
• Launch at Login: Automatically start MiddleDrag when macOS boots.

If gestures are not working, follow these steps:

Gestures not working

1. Check Accessibility permissions: Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility and ensure MiddleDrag is enabled.
2. Toggle "Enabled" in the MiddleDrag menu bar.
3. Restart the app.

Gestures stopped working after an update

macOS treats each app version as a new application and may revoke permissions. To fix this:

1. Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
2. Toggle MiddleDrag off then on.
3. Restart MiddleDrag.

Conflicts with system gestures

While designed to coexist with Mission Control and Exposé, pressing down hard on the trackpad may still trigger system gestures. Using "soft taps" instead of physical clicks can help avoid conflicts.

The project provides shell scripts for automation:

• build.sh: Used for local builds.
• bump-version.sh: Used for managing project versioning.

./build.sh
./bump-version.sh