Filed under: Hardware, Software, Video, Odds and ends
A little kinetic scrolling with Smart Scroll X
We've actually posted about Smart Scroll before, but the video is a pretty good demonstration of what's happening here. I'm not quite sure this is something Apple will want to implement in the OS, however -- it feels right enough on the iPhone, but I kind of like that my scroll wheel stops when I tell it to. If you'd rather have the iPhone experience on your usual Mac, however, the app is available as a free trial, or a complete license for $19.
[Via Nathan M]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5cents said 1:39PM on 2-29-2008
Uses Unsanity's APE? Eyuck?
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Carver said 2:03PM on 2-29-2008
Good point, didn't realize that until after I installed it and it didn't work. APE pretty much sucks.....
Macfan said 1:47PM on 2-29-2008
I love smart scroll x. Once you get used to it, it's actually very useful. Plus, you can set it to go back to normal scrolling when caps lock is down, which I use when editing photos (all that scrolling around isn't always a good thing). Still, it's great for web browsing, itunes, etc.
Make sure you save your registration number though, when it's upgraded it sometimes loses it (if memory serves me).
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robogobo said 1:56PM on 2-29-2008
I agree. $19 is just too much. $9, I'd take it. It's amazing to me how developers of little nonessential utilities like this get too greedy and price most people out. They'd make so much more money if they lowered the price.
I still look for ways to make a $5 little utility that everyone will want. Still haven't found it.
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Paul Whitelock said 2:20PM on 2-29-2008
You can get the same effect without software using the Logitech VX Nano mouse. If you spin the scroll wheel it will "coast" to a stop. The difference is that you can put your finger on the scroll wheel to stop the scrolling (as opposed to scrolling that continues until the software decides it's time for the scroll to end). It's very nice for quickly navigating long documents. If you click the scroll wheel it will revert to a "ratchet" mode which is similar to conventional mouse wheel scrolling (I always use the freewheel mode myself).
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Adam said 2:48PM on 2-29-2008
ouch, I didn't know about the APE.
I used this to set up my Logitech Trackball mouse for bi-directional scrolling using the Large Rollerball.
It was absolutely fantastic in Safari, but didn't work at all in iTunes.
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MarkF said 2:50PM on 2-29-2008
I agree with the poster... Not enough control. Needs to work like Scrollability did for OS 9 or Maximice did for OS X for this to be actually usefull enough for reading sites and documents. Then I would very gladly pay 20 bucks for this.
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lakiolen said 3:19PM on 2-29-2008
"Apple has already stolen the multitouch interface from the iPhone for the MacBook Air and the new MacBooks"
MacBooks? I'm surprised a site dedicated to Apple would confuse MacBooks and MacBook Pros, too many people do that already.
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Chris Nelson said 3:38PM on 2-29-2008
I installed it on a brand new Macbook Pro. It was the only 3rd party app on the machine. I was scrolling thru a document, and the puter froze requiring hard reset. I uninstalled the scrolling sw, and reset vram. No freezes since.
Richard. said 3:52PM on 2-29-2008
wow, used this for 20 minutes and all my memory was used up.... there's a hugh leak!
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Reggie said 4:26PM on 2-29-2008
On Firefox, just install this plug-in. Same thing: http://grabanddrag.mozdev.org/index.html
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Joid said 5:53PM on 2-29-2008
BTW this function already exists. When I scroll horizontally in iTunes' coverflow I see the same effect.
So I think this kinetic scrolling was 'stolen' by the iPhone, and not the other way around. (-:
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Ben said 6:21PM on 2-29-2008
I'll stick with my Logitech VX Revolution... With the frictionless scrolling, you have hardware control over pretty much the same thing. I feel like this feature would be weird with a mighty mouse. Might be cool for the two finger scrolling though.
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niclet said 12:09AM on 3-01-2008
Thanks for the cue. I just used it for a couple of hours now and I adopted it. It's smooth even on my PowerBook G4 and work well with the "two fingers" trackpad scrolling.
I looked in the Activity Monitor for the "memory leak" described here by Richard but it seems to only take 5,27 Mb of memory (compare to 366,21 Mb for Safari), no big deal here for me.
Sure, I also think that the downside is the price but since I finally can scroll FileMaker Pro's [6] windows with this app, in some ways I'll save $ by not buying the last FMP release to solve this.
Yep! a keeper.
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accolon said 6:35AM on 3-01-2008
Well, I tried the demo version, and while it's a nice thing in Safari, scrolling with my MBP touch pad stops to work in quite a few other applications. With Smart Scroll X enabled, scrolling doesn't work in Adobe Acrobat or MS Remote Desktop Client. After disabling it, I can use the two finger scrolling again.
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Steven said 6:35PM on 3-03-2008
I don't know how to explain it clearly but it's not quite there for me. It coasts a bit too much and as a consequence I don't feel like I have complete control when scrolling through pages.
Also, like others have said, until Smart Scroll works in every application you use i.e consistency, its not gonna be worth it I'm afraid.
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Siyn said 9:25AM on 3-03-2008
For when you DO want to coast/flick this works great - pretty much exactly the same as the iPhone. But I still need it to work like it did before I installed Smart Scroll X too i.e. without coasting all the time. Until they can find a way to do that, and lower the obscene cost, I won't be using this unfortunately.
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Siyn said 9:25AM on 3-03-2008
For when you DO want to coast/flick this works great - pretty much exactly the same as the iPhone. But I still need it to work like it did before I installed Smart Scroll X too i.e. without coasting all the time. Until they can find a way to do that, and lower the obscene cost, I won't be using this unfortunately.
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