Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, Freeware
MagicPrefs is a must download for Magic Mouse owners
We know the Magic Mouse is selling well. I was one of the many who was pretty excited when I heard about it and grabbed one the first week it was out. When I actually went to use it, however, it was a major downer. On my Mac Pro the tracking was erratic, slow, and pretty unusable. I wasn't the only person reporting this. I put the mouse on my shelf of forgotten tech until a friend told me about MagicPrefs.MagicPrefs is a free utility that runs from your menu bar and fixes the problems some Mac Pros had with the Magic Mouse.
This app goes way beyond fixing the tracking speed. This little utility allows you to assign actions to two, three and 4 finger clicks. Also to one, two, three and four finger taps. You can define two and three finger swipes for left, right, up and down. You can even define drag and pinch movements on the surface of the mouse. Pre-defined actions include control of Spaces, Dashboard, Expose, Quicklook and many others. You can create, load and save presets as well. Some of the gestures are a bit difficult and take some practice, and the app warns you which ones might be tricky. There is even a real time display on the app that lets you test different combinations of motions to see how they will work. For people who have a Magic Mouse that works great, you will love the power of this app. If yours was a dog with your Apple hardware, this app may fix all that.
The developer says the app will eventually wind up as a preference pane, and that it will always remain free.
The app requires OS X 10.5 or above. The price is very, very right, and the app fixes a lot of the weaknesses in the Magic Mouse. I say, go for it, and let us know in comments how it works for you.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
julian said 6:25PM on 12-31-2009
what about gestures?
someone talked about them recently on the blog
Gestures allows you to edit the trackpad too
which is kind of neat
this however, looks a lot cleaner
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Cowicide said 7:19PM on 12-31-2009
I hope the dev with xGestures gets the magic mouse and take a long, hard look at the two working together. It would be amazing.
Now, I just wish Apple would come out with another version of the magic mouse that has a higher, more ergonomic arch to it! I don't care if it makes it look less sleek or "fat"... fatten that puppy up and make it more comfortable!
julian said 9:46PM on 12-31-2009
ah i actually meant "bettertouchtool"
krazirob said 1:52PM on 2-07-2010
i like this app but when i program the mouse to do specific things such as the swipe down and up function to move web pages down or up it doesent work. I have tried everything from load the presets that i programmed but still doesent seem to work. The app works though cause when i change the mouse speed and what not it does work outside the app.
please someone tell me if im doing something wrong......
Rob
leniamonio said 5:02AM on 3-17-2010
I personally use BetterTouchTool - found MagicPrefs to be a bit slow to recognise gestures - it also didn't include the ability to control iTunes directly with gestures (play/pause/previous/next).
Another alternative is MouseWizard, although it isn't free... Opinions: http://bit.ly/magic-mouse-impressions
Chad said 6:27PM on 12-31-2009
Oooooh this may seal the deal. I like the idea of the magic mouse but I was disappointed it only supports two buttons. I use middle click all the time, mostly for open link in new window clicks.
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Dan Woods said 6:27PM on 12-31-2009
I *so* want these features but don't want to install 3rd-party drivers for an Apple Product.
My primary concern is how will this affect my MultiTouch Trackpad? Secondary concerns relate to what will happen when Apple release their own version of these features?
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valexa said 6:35PM on 12-31-2009
You should check out the FAQ on magicprefs.com for your concerns.
I truly hope and suspect Apple will add features like this at some point it the future i have a lot more in store for MagicPrefs than what Apple will be willing to add.
Michael said 10:08PM on 1-03-2010
I have tried both the magicpref app and the mouse wizard app and even though the magicpref gives you more choses the mouse wizard is easier to use for me. The mouse wizard does cost money, but only $2.50 after you down load it and use it for 10 days. I like both, but I do not need a lot of gestures to get me where I want to go so mouse wizard does the job. Try them both and see which one you prefer.
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Dave said 6:44PM on 12-31-2009
Having it rest in the menu bar is a deal breaker. I like to keep my menu bar clean of icons except those that I need regularly (wifi, battery and volume).
Until then, I may try BetterTouchTool (http://blog.boastr.net/). People in the forums on MacRumors seem to believe it's a better program anyway.
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Vohaul79 said 7:07PM on 12-31-2009
Better Touch Tool is fantastic. As to which is better Im not sure, though BTT's latest release has the ability to only have it in the prefernces pain instead of in the menu bar.
BTT is also Mouse / Trackpad, where as I think this ones just Mouse specific. Magic Pref's may be more clear / straightforward / to the point in that way I guess where BTT can be information overload at first.
BTT made my Magic Mouse go from unusable to absolutely love it. (I use triple click for expose, have faster tracking which stock killed me on my 27" i7, and have 3 finger down swipe for "desktop").
Vohaul79 said 7:11PM on 12-31-2009
Also, for those who use design programs like Illustrator and Photoshop, single finger scrolling was absolutely killing me. You could accidentally bump the top of your mouse and in those apps (or in BBEDIT while programming) your screen would go flying. Very annoying and a deal breaker for design work.
BTT lets you turn off single finger scrolling...I use 2 finger scrolling which offers much more control and less accidental scrolling mishaps while working.
Apples lack of an expose button / click on the Magic Mouse was mind boggling. In fact, Apples lack of customization period and terribly slow scrolling were horrible oversights to what whith these 3rd party programs is such a terrific mouse.
mikeylee said 6:50PM on 12-31-2009
I use Magicprefs with my 3 week old Magic Mouse. I have an older white C2D 24" iMac and it all works well. I wish the upped the tracking speed a little more because I have a lot of hand movement moving across the screen. BUT, ti is much better than what Apple software does. I tried several Magic Mouse "enhancements," and Magicprefs is by far the best. I hope this helps some fence sitters. Oh yea, customizing gestures and clicks is a piece of cake and the work well...even with my big ol' kludgy hands. and
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taxbax said 7:02PM on 12-31-2009
I have been a user of abettertouchtool back when it was first multiclutch of the trackpad. It has been in open development since the magic mouse came out and i wouldn't be surprised if we found out that this program had grabbed some code from it. While this looks like a nice GUI I will stick with the original BetterTouchTool since I expect better and even more fine grain control since it is only at version .4x
For example, Better Touch Tool even allows you to define where exactaly the left side of the mouse ends and the right begins as well as allowing you to disregard a user defined amount of distance from the edge of the mouse.
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Vohaul79 said 7:15PM on 12-31-2009
I think BTT is by far the more robust program. You can literally overhaul the entire mouse, and as you say, even adjust where the touch areas are etc. Very Cool IMO, completely saved my butt as I forgot my normal mouse over xmas break, and struggled to use the MM before BTT came along.
Anyone on the fence, I suggest using Better Touch Tool. Its fantastic and totally changed my opinion of this mouse. Also allows it to be a pref pain instead of a menu bar item...So all in all its more feature packed / better integrated than the one the author is talking about.
Tacoman said 7:06PM on 12-31-2009
I use BetterTouchTool. It has a lot of the same features and it also works nicely with the multitouch trackpad.
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iest said 7:07PM on 12-31-2009
I personally use BetterTouchTool - found MagicPrefs to be a bit slow to recognise gestures - it also didn't include the ability to control iTunes directly with gestures (play/pause/previous/next).
Another alternative is MouseWizard, although it isn't free...
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Danny B goode said 7:09PM on 12-31-2009
Oh sweet i might pick Magic Mouse up.
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Vohaul79 said 7:18PM on 12-31-2009
Heres hoping everyone sees the link to Better Touch Tool. Its a better product and should be the one mentioned in this article. Maybe TUAW could write an article mentioning this as well since it deserves it.
http://blog.boastr.net/
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Cowicide said 7:21PM on 12-31-2009
Hey, does anyone know if you can click and hold where the scrolling happens? Wouldn't that be a middle-mouse button click like you can do with most scroll wheels?
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