This is a really quick post on one of the most controversial features Apple has ever released in a product. I’m talking about the Touch Bar on all products in the MacBook Pro line. I have heard very few people express full-throated support for the feature. The vast majority who speak or write about it are either indifferent to it or greatly annoyed by it. Most fall into the latter camp, including me.

Like a lot of people, I initially had some positive things to say about the Touch Bar, especially the accessibility accommodations it came with from the beginning. However, it didn’t take long for me to realize my enthusiasm was misguided. The Touch Bar has never lived up to its mission of replacing the function row with something more useful. That said, if you have a Mac laptop with a Touch Bar, there are ways to make it better. Here are two:

Customize it with built-in tools

One thing Apple did right was allow for Touch Bar customization. It doesn’t go nearly far enough. But it will probably be good enough for most users. If you go to the Keyboard portion of System Preference, under the first tab, you will find the option to customize the control strip at the bottom of the screen. From there, you will be able to put the tool on the Touch Bar you want, while getting rid of the ones you don’t want.

I chose to strip it down to a handful of controls I use regularly. Currently, it looks like this:

I was able to make it look that way by adding a space between each widget. Doing that makes it a lot easier to see the widget and hit the touch target. Just that one simple change transformed the Touch Bar into something useful and enjoyable.

You can do even more. Many apps allow you to customize the Touch Bar on a per app basis. That can be really handy. Even a little customization can make a huge difference in how you feel about the feature. You don’t need to load it down with a ton of buttons. Just pick out the ones you really need and space them out in a way that makes sense to you. Make the Touch Bar yours and you will make it useful.

Better Touch Tool

I just started my free trial of an app called Better Touch Tool. The app was surprisingly hard to find and shockingly hard to use. It is almost like a programing environment. Think of it as a scripting tool for everything you touch on your computer. You can customize the Touch Bar, the trackpad, even the keyboard. When Apple comes out with a touchscreen Mac, I’m sure you will be able to customize that experience as well.

There is a generous 45-day free trial. After that, you can purchase the app for $8.50. That covers 2 years of updates. After that, you can keep using the app with whatever the last update was in that time period. You can also go for a lifetime license for $20.50. That gets you 2 years of access to the developer’s other apps on top of the BTT lifetime license and updates. I have only been tinkering with it for a short time. But I can think of no reason not to buy it.

I wasn’t kidding about the level of difficulty. This app is intense, and will take you some time to get your head around it. But you don’t have to understand all of it before you can use some of it. I now have a much better Touch Bar than what was shipped. Volume up and down is controlled by a two-finger left or right swipe. Brightness is controlled by a three-finger left or right swipe. There is no need to waste Touch Bar space with those buttons. Good riddance!

I also did a bit of customization for my trackpad as well. Clicking the upper-left or right corners while in Safari move me between tabs. Clicking the bottom-right corner starts and stops speech. Globally, a four-finger tap decreases the size of the text. While a four-finger double-tap increases the font. There are gestures you have probably never thought of. Apple has not come close to maxing out what the trackpad can do. You can max it out with Better Touch Tool. As a nice bonus, those gestures transfer to your Magic Trackpad if you happen to have one connected.

Conclusion: Take matters into your own hands

Stop sitting around waiting for Apple to do something useful with the Touch Bar. They gave us an incomplete tool that they seem to have lost interest in. Even so, they gave you enough to do some customization and make it yours. The same is true for the trackpad.

If that is not enough for you, get a better touch tool from a third-party developer. They are doing what Apple didn’t. They are giving you the full power of the Touch Bar and trackpad that you deserve. You could write another whiny post about how you hate the Touch Bar. Or you could take matters into your own hands and make it a valuable part of your workflow.

I suspect the Touch Bar will not make the trip to the new Apple Silicon Macs. Till then, don’t let the Touch Bar be something you barely tolerate. Make it something you love.

David Johnson