I like the sound of all that. > On 28 Oct 2016, at 21:38, Mary Otten <motte...@gmail.com> wrote: > > I thought some might be interested in this article with more details on the > new Touch Bar. > Mary > New MacBook Pro Touch Bar details: UI interactions, screen specs, Control > Strip, and how third party apps can use it > 9to5Mac / Benjamin Mayo > > > The flagship feature of the new MacBook Pro is the Touch Bar, an OLED display > strip that replaces the physical row of function keys. This adds a dynamic > zone to top of the keyboard where apps can display custom buttons, sliders, > switches and scrubbers to enhance the MacBook experience while adding a new > way to interact with Mac applications beyond text input and mouse pointers. > > How does the Touch Bar interface work? What is the resolution of the Touch > Bar? What is the Control Strip? What can third-party developers do with the > Touch Bar? Read on for all the answers and more … > > > First things first, the Touch Bar is exclusive to the higher-end 13-inch and > 15-inch MacBook Pro models. If you want the Touch Bar, you must have a new > MacBook Pro. > > And right now, those models are on one-month backorder so this requires a bit > of imagination. Assuming you unwrap a MacBook Pro for the first time, how > exactly does the Touch Bar interface work in practice? > > General Interface and Control Strip > > > > The Touch Bar offers quick access to functions provided by applications and > by the system. The main interface is split into three distinct sections: the > area for app controls, the Control Strip and a system button. The system > button is controlled by macOS Sierra and displays a Cancel, Done or virtual > ‘esc’ key where necessary. It may be the death of the physical esc key but > the operating system guarantees that a virtual button will always be > available. > > In the middle is the ‘app region’ which is controlled by the currently active > app (the one whose name is displayed on the menu bar). If you are on the > desktop, this is just going to be a blank space. When you click into an app > or select a file, it will light up with contextual buttons and actions. > > > > What about the media keys and brightness controls? These are contained within > the Control Strip. This is another element controlled by the system and it is > a persistent tray on the right hand side with buttons to access sliders for > brightness and volume, mute and Siri. This tray is expandable (or > collapsible) so you can dedicate more screen real estate of the Touch Bar to > app content if you want to. If you hold down the function key, the Touch Bar > transforms into a virtual set of normal function keys. This behavior is > configurable in the preferences. > > Touch Bar Tech Specs > > The Touch Bar is a 10-point multitouch touch screen located above the > keyboard, replacing the function keys on existing Mac keyboards. It’s also > the same approximate physical size as the row of keys it replaces, a skinny > height rectangle spanning the full width of the keyboard. In technical terms, > the display is 2170×60 pixels. Details on what drives the Touch Bar are not > entirely clear but Apple says it has a custom T1 chip to power the Touch ID > and Apple Pay features (it seems like the T1 is actually a mini Apple Watch > SoC.) > > The Touch Bar is a @2x Retina display, which makes an effective screen > resolution of 1085 x 30 points for content display. Essentially, there is no > meaningful concept of a Y-axis when interacting with display — controls > always take up the full height. The display also supports a P3 wide color > space, just like the primary MacBook Pro display and the new iPhone 7. This > means apps can make buttons appear on the Touch Bar with strikingly vibrant > and saturated colors. > > Developer API > > The Touch Bar is supported by a comprehensive API for third-party developers > to add rich controls and interface elements for their apps, in the same way > Apple has done for its own stock apps like Safari and Mail. Typically, > initial iterations of third-party developer integration from Apple are > limited and simplified, and then slowly expand in capability with future > versions. The Touch Bar API is not that, its first version features a very > detailed, customizable and intricate set of APIs. > > > > Developers have full control over what buttons and views they want to show > and how the buttons are displayed. Apple includes a handful of template > controls for consistency between apps but the API enables developers to > create truly-unique controls for their individual needs as well. The main > constraint is that the Touch Bar is very skinny and UI can only be shown in a > single horizontal row (side scrolling is possible). > > Developers can display pretty much whatever they want whilst their app is in > the foreground; this includes swapping out views and buttons depending on the > current window of their app (a compose window necessitates different Touch > Bar accessory views than the inbox window). However, the Touch Bar does not > allow persistent widgets, status items or similar features like > always-visible news tickers. These constraints are unlikely to be lifted > either; Apple is imposing the restriction so that the UI under the user’s > finger isn’t constantly changing due to spurious notifications or text > messages. > > Apple wants the bar to display peaceful relatively-static UI based on the > current task. Major changes to the Bar should only happen when the > application state drastically changes, such as opening a new tab or beginning > a new modal activity. To repeat: once an app’s window is not active, it loses > its control to influence what is shown on the Bar. The system Control Strip > sits to the right in a collapsed state by default, but can be disabled > entirely in System Preferences if desired. > > The API also allows developers to make more controls than they might want to > show at any one time, enabling users to customise their toolbar layouts with > options and commands that are most interesting and relevant to them. > > Touch Bar Controls > > > > Apple allows apps to make custom views to display unique content but it > provides a rich set of base elements too. Here’s a look at the Apple stock > controls, to give an idea about what kind of interactions are possible. There > are buttons, toggles, multi-option collapsible pickers, segmented controls > and sliders. > > There is also the concept of popovers which temporarily swap out the toolbar > with a modal view. For instance, the emoji picker is a character viewer modal > view — a scrolling list of emoji symbols. Apple also has a color picker modal > to select colors from a rainbow spectrum strip. > > > > Combining all of these elements together creates the rich interactions. Marc > Edwards produced a nice image showing a plethora of Touch Bar states for apps > that Apple showed in the keynote itself, showing how all the controls come > together to customize the experience for every app. Microsoft also showed > some good examples of using the Touch Bar with the Office suite, where the > buttons naturally gel with Office iconography and tools. > > Design Guidelines > > Although Apple cannot enforce Mac apps outside of the App Store to comply > with any guidelines, it is providing documentation to encourage good practice > and consistent experiences. The design documentation is comprehensive and can > be read in full here if you are interested. In summary, the Touch Bar should > feel as responsive as an iPhone to the touch and blend in with the rest of > the keyboard as much as possible. The OLED display provides incredibly high > contrast to make the black backgrounds of the bar mirror the black physical > keys. > > The display supports wide color but Apple is generally discouraging the use > of bright colors and imagery apart from where it is essential … although > Apple isn’t exactly leading by example here with the Siri button. > > I wish Apple would stop insisting the Siri icon on the Mac has to be > full-colour when all the icons around it are monochrome glyphs. > pic.twitter.com/SXraaXM4B1 > > — Benjamin Mayo (@bzamayo) October 28, 2016 > > > Another interesting point is that the Touch Bar should not be the only place > to be able to perform a feature of an app. In fact, developers don’t get to > know if the Touch Bar is present or in use at all. What this means is that > the Mac app toolbars and controls visible on the primary display will not > change in the presence of the toolbar. > > The reason behind this decision is the simple fact that the Touch Bar is not > available on most Macs or external keyboards so it can’t be a mandatory part > of the experience. Apple is positioning the Touch Bar as an additive > improvement, a bit like 3D Touch Peek & Pop on the iPhone. > > In the same way, Apple is discouraging duplication of functionality where > possible; they don’t want developers to show things just for the sake of it. > The guidelines also say to avoid showing ‘well-known’ keyboard shortcuts like > cut/copy/paste as it’s assumed everyone will still want to do basic shortcuts > like that ‘the old way’ using Cmd+X, Cmd+C, and Cmd+V. > > Summary > > In summary, Apple has introduced a very powerful Touch Bar in its first > iteration with comprehensive developer integration for the currently-focused > app. > > The Touch Bar is really interesting but time will tell if it becomes an > essential part of the Mac, so much that you would miss it if it wasn’t there. > Customers will start getting their hands on the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar in > the next couple of weeks, as the products are already backordered around the > world. What do you think of Apple’s latest interface innovation? Let us know > your impressions of the Touch Bar in the comments below. > > Guides > > MacBook > > > View THe Guide > MacBook Pro > > > Apple's high-performance laptop line was introduced in 2006 and was the first > laptop of Apple's lineup to have an Intel chip. The pro lineup were also the > first to get backlit keyboards, unibody aluminum construction, and the > combined, glass, trackpad. > > View THe Guide > MacBook Pro (2016) > > > Apple is rumored to debut a new MacBook Pro in late 2016 > > View THe Guide > > > Original Article: > https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/28/new-macbook-pro-touch-bar-details-ui-interactions-screen-specs-control-strip-and-how-third-party-apps-can-use-it/ > > > Sent from my iPhone > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the Mac Visionaries > list. > > If you have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if > you feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or > moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. > > Your Mac Visionaries list moderator is Mark Taylor. 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