If you remap OPTION+TAB to CMD+TAB, moving mouse while holding OPTION cancels the task selection

[kbirger]

I'm not sure how to describe this any better. I've created a rule like this:

{
                        "description": "alt tab",
                        "manipulators": [
                            {
                                "from": {
                                    "key_code": "tab",
                                    "modifiers": {
                                        "mandatory": [
                                            "option"
                                        ],
                                        "optional": [
                                            "any"
                                        ]
                                    }
                                },
                                "to": [
                                    {
                                        "key_code": "tab",
                                        "modifiers": "command"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "type": "basic"
                            }
                        ]
                    }
}

It is to allow me to use ALT+TAB (mapped to OPTION+TAB) on my Windows (us-101) keyboard instead of CMD+TAB. It works fairly well, but if press ALT+TAB and move my mouse, it cancels the window switcher.

This same behavior happens for other multi-key combinations that involve holding down keys.

[terrywh]

+1

[kbirger]

It kind of seems like Karabiner conflates input devices because in the UI, it looks like some devices may report as having both keyboard and mouse functionality, which is fair enough (bluetooth combo keyboard/touchpad devices? Mice with Macros?), but it almost seems like mouse movement comes in through the same channel and cancels the key-down event

[aklingam7]

I have a Lenovo Bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo that shares a single dongle.
The shortcut cancels when:

1. I move my external mouse while performing the shortcut on the external keyboard
2. I use the trackpad while performing the shortcut on my laptop keyboard
3. I use trackpad when performing the shortcut on the external keyboard
4. I move the mouse when performing the shortcut on my laptop keyboard.

Here's my rule:

      "description": "Ctrl + Tab to Cmd + Tab",
      "manipulators": [
        {
          "from": {
            "key_code": "tab",
            "modifiers": {
              "mandatory": [
                "left_control"
              ]
            }
          },
          "to": [
            {
              "key_code": "tab",
              "modifiers": [
                "left_gui"
              ]
            }
          ],
          "type": "basic"
        }
      ]

[kbirger]

It'd be just lovely to get some acknowledgement of this issue 🤔 . Perhaps if one of the maintainers knows the cause, it would encourage someone else to step up and fix it with a PR.

[Anachrion]

Same problem here.

[sterlu]

Any workaround possible for this?

[ksrb]

Having this issue as well, haven't tried it myself yet, but this thread seems to have some promise #281.

[stale]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[bdalenoord]

I'm still affected by this issue, so the stale label is incorrect.

[d-t-o]

this is basically the same as #2304 which means the first report of this bug is older than two years now, both tickets are still open. so I guess waiting for a fix is a bad idea. may I ask what workarounds or alternatives people have found for their key mapping?

next on my list would be trying to write my mappings into ~/Library/KeyBindings/DefaultKeyBinding.dict and if that doesn't work I'd probably try the hidutil approach, but compared to such an easy solution as karabiner it feels tiresome and clunky :(

[franco-ruggeri]

@d-t-o have you found any workaround?

[d-t-o]

@franco-ruggeri yes, but it's most likely not the reply you want to hear: I use a DefaultKeyBinding.dict, a org.custom.keyboard-remap.plist (one for fixed rebinds (ctrl<->alt), one for combinations(end-key to end-of-line)), a self-defined keyboard layout made with ukelele (to enter such 'complicated' things as '~' or have my '@' on altgr+q) and AltTab from the app store to rebind my window switcher to alt-tab instead of ctrl-tab.

the only mapping I'm using Karabiner for, is remapping ctrl-tab to ctrl-shift-tab as ctrl-tab can't be rebound through other ways as it's reserved for the macos app switcher. since I don't need an app switcher on ctrl-tab if I have a window switcher on alt-tab, I had to free that combination up somehow. Doing this with Karabiner does not trigger the mouse-is-treated-as-input-bug we're talking about in here, but it's way less convenient than it could have been with doing everything in Karabiner.

[krykra7]

@d-t-o Hello, I'm newcomer to macos and I'm trying to achieve what you did, could you please give some resources about editing that dict files?