GoldenChaos-BTT development updates + roadmap

[GoldenChaos]

Happy Apple Event Day, folks! I know it's been quite a while since I've released a new version of GC, and for that I deeply apologize. However, I wanted to let everyone know that I am currently working on the next version of GC and expect to be back to regular updates now

I've got a laundry list of improvements I'm making, but this time I thought it would be a good idea to post my entire current development roadmap. This is honestly as much for myself as it is for you guys, and will help keep me focused as I get back into a good release cadence. I'll keep this roadmap thoroughly updated so you guys always know what I'm working on.

My current plan is to have the next version out within the next few days, basically just in time for Big Sur's final release, so I'm keeping things small to start out. A HUGE thank you to everyone who has been so patient waiting for the next versions of GC - I promise it will be worth it!

(PS - to get myself back into the swing of things I released a mini-project called FacePorts where I used Clockology to port all the faces Apple withholds from 42mm and 38mm watches. Check it out if you've got a Series 2 or Series 3!)

GoldenChaos-BTT Development Roadmap

Last updated on Saturday, March 20th 2021

Development Complete (Launching Soon!)

• Option to disable GC system menu bar item from GC settings window
• Fix AirPods battery display breaking onto two lines
• Fix Things widgets and dock badge not appearing
• Fix Big Sur settings window rendering bugs
• Replace old Boxy dock badge with new Boxy for Gmail dock badge
• Add Boxy for Calendar dock badge
• Add Facebook Messenger dock badge
• Remove dock badges for dead apps: Station, Chatty, Goofy, Caprine, Tumblr

In Progress

• Support for new "Charging on Hold" battery charging state in Big Sur
• "Presets" settings tab for better multi-configuration management

Up Next

• Auto-disable esc and fullscreen keys when on 16" mbp
• Fixes for graphical glitches on 16" MBP
• Option to disable all esc keys
• Option to disable fullscreen key when regular esc key is enabled

Up Second-Next

• Reorder the Home Strip from the GC settings window
• Reorder the Menu Bar from the GC settings window
• Customize/reorder the Control Strip from the GC settings window
• Screensaver button for Control Strip
• Capture Selection button for Control Strip

Backlog (Not Priority Sorted)

• Add slight delay when invoking cmd menu to reduce UI blinking
• Hide True Tone button when on unsupported Mac
• “Native Touch Bar” menu bar button
• PiP button
• Percent-only option for battery widget
• Option to hide date and time
• Option to show seconds on clock
• OmniFocus home strip and modal widgets
• Cloud drive service widgets for home strip and menu bar
• DropOver menu bar item (tap to create new Dropover shelf)
• Rewind/Fast Forward support
• Set custom names for bluetooth quick-connect devices from GC settings window
• Customize large/med/small date formats from GC settings window
• Customize step length for multi-finger gestures from GC settings window
• Switch applicable icons to SF symbols (backwards compatible with Catalina?)

Needs Research

• AirPlay/Sidecar menu bar item
• Sidecar support for AirPlay controls
• Answer/Decline buttons for FaceTime
• Google Docs widget set + menu bar tab
• Spotify add current song to library button
• Edge browser support
• Opera browser support
• Vivaldi browser support
• Brave browser support

[diegoscl]

Microsoft Edge browser support maybe?

And really thanks for your effort... Your work it's amazing and add a lot of value to the touch bar

Kind regards!

[GoldenChaos]

Development update! I know it's been a while - but the next update is just about ready! Lots and lots of cleanup has been happening to make things all shiny and dust-free, particularly for dock badges. Some apps don't exist anymore, a lot of apps have new icons, plus there are some great new apps like the native Facebook Messenger that need dock badges. I also fixed up the Things widgets and settings window rendering issues, and (finally) added the option to disable the GC-BTT menu bar icon.

I'm updating the settings window to introduce a new section as well: Presets! These already existed but kind of sucked and had no explanation. Eventually they'll be less destructive to apply once I figure out how to gracefully keep dock badge configurations when switching presets. Biiiig WiP eventually I would like this tab to not only have more useful presets for different occasions, but also feature a community presets section with peoples' own nominated custom configurations!

I don't want to promise an ETA but this feels pretty close once I get that preset tab looking better it should be good to go.

[GoldenChaos]

One more WiP shot of the Presets tab while I'm at it trying to make this as intuitive as possible, so this will likely continue to get slightly rearranged/expanded...

[GoldenChaos]

Aw yeah, this is coming together any presets people would like to see besides just the three I've got?

[GoldenChaos]

Continuing to come along! I decided to move the Current Preset box to the main tab. I think it'll be useful in teaching people that presets exist! And it also takes the spot of the "Check for Existing Settings" controls. It also changes from blue to yellow depending on whether you're using a preset or your own custom settings! Also: New sidebar style

[GoldenChaos]

Working on the preset selection tab again to polish up the UI. I feel like something I might have to include from the get-go is the ability to restore your previous custom settings so that you can play around with presets nondestructively. Also not sure how I feel about the check mark selection style because I don't use that anywhere else, haha.

[annony]

I love the GoldenChaos Touch Bar and look forward to the new release.

In addition to choosing the Touch Bar badges, I have manually changed a few triggers such as the size of reminder widget and the arrangement of esc/full screen icons. I do not think the new preset tab covers this kind of customization. What is the best way for me to merge my customization with the upcoming release? Can I install two versions of GC-BTT and copy modified triggers/actions over to the newer version? Will there be any conflicts?

[GoldenChaos]

The presets won't ever change your dock badge selections! So if you ever do want to use them, you don't have to worry about that

I recommend copying only the widgets you've edited into your own separate preset. To do this, simply make your personal preset the Master preset and then duplicate the widget you want added to it. The duplicate will automatically be added to whatever the current Master is then disable the GC ones from the GC settings window - this will save your preferences so the GC versions will stay hidden after you upgrade. Just make sure to keep an eye on the release notes to see if I update any of the widgets you've copied!

Additionally, adding more options to esc/fullscreen is up next after this coming release, so please look forward to that!

[GoldenChaos]

Continuing to make progress! This presets feature will pave the way toward a lot more advanced functionality in the future, so I want to make sure it genuinely works from the get-go, and that means being able to save and restore your custom settings without worrying that they'll be accidentally overwritten. So my next step is to build a confirmation dialog box in case you change any settings while a preset is active. It'll alert you that customizing a preset will overwrite any previous custom settings you had saved. But eventually I'll let you save and name multiple configs!

Also I think at this point I have effectively learned javascript lol.

[GoldenChaos]

More progress - been sussing out the logic for these radio buttons. While I've been solving that I did some more Big Sur style updates

[GoldenChaos]

Feels like the home stretch! Got the logic for the radio buttons working, I had to make sure that it wouldn't try to apply the preset again if you clicked on it when it was already selected. I'm pretty sure the only feature left to code is the confirmation dialogs so you can't accidentally overwrite your custom settings. After that, I've gotta finish up the Minimalist preset, polish up the remaining Big Sur styles, take better preset screenshots, and it should be ready to roll!

[GoldenChaos]

Janky screenshot time! These controls will look less ugly soon, haha, but I had to get the UX down first.

I finally figured out a solid first implementation of customizing presets. Whenever you edit an existing preset, more controls will appear for the edited preset that allow you to save the current configuration as the Custom Settings preset. It'll overwrite whatever was previously saved as the Custom Settings. Both the Reset and Save as Custom buttons will have confirmation dialogs to make sure you don't accidentally wipe your settings.

Finally, I came up with cool new names for the Option and Command menus: The Snap Strip and Dock Strip. Since being able to reorder them is coming up...

This might stretch into the weekend since I have some unrelated stuff to take care of tomorrow through Thursday, but if I get the chance to post an update sooner I will!

[Denis_Mercier]

Hello there !
When are you planning on releasing the latest version ?
Cheers!