Touch Bar: Let Modifiers act as actual Modifiers! (Without making a button sets...)

Feature Requests
1

On my touch bar, I have F1 through F19 (I use 'em all!), along with a Group that opens a numeric keypad equivalent:

BTT_Sample
BTT_Sample.jpg1600×713 93.3 KB

For various apps that I use (Keyboard Maestro, Blender, After Effects) I frequently use modifier keys with F-keys and Numpad keys to perform different operations.

I don't have any Ctrl/Opt/Shift/Cmd buttons enabled on the BTT touch bar, so if I press Ctrl, Opt, etc, I see the same buttons on the touch bar. However, if I press Ctrl and F12, BTT returns F12 (withOUT the Ctrl modifier).

I know that I can program this manually for each modifier key, but F1-F19 plus Numpads (14 buttons for me) requires 33 custom buttons. If I have to do this for each of the 4 modifiers as well, that's 165 buttons to program! I also have some ctrl+opt F-key hotkeys that I use, which makes this even more messy.

It seems evident that there should be a way to disable the "Modifier Key Based Visibility" option, and instead have BTT simply treat the modifiers as, well, MODIFIERS with the base-set buttons.

I know this is not an effective option for a lot of BTT users, but just in my own circle I know a handful of people who complain that they don't have full F-key and Numpad usability with their touch bar laptop. The default Apple layout function-key allows for modifier keys, but it only goes up to F12, and doesn't provide any Numpad features. BTT is the closest app I know to bring this back, if only we can have modifiers without breaking our fingers programming a bunch of [nearly] redundant buttons.

2

Hi Benu, I have a similar problem, did you manage to solve it?
I'm giving Photoshop Actions a Shortcut key but if I try to enable "shift key down" then "F13" then "shift key up" it only returns F13, so the Modifier keys don't also seem to work in a program.

It's amazing how quickly you run out of Function keys if you can only use up to F12.

Hope you've found a solution.

3

I'd like to have solution too. I also want to have:

F1 F2 F3 ... F10
small and nice one shaped in BTT by me,
but also modifier keys to be sent with that key together (Shift+ ...) so for example sometimes F1 from touchbar will be F1 and sometimes Shift+F1 if I need.

But for now BTT sends F1 anyway ignoring any modifiers I am holding on my keyboard. Yes, Native MacOS Fn keys on touchbar works with modifiers.

extra reference: another older thread on the GitHub: https://github.com/folivoraAI/BetterTouchTool/issues/2535

4

Hi, does any of you have found a solution? I'd like to have this feature as well.

@Andreas_Hegenberg, any ideas?

5

It is possible to create different sets of function keys with modifiers. The only problem is: we have to make 2^4 = 16 sets of buttons for all function keys. If one set is from F1 to F19 = 19 keys, we have to make 16 x 19 = 304 touchbar buttons.

6

Is there another fix for this?