Flexbar brings again the Contact Bar to your Mac

We lately reported on Flexbar, a venture developed by ENIAC Expertise that brings again the Contact Bar – the controversial (and now discontinued) small contact display applied by Apple on the MacBook Professional keyboard. Though Apple definitely had its causes for discontinuing the Contact Bar, some customers do miss it. I received my arms on a Flexbar unit to see what it’s like to make use of one thing just like the Contact Bar once more.

Revisiting the Contact Bar

In case you don’t bear in mind the Contact Bar, it was launched in 2016 when Apple redesigned the MacBook Professional. The Contact Bar changed the normal operate key row with a contact strip that confirmed particular buttons for every app. The thought sounded nice, however in actuality, many individuals didn’t just like the expertise of interacting with digital buttons on the keyboard.

I owned a MacBook Professional with Contact Bar, and I’ve combined emotions about it. Apple was actually daring to strive one thing completely different – though I don’t suppose customers actually wished or wanted it. Contact Bar felt trendy, and doing issues like selecting emojis or swiping by way of a venture timeline in Closing Lower Professional was actually cool.

However more often than not, Contact Bar was fairly annoying. It had a whole lot of bugs, typically grew to become unresponsive, and only a few apps supported it. Apple ended up discontinuing the Contact Bar in 2021 arguing that “Professional customers love” the “tactile really feel of mechanical keys.” I can’t argue with that, however I additionally suppose there was room for enchancment.

What it’s like to make use of Flexbar

Years later, a gaggle of engineers created Flexbar. It seems extraordinarily just like the Contact Bar, however within the phrases of its creators, it “addressed customers’ frustrations and unlocked a brand new degree of productiveness.”

Flexbar is inbuilt steel for a extra premium look, which matches the design of the Magic Keyboard and different Apple merchandise. The system options an AMOLED touchscreen panel to show content material. The decision is sharp sufficient so that you can see all of the icons and textual content.

Whereas the Contact Bar had a pre-set of controls, Flexbar will be absolutely personalized by way of a companion app. Customers can add shortcuts to open apps, folders, web sites, run scripts, alter the quantity, play a mixture of keys or perhaps a sequence of instructions. It’s also possible to import and export layouts, which is nice for exploring completely different concepts from different customers.

I’ve solely been utilizing Flexbar for just a few days, so I haven’t had time to dig into all of the settings but. I’ve added shortcuts for the apps I take advantage of most, a quantity slider, a button for Kind to Siri, and one other button to lock the display. Flexbar will be configured with a set set of buttons or you may scroll to point out much more buttons. It’s also possible to add extra controls to folders in order that they solely turn out to be seen whenever you want them.

Consider it like a Stream Deck, however with a contact model. Right here, for instance, I’ve additionally created shortcuts to run scripts I take advantage of day-after-day and to open the folder containing the property I take advantage of to edit pictures and movies. And naturally, I created shortcuts with my favourite emojis – that’s one factor I actually missed concerning the Contact Bar.

Extra superior options and third-party plug-ins

Customers can go additional with Flexbar and create extra superior controls. As an illustration, it helps you to save the association of apps on the display, to be able to open all of them of their respective positions with a single faucet. There’s additionally a management for scrolling the display.

What about third-party apps? The engineers have created an SDK for Flexbar in order that apps can present particular interactions. Sadly, the plug-in retailer received’t be accessible till the second half of 2025, so early adopters can be restricted to the built-in controls. This is usually a little bit of a ache because you received’t have issues like a tab switcher in Safari for now.

By the way in which, Flexbar has haptic suggestions for whenever you work together with the controls. The system comes with a magnetic stand to enhance ergonomics whenever you apply it to a desk, and it’s linked to your Mac through a USB-C cable. I’ve seen just a few points, such because the Flexbar not turning off when my Mac goes into sleep mode, however this might simply be a bug since I’m utilizing a prototype with beta software program.

Is Flexbar price it?

Properly, the Flexbar concept is definitely attention-grabbing, particularly for many who miss the Contact Bar. Because it doesn’t intervene along with your bodily keyboard, there’s no trade-off for utilizing it. I actually recognize the Apple-like design, the magnetic stand, the customization choices, and the haptic suggestions. Additionally, it’s good to make use of it in a desktop atmosphere (do not forget that the Contact Bar was once a MacBook factor)

A characteristic request for the engineers: it will be attention-grabbing to see an possibility to copy the native macOS Contact Bar (which continues to be there even in the event you don’t have a Mac with a Contact Bar) on the Flexbar. I’m certain doing this wouldn’t be simple, however I’ve seen just a few folks locally considering exploring this concept. Why not, proper?

The Flexbar was introduced with a Kickstarter marketing campaign and is anticipated to be launched in February 2025. The accent will value $179 at launch, however you may assist the venture and pre-order yours for $149. It really works with Mac and Home windows PCs.

Is it vital product? Most likely not. However for many who like equipment just like the Stream Deck or Logitech’s MX Artistic Console, the Flexbar supplies form of the identical performance however in a way more elegant and trendy design. The SDK for third-party plug-ins additionally makes me tremendous enthusiastic about the way forward for the product.