Since the arrival of ARM-based Mac (M1… M3…) and the system macOS 11 Big Sur, Weather4D Routing & Navigation works natively on our favorite computers (¹). But this happy event did not go, since then, without some small restrictions. The most annoying for users was, until this day, loss of distance calculation. This is carried out on touch devices by a two-finger long press, no function allowed the translation of this gesture on Mac. The mouse only has one pointer, not two !
With the publication of macOS 14 Sonoma, what was my surprise, thanks to an experienced user, discover the presence of a new alternative function, without any lines of code having been added by the developer…
The app once opened displays the classic menu bar that tops all Apple apps. There are, by pulling the "Weather4D" drop-down menu, a "Settings" submenu that had totally escaped me. There is an "Alternatives to Pressures" option which, once activated, will solve our concern.
"Alternatives to pressure" option
This option allows, by maintaining the Alt/Option key of the keyboard, and simultaneously making a two-finger long press on the TrackPad, generate the famous distance vector commonly used on iPad/iPhone.
This action first displays two white circles on the screen, and after a few tenths of a second of press, the distance vector is displayed. All you have to do is move its ends with the mouse or the TrackPad. As with mobile devices, clicking on the distance label clears the vector.
Formidable ! But…
As sometimes for medical remedies, unwanted side effects may be encountered. This "Alternatives to pressure" option is unfortunately no exception. We found that it blocks sorting items in list windows : Routes, Location, Instruments (Instrument Bar). Moving elements with the ≡ icon remains inoperative. It's not impossible that there may be other inconveniences that become apparent with use. To fix this problem, you need to disable the option, carry out sorting, such as the order of the data labels in the instrument bar, then re-enable the option once the operation is completed. Warning : The application must be relaunched after each change to this option, otherwise the application will freeze.
This feature should nevertheless delight more than one user !
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(¹) Weather4D with Mac M1
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Thanks to the user who indicated this "option" to you !