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Magic Switch: Share Apple Magic keyboard/track-pad/mouse between two Macs

79 points · 45 comments · chanux

  1. Terretta · · focus · HN ↗
    Fwiw, this has been helpful for a couple decades now:

    <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;symless.com&#x2F;synergy&#x2F;features" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;symless.com&#x2F;synergy&#x2F;features

    Given that even a corp Mac can now (policy permitting) allow a personal AppleID along with the corporate login, it&#x27;s easy enough to do the same with just native OS controls even with 2 logins. Something magical about opening an iPad next to a MacBook and pushing the cursor across ... or, alternatively, wirelessly (or USB-C) making the iPad an extended screen.

    But Synergy remains great.

    If free is your bag instead of supporting the nominal cost:

    <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;deskflow&#x2F;deskflow" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;deskflow&#x2F;deskflow

    They explain this here:

    <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;symless.com&#x2F;synergy&#x2F;blog&#x2F;how-to-use-synergy-for-free" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;symless.com&#x2F;synergy&#x2F;blog&#x2F;how-to-use-synergy-for-free

    1. netsharc · · focus · HN ↗
      That &quot;for free&quot; link isn&#x27;t accurate at all, it claims you have to compile Deskflow yourself, but on Deskflow&#x27;s Github they offer binary releases.

      I don&#x27;t remember why Barrier was forked from Deskflow, but I&#x27;ve been using Barrier for many many years now. Now that I think of it, I do notice bugs, that maybe I should try out a new version to see if there are life improvements. E.g. with keyboard layouts, even when both systems are running Windows, the target system can be confused what character it should be outputing; and I need to hit &quot;reload&quot; to reconnect after returning one or both systems from standby, sometimes clipboard sharing also breaks.

      1. MarceliusK · · focus · HN ↗
        The keyboard layout issue sounds nastier than the reconnect bug to me. Input forwarding gets surprisingly weird once keycodes, layouts, modifiers and the target OS&#x27;s interpretation all get involved
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