LinearMouse For Mac

Apple doesn't like third-party mice. Even though a lot of people use them, you're not going to get the same experience you get on Windows when you plug one in. Acceleration can't be easily disabled, scrolling can be awkward, and side buttons often don't work at all.

LinearMouse is an open-source app that aims to fix all that. It lets you disable acceleration for cursor movements and scrolling, while still allowing you to customize sensitivity, it helps you make side buttons functional, reverse scrolling direction, and even bind some customizations to modifier keys.

You normally have to use a terminal command to disable acceleration, and in recent versions of macOS, this will lock tracking speed to the lowest setting. As a result, mice can be difficult or impossible to set up and use without acceleration.

LinearMouse makes things easy. It allows you to disable acceleration while keeping sensitivity customizable, and you also have the option of disabling acceleration and sensitivity adjustments altogether and rely on your device's hardware DPI setting.

Scrolling acceleration is another feature third-party mouse users struggle with. This app allows you to disable it, as well as set the number of lines that should be scrolled at once.

While you can reverse the scrolling direction for pointing devices, this setting is normally not separate for trackpads and mice. With LinearMouse, you can use reverse scrolling for your mouse without reversing it for the trackpad.

If you like, you can also bind modifier keys to certain functions. These can be used to reverse the scrolling direction or change the scrolling speed temporarily, while the keys are pressed.

Since the Magic Mouse doesn't come with side buttons, it seems adding support for them isn't a high priority for Apple. They can be difficult to bind to any function, especially if your mouse doesn't come with dedicated software.

This app converts the two side buttons to swiping gestures, which should make them work as back and forward buttons in any app that supports these gestures.

LinearMouse is an excellent app for people who struggle with the lack of support for third-party mice in macOS. It fixes the biggest issues overlooked by Apple, it is very easy to use, and it's completely free.