Comfortable Swipe (Ubuntu)

Comfortable, seamless, and fast 3-finger (and 4-finger) touchpad swipe gestures for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and beyond. May work for other Linux distros that support libinput.

New in Version 1.1.0: Added mouse gestures, see #mouse-gestures-experimental

New in Version 1.2.0: Autostart now switched ON by default

Installation

1. Install git and g++ ≥ 7.5

bash sudo apt install git g++

1. Install libinput-tools and C libraries

bash sudo apt install libinput-tools libinih-dev libxdo-dev

1. Clone this repository

bash git clone https://github.com/Hikari9/comfortable-swipe.git --depth 1 cd comfortable-swipe

1. Install

bash bash install

1. You may delete the downloaded comfortable-swipe folder after installation.

How to Run

1. You'll need some group permissions to read touchpad input data. Run

bash sudo gpasswd -a "$USER" "$(ls -l /dev/input/event* | awk '{print $4}' | head --line=1)"

1. Important: After inputing your sudo password, log out then log back in

2. Start the Program

comfortable-swipe start

You will see this output:

$ comfortable-swipe start Comfortable swipe is RUNNING in the background

1. (Optional) Stop the Program

comfortable-swipe stop

1. (Optional) Toggle autostart

bash comfortable-swipe autostart

1. (Optional) See program status

bash comfortable-swipe status

Example:

``` $ comfortable-swipe status

Autostart is ON Program is RUNNING

---

Configuration: /home/user/.config/comfortable-swipe.conf left3 is VALID (ctrl+super+Right) left4 is VALID (ctrl+super+shift+Right) right3 is VALID (ctrl+super+Left) right4 is VALID (ctrl+super+shift+Left) up3 is VALID (ctrl+F12) up4 is VALID (super+d) down3 is VALID (ctrl+F12) down4 is VALID (super+d) threshold is VALID (1.0) mouse3 is NOTSET mouse4 is NOTSET ```

1. (Optional) Get config

comfortable-swipe <PROPERTY>

bash comfortable-swipe left3 comfortable-swipe left4 comfortable-swipe right3 comfortable-swipe right4 comfortable-swipe up3 comfortable-swipe up4 comfortable-swipe down3 comfortable-swipe down4 comfortable-swipe threshold comfortable-swipe mouse3 comfortable-swipe mouse4

1. (Optional) Set config

bash comfortable-swipe <PROPERTY> [=] <VALUES>

bash comfortable-swipe left3 = super+Right comfortable-swipe right3 = super+Left comfortable-swipe right4 = ctrl+alt+Left comfortable-swipe down4 = super+d comfortable-swipe up3 = ctrl+shift+Up

Other Commands

1. All Configuration commands

bash comfortable-swipe config list comfortable-swipe config get <PROPERTY> comfortable-swipe config set <PROPERTY> [=] <VALUE> comfortable-swipe config path comfortable-swipe config keys

1. Help and Version

bash comfortable-swipe --version comfortable-swipe --help

1. Autostart commands

bash comfortable-swipe autostart on comfortable-swipe autostart off comfortable-swipe autostart toggle comfortable-swipe autostart status comfortable-swipe autostart path

1. Show output with --attach

Example output of 3-finger left, 4-finger left, 3-finger right, 3-finger up:

bash $ comfortable-swipe start --attach SWIPE left3 SWIPE left4 SWIPE right3 SWIPE up3 ...

1. Test output with --bare to attach without actually swiping

bash $ comfortable-swipe start --bare SWIPE left3 SWIPE left4 SWIPE right3 SWIPE up3 ...

1. Debug

bash $ comfortable-swipe debug ... -event9 DEVICE_ADDED TouchPad seat0 default group7 cap:pg size 70x50mm tap(dl off) left scroll-nat scroll-2fg-edge click-buttonareas-clickfinger dwt-on ... event9 GESTURE_SWIPE_BEGIN +2.03s 3 event9 GESTURE_SWIPE_UPDATE +2.03s 3 -9.95/ 2.64 (-26.90/ 7.12 unaccelerated) event9 GESTURE_SWIPE_UPDATE +2.03s 3 -10.44/ 3.19 (-28.22/ 8.62 unaccelerated) event9 GESTURE_SWIPE_UPDATE +2.04s 3 -9.71/ 2.64 (-26.25/ 7.12 unaccelerated) event9 GESTURE_SWIPE_UPDATE +2.05s 3 -8.98/ 2.64 (-24.28/ 7.12 unaccelerated) event9 GESTURE_SWIPE_UPDATE +2.06s 3 -7.40/ 2.36 (-20.01/ 6.37 unaccelerated) event9 GESTURE_SWIPE_UPDATE +2.06s 3 -6.31/ 2.50 (-17.06/ 6.75 unaccelerated) event9 GESTURE_SWIPE_UPDATE +2.07s 3 -5.34/ 1.80 (-14.44/ 4.87 unaccelerated) event9 GESTURE_SWIPE_UPDATE +2.08s 3 -4.61/ 2.08 (-12.47/ 5.62 unaccelerated) event9 GESTURE_SWIPE_UPDATE +2.09s 3 -4.49/ 1.53 (-12.14/ 4.12 unaccelerated) event9 GESTURE_SWIPE_UPDATE +2.09s 3 -4.01/ 1.25 (-10.83/ 3.37 unaccelerated) event9 GESTURE_SWIPE_UPDATE +2.10s 3 -4.13/ 0.42 (-11.15/ 1.12 unaccelerated) event9 GESTURE_SWIPE_END +2.11s 3 ...

Gesture Configurations

The default configuration file is located at ~/.config/comfortable-swipe.conf. Comfortable swipe makes use of keyboard shortcuts to perform swipes, through xdotool.

Set a property directly with:

comfortable-swipe <PROPERTY> [=] <VALUE>

Or edit the configuration file manually:

gedit ~/.config/comfortable-swipe.conf

After editing, make sure to restart with comfortable-swipe start.

Warning: For v1.1.0 below, the configuration file is located at /usr/local/share/comfortable-swipe/comfortable-swipe.conf

Note: You can locate the absolute path to your configuration by running: comfortable-swipe config path

Configuration Reference

Property	Value	Examples
left3	3-finger swipe left	ctrl+alt+Right
left4	4-finger swipe left	ctrl+alt+shift+Right
right3	3-finger swipe right	ctrl+alt+Left
right4	4-finger swipe right	ctrl+alt+shift+Left
up3	3-finger swipe up	ctrl+alt+Down
up4	4-finger swipe up	ctrl+alt+shift+Down
down3	3-finger swipe down	ctrl+alt+Up
down4	4-finger swipe down	ctrl+alt+shift+Up
threshold	mouse movement pixels that trigger a swipe (can be as large as 1000.0)	0.0 / 240.0 / 1000.0
mouse3	mouses a mouse button when 3 fingers are down	button1 / move / scroll

(see Mouse Gestures) | | | mouse4 | mouses a mouse button when 4 fingers are down | button1 / move / scroll

(see Mouse Gestures |

Keystrokes

Taken from man xdotool:

Type a given keystroke. Examples being "alt+r", "Control_L+J", "ctrl+alt+n", "BackSpace".

Generally, any valid X Keysym string will work. Multiple keys are separated by '+'. Aliases exist for "alt", "ctrl", "shift", "super", and "meta" which all map to Foo_L, such as Alt_L and Control_L, etc.

In cases where your keyboard doesn't actually have the key you want to type, xdotool will automatically find an unused keycode and use that to type the key.

Refer to https://www.linux.org/threads/xdotool-keyboard.10528/ for a complete list of keycodes you can use.

• DEFKEY - All Linux keyboard shortcuts
• Unity Keyboard Shortcuts
• GNOME Keyboard Shortcuts
• KDE Keyboard Shortcuts
• PopOS Keyboard Shortcuts

Example Configurations

This section includes some example configurations which you can use for your swipe experience.

1. Switch workspace (horizontal)

bash # Ubuntu flavors + GNOME comfortable-swipe left3 = ctrl+alt+Right comfortable-swipe right3 = ctrl+alt+Left

1. Switch workspace (vertical)

bash # Ubuntu flavors + GNOME comfortable-swipe up3 = ctrl+alt+Down comfortable-swipe down3 = ctrl+alt+Up

bash # GNOME alt. comfortable-swipe up3 = super+PgDown comfortable-swipe down3 = super+PgUp

bash # Pop OS comfortable-swipe up3 = ctrl+super+Down comfortable-swipe down3 = ctrl+super+Up

1. Move window to workspace (horizontal)

bash # Ubuntu flavors + GNOME + Kali comfortable-swipe left4 = ctrl+alt+shift+Right comfortable-swipe right4 = ctrl+alt+shift+Left

bash # Elementary OS comfortable-swipe left4 = super+alt+Right comfortable-swipe right4 = super+alt+Left

1. Move window to workspace (vertical)

bash # Ubuntu flavors + GNOME + Kali comfortable-swipe up4 = ctrl+alt+shift+Down comfortable-swipe down4 = ctrl+alt+shift+Up

bash # GNOME alt. comfortable-swipe up4 = super+shift+PgDown comfortable-swipe down4 = super+shift+PgUp

1. Move window to other monitor

bash # Ubuntu flavors + GNOME comfortable-swipe left4 = super+shift+Right comfortable-swipe right4 = super+shift+Left

1. Toggle workspace overview

bash # Ubuntu flavors + Elementary OS comfortable-swipe up3 = super+s

bash # Elementary OS (all workspaces) comfortable-swipe up4 = super+a

1. Show desktop

bash # Ubuntu flavors comfortable-swipe down3 = ctrl+super+d

bash # Linux Mint comfortable-swipe down3 = super+d

bash # Kali comfortable-swipe down3 = ctrl+alt+d

bash # KDE comfortable-swipe down3 = ctrl+F12

1. Snap windows to the left/right

bash comfortable-swipe left3 = super+Left comfortable-swipe right3 = super+Right

1. Toggle maximize

bash comfortable-swipe up3 = super+Up

1. Toggle minimize

bash comfortable-swipe down3 = super+Down

Mouse Gestures (Experimental)

You can also play around with mouse gestures during swipe. This enables certain mouse behaviour to trigger along with a 3/4-finger swipe.

Keys:

• mouse3 - for 3-finger mouse gestures
• mouse4 - for 4-finger mosue gestures
• hold3 (deprecated) - old equivalent of mouse3
• hold4 (deprecated) - old equivalent of mouse4

Possible Values:

• button1 - left click
• button2 - middle click
• button3 - right click
• button4 - wheel up (experimental)
• button5 - wheel down (experimental)
• move - just move the mouse cursor while fingers are down
• scroll - 3/4 finger natural scroll (no acceleration, very experimental)
• scroll_reverse - 3/4 finger reverse scroll (no acceleration, very experimental)

Tip: You can clear mouse gestures by setting them blank

comfortable-swipe mouse3 = comfortable-swipe mouse4 =

Examples:

✔️ swipes OK ⭕ swipes DISABLED

• 3/4-finger drag ⭕

bash comfortable-swipe mouse3 = button1 comfortable-swipe mouse4 = button1

You can also use button2 for middle click and button3 for right click.

• 3/4-finger natural scroll ⭕

bash comfortable-swipe mouse3 = scroll comfortable-swipe mouse4 = scroll

• 3/4-finger reverse scroll ⭕

bash comfortable-swipe mouse3 = scroll_reverse comfortable-swipe mouse4 = scroll_reverse

• Move 3/4-fingers with the cursor ✔️

bash comfortable-swipe mouse3 = move comfortable-swipe mouse4 = move

Warning: Some mouse configuration will disable up/left/right/down behavior to avoid gesture conflicts. The logic of this will be improved in the future.

Debugging

You can check your touchpad driver by running

comfortable-swipe debug

This is an alias of libinput debug-events. This logs all gestures you make on your touchpad, along with other input-based events that can be captured by libinput.

A working swipe gesture will show the following:

```bash $ comfortable-swipe debug ... -event9 DEVICE_ADDED TouchPad seat0 default group7 cap:pg size 70x50mm tap(dl off) left scroll-nat scroll-2fg-edge click-buttonareas-clickfinger dwt-on ... event9