MiddleDrag - Showcase Project

Mac trackpads don't have a middle mouse button. Many apps expect one. MiddleDrag fixes this. How it works: Three-finger tap → Middle-click Three-finger drag → Middle-drag (pan/orbit) Use cases: Browsers: Open links in new background tabs, close tabs with a click, open bookmarks in new tabs. 3D & CAD Software: Orbit and pan viewports in Blender, Fusion 360, FreeCAD, SketchUp, Maya, OnShape. Essential for apps with broken or missing trackpad support. Design Tools: Pan canvas in Figma, Photoshop, Illustrator. Navigate large documents in PDF viewers. Development: Close editor tabs in VS Code and IDEs. Middle-click paste in terminals. Why MiddleDrag? Existing solutions are either paid (BetterTouchTool $10-24, Middle $8), abandoned (MagicPrefs stopped working years ago), or require terminal configuration (MiddleClick has no GUI). MiddleDrag is free, open-source (MIT), and actively maintained. Native menu bar app with GUI settings — no terminal required. Key features: Works alongside Mission Control and other system gestures Configurable sensitivity and smoothing Launch at login support Requires only Accessibility permissions Technical approach: Uses Apple's MultitouchSupport framework to read raw touch data, allowing three-finger gestures to generate middle-mouse events while leaving system gestures intact. Backs off automatically when four or more fingers are detected. Install via Homebrew: brew tap nullpointerdepressivedisorder/tap brew install --cask middledrag Also available via MacPorts. macOS 15.0+ required. Works with built-in MacBook trackpads and Magic Trackpads.