How to Get Touch Bar Functionality on Any Mac 1

How to Get Touch Bar Functionality on Any Mac

Apple recently announced its Late 2016 MacBook lineup and the Touch Bar was the center of attention for most people. Since then, people have touted the Touch Bar as cool or gimmicky and much more. Now, I usually make judgments about these things until I use them personally. After all, everyone has a unique way of using their MacBook, and what suits one person may not suit another. So if you’re planning to buy the new MacBook Pro and are wondering if you’re willing to spend the extra money to get the Touch Bar model, I have good news for you. You can now try the Touch Bar (sort of!) on your Mac. Here’s how to do it:

Get Touch Bar on macOS Sierra

Now thanks to the developers at Red-Sweater A Mac app that can simulate a Touch Bar on your MacBook’s screen. Since a Mac screen is not touch-sensitive, you obviously have to use the Touch Bar with a mouse, but the point of the app is to let you understand the way the Touch Bar works and possibly see if it’s for you.

The application is available as: Download for freeand you can get it from the red sweater Web site. Like most good things, though, there’s a catch – you must be running macOS Sierra, 16B2657 built or later. You can check the macOS version number you’re running by clicking the “Version Number” on the “About This Mac” screen.

version number

After downloading the app from the website, you need to open the downloaded file. Opening the archive will reveal the Touche app in all its glory. simply start the applicationand you will see a Touch Bar appear on the screen. this Touch Bar dynamically updates Based on the app active on your Mac.

touch bar

At first glance, the Touch Bar certainly looks deceptive, but it turned out to be very useful once I started using it. There are still some glitches that need to be fixed though. Because the Touch Bar can update dynamically, users can customize it and developers can use it for their apps however they want.

note: You may need to allow your Mac to open the file because it may not open due to strict new security measures introduced in macOS Sierra. So if you can’t open the app, you can check our article about it.

Simulating the Touch Bar on iPhone and iPad

If an on-screen Touch Bar isn’t really interesting to you, you can also simulate the Touch Bar on your iPad or iPhone screen. This is better because you can use it with touches, this is how it should be used initially. If you want to simulate the Touch Bar on your iPhone or iPad screen, simply follow these steps:

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note: This method involves sideloading an app on your iPhone. If you don’t know how to do this, you can read our detailed guide on sideloading apps. Also, this method only works on devices running iOS 10.

1. Go to GitHub project page For the Touch Bar app. Here, “TouchBarServer.zip” file and “SourceCode.zip” file.

download-touchbarserver

2. “SourceCode.zipfile ” to reveal the project folder named “TouchBarDemoApp-1.4“.

3. Open the folder and double-click on “.TouchBar.xcodeproj“. You will need Xcode is set up for it.

open-touchbar-folder

4. Once the project is opened in Xcode, simply connect your iPhoneor iPad and sideload the app. You can get detailed instructions from our article on the same subject.

5. After the app is installed on your iPhone, click “TouchBarServer.zipon your Mac to reveal an app named ”.TouchBarServer“. Start this app.

6. On your iPhone, start the app you just installed. You should be able to see a MacBook with keyboard and TouchBar strip on your iPhone screen.

touch bar on demo-macbook

You can do Tap any of the Touch Bar buttons and see them running on your Mac.

If you don’t want the entire keyboard to be displayed along with the TouchBar on your iPhone, simply follow these steps:

1. On your Mac, click the TouchBarServer icon in the menu bar and click “Remote Touch Bar Clients“.

touchbar-server-menu-bar-icon

2. Here you can select different display options for the application.

touchbar-server-menu-bar-options

You can even change the Touch Bar app to show only the Touch Bar. After all, that’s what the app is all about – what better way to try and experience the brand new Touch Bar on MacBooks than to be able to tap it?

SEE ALSO: 12 USB Type-C Accessories for the New MacBook Pro

Browse the Touch Bar on any MacBook

If you want to learn how the new Touch Bar works on the new MacBook Pros, this app is the perfect way to try it out. All of these methods are completely free and work pretty well. You should definitely give it a try and let us know your opinion about them.

So what do you think about the new MacBook Pros released by Apple? We want to know what you think about the Touch Bar and if you think it will be really helpful. Let us know in the comments section below.

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