BetterTouchTool Plugins

This repository will contain examples on how to create BetterTouchTool plugins. Starting with version 3.818 BetterTouchTool supports Touch Bar, Stream Deck and Action plugins.

Plugins are installed at this location: /Library/Application Support/BetterTouchTool/Plugins

Stream Deck Plugins

Currently there are three types of Stream Deck plugins: Plugins that

• return an array of strings which will be rendered using the appearance settings configured by the user in BetterTouchTool
• return an array of attributed strings which will be rendered
• return an array of dictionaries that describe what shall be rendered
• return an array of ready rendered nsimages

The CPU Usage example in this repo uses the first option and just returns a simple string, which is then rendered in BTT.

Touch Bar Plugins

Currently there are three types of Touch Bar plugins: Plugins that

• return a string which will be rendered using a BTT Touch Bar button that is fully customizable using the standard BTT mechanisms
• returning a custom NSButton instance that you can style and modify
• returning a custom NSViewController instance with a custom view attached to it.

This repository contains basic example plugins for all three of these types.

Touch Bar Plugin Requirements

A BetterTouchTool Touch Bar plugin must fulfil these requirements:

• its wrapper extension must be ".btttouchbarplugin"
• its info.plist must contain these three keys: BTTPluginName, BTTPluginIdentifier, BTTPluginIcon
• it must conform to the BTTTouchBarPluginInterface protocol (https://github.com/folivoraAI/BetterTouchToolPlugins/blob/master/BetterTouchToolPluginDevelopment/BTTPluginInterface.h )
• it must link against the BTTPluginSupport.framework
• the principal class in the info.plist must be set to the main class that conforms to the BTTTouchBarPluginInterface protocol.
  • When using Swift to develop the plugins, make sure to set the principal class to the fully qualified name (PluginName.PluginPrincipalClass).

Please see the example plugins for details!

Action Plugin Development

Starting with BTT 3.226 action plugins are supported. They allow you to extend the list of available predefined ations with your own custom ones.

It's easy to create such an action extension:

• its wrapper extension must be ".bttactionplugin"
• its info.plist must contain these three keys: BTTPluginName, BTTPluginIdentifier, BTTPluginIcon, and BTTPluginType which must be set to "Action"
• it must conform to the BTTActionPluginInterface protocol (https://github.com/folivoraAI/BetterTouchToolPlugins/blob/master/BetterTouchToolPluginDevelopment/BTTPluginInterface.h )
• it must link against the BTTPluginSupport.framework
• the principal class in the info.plist must be set to the main class that conforms to the BTTActionPluginInterface protocol.
  • When using Swift to develop the plugins, make sure to set the principal class to the fully qualified name ($(PRODUCT_MODULE_NAME).PluginPrincipalClass).

There is a example action extension included in this project (BTTDisplayNotificationActionPlugin), it shows the basic concepts and can be used as a starting point.

Get Started

1. Clone this project (git clone [email protected]:folivoraAI/BetterTouchToolPlugins.git)
2. Open the project in Xcode
3. Run the project.
4. Running it will open a simple sample application that loads the three sample plugins and renders them to the Touch Bar - however it does not offer the customization options BTT offers. To see the plugin bundles, select the "Products" group in the XCode side-bar - you can then right-click them and select "Show in Finder".

Installing Plugins into BTT

You can install the plugins into BTT by double-clicking them or by copying them to ~/Library/Application Support/BetterTouchTool/Plugins You can configure these plugins in BetterTouchTool - they will be listed under "Touch Bar Plugins" in the Touch Bar widget selector popover. Action plugins will appear in the standard action selector popup.

Distributing Plugins

If you want to distribute plugins to other users, you must notarize them - otherwise they will not run. You need an Apple developer account to do this. Here a full build & notarize example. If you have any questions: [email protected]

1 Build/Archive

xcodebuild archive -scheme BTTStreamDeckPluginCPUUsage -configuration Release -archivePath ./build/streamdeckcpuusage.xcarchive cd build/streamdeckcpuusage.xcarchive/Products/Library/Bundles/

2 Code Sign with Developer ID Application (replace with your IDs)

codesign --deep -s "Developer ID Application: folivora.AI GmbH (DAFVSXZ82P)" -f BTTStreamDeckPluginCPUUsage.bttstreamdeckplugin

3 Zip Up For Notarization

ditto -c -k --keepParent --rsrc BTTStreamDeckPluginCPUUsage.bttstreamdeckplugin BTTStreamDeckPluginCPUUsage.bttstreamdeckplugin.notarize.zip

4 Send for Notarization (this references an application specific password for my Apple Account from the keychain)

xcrun altool --notarize-app --primary-bundle-id "com.folivora.sd.cpuusage" --username "[email protected]" --password "@keychain:notarization" --file BTTStreamDeckPluginCPUUsage.bttstreamdeckplugin.notarize.zip

5 Staple Notarization Info

xcrun stapler staple BTTStreamDeckPluginCPUUsage.bttstreamdeckplugin

6 Zip for Shipping to Others

ditto -c -k --keepParent --rsrc BTTStreamDeckPluginCPUUsage.bttstreamdeckplugin BTTStreamDeckPluginCPUUsage.bttstreamdeckplugin.zip