Create CommandOrControl so ctrl+c in Windows == command+c in Mac

LogicalKeyboardKey's controlLeft on Windows and Linux means ctrl (like ctrl+c), but on macOS control is something else entirely different. For things like ctrl+c, the correct is command+c, which is Windows' Windows key (metaLeft). This gets instantly confusing.

I've seen apps with shortcuts broken because the developer only tested on Windows/Mac and didn't realize control works completely different across both.

My suggestions: somehow we could have a LogicalKeyboardKey "correct/expected" control and meta so developers and users wouldn't be confused or even worry about it. This affects even Flutter Web. No one is going to do if (Platform.macOS) metaLeft else controlLeft because it is going to take too long for them to realize this is necessary. It seems like a bug, even though the logical key is 100% correct (from logical point of view).

@dkwingsmt

CC @dkwingsmt

I agree, I also think the if (Platform.macOS) metaLeft else controlLeft pattern is too much boilerplate. Let me see if we can come up with a utility class.

@dkwingsmt

Hey @dkwingsmt, that code wouldn't work because there is no dart:IO in Flutter Web, so it would be even more complicated.

@cbracken

cc @cbracken to consider for the desktop stable release

Yeah I've been considering this for a while. It's not a lot to implement, and for sure important. Just hard to name.

Let's discuss naming. We need a name for the activator class, one for the "control but meta for macOS" field, and one for the "meta but control for macOS" field. My latest thought is

OsSingleActivator(
  this.osControl,
  this.osMeta,
...);

Or

AdaptiveSingleActivator(
  this.primary,
  this.auxiliary,
...);

I prefer the first one. I like the idea of controlCommand or macOSCommand but they don't work well with meta (metaControl would be confusing 🙁) so I prefer your suggestions osControl/osMeta. Maybe instead of os it could be nativeControl but maybe native invokes the idea of something low level, which is not exactly this case.

@justinmc

/cc @justinmc for comments. Is there an existing bug for this? Alternatively, does an alternative solution for this already exist?

Currently we maintain separate maps for our default text editing shortcuts. Here is Mac's meta+c and here is Windows control+c. There is no slicker way right now that I'm aware of. If this issue gets fixed maybe we can simplify those maps.

Idea 2: we could somehow unify 'delete' with 'backspace' as they are the same shortcut 98% of the time.

I face this issue just now and would really like an easier interface. How about "platformControl" and "platformMeta"?

I think this issue should be renamed to something like "Create a utility to create shortcuts that use cmd on Mac and ctrl on Windows/Linux". The title as written is not a bug; ctrl+c should not be handled as cmd+c on a Mac by default.

FWIW, Electron has a "CommandOrControl" activator for their shortcuts system which does exactly what's described here: https://www.electronjs.org/docs/latest/api/accelerator

A little wordy for my tastes but it gets the point across.

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Create CommandOrControl so ctrl+c in Windows == command+c in Mac #83733

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Create CommandOrControl so ctrl+c in Windows == command+c in Mac #83733

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HansMuller commented on Jun 2, 2021

dkwingsmt commented on Jun 2, 2021

bernaferrari commented on Jun 25, 2021

csells commented on Sep 9, 2021

dkwingsmt commented on Sep 9, 2021

bernaferrari commented on Sep 11, 2021

cbracken commented on Sep 28, 2021

justinmc commented on Sep 28, 2021

bernaferrari commented on Dec 8, 2021

peter-trost commented on Jul 25, 2024

AlabasterAxe commented on Sep 13, 2024

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