Despite being a heavy cell phone user for more than 25 years, it only recently occurred to me that vertical navigation on most phones is inverted when compared to traditional computers. You swipe down to navigate upward, and up to navigate downward. I recently spent time using a MacBook, which apparently defaults to this “natural” scrolling (mobile-style), and I was completely thrown off by it.

I’ve been using natural scrolling on a couple of my own desktops ever since, mostly as a mental exercise, and I wondered…how many of you folks prefer this method?

  • towerful@programming.dev
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    1 year ago

    Trackpads and touchscreens get the phone way of scrolling.
    These feel like you are interacting with a piece of paper, so you move the paper around.

    Mousewheels get the traditional way of scrolling.
    Mice are more like controlling something.
    It just is. Like F1-F12 keys are always F1-F12 keys, not the alt-function (like media/brightness etc).

    I hate that Apple has called it “natural” Vs “reverse” in some psychological reconfiguring that you are going against the grain if you don’t agree with them (as opposed to them changing the established standard).

    • digger
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      1 year ago

      I use natural on the trackpad and traditional using a mouse.

    • thayerOP
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      1 year ago

      Good points all around, though I do use my alt-functions more than the function itself.