Hem 1.0.0
Slide a finger along an edge of your MacBook's trackpad to change the
volume, the screen brightness or the keyboard backlight, or to skip
through what's playing. You choose which edges do what, so your palms
can rest beside the trackpad without changing anything.


WHAT'S IN THIS FOLDER

  • Hem.app: the app
  • Install Hem.command: installs it (run this)
  • Read Me.txt: this file


BEFORE YOU START

  • A MacBook with its own trackpad: Any Mac (Apple Silicon or Intel) running macOS
    14 or later. It was made and tested on a MacBook Air
    with macOS 27.
  • If you use VolumePad, quit it first. Both apps would react to the
    same touches. Hem offers a button for this.


INSTALL

  1. Double-click "Install Hem.command".

     If macOS says it can't be opened ("Apple could not verify…"): click
     Done, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down and click
     "Open Anyway", then double-click the installer again.

     Or open Terminal, type  bash  followed by a space, drag
     "Install Hem.command" into the Terminal window, and press Return.

  2. The installer copies Hem into Applications and opens it. A welcome
     window walks you through the rest.

  3. Allow Accessibility when the welcome window asks: System Settings →
     Privacy & Security → Accessibility, and turn on Hem. Hem uses it only
     to keep the pointer still while you slide. It doesn't read what you
     type and doesn't look at your screen.

  Prefer to do it by hand? Drag Hem into Applications and open it. The
  first time, macOS blocks it: go to System Settings → Privacy & Security
  and click "Open Anyway".


USING Hem

  • Top edge: slide right to turn the volume up, left to turn it down.
    Sliding all the way down mutes. Tap once, then slide, for the
    keyboard backlight.

  • Bottom edge: slide right to make the screen brighter, left to make it
    dimmer. Tap once, then slide, to skip through what's playing (10
    seconds a step, right for ahead and left for back).

  • Start right at the edge and slide along it. Moving the pointer, clicking,
    dragging and two-finger scrolling all work as usual, even near the edges.

  • You feel a small tick every 5%, and a bump at 0% and 100%. A small
    level shows on screen by the edge you're using.

  • Click Hem's icon in the menu bar (a small teal square with a stitched
    trackpad) to change things:
      - The picture of your trackpad shows your fingers as you touch it.
        Grey shapes are palms that Hem ignores. Click an edge to change it.
      - For each edge: what a slide does, what tap-then-slide does, how far
        in from the edge it reaches (Depth), and whether the ends of the
        edge count (Dead corners). The left and right sides are off at
        first, because that's where palms rest.
      - "After a short rest" makes a slide wait until your finger has been
        still for a moment, so a quick pointer move from the edge never
        counts.
      - "Pause after typing": touches just after you type are ignored.
      - Haptics, the on-screen level, the colour icon and Launch at login.
      - Put back: undoes the last slide.


GOOD TO KNOW

  • Skipping through media works with apps that answer the Mac's own skip
    buttons, such as Safari and other browsers playing video, and Podcasts.
    Some apps ignore them.

  • If you turn tap to click on, the first tap of "tap once, then slide"
    also clicks whatever is under the pointer.

  • To update: unzip a newer copy and run its installer. It replaces the
    old one and keeps your settings. You'll need to turn Hem on again in
    Accessibility afterwards.

  • To uninstall: quit Hem from its menu, drag it from Applications to
    the Trash, and remove it from System Settings → Privacy & Security →
    Accessibility.

  • Hem is free and open source. It isn't from the App Store and isn't
    notarized by Apple, which is why macOS asks you to confirm it the first
    time. It's an open-source alternative to VolumePad, and isn't made by
    or connected with VolumePad's developer or with Apple.