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Mouser: An open source alternative to Logi-Plus mouse software (github.com)

443 points by avionics-guy ↗ HN
I discovered this project because all-of-a-sudden Logi Options Plus software updater started taking 40-60% of my Intel Macbook Pro until I killed the process (of course it restarts). In my searches I ended up at a reddit discussion where I found other people with same issues.

I'm a minor contributor to this project but it aims to reduce/eliminate the need to use Logitech proprietary software and telemetry. We could use help if other people are interested.

Please check out the github link for more detailed motivations (eliminating telemetry) as a part of this project. Here is link: https://github.com/TomBadash/MouseControl

74 comments

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kstrauser
Very cool, thanks!

In a similar vein, I've been using SteerMouse (https://plentycom.jp/en/steermouse/) in the same way for many years, for the same reasons. Logi's hardware is nice, but their software just freaking sucks the electrons out of a battery. It's awful. I refuse to run their driver aka mini-OS just to do the right thing when I click a button with my thumb.

dvdplm
Thank you. I’m constantly baffled by the terrible quality of Logitech’s software. Such great hardware and such horrible software. Very much needed an oss alternative.
elxr
> Such great hardware

Every other mouse brand I've used (razer, hyperx, reddragon, steelseries) has outlasted my logitech-G mice, and felt noticeably better built. Their keyboards are the most generic, nothing-special keyboards for any company of that size. They don't innovate.

I will never buy a logitech mouse/keyboard ever, especially with the options we have today.

It's so tiring hearing people praise their hardware when they've literally been outcompeted for a decade at this point. Their webcams, and other niche stuff (like flight sticks) may be fine, but their mice/keyboard are below average.

Anamon
Nobody makes thumb trackballs as good as Logitech, or at least not anymore. And I have no complaints about the quality. I have three MX Ergos, replacing my previous Logitech trackballs that all lasted well over 10 years of daily use (the left click switches started getting iffy, but that's probably fixable, so I kept them).

I barely ever hear someone complain about the hardware quality of Logitech mice and keyboards, even before considering how much of them there are compared to Keychrons, Duckys, or all the gamer brands.

The MX Ergo form factor is the best, by the way. Few people go back to pushy-pully mice after they got a taste of how fast and precise they can be with a thumb trackball. I always find it interesting where I see them on TV or YouTube: medical laboratories, architectural offices, movie studios... and Louis Rossmann's desk. I've been using them since the 90s and they probably were an unfair advantage in FPS LAN parties =D

voltaireodactyl
Elecom gives them a run for their money thumb ball wise in my experience.
car
For posterity, I can very much recommend MacMousefix. It's $2.99 to own, totally worth it to me. Open source.

https://macmousefix.com/en/

Also available via brew:

  brew install mac-mouse-fix
And on Github too:

https://github.com/noah-nuebling/mac-mouse-fix

y-curious
Is there anything like this for the MX Ergo? I would be very interested in any software-based “hacks” for the mouse.
p2detar
On the fun side: can this thing help me do left-click burst in browser HTML5 games? I tried hammerspoon and other methods but nothing worked thus far.
mrsssnake
> You may not charge users money for Your Program, and Your Source must contain the monetization systems, including the licensing, trial period tracking, and payment system, present in the MMF Source without an alterations, and all of these systems must be active and working as intended in Your Program.

License is not Open Source.

touwer
LinearMouse on macos is also good. With Mos
dmarinus
oh nice! I hate it that you can't disable mouse acceleration in macOS.
varun_ch
The only way my Logitech MX Master mouse is remotely usable on macOS is with both linearmouse and mos, and that was really disappointing to me, because online, the MX Master mouse is sold as the best Mac mouse. Unbelievable that anyone actually uses it without those tweaks.

Without both, the mouse scroll wheel is so slow, laggy and imprecise. It’s unbelievably bad.

touwer
Hardware wise the mx3 is the best mouse for me. The software is dreadful though. It seems more like marketing than software. Nice pictures on the site. Not designed by a team that cares about good software. They should take mos and linearmouse as examples
wolrah
Currently only for MX Master 3S, for anyone with other Options-controlled mice getting their hopes up.
joshu
how is it that logitech software is such awful trash
elxr
Because people keep buying their generic hardware, and random youtubers keep recommending their stuff.

How about we just stop buying anything logitech. What other peripheral company has squandered their resources as much as they have, completely refusing to innovate?

bigjay517
I find that Logi Options+ mostly just stays hidden and works. It does use more RAM than I'd like (125.8MB right now). When it does break it's disruptive, or they add some feature I don't want.

- AI Prompting (enabled by default)

- Auto update stuck wasting CPU cycles

- The recent certificate issue

I'd like to find a replacement because I am annoyed by it, but I have not found a replacement that matches ALL of the features I use from Options+.

I keep the default settings in Options+ but in my testing I can't match all the same behavior with the 3rd party solutions:

- Pointer acceleration

- Workspace switching speed

- Smooth scrolling speed / acceleration

Scrolling is usually my main problem where scrolling in one direction jumps in the wrong direction first before correcting. This is most noticeable when scrolling line by line.

I've tested all the 3rd party options mentioned here(with the exception of Mouser). Does anyone else have these problems with the 3rd party alternatives?

userbinator
125.8MB right now

20 years ago that would be insane (many machines still had only 512MB of RAM total), and "AI Prompting" sounds like satire, and yet this is the reality we're in now --- all that just to configure a mouse.

Personally my mouses don't need anything more than the OS' default settings.

pprotas
Another alternative (apparently the Logi software is so bad that it spawned many of these): BetterMouse. It supports my MX Master 4 https://better-mouse.com/
quanwinn
Second this. BetterMouse supports hoards of features and only charges a one-time fee.
rcarmo
This is pretty awesome - I have another Logitech mouse (the smaller, more pragmatic M720) and was looking for a way to ditch Logi Options+, which is insanely bloated for what it does. I suspect adapting this will take an hour or so with an LLM...
Razengan
Missed opportunity to call it Jerry
Gigachad
I wonder if this or anything else can pair devices to the unifying receiver. That’s the only reason I ever use the Logitech app.
armadyl
FYI Logitech also offers an air gapped version of Options+ which cuts out a lot of the slop and telemetry in the normal version: https://prosupport.logi.com/hc/en-us/articles/10991109278871...

If you have to use Options that's probably the way to go (if none of the third party options work for you).

itopaloglu83
If you run it through command line you get some additional features you can turn off or selectively turn on.

I’m still pissed beyond words that they used the driver software as an excuse and installed crapware on my Mac when they released the AI version.

lwhi
I dumped my Logitech MX Vertical mouse because of that lousy software.

This seems like a great idea.

atonse
Try SteerMouse. Been using it with my MX 3 for years.
pants2
Nice! Is there a similar option for Logitech Webcams?
abound
Came here looking for this. The Logi+ Options app is, as others have noted, less than stellar. I just want to control the zoom, flip, and coloring on my MX Brio.
schnacki
BetterTouchTool has also recently added full Logitech support (keyboard & mouse) and it has been working great for me. (Fully replaces the Logitech Options+ and/or Ghub apps).

Especially the smooth scroll modifier available in BTT (not exclusive to Logitech mice) has helped me a lot, it transforms any mouses scroll events into trackpad like scrolling events that allow for e.g. page swipes, mail archive, scrolling in calendar etc. - things that usually only work with Magic Mouse or Apple Trackpads

jimmydoe
BTT also has nice gestures support for this which is a drop in replacement for options plus.
pier25
The Logi Options app is such a piece of crap. On macOS it also requires special permissions otherwise it won't even work.

If you only need to connect a device to the Bolt adapter you can use this web app by Logitech without having to install anything:

https://logiwebconnect.com/

y-curious
My friend used to work at Logitech. Everyone in the trenches knows the software they pump out is trash, but the higher ups are somehow convinced that it “sets them apart”. I assume they think it sets them apart in a good way, but it’s quite the opposite.
make3
I don't know why it's still a respected brand when everything they do is mid at best
pvab3
Chrome or Edge only it says
atonse
I’ve been using SteerMouse as an alternative for years. It completely disappears and works 100% of the time.
userbinator
On macOS it also requires special permissions otherwise it won't even work.

That doesn't sound unusual for something that interacts directly with hardware.

Reason077
The Mac software for my Logitech mouse is called "Logitech G Hub" and it's also pretty awful. Every now and then my Mac starts going bonkers, random clicks all over the place or windows randomly switching focus. Quitting the Logitech G Hub app instantly solves it. (I'm not sure why it wants to run all the time anyway, it's only needed if I want to change some settings on the mouse)

The mouse itself (G305) is great, however!

[dead] nvardakas
[dead]
taneq
This is standard. :P EE code, like programmer art and mechanical engineer circuits, shows just how non-multidisciplinary most humans are. :D
locusofself
It really is a terrible piece of software. I usually find that when I do weird things with my mouse, like assign workspaces switching to extra buttons or whatever, I end up un-doing it.

I've switched all my mice to a ~$25, super ergonomically shaped, corded mouse[1], and I prefer to to my logitech mice.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FPAVUHC?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_...

kej
An update to the Logitech software last year added a fast way to access some kind of Logitech AI, but made it so the combination of mouse and dongle I was using no longer worked together. It was kind of a parable for the whole industry lately.
fix4fun
Nice project. Respect :)

I worry only how long it will be supported? I hope there will be small community maintaining it ;)

Once again nice project and good luck.

s_u_d_o
I usually work on several devices simultaneously, and having to lift, turn the mouse and press the button on the bottom to switch between devices has been a huge hurdle for me. Do you think we can achieve this device-switching mechanism, from within those 6 programmable keys instead? Or this is not possible?
jordand
A full FOSS replacement is absolutely necessary now. Options+ gets noticably worse every 6 months. The latest thing now is that every time you open it, a pop-up 'View available offers' Ad shows which (of course) you can't disable. The bloat is ridiculous given they embedded a whole additional GUI framework (Flutter) just for that AI Prompt builder many people don't want.
userbinator
Download → Mouser.zip (44 MB)

I smell LLM... and 44MB compressed for a mouse control panel applet (at least it's not an Electron app?) is still quite disturbing and a reminder of just how inefficient software has become.

cozzyd
Mouser is where you buy ICs...
ComputerGuru
Open source is the only way to go.

Out-of-the-box, most Linux distributions automatically report the battery status on my (admittedly ancient) Performance MX and I get a desktop notification when the battery is running low so I can run and swap the rechargeables, but I've found no way to do that on Windows (even with Logitech software).