Mac Trackpad Gesture Support Unstable

[richardlawler]

When using my MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020 running Mac OS Big Sur 11.2.3) I inevitably lose the ability to use trackpad gestures to pan and rotate after running Fusion for any session longer than a few minutes. Two-finger drag becomes zoom and two-finger click remains secondary (right mouse button) click. 

Sometimes I can trick Fusion into resetting the trackpad gestures by switching away to another app, going to System Preferences > Trackpad and fiddling with the settings or sometime even going into a different part of Fusion like the Data Panel, but it is not consistent.

Quitting and restarting Fusion always brings the trackpad gestures back.

I have experienced this issue on-and-off for years on 2 other MacBook Pro models, but it seems to have hit a chronic level for me now. Maybe I am noticing it more because with the M1's power efficiency makes it easier to use the MacBook Pro untethered where I don't use a mouse.

There are many other reports of Mac trackpad problems on the Mac in the Forum here. The bugs get closed, but I don't find a consistent and robust solution to the problem of trackpad gesture handling instability on the Mac. 

Maybe just add a button somewhere in the user interface to reset/re-initialize the trackpad gesture handler in Fusion without requiring the user to restart Fusion.

Thank you for your attention to this persistent problem.

[mohammed.aliTDPXK]

Hello @richardlawler ,

Sorry for the trouble you are facing, can you please post a quick video if possible, we have a known issue with the Mac trackpad. zoom in/out skips sometimes in design and drawing workspace which the team will look into.

I have not faced the issue what you mentioned. Request you to please add a quick video for the same.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Having the same issue with the built-in trackpad and a separate Magic Trackpad. I've tried disabling and re-enabling the setting for Use gesture-based view navigation, and that doesn't seem to fix it. 

[mohammed.aliTDPXK]

Hello @Anonymous @richardlawler ,

Could you please add a quick screencast of the issue you are facing. 
I am unable to reproduce this issue

[BeauSlim]

It is most easily reproduced by letting the mac go to sleep.  It is also usually fixed by manually forcing the mac to sleep (under the Apple menu), waiting 15 seconds or so, and waking it. 

Users have been talking about this here and on reddit, etc. so it is widespread.  I find it very puzzling that Autodesk staff repeatedly claim to have trouble reproducing this issue.   Please force yourself to use Fusion on the built-in trackpad on an unplugged mac laptop for a couple days and you *will* see the problem.   

[richardlawler]

Sorry, I missed your message. I will try to document it with screencapture.

[richardlawler]

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/community/screencast/4a932476-769e-471b-8624-b483ca54d615

I don't know why the link to my screencast doesn't work. 

[dave3PGN8]

I have also experienced this issue on my 2016 Macbook Pro running Big Sur (and have been for quite a while--years.) But I just found a simple workaround--simply drag your fingers on a different portion of the trackpad. I thought I'd pass this along in case this works for others and perhaps it would offer a hint as to the underlying cause. (Does Fusion 360 lose track of the trackpad vs. screen position??)

Curious to know if this helps others.

[kstiotry]

Absolutely love fusion 360 but same problem. So frustrating...

[1Macaddict]

Hello all, I didn't have this issue until more recently and I can't nail down when it started. I upgraded my MacBook Pro a few months ago and I believe it may have started sometime after that. As others have stated, when my MacBook wakes from sleep mode, the 2 finger trackpad gesture to orbit stops working. It becomes a 2 finger zoom only. I have put the MacBook into sleep mode and upon wake it will sometimes start working again but it's not consistent. I've searched for forum but haven't come across a fix as of yet.

Thought?

Jeff

[schack.lindemann]

Just adding myself to the choir of people with this issue. I've only seen it recently and only on my new M1 MacBook Pro. And as others have stated, it happens after a wake from sleep and disappears after a restart of Fusion. 

[spam1074]

Same issue here. When I first open or restart Fusion360 the 2 finger slide gesture will pan and will orbit with shift. 2 finger pinch and spread will zoom in/out. As soon as I click the trackpad that breaks the pan and orbit and 2 fingers turns into zoom in/out until I restart F360.

[schack.lindemann]

Man, this bug is annoying! And sadly it survived the latest update. It almost renders Fusion useless when working on a MacBook without a mouse. Hoping for a speedy solution. 

PS. It's definitely related to sleep/wake. Doesn't happen anytime before I close the lid and consistently after waking up.  

[BeauSlim]

Sleep/wake is definitely the most common *trigger* of the bug for me, but other things (like a big recalculate) can trigger it too.  I do my designing sitting on my couch and a mouse is just awkward there, so I see the bug regularly.  

Put your mac to sleep from the Apple menu, wait 10-15 seconds, and wake it.  You might need to do this a couple times but I find this faster than restarting Fusion and reopening designs.  

Or as 1Macaddict suggested in another thread, plug your laptop in and enable "wake for network access" in your power settings.  This basically stops the mac from going into whatever deep-sleep state triggers the bug.  

As an added kick in the face, there is an unrelated macOS bug in Monterey causing some trackpad gestures to stop working.  If you can't 3-finger swipe between Spaces, for example, you have found  this bug.  

[1Macaddict]

Unfortunately turning on the - wake for network access - hasn't helped with the trackpad issue. It did seem to solve the issue of Fusion freezing on wake from sleep due to what it thinks is a lost network connection. 

Jeff

[schack.lindemann]

Does anyone know if the Fusion developer team have their eye on this issue? It's really annoying to the point of rendering the trackpad unusable. Combined with the browser layer disappearance issue Fusion is almost unusable on my MacBook. It doesn't look like a very professional piece of software to the students I'm teaching these days. 😕 

[1Macaddict]

I have read a post that they are aware of the trackpad issue and are/will be looking into it.

What is the "browser layer disappearance" issue that you mentioned?

Jeff

[schack.lindemann]

This is the issue I'm referring to: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/fusion-360-support/browser-keeps-disappearing/m-p/10977807#M145432
After looking in the thread just now, there is a reply stating its been marked as a bug by the development team. So at least its on the board. 🙂 

[dave3PGN8]

Same issue here on a brand new Macbook Pro running Monterey. (I posted about this quite a while ago, yet the problem persists.) Issue, to reiterate, is that after app inactivity, and the mac probably sleeps, the only trackkpad gesture in Fusion is a 2-finger swipe which zooms in and out. 

I'm curious--are there any Macbook Pro users who *do not* experience this problem?