What is SpaceFN and why you should give it a try
The SpaceFN concept - setting up your space key as a layer switch when held - is probably one of the most useful tweaks in the keyboard hobby. Let me explain how it works. My SpaceFN article on kbd.news made some rounds recently - quite surprisingly given the age of this concept. This piece you're reading is a condensed version of the full post. If you're left with unanswered questions, you'll most likely find the info you're looking for in the original write-up. On my imaginary top list of the most useful keyboard features, tweaks and hacks, SpaceFN would deserve a podium finish for sure. But what makes it so special? In short: SpaceFN is easy to implement, easy to learn, costs nothing, can be used with any keyboard, and can improve your productivity instantly. I will list its benefits below, but can state right at this point that the SpaceFN concept, setting up your space key as a layer switch when held, is clearly one of the most useful tweaks in the keyboard hobby....
Apr 30, 2024
Overall the keyboard itself seems pretty fantastic. The build quality feels great. The Keys feel a bit ...idk...sandy or grainy? Not a big deal as it doesn't bother me it was just an observation. One of the reasons to get the keyboard is to customize anyways so i'm sure they keycaps will change.
I love the USB C connector and having it on either left or right really makes the desk look neat..I believe it's safe the say the keyboard caused me to re-arrange my whole desk to something that feels a lot cleaner.
As far as the Configurator / Programming the keyboard. It works, as in I was able to make some minor adjustments to the default profile and change the LED; however, it seems to fall short of some tasks. Which I assume can be accomplished if I jump out of their configurator and to the QMK compiler.
I do feel it is worth mentioning just for the sake of it, so the drawbacks to the configurator i've noticed: 1. Lack of highlighting what a current key configuration is. There are a couple default settings on Layer 1 I was trying to determine what they were and inadvertently change the configuration, which leads me to my next point. 2. There is no way to undo a change, you have to leave the page and go back...losing any changes you made previously. So, until that is addressed you'll have to save often. 3. I was attempting to mimic the Mac Keyboard on my macbook, there were a couple keys that I couldn't emulate such as monitor brightness up/down and then the Dashboard and Mission Control buttons (F3 and F4) - I couldn't find that pre-defined action in the configurator 4. I was hoping that after configuring a LED profile i'd still be able to use the default profiles and cycle through all of them as I see fit; however, once you configure a LED profile all pre-defined profiles are gone and from what I could find there is no way to replicate this setting of multiple LED profiles to cycle through. (I'd be ecstatic if I could have a couple profiles on the keyboard that I could cycle through (ie. one for me and one for my girlfriend) I know I could setup 2 layers and just activate the 2nd one when different LEDs are needed, but something about Next/Previous LED Profile just seems nice. 5. Although it's nitpicking I did feel the control of arrangement of layers would be beneficial.
Overall - I didn't buy the keyboard for the configurator tool that makes it easier to program, I bought the keyboard because it could be customized from it's programming to it's keycaps. I'm super happy with it and it looks great on a clean desk. I look forward to many years typing on this keyboard and changing its appearance over its lifetime.
Thanks to Massdrop for an amazing build and the opportunity to own a keyboard that I can be happy with for many years to come!
Edit: Just look at this: https://massdrop-s3.imgix.net/img_comment/tNeUNZCqTFqxQudR3de7_ScreenShot20180919at9.36.34PM.png?auto=format&fm=jpg&fit=min&h=425&dpr=2
I already did a 1:1 Mac (or close to it) Layout for somebody here https://www.massdrop.com/talk/9382/talk/2204856 (the scroll for that is a little weird. you'll need to scroll down a little. It's my post with the screenshots).
That should give details on how to get Launchpad working.
I'll officially add this to my wiki.
https://github.com/LastContinue/ctrl-info/wiki