[Launcher] Impossible to reveal the launcher with a stylus on a Wacom tablet

[Jan Simon]

When i run my Lenovo X200 Tablet in tablet mode, i can't reveal the launcher as it is not possible to push the mouse arrow with a stylus against the edge of the screen as needed by the new reveal behavior.

I'm running precise with unity 5.4.0.

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Desired design:

We should be able to detect when a stylus device is attached and change Launcher behaviour accordingly. To show a hidden launcher:
- mouse: edge push
- touch: edge gesture
- stylus: edge hover

Hover timeout should be relatively short (I'd start with 150 ms) so that it doesn't unnecessary and annoying delay to user's flow.

Launcher should slide back behind the screen edge as soon as the cursor is moved off the launcher area.

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

you should probably change the setting for it to not hide ;-)

[Bilal Akhtar (bilalakhtar)]

Or, tablets should implement the 4 finger leftward drag on the desktop to reveal the launcher. That should work if MT is supported with your hardware drivers (as well as the hardware itself), but apparently MT is broken in Unity 5.4 right now.

[Jan Simon (jan-simon)]

Multitouch is not possible as it is a X200 with a Wacom tablet. I have to use it with a stylus in tablet mode. Here's a link to clarify what kind of hardware it is: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:X200_Tablet

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Josh Strawbridge (holyknightjoshua)]

i have this problem on my desktop using a wacom intuos3, http://gdgt.com/wacom/intuos3/6x8/
but this bug will likely affect any user with an active digitizer tablet.
not just the ones built into portable devices and not just wacom brand.

for anyone who doesn't know the kind of device this bug is talking about:
most tablets of this type (input devices, not a style of computer) do not have touch capabilities.
these tablets move the pointer by hovering the stylus over the active area without touching anything. so like using a mouse we can move the pointer without clicking anything.
for built in devices this area is made the same size of the screen.
for plug in devices the area, or part of it if the size ratios don't match, is mapped to your screen.
you can't push past the active area and since the left side of the active area relates to the left side of the screen you can't activte the launcher with these devices.
there are other benefits but as far as giving a distinction between what kind of device this is talking about that should do.

i think the best solution for this would be to detect the input being used and if it's a stylus change launcher behavior based on that.
maybe have it bring up a small border to click on or hover for a short time in order to reveal the launcher.