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Beamer 1.5.3

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@TK9443 TK9443 released this 14 Oct 09:53
· 17 commits to main since this release
v1.5.3
cbe8317

Beamer 1.5.3 hides the pointer on the machines you are not using, lets you take over a machine whose driver has gone idle, and lets each machine use several edges and corners, including edges that wrap round. Crossings now follow where screens actually touch, two machines nearby can pair by comparing six digits, and Linux gets a ready-made arm64 Flatpak. It uses the same wire version as Beamer 1.5.0 and pairs with earlier 1.5.x versions. Your pairings and settings stay as they are.

Downloads

  • macOS 13 or later, Apple silicon and Intel: Beamer-1.5.3.dmg, a universal app signed and notarised by Apple.
  • Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit: Beamer-Setup-1.5.3.exe.
  • Linux, 64-bit x86 and arm64: Beamer-1.5.3-x86_64.flatpak or Beamer-1.5.3-aarch64.flatpak, or from the Kalkman Code Flatpak repository.

On Linux, Beamer is an experimental Flatpak for 64-bit x86 and arm64, with no AppImage. Fedora, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS and other distributions with Flatpak can install it with flatpak install --user https://flatpak.kalkmancode.co.uk/beamer.flatpakref; on Ubuntu 24.04 or later and Debian 13 or later, first run sudo apt install flatpak, then log out and back in or restart. Flatpak adds the Kalkman Code repository and fetches the KDE runtime from Flathub. On Wayland, allow both prompts to send and receive input. Start Beamer from the app menu; the Flatpak cannot start at sign-in yet. Update with flatpak update or your software centre. The downloadable bundle remains as an offline alternative. See the README's Linux details block for Wayland limits and older Ubuntu and Debian requirements.

The Windows installer is not code-signed, so Windows may show “Windows protected your PC”. Choose More info, then Run anyway.

Before you install

Beamer 1.5 cannot connect to Beamer 1.4.x. If you are coming from 1.4.x, update every machine you pair together and pair them again; the 1.5.1 release notes say what carries over.

New

  • Only the machine you are using shows a pointer. By default, a Windows PC and Linux under X11 now hide their own pointer while they drive another machine, as the Mac already did. And when you move to another machine, the one you left hides its pointer until its own mouse or trackpad moves it, or another machine drives it again, on Windows, the Mac and Linux under X11. Wayland gives apps no way to hide the pointer, so on a Wayland desktop the one you left still shows it. On Windows, the pointer comes back by itself on the lock screen, Ctrl+Alt+Del and UAC prompts. To turn it off, switch off Hide the pointer on the machine not in use. Thanks to rufusmp for the idea.
  • Take over from an idle driver. A machine that is being driven no longer waits for its driver to let go: once the driver has sent no input for three seconds, another machine can take over, and the first one gets its input back with a notice naming who took over.
  • Several edges and corners for each machine. In the Crossing page's ledger, edges and corners are now chips, and a machine can have several of each. An edge can also wrap round, so, for example, the left edge of your screen can lead to a machine that sits on your right.
  • Crossing where the screens actually touch. When screens of different sizes or alignments meet, only the stretch where they touch crosses, and the pointer lands at the matching point on the other screen rather than somewhere along its whole edge.
  • No overshooting on the way back. A fast flick on a machine being driven now stops at the edge that sends input home, instead of skipping past it onto that machine's next screen.
  • Pair nearby. On Overview, under Machines, press Pair nearby on two machines on the same network within a minute, check that both show the same six digits, and confirm on each. Typing a pairing code still works as before.
  • Design previews look like the real effects, and a new Frame rate choice (Match display, Half or Quarter) lets you run the effects at a lower rate.
  • Mac Glow fades inward, from the edge towards the middle of the screen, on live edges, corners and in the Design previews.
  • Return through the notch. On a MacBook, the notch leads to one machine, so ticking Notch for one machine in the Crossing page's ledger unticks it for the others. Once Notch is ticked, a new Return through the notch option brings the pointer home from that machine just below the notch, instead of at the matching point on the edge.
  • A tray icon that shows where input is. On Windows and Linux, the tray icon now draws the same two-screen picture as the Mac's menu bar: input on this machine, on another one, or held here while crossing is paused, with a mark for the state of the link. Show in tray on Windows and Linux, and Show in menu bar on the Mac, turn the icon off. The tray and menu bar menus also list a paired machine whose link is down as unavailable, until it comes back.
  • Edges between your own screens on Linux under X11. When an edge you cross from sits where one of this machine's screens meets another of its screens, Beamer now holds the pointer there while crossing is on, the same as at an outer edge. Elsewhere, and while crossing is paused, the pointer moves between your screens as usual.

Fixed

  • Sideways scrolling between a Mac and a PC. Scrolling left and right went the wrong way from a Mac to Windows or Linux, and from Windows or Linux to a Mac, with natural scrolling on or off. It now goes the same way as on the machine you are driving from. Scrolling up and down, and scrolling from one Mac to another, were already right. Update every PC you use together: between a PC on 1.5.3 and a PC on an earlier version, sideways scrolling goes the wrong way. Thanks to edrikwiyogo for the report.
  • Less memory and idle work. Beamer redraws its window, map and settings less often when nothing has changed, the Windows settings window does less work while it sits open, and Beamer no longer keeps old effects and pickers around after they are replaced, so memory grows less over a long session.
  • A Mac crash with Caps Lock. Beamer on the Mac could quit when Caps Lock switched between a Latin and another input source, for example Korean and English, while the Mac was driving another machine.
  • A slow clipboard no longer holds up input. Reading or writing the clipboard no longer pauses the mouse and keyboard while it waits.
  • Edges and corners on a Mac with several displays. An edge, thirds or a corner you set on one of a Mac's displays now holds the pointer where that display meets the next one, so resistance builds there instead of the pointer sliding across.
  • Linux crossing effects. Effects at the edges no longer make the dock or taskbar flicker.
  • Wayland landing. On Wayland, the pointer lands in the right place when the desktop lists or scales its displays differently, and an edge holds only on the display you set it on.
  • Wayland recovers. On GNOME, crossing comes back after the desktop's shortcut for cancelling input capture, and KDE Plasma no longer keeps resetting crossing after a screen layout change.
  • Caps Lock when you drive a Wayland desktop. A letter typed straight after Caps Lock on a Linux machine under Wayland could come out in the old case; it now comes out in the new one. Tested on KDE Plasma 6.7.5 in a virtual session.
  • Send input on Wayland. On a Wayland desktop, Send input and the tray's machine entries only played the alert sound, because Wayland lets input leave only when the pointer pushes through an edge. They are now dimmed while input is on that machine, with a note under the button saying why. In the Flatpak, Beamer's messages, such as who took over, now show as notifications; before, none of them appeared. Thanks to neri._.07 for the report.
  • Pairing codes paste cleanly, including codes copied with spaces or dashes in them.

Known limits

Function keys on a Mac remain function keys on a PC, so Option+F4 and F5 refresh keep their usual behaviour there. Keyboard backlight, Mission Control, Launchpad, Globe, Eject and the microphone mute key do not cross between a Mac and a PC.

A two-finger pinch on a Mac trackpad zooms on a PC (as Ctrl and the scroll wheel); this was confirmed on macOS 27.2 on 07-10-2026. A two-finger swipe between pages is not passed on yet; the three- and four-finger gestures are unaffected.

On Wayland, input leaves only through an edge; the shortcut brings it back, keys on the Stays list cannot stay local, full-screen apps cannot hold the edges, and a drag can cross. Crossing effects need XWayland; a Wayland desktop without it shows none on that machine. A character with no key in the desktop's layout is not typed. Wayland's InputCapture portal does not allow barriers on internal display seams, so internal display seams remain unheld on Wayland. KDE Plasma 6.7.5, with InputCapture v2, has been tested in a virtual session only, not on a real desktop.

Linux has been tested on one GNOME Wayland desktop paired with a Mac and with a Windows PC. X11 on real hardware has not been tested. On X11, smooth scrolling from a physical mouse and layouts with three or more groups have not been verified. Linux does not offer gestures. The trigger key can reach the app under the pointer while input is at home.

How to report

Open an issue at https://github.com/kalkman-code/beamer/issues and say which machines you have, which versions are on them and what you saw. Beamer's log folder is under Open log folder in the menu. If Beamer quits unexpectedly, attach Beamer.log from that folder; on a Mac, also attach crash.log beside it.

Updates

Beamer checks for public releases, not pre-releases. On Overview, choose Download Beamer 1.5.3 when it is offered; 1.4.x and 1.5.0 to 1.5.2 all offer it, and Download opens this page, where you pick the file for your machine. If you installed the Flatpak from the Kalkman Code repository, flatpak update or your software centre brings 1.5.3 instead. Update every machine you use together.

SHA-256 checksums

f2b2bfba6d9763a2e4c8d74ce8184788579cb29cab8a2add5619db46240c184b  Beamer-1.5.3.dmg
ac86586e52168faa4576e4ae627719ae87ab29a831d404ac237945b62db3698b  Beamer-Setup-1.5.3.exe
35765f8988b77ebf12cfa93a03e9621ef6d2162d581d4d76a7faf1c867eb84b8  Beamer-1.5.3-x86_64.flatpak
5fcbd9765f2ac3d45dc40655496194ec09939e65ea66cb8f540d24f6aaf5f2f5  Beamer-1.5.3-aarch64.flatpak
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