Magic Switch: Share Apple Magic keyboard/track-pad/mouse between two Macs

I don't remember why Barrier was forked from Deskflow, but I've been using Barrier for many many years now. Now that I think of it, I do notice bugs, that maybe I should try out a new version to see if there are life improvements. E.g. with keyboard layouts, even when both systems are running Windows, the target system can be confused what character it should be outputing; and I need to hit "reload" to reconnect after returning one or both systems from standby, sometimes clipboard sharing also breaks.

For a workflow where you are also display switching (kvm etc), Synergy doesn't work well. You can technically use it when hosts are coming on/off display, but it's not designed for it. If you use a kvm-like workflow and have a Magic Touchpad, there's no easy solution without re-pairing, and I hope OPs tool works for this.

High-DPI bugs are some of my least favorite software bugs because people usually don't seem to care about them!! but they are so incredibly annoying and infuriating.

Apple also has their own Universal Control, that is semi-reliable from time to time. https://support.apple.com/en-ca/102459

1. I liked to use a Bluetooth headset. What I really want is to pair the headset (or microphone or whatever device) with the dock, not the computer. As a result, switching just didn't work. And Bluetooth is finnicky at the best of times. This was a pain point;

2. The cables have a really high failure rate. I now buy at least 2 of any cable I buy because I expect one to be bad from the start or fail, particularly the cable between the Macbook and the dock. It has to carry power and a full TB load. 3 feet was best. 6 feet at the time was the longest it could go. I expect there have been teething problems with TB4/5 since. I'm actually curious about the Chinese GPMI standard/cable, as an aside;

3. Thunderbolt itself was generally good because it's well-supported by OSX, including DRMA support. But passthrough for HDMI/DP still felt like it had problems. It should be bulletproof. There's nothing worse than a monitor that might go black occasionally and you don't know why;

4. Generally speaking, handling this much bandwidth requires a lot of computing power. A dock is basically a 100G+ switch.

Very neat and fun project though, and good to know there’s a nice solution if the need every arises.

I would love however, to have the cordless magic accessoriers, as it keeps the desktop cleaner.

Will give this tool a try if I can get away with installing it on my corp laptop (which forbids any kind of remote access/Synergy-style stuff).

This was the only KVM I found which connects to 2 Thunderbolt devices at once, everything else was relying on HDMI+USB3 for the host connection.

I've not had trouble with docks (all CalDigit) or cables failing, though the port on the dock has grown loose. It still works perfectly but can glitch out if I bump the dock (thankfully not common with how it's positioned at my desk).

As nice as the USB-C connector is, for this use case I'd really like a connector that's USB-C electrically but bigger, bulkier, more robust… something like the old FireWire 400 connectors with their satisfying click would be great.

I used the Sabrent TB4 KVM for a while. I had to give it up and use the magnetic USB hack when my new gear outpaced the KVP switch (i.e. TB5 == 5K HDR @ 120Hz).

If anyone here does try magnetic adapters, I highly recommend the 90° flat connectors, since they're far less prone to disconnect when you move the monitor.

* Using the keyboard's switch-device button moves the keyboard to the other laptop.

* Logitech's Options+ app automatically switches the mouse to the same device in response.

* Claude vibe-coded me a native app that runs on both laptops and sends a DDC command to the monitor to switch inputs any time it detects keyboard and mouse both going away in quick succession: https://github.com/jawj/mxswitch

Will give this free one a go, I think.