You can use your Mac trackpad as a scale (but you probably not)

I know that the phrase “Life Hack” can sometimes be a shorthand for “useless tip”. At this point, jokes are decades old, when I write an article, I try to do something like this. So I should be clear: I don’t think of you Needed Use your MacBook as a scale. You Be able to doAlthough.

Ontario-based developer Chris Shah Made up an app It turns any Mac trackpad into a scale. This is not a good idea in the kitchen, mostly because you do not want to make materials on your expensive laptop. But the app is called Trackweight– It is ridiculous, and I like it.

To use trackweight, one finger on the trackpad needs to be catching lightly (this is because your Mac does not activate the trackpad until it is touched with finger or something CovenantThis idea is to relax your finger in this way, where you are not pushing down – I had the most fortune that was barely holding my finger above the trackpad, but mostly resting it on the laptop. If you want, you can hit the spacebar with your other hand to reset the weight at zero, or you can put your object on the trackpad to measure it.

Credit: Justin Pot

I tested it with some objects, mostly a bowl of blueberry especially. The result was within a few grams of my kitchen scale.

Credit: Justin Pot

I also tested it with a standalone magic trackpad – it also worked as a bus, and possibly it is Little More practical as a scale (but still not really practical).

So why does this work? The Mac Trackpad has a built -in pressure sensor, mostly used to find out how hard you are putting pressure for features like force touch. When you press and hold on your trackpad to trigger the “look up” tools and other features, your Mac is using a pressure sensor to find out that you are putting hard pressure.

DeveloperThere is a hidden API on Mac that makes it possible to detect the amount of pressure being applied on the track pad for applications, and is used to calculate the weight of the object. It is an attractive hack, and the modern laptop has a display of embedded unexpected technology.