this post was submitted on 08 Aug 2023
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As if it wasn't bad enough that they want me to use a random internet service to add a keyboard to a usb wifi receiver, they have the balls to put this for Firefox users. I clicked out of pure curiosity, as I'm not even remotely interested in involving a corporate internet service in getting my keyboard connected to my computer. This is the message you get now on Logi Options software if you have a Unifying Receiver: This is the message you get now on Logi Options software if you have a Unifying Receiver

For the curious: https://logiwebconnect.com

EDIT: some people on the thread have brought up that the error message being displayed for Firefox users is due to the WebUSB API not being implemented by Firefox due to security concerns. This still does not justify having to use a web app to plug peripherals to a PC.

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[–] Anticorp@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've used the unification software a lot and it never required a browser for anything. That means that they went out of their way to change the way the program works and make it worse. This seems to be a pretty common practice these days. Companies take a perfectly good program and then actively make it worse. Just leave working stuff alone, damn it!

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[–] m3t00@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

hmm, I usually end up uninstalling 3rd party apps and just go with standard MS drivers. too much useless bloat. last bought a generic Amazon mouse because it does what I need

[–] JGrffn@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I hate how everything requires additional software all the time (at least on Windows). Just give me proper drivers and no bloat, how hard could that be? Instead I need the G HUB for button mapping on my G903, I need Logi Options for the fn keys to work on my MX Keys, I need two of Corsair's shitty fucking apps just to get readings from my "smart" PSU and to control the fans on my AIO, I needed an additional ASUS program that was incredibly fucking shitty, just to control the case fans (eventually gave up and now I'm more than happy just going into the BIOS settings)....and don't get me started on the rgb. Close G HUB? Now my mouse is all rainbows n shit. Close Corsair whateverthefuckname? Now my corsair keyboard has all the wrong colors since somehow they don't map them correctly to the onboard memory (I got rid of that keyboard and got the Mx Keys instead because there was 0 upsides to having a mechanical rgb keyboard). Even on my razer laptop, if I dare not have synapse, I'm stuck with shitty rgb mode, and they don't even try to get white properly implemented into their RGB keyboards.

Companies have had the chance to work together on making these things more standardized, less bloated, more controllable and user friendly, but instead they choose the path of bloated and buggy software or web apps for things you should be able to do locally. I hate it and I'm never going RGB or fancy schmancy that requires custom software ever again.

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[–] jontix 4 points 1 year ago

I believe it is a trend in Chinese tech companies.

[–] lowleveldata@programming.dev 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Does it work if you click Cancel?

[–] JGrffn@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

It works through Bluetooth just fine, I just never got it to work with the USB receiver (I was trying just now, still no dice). The app also works just fine if you click cancel.

[–] Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Oh dang. I have a Razer Blackwidow, and enough buttons on it have crapped out that a new keyboard is definitely on my list. Not shooting for another Razer (their build quality has really gone downhill :-/) so I had planned on a logitech since I like how the buttons felt on my previous keyboard (some logitech model, no idea which).

That's a hard fuck-no on logitech though.

Any good recommendations? I think I want to hop off the mechanical bandwagon - I really like the feel (and relative silence!) of scissor switch keys. Super bonus points for backlit (don't give a fuck about RGB, just want to be able to see it in the dark) and programmable keys.

Never used Corsair before, but tentatively eyeballing this guy: https://www.corsair.com/us/en/p/keyboards/ch-9226065-na/k55-rgb-pro-lite-gaming-keyboard-ch-9226065-na

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[–] fury@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It's kind of hilarious they didn't just build this into the options app. But WebUSB gets a bad rap for no good reason.

WebUSB's only sin is that it's being spearheaded by Google. It's a useful technology that means theoretically you only need to write to one platform - the web. Let the browser deal with the different USB APIs for each OS (please ~~god~~ google save me from libusb). It's safer because of the browser's sandboxing, the permission dialog, the much greater likelihood they're using good standard TLS instead of rolling their own encryption, the list goes on.

Personally, I'd rather visit a web page one time to set it up and then forget about it, than to have to install Yet Another Thing™ that ends up running in the background, always checking for updates, reporting analytics back to the mothership, and constantly sucking up just a little bit of my CPU time even when I don't have any Logitech devices connected. (Sound like any other Logitech software you know of?)

I had a Pixel phone that I wanted to reflash back to the standard factory image. Did I have to download a special program, reboot the phone into bootloader mode, and perform an ancient ritual sacrifice like I do with a Samsung phone? No, I just had to visit the right web page and click "yes, allow this page to fuck up my phone". No lingering software left over on my PC, at least once the browser cache goes away.

Same with many Arduino and ESP32 projects, by way of WebSerial. If the page you're reading doesn't have to send you off to some other program and can just, right there in the web page, flash your device with the software it's telling you about, that's a good thing.

The web is becoming the application platform of choice. No App Store guardians to reject you from it. No 30% cut to the man. The list of reasons to have to install a program to your native OS is shrinking. Even 3d games can be done entirely in the web now. Rejecting WebUSB/WebSerial just means developers have to keep writing stuff for every OS (if you're lucky).

[–] DrZoidberg@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

I just use Redragon stuff. It just plugs in and works. Only time you need the software is if you wanna remap buttons or change the colors.

[–] thisbenzingring@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 1 year ago (4 children)

IDK... the Unifying Receiver has always been a piece of shit

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[–] vox@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

it's not a strict useragnent filter, they're displaying this for all browsers that don't have the web usb api
firefox does not support it yet (support is planned afaik)

[–] fictitiousexistence@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

What

The

Shit

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