Bug 490784 - Touchpad cursor hides while typing when setting disabled
Summary: Touchpad cursor hides while typing when setting disabled
Status: RESOLVED NOT A BUG
Alias: None
Product: systemsettings
Classification: Applications
Component: kcm_touchpad (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: git-stable-Plasma/6.1
Platform: Other Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Plasma Bugs List
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2024-07-24 16:20 UTC by Dan
Modified: 2024-07-24 22:00 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:


Attachments
Tuxedo OS showing hide cursor (284.50 KB, image/png)
2024-07-24 20:19 UTC, cwo
Details

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Description Dan 2024-07-24 16:20:44 UTC
SUMMARY
When using System Settings to disable touchpad cursor hiding while typing, the setting in gsettings is left not updated, so applications like Firefox, Kate and Konsole have the cursor hidden while typing. This doesn't what's actually set in System Settings.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Open "System Settings"
2. Navigate to "Mouse and Touchpad"
3. Select "Touchpad"
4. Untick "Disable while typing"
5. Restart and login
6. Repeat steps 1-4
7. Open "Konsole"
8. Enter the command "gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.touchpad disable-while-typing"

OBSERVED RESULT
The value in gsettings is "true", in System Settings the "Disable while typing" option is not ticked.

EXPECTED RESULT
The value in gsettings should be "false", not "true" and the System Settings "Disable while typing" is not ticked. I expect applications may follow what's set in gsettings rather than in system settings.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Linux/KDE Plasma: Tuxedo OS 3
KDE Plasma Version: 6.1.2
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.3.0
Qt Version: 6.7.0

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Kernel version: 6.5.0-10043-tuxedo (64-bit)
Graphics platform: X11

I use a laptop that has a touchpad. I don't use a mouse.
Learned about using gsettings using https://askubuntu.com/questions/832124/how-do-i-stop-the-pointer-disappearing-when-i-type-in-ubuntu-mate-16-04.
To stop cursor hiding while typing in Firefox I found https://support.mozilla.org/bm/questions/1435629.
Comment 1 cwo 2024-07-24 17:53:03 UTC
As far as I know, the Setting in Mouse and Touchpad only applies to disabling touchpad input while typing, not to hiding the cursor.

The setting for hiding the cursor when typing is in System Settings > Desktop Effects > Hide Cursor; disable it completely using the checkbox or open the effect settings using the button on the right-hand side and uncheck "Hide cursor on typing".
Comment 2 Nate Graham 2024-07-24 19:16:45 UTC
That's correct; the setting you're looking at is for disabling the touchpad, not hiding the pointer.
Comment 3 Dan 2024-07-24 20:10:38 UTC
"System Settings > Desktop Effects > Hide Cursor"
No such "Hide cursor" or any cursor setting exits in Desktop Effects.
Comment 4 cwo 2024-07-24 20:19:56 UTC
Created attachment 171963 [details]
Tuxedo OS showing hide cursor

I happen to run Tuxedo OS on this computer as well, here's a screenshot of Desktop Effects with hide cursor showing.
Comment 5 cwo 2024-07-24 20:41:44 UTC
I apologize, I just noticed you're running X11 and tested it on X11 as well.

The hide cursor desktop effect is only available under Wayland. I can confirm that some applications, in particular konsole, do hide the cursor automatically; the comments in the merge request where this feature was added (https://invent.kde.org/plasma/kwin/-/merge_requests/5077) also notes that some applications independently do this. You will notice that if you type, for example, in System settings itself, the cursor does not hide. This is something that individual applications do on their own, not something that is controlled centrally in System settings the way the Hide Cursor desktop effect is. And in neither Kate nor Konsole does this seem to be explicitly configurable. I'm afraid you'll have to petition the creators of these apps for a way to disable this.
Comment 6 Dan 2024-07-24 21:43:30 UTC
My issue was believing that the "org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.touchpad disable-while-typing" setting was being used instead of what's listed in System Settings and that "org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.touchpad disable-while-typing" is not kept in-sync with System Settings.

I came a across a 7 year old reddit thread (https://www.reddit.com/r/kde/comments/66aeg8/how_to_stop_mouse_pointer_from_hiding_when_typing/) that mentioned the cursor being hidden is intentional. I'll try asking the relevant applications if it can be optional for the cursor to be able to hide through app settings.
I could also ask for the Desktop Effects > Hide Cursor setting to migrate into X11.
Comment 7 cwo 2024-07-24 22:00:12 UTC
I don't think migrating the hide cursor control would help in this case; if an application hardcodes this behavior, it'll still happen even if the option is disabled. An application has control over the cursor this way. The Hide cursor desktop can hide things that are not hidden, but it can't unhide things. I have this setting off, but the cursor still hides in kate and konsole for me. (I just never noticed until this bug made me aware of it)

I also found that old reddit thread, which contains a link to a relatively up-to-date list of KDE applications and libraries that use the cursor-hiding library, and it's a relatively small number - among the major apps pretty much only kate and konsole, plus the presentation mode of okular.