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Treadle

Draw a gesture to run an action

Updated October 5, 2026

Instead of pressing a button, you can draw a shape on the panel to run an action. You record each gesture on the device by drawing it three times and giving it an action; from then on, drawing that shape fires it. A strictness setting trades accidental matches against forgiveness.

Recording a gesture on the Gestures screen — drawing the shape on the grid, with the saved gestures and a strictness slider alongside.

Draw instead of press

A gesture is a shape you draw on the panel to run an action — useful when you would rather not hunt for a button. Open the Gestures screen from the panel. Each saved gesture maps one shape to one action.

Record a gesture

  1. On the device, open Gestures and tap New.
  2. Choose the action it should run, and give it a name.
  3. Draw the shape three times so Treadle learns it, then tap Save.

The new-gesture sheet: choose an action, name the gesture, and draw the shape three times.

Fire it

Draw the shape on the Gestures canvas. When it matches a saved gesture, Treadle confirms the match and runs that action on the Mac.

A matched gesture — Treadle recognises the drawn shape and fires its action, "Run notes → Open Notes".

Tune the matching

The Strictness setting controls how close your drawing has to be to the saved shape. Higher is fewer misfires; lower is more forgiving. Start near the middle and adjust if gestures either miss or trigger by accident.

Gestures are part of the paid plan. See what's free and what's paid.

Questions & answers

Where are gestures stored?
On the Mac, one set per Mac. You record them on the device, but they belong to the Mac you are paired with, so each Mac keeps its own.
What does the strictness setting do?
It sets how closely your drawing must match the saved shape. Higher means fewer accidental matches; lower is more forgiving.
How many gestures can I save?
Several per Mac. The Gestures screen shows how many are saved out of the limit.

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