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Treadle

Hold and rules: a second action, and first-match logic

Updated October 5, 2026

A button can do two things: one action on a normal press, and a second when you hold it. You can also give a button a short rule list that picks one action based on your Mac's current state, so a single button does the right thing in context.

Hold for a second action

Give a button a hold action: a quick tap does one thing, holding it past a short delay does another. You set the hold action and how long the hold is (from a fifth of a second up to a few seconds).

The device times the hold and decides which action to send — your Mac is never told whether it was a tap or a hold, it just runs the one action it receives. One visible change: a button that has a hold action fires its tap on release, not the instant you touch it, so the hold has a chance to win. Buttons without a hold action are unchanged.

On the free plan a hold-enabled button still works as a plain tap button; the hold is simply ignored until you upgrade.

Rules: first match wins

Instead of a fixed action, a button can carry a short rule list. Each rule is a condition and an action; the first rule whose condition is true runs, and if none matches, the button's tap action runs as the fallback.

Rules read only what your Mac already knows — whether the mic is muted, and which app is frontmost. For example: if the mic is muted, unmute it; otherwise mute it. The rule is evaluated on the Mac against its own current state, so it's always up to date.

If a rule's action could disrupt your session (sleep, quit, empty trash), the button asks you to confirm before it runs.

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

Questions & answers

How long is a hold?
A short, deliberate press-and-hold — long enough that a normal tap still fires the first action, not the second.
What can a rule check?
The Mac's current state that Treadle already knows, such as which app is in front. It picks the first matching action.

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