This is a gesture application for Mac that was recommended to me in the comments of a previous video. In theory, it allows you to assign custom gestures to repetitive actions or functions—for example, if you need to create a specific text file every day, you could trigger it with a simple gesture.
Upon launching it, a system prompt asks for Accessibility permissions. After granting access, let’s test the basic gestures. According to the quick guide, copying is done by drawing a “C”, and pasting is done with a reverse “C”.
Let’s test it out: I’ll create a new text document, type something, select the text, and draw the copy gesture. Initially, it conflicted with the active window, but after a couple of tries, it recognized the input and pasted the content correctly. The app displays a detection match percentage (for example, 87%) based on how closely your gesture matches the preset.
Checking the options under Settings > Drawing, the default match threshold comes set way too high (around 85%), making it almost impossible to trigger unless you draw a flawless shape. Lowering this accuracy threshold to around 65%–70% significantly improves gesture recognition, making copy and paste work effortlessly. Adjusting this setting right away is essential for a smooth experience.
While memorizing default shortcuts takes a bit of a learning curve, creating custom gestures is straightforward:
- Draw the gesture: For instance, draw an “S” shape and save it to the library.
- Set the scope: You can configure it globally or restrict it to specific apps like Google Chrome.
- Assign the action: Map it to a Custom Keyboard Shortcut, such as the combination to reopen the last closed tab.
Testing the custom “S” gesture opens the tab instantly without requiring a perfect drawing. It does exactly what it promises. It’s a clean utility without unnecessary bloated features, and even though it seems to be in an early release version, it works really well.
CurFlow was recommended to me for creating custom gestures, and I wanted to test whether it genuinely optimizes daily workflow. Its design nails the macOS aesthetic, integrating flawlessly into the interface, which gives a great first impression upon granting the mandatory accessibility permissions.
Performance and the major precision flaw
When testing basic copy and paste commands, I discovered a critical usability issue: out of the box, it is way too sensitive. It demands an eighty-five percent stroke accuracy, and since no one draws a perfectly neat gesture on the first try, you initially fail almost every time. I had to change the settings and lower the level to sixty-five percent to achieve a fluid response.
From there, the technical behavior improves noticeably:
- There is not much to it when mapping actions: you draw the stroke and assign the action.
- It supports script execution through the Shortcuts app, for now making up for the lack of AppleScript.
This is a fairly early version, so it lacks many advanced options. However, it doesn’t need a thousand features to stand out; after adjusting the sensitivity, the app delivers and does what it is supposed to do, proving to be operational and quite promising.
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