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It depends. For me 100% it’s worth it. It adds a lot more value to the keyboard after you realise what you can do to it. Lots of users think macros are a waste of time. But they can become bloody time savers for every day repetitive tasks. I have one for logging into my server via ssh: it does three things, open the Termjnal app on my Mac, type out a fairly long-ish string username@address then waits and types the password. But layers make keyboard bigger. You can do more with less keys. I’m using a 65% and I whilst I much prefer to have the direction keys. I don’t miss the numpad or the F-row that much. I much prefer the space my desk has. Next, tap dance (only on VIAL, not VIA) means I can have one key dedicated to media: single tap is play/pause, double tap is next song, hold is previous song, tap-hold is mute. Four functions in one key. But I have friends who are not interested in the above at all and just use the keyboard as they see it on their desk. No special functions or anything. If you have no inkling to tinker or mess around with the layout or use macros then QMK/VIA isn’t for you. Answer from Tangbuster on reddit.com

Keychron

keychron.com › blogs › archived › how-to-use-via-to-program-your-keyboard

How to use VIA to program your keyboard – Keychron

November 22, 2023 - VIA is an app that can easily configure keyboard keys with QMK firmware, here is a guide to walk you through. ... Please follow the instructions below to program a Keychron keyboard that supports VIA.

reddit.com › r/keychron › qmk/via question: worth it?

r/Keychron on Reddit: QMK/VIA Question: Worth It?

January 21, 2024 -

I have the Keychron K2 v2., that I've had for two days now. I usually use AutoHotKey in Windows to do my macros and such, so I didn't really think I had a need for any on-board scripting. But just in case I want to upgrade down the road, what have your experiences been? Does having the scripting be directly on the board itself make a difference?

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It depends. For me 100% it’s worth it. It adds a lot more value to the keyboard after you realise what you can do to it. Lots of users think macros are a waste of time. But they can become bloody time savers for every day repetitive tasks. I have one for logging into my server via ssh: it does three things, open the Termjnal app on my Mac, type out a fairly long-ish string username@address then waits and types the password. But layers make keyboard bigger. You can do more with less keys. I’m using a 65% and I whilst I much prefer to have the direction keys. I don’t miss the numpad or the F-row that much. I much prefer the space my desk has. Next, tap dance (only on VIAL, not VIA) means I can have one key dedicated to media: single tap is play/pause, double tap is next song, hold is previous song, tap-hold is mute. Four functions in one key. But I have friends who are not interested in the above at all and just use the keyboard as they see it on their desk. No special functions or anything. If you have no inkling to tinker or mess around with the layout or use macros then QMK/VIA isn’t for you.

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AutoHotKey may be more powerful in a lot of ways due to being a scripting language, but QMK/VIA/Vial macros come alive if you pair them with something like Microsoft Powertoys. More than macros though, the powerful key mapping is the biggest advantage for me personally. My Q4 is a 60% layout that I would hate without QMK functionality. Remapping the layers and keys to my needs makes it feel like a much larger layout and really speeds up my work. I can't ever buy a keyboard without QMK ever again.

Discussions

VIA/QMK Setup

The firmware you build with QMK is flashed (and stored) in your keyboard. With VIA, you don't flash it actually, but the VIA app will modify the settings inside the keyboard and the keyboard will store them. So yes your keyboard will have the same behaviour with any of the computer your will use with it. The keyboard will not have different behaviour regarding the operating system (windows/mac/linux) so if you want the keyboard to do that, you have to program different layers for these operating systems (and program a key (or key combination) to switch from one to another. On the K Pro keyboards, there is a switch "windows/mac" but actually that switch is only switching between layers :-) I hope I was clear, don't hesitate to ask other questions if you have any :-) More on reddit.com

r/Keychron

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March 28, 2023

QMK/VIA Question: Worth It?

It depends. For me 100% it’s worth it. It adds a lot more value to the keyboard after you realise what you can do to it. Lots of users think macros are a waste of time. But they can become bloody time savers for every day repetitive tasks. I have one for logging into my server via ssh: it does three things, open the Termjnal app on my Mac, type out a fairly long-ish string username@address then waits and types the password. But layers make keyboard bigger. You can do more with less keys. I’m using a 65% and I whilst I much prefer to have the direction keys. I don’t miss the numpad or the F-row that much. I much prefer the space my desk has. Next, tap dance (only on VIAL, not VIA) means I can have one key dedicated to media: single tap is play/pause, double tap is next song, hold is previous song, tap-hold is mute. Four functions in one key. But I have friends who are not interested in the above at all and just use the keyboard as they see it on their desk. No special functions or anything. If you have no inkling to tinker or mess around with the layout or use macros then QMK/VIA isn’t for you. More on reddit.com

r/Keychron

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January 21, 2024

New to QMK/VIA based keyboards

By default, VIA only supports 4 dynamic layers (while QMK supports 32 layers overall... though only 16 with certain macros).

You can, however, add additional dynamic layers to be editable in VIA if you edit a few files and build them via QMK back into a proper firmware. Once you flash it to your board, VIA picks it right up and sees all your extra layers. I believe 15 is the max for macros in VIA, but it's possible it might add more when it sees additional layers... be cautious on how many layers you attempt to add as you're limited by onboard memory (you may need to delete some features you're not using to make room, like mouse keys or lighting effects etc.).

Is there a way to do double tap/single tap/long hold functionality.

QMK supports Tap Dance, but VIA doesn't. Space Cadet is the closest thing to that, but it only gives you modifier keys and parenthesis.

Videos

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How To Program Keychron C3 Pro With VIA