hamburger menu
+ Create a topic
Solved

Issue with integrated pen on touchscreen Acer Spin 5

T
Badge

Hello there,

First of all, I would just like to share that Lucidspark has been a dream come true for me -- it has brought my teaching to the next level, both live and virtual! I wanted to ask for some support with an interesting issue…

As I mentioned in the topic, I currently access my boards via my Acer Spin 5, which is a touchscreen-enabled laptop with a built-in stylus that interacts with the screen. I have been using this laptop with Lucidspark for the past 2-3 years without any issues. Recently, however, my pen suddenly changed unexpectedly in functionality in a not-so-pleasant way.

In the past, I was able to draw directly with my stylus after engaging the Pen function without pressing any buttons. I could easily switch between the other tools via keyboard hotkeys and use the pen without issue. Now, I seem to have an issue that requires me to keep the button on my stylus pressed at all times in order to engage. Interestingly, the board functions as it had before (ie: with the pen functioning normally) prior to changing anything; once I select a new tool (or change the pen tool), the the pen no longer writes continuously -- pressing the pen against the screen (the motion for drawing a simple line) now leaves a dot, then drags the screen, functioning similarly to a “right click hold drag” or a “finger press hold drag”. Trying to draw with my mouse and/or touchpad reveals I can no longer draw lines in this manner: even if I click and hold my left mouse button and drag (the old way to draw a line), the pen function does not engage.

I was wondering if I may have erroneously toggled some function on my boards and/or my PC? Would greatly appreciate any insight anyone may have so that I can return to previous functionality!

icon

Best answer by Flavia D 11 June 2024, 13:02

View original

Comments

Flavia D
Userlevel 5
Badge +8

Hi @ttsang, 

Thanks for your post and for your feedback! We’re glad to hear that Lucidspark has been a game changer for you! 

Unfortunately, Lucidspark hasn’t been tested to be compatible with these specific devices, so we’re not able to guarantee the experience and ensure full support for those. 

However, we’re very interested in your feedback and committed to continually improving our products. If you’re willing to share, we’d love to hear more details about your use case in the Product Feedback section of this community. 

First, search the Product Feedback section (with the filter Topic Type = Idea) to see if it’s already been submitted. If so, please add any additional details you’d like and upvote the request - this consolidation helps to refine feedback and properly capture the popularity of the request.

If no one has submitted this idea yet, please create one of your own and be sure to include details about your use case or what you’d like to see in this experience. This will also allow other users with similar requests to discover and upvote it, then add details of their own.

Finally, for more information on how Lucid manages feedback via this community, take a look at this post:

 

D
Badge +1

@ttsang, I’m also having this issue, I don’t think it’s anything particular to your setup or something toggled on accident. I’m looking for a workaround to the problem myself.

 

@Flavia D The suggestion to file this as an “idea” is not the right move here, this is a bonafide bug in Lucidspark that prevents individuals with a pen/stylus/tablet/touchpad from using the software. We’re not asking for some kind of custom integration with pen systems, just that the software stop dragging the page when we attempt draw on it.

Is there somewhere we can file bug reports to developers to help them track the problem down? I would love to expand my subscriptions of Lucid products, but unfortunately Lucidspark is simply not usable in its current form.

Flavia D
Userlevel 5
Badge +8

Hi @Demetri, 

Thanks for following up on this. While I understand your frustration, this is indeed a feature request case since Lucidspark hasn’t been build to be compatible with these specific devices. I worked with our Product Team to look into this and they confirmed this is not a bug.

Making Lucidspark compatible with those devices would require testing it with this specific hardware, which hasn’t been done yet. Submitting a feature request would be the best way to make this happen as this will allow us to gauge interest in these kinds of tablet drawing devices! The more people who request this, the more likely it is to be prioritized and implemented. 

D
Badge +1

Hi @Flavia D,

 

Thank you for the quick response here and I sincerely appreciate checking with the product as well. However, I still think there’s a fundamental misunderstanding: The reason this should be considered a bug and not feature request is that this is not actually related to any kind of specific hardware/pen/tablets, etc… and no device-specific testing is needed or required to fix it. I should clarify: I’m using the web version of Lucid Spark and Lucid Chart and because these are web applications, they don’t actually interact directly with pen hardware, but rather implement common web standards for input.

If this issue was on a native native application or mobile application, then I could see the product team’s point about this being a feature request, but this seems like a web app bug to me.

Also adding a little more weight to my opinion that this is bug is that it used to work just fine, and recently broke with one of the updates.

In any case though, if the decision by the product team is “we won’t fix”, then I must accept that.

Thank you,

-Demetri

Flavia D
Userlevel 5
Badge +8

Hi @Demetri, 
 

Thanks for providing this additional context. The issue that was first reported in this thread regarded the use of a built-in stylus to access Lucidspark boards via Acer Spin 5, which is a touchscreen-enabled laptop. Could you specify what’s the device/hardware you’re using to access Lucidspark and the pen you’re using? 

D
Badge +1

Hi @Flavia D,

Apologies, this will be a long one :), scroll to the end for the summary.

 

I realized I may have hastily hijacked this old thread, and in doing so also did not provide sufficient information about my particular issue, my bad. I've taken some time today to perform some extended testing and to gather the information you asked for. My goal is two-fold:

A) Correlate/confirm or deny that the issue I am experiencing is also the same issue of the original poster.
B) Through some extended testing, identify any commonalities that may assist you and your team in providing help with the issue I am having.

All tests below were performed on the Ludicspark web application, on a blank, fresh, document. I've tested across a multitude of desktops and laptops, and also different drawing tablets and pen inputs. I've also tested using different web browsers on each of the systems (and found something interesting.) I think it's also important that we make the distinction between mouse/cursor input, touch input, and pen/stylus input, as Windows and web browsers treat these inputs differently.

 

Testing

 

Thinkpad X390 Yoga laptop/tablet (very similar hardware to the Acer Spin 5, a touch/convertible hybrid with a built in stylus):

  • OS: Windows 10 Pro
  • Web browser: Firefox (latest version)
    • Mouse input: Works as expected, clicking down enables drawing.
    • Touch input: Works as expected, touching and dragging the screen draws on the canvas.
    • Built-in stylus input (with Windows Pen/Ink mode enabled): Does NOT work, pressing the pen down on the canvas shows the hand icon and drags the canvas instead of drawing on it.
  • Web browser: Chrome (latest version)
    • Mouse input: Works as expected, clicking down enables drawing.
    • Touch input: Works as expected, touching and dragging the screen draws on the canvas.
    • Built-in stylus input: Works as expected, touching and dragging the screen draws on the canvas.

Dell Latitude 5330 touchscreen laptop:

  • OS: Windows 10 Pro
  • Web browser: Firefox (latest version)
    • Mouse input: Works as expected, clicking down enables drawing.
    • Touch input: Works as expected, touching and dragging the screen draws on the canvas.
    • Pen tablet input (XP-Pen Deco Pro M): Does NOT work, pressing the pen down on the canvas shows the hand icon and drags the canvas instead of drawing on it.
  • Web browser: Chrome (latest version)
    • Mouse input: Works as expected, clicking down enables drawing.
    • Touch input: Works as expected, clicking down enables drawing.
    • Pen tablet input (XP-Pen Deco Pro M): Works as expected, pressing the pen down enables drawing.


Custom build desktop PC:

  • OS: Windows 10 Pro
  • Web browser: Firefox (latest version)
    • Mouse input: Works as expected, clicking down enables drawing.
    • Pen tablet input (XP-Pen Deco Pro Gen 2 - “Pen” Mode): Does NOT work, pressing the pen down on the canvas shows the hand icon and drags the canvas instead of drawing on it.
    • Pen tablet input (XP-Pen Deco Pro Gen 2 - “Mouse” Mode): Sort of works, because it simulates a mouse rather than a pen.
  • Web Browser: Chrome (latest version)
    • Mouse input: Works as expected, clicking down enables drawing.
    • Pen tablet input (XP-Pen Deco Pro Gen 2 - “Pen” Mode): Works as expected, pressing the pen down enables drawing.
    • Pen tablet input (XP-Pen Deco Pro Gen 2 - “Mouse” Mode): Sort of works, because it simulates a mouse rather than a pen.


Findings

Mouse and touchscreen input seem to work just fine across all systems and web browsers tested, so we can rule those out. The issue I was experiencing seems to be exclusive to pen/built in stylus input (matching the original poster). Interestingly, the pen input problem only appears Firefox, and not on Chrome, so this is also a browser-dependent issue. I did not test on Edge or Safari.

Checking the documentation here, Mozilla Firefox is a fully supported browser (and I'm ecstatic it is, as it's my main web browser.)

 

Conclusion

My issue seems like a browser compatibility problem, specifically with pen inputs on Firefox.

 

Thank you again,

Demetri

Flavia D
Userlevel 5
Badge +8

Hi @Demetri,

Thanks for taking the time to perform those tests and describe the results in your response! This is super helpful! Unfortunately, my previous response still applies here: Lucidspark has not been tested to be compatible with these specific devices (which means it has not been tested with these devices in specific browsers either), so we’re not able to guarantee the experience and ensure full support for those in any browsers.

Having said that, while Lucidspark hasn't specifically been tested to be compatible with these particular devices, they typically work and are responsive, which is why they work in Chrome and used to work in Firefox.

Regarding Firefox being fully supported: This concerns the use of Lucid in a regular device, and not with special devices (e.g., touchscreen and styles pen), which require a different level of support. 

The best alternative here would still be to submit a feature request so we can gauge interest in specific kinds of devices and make them fully functional in all of the browsers we support!

D
Badge +1

While I completely disagree with your characterization that “This concerns the use of Lucid in a regular device, and not with special devices (e.g., touchscreen and styles pen)”, I do understand that what my options here.

Thank you again for your time,

-Demetri

Reply


Lucid Software Inc. Supplemental Community Terms

Get Started

Products

Solutions

Resources

Company

Privacy Legal Cookie privacy choices Cookie policy
©   2024  Lucid Software Inc.