Nearly a month ago I sent out a tweet that contained the following:

Josh, a friend (and co-worker, for the next week-and-a-half at least), was making the case for Apple’s ‘Natural Scrolling’, and I promised him that I would give it a try for myself.

What is it?

Apple coined the term ‘natural scrolling’ and enabled it by default in Mac OS X Lion- a move that annoyed many users. If you’ve never used natural scrolling before, to you scrolling means this: if you scroll down on your trackpad, the page goes down. If you scroll up, the page scrolls up.

With natural scrolling enabled it’s the opposite: scrolling down flicks the page up, while scrolling up slides the page down. Apple enabled it because it feels more- wait for it- natural for users. For your convenience, I converted the Apple demo to a psychedelic GIF:

Scrolling has always, intuitively I might add, worked that way on phones and tablets, and although it may seem backwards at first, it really is natural: if you slide a piece of paper on the table away from you, what’s written on the paper moves down. It really is more natural, it’s just not the conventional way of doing it on a computer. And just a note about the name: Apple calls it natural scrolling, but the technical, non-Apple phrase is “reverse scrolling.” While I like Apple’s name for it better, I wouldn’t be surprised if they pulled the “that’s our phrase, stop using it” crap they do all the time, like with the “App Store.”

Enabling Natural/Reverse Scrolling in Ubuntu

There isn’t an option (currently) in the ‘Mouse and Touchpad Settings’ in Ubuntu to enable Natural Scrolling, so the best place to look for that extra setting is Ubuntu Tweak. Ubuntu Tweak is a steller application that lets more advanced users manipulate settings that otherwise aren’t available to them. Download and install Ubuntu Tweak (you have to download it from their website, as it isn’t in the Ubuntu Software Center), then launch it from the Dash. Obligatory Warning: you can potentially mess up your system with Ubuntu Tweak. Use with caution, and don’t click random buttons just for funzies.

Once launched, all you will need to do is go to:

Tweaks tab > Miscellaneous > Natural Scrolling

and then flip the switch to ‘on.’ Log out and back in, and viola!- you now will have Natural Scrolling in Ubuntu.

Apps that Don't Adhere to Natural Scrolling (will update as I find them):

  • Nautilus
  • Noise

My Thoughts

I didn’t think it would stick, but I absolutely love natural scrolling, and now that I am used to it I cannot imagine going back. What can I say, it just feels right. It feels like I have more control, am interacting directly with the content on-screen, and it flows in a way that makes sense in my head. Not only did I last a week, I lasted a month, and I’m still going strong.

So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and give it a try.