"Edit the previous message (ArrowUp)" shortcut inteferes with "Previous chat (Option + ArrowUp)" shortcut about signal-desktop HOT 1 OPEN

Technical Details

Issue Analysis: Further investigation into the application's codebase revealed that the behavior is due to the isCtrlOrAlt function not recognizing the Option (also known as Alt on non-Mac systems) key on macOS. The current implementation of the function is as follows:

// ts/hooks/useKeyboardShortcuts.tsx:22
function isCtrlOrAlt(ev: KeyboardEvent): boolean {
  const { altKey, ctrlKey } = ev;
  const controlKey = get(window, 'platform') === 'darwin' && ctrlKey;
  const theAltKey = get(window, 'platform') !== 'darwin' && altKey;
  return controlKey || theAltKey;
}

This code checks for the ctrlKey when the platform is darwin (macOS), which does not account for the macOS convention of using the Option key for functionalities often associated with the Alt key on other platforms.

Proposed Code Modification: To address this issue, it is recommended to modify the isCtrlOrAlt function to recognize both the ctrlKey and altKey on macOS, thereby aligning with the expected behavior of the Option key by macOS users. A corrected version of the function is proposed below:

// ts/hooks/useKeyboardShortcuts.tsx:22
function isCtrlOrAlt(ev: KeyboardEvent): boolean {
  const { altKey, ctrlKey } = ev;
  // For macOS, check both ctrlKey and altKey, as users might expect the Option key to function similarly to Alt
  const isMac = get(window, 'platform') === 'darwin';
  const controlOrAltOnMac = isMac && (ctrlKey || altKey);
  const altKeyOnOthers = !isMac && altKey;

  return controlOrAltOnMac || altKeyOnOthers;
}

By implementing this change, the application should correctly recognize the Option + ArrowUp keyboard shortcut as intended for navigating between chats on macOS, without inadvertently triggering the edit functionality of the last message.

from signal-desktop.