Tech Tip: Customizing the Logitech MX Creative Console

So you just got the Logitech Creative console? Fantastic! Feeling a little underwhelmed by the software support? Yeah, me too.

I'm sure it will grow as the product evolves, but for now, I needed a solution for a rather niche problem. When I'm editing in Logic or Audition, every now and then I require a glance at my levels coming into my Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 control software (the software gives a much better view of levels then the front panel) and sometimes I want to adjust direct monitoring. 

Launching an app is pretty straight forward and this is easily achieved using just LogiOptions software, however my needs were a little a more nuanced. For one thing, I wanted one button that would open AND close the app. Here's where it gets a little different: I didn't want the app to quit if it was already open but hiding. So I needed the system to check if the app was running in the background, and if it was, then I wanted it to be brought to the foreground. This would save me from unexpected results when toggling the app. 

Now, no matter whether app is closed or hidden behind other windows, I will get predictable results when toggling the app. Now I have a simple work flow that looks slick. Try it out, and try changing the prompt if you want more specific results. For example, I want to revisit this and have it check if it is minimized as well.

Here is the prompt I used for ChatGPT:

"Please, write me an apple script that will open an app if it is not already opened, check if the app is the frontmost app and if it’s not, then bring it to the front. If it is upfront, and open, the script will close the app."

And here is the code it gave me:

-- Specify the app name
set appName to "YourAppName" -- Replace "YourAppName" with the actual app name

-- Check if the app is running
tell application "System Events"
    set appRunning to (name of processes) contains appName
end tell

if appRunning then
    tell application "System Events"
        -- Check if the app is frontmost
        set frontmostApp to name of first application process whose frontmost is true
    end tell
    
    if frontmostApp is appName then
        -- If the app is frontmost, quit the app
        tell application appName to quit
    else
        -- If the app is not frontmost, bring it to the front
        tell application appName to activate
    end if
else
    -- Open the app if it is not running
    tell application appName to activate
end if

I hope you find this helpful! If you have any questions about the process, leave a comment below and I'd be happy to chat about it.