Sorry I could have been clearer with the examples, Saturday was when I was able to unbox my keypad from them I had purchased and was at home and simply unable to use the Launcher because their back end eventTracker endpoint was 502-ing. I was setting it up for gaming on a different layer, or at least that was the intention.

Again, the core issue is simply the fact that there is a required online component to this when it not only doesn’t make sense to, but it’s adding additional points of failure that don’t need to exist. I genuinely would love to understand what need there is (outside of updates) for this utility to need any internet connection whatsoever outside of data gathering.

The server-room example I used is simply a ubiquitous example of any time you simply don’t have internet connection, you are unable to configure any Keychron hardware. It’s that simple, there’s no recourse or other options outside of building custom firmware, which again, is not what they’re advertising as their product.

It does, but the whole point of “upgrading” from my custom build QMK hardware was in part not having to spend as much time building custom firmware just to configure macros and key mappings, which is what led me to buying from Keychron as I thought that would become easier by simply using their Launcher. Having read https://www.keychron.com/blogs/archived/advantages-of-the-keychron-launcher-web-app I thought I was getting a product that had an always-available Launcher but that’s just a lie as it requires internet connection to work. I had (wrongly) assumed it was something like a PWA that is able to be run offline.

It is in regards to Keychron. If I wanted I’d switch back to my custom build QMK build (I’ve literally contributed to the QMK firmware my guy…) but instead I opted to shell out over $100 on hardware that’s now needing me to do the same amount of work as my $30 build. I went with Keychron as they literally have an article on their site saying the Launcher is available everywhere. I (wrongly) assumed that meant it was a PWA or some other offline-capable web application framework. It’s absolutely not and not what I thought I was paying for. Sure I can compile my own builds but that’s not what I thought I was buying here.

Let me capture your comment in a metaphor: I wanted to upgrade from my old beater Toyota that requires me to bang on it and hotwire it just to drive, so I buy a BMW because I can push one button and be on the road. Instead, my BMW shows up, and while it looks, sounds, and feels great, I’ve still got to hotwire and bang on it just to get it going. Sure it’s an improvement, but from a usability standpoint I’m in the same place I started.

From what I’ve been able to find, configuration can only be done via the Launcher as there is no way to create a “configuration” file from the Launcher, nor can you actually even open the Launcher’s main screen without connecting the device you wish to configure.

The reason for the animosity from me is the very real experience just this past weekend of receiving my hardware, just to find the Launcher was down all day Saturday because the entire Launcher was down because they had one backend endpoint that fires during device connection to the launcher and it was 502 Bad Gateway all day Saturday.

https://erpapik.keychron.cn/prodEventTracker/eventTracker

I reached out to support on Saturday and still have not received any response.

As for one-time configuration and not needing it again - I think that fully misses the point of having “easily” configurable hardware. If I wanted to just set it and forget it, I’d just buy a $25 Dell keyboard and call it a day. A $100+ peripheral should NOT have this kind of limitation. Myself, I can’t forsee all the mappings and macros I will ever need so I don’t have the ability to configure it one time and never touch it again, though I’d love the ability to do so, it’s just not realistic nor what I was paying for.

They don’t need to do anything that complex to solve this though. They just need to migrate the existing frontend to a progressive web app (PWA) as that can be installed as a browser “app” to any modern OS and run offline. I also despise the bloated shit (Razer, MSI, Corsair; calling you shitheads out for your horrendous software products) but there is no excuse for Keychron. They won’t even answer as to why it requires the internet.

Their backend service was just down this weekend for 6 hours and the Launcher was completely useless as it refused to connect devices. I contacted support and they just told me I have to wait for someone to fix it on their end on Monday.

Love to see it but the dealbreaker for me is the Keychron Launcher utility for configuring the hardware. It’s a web app that only works with an internet connection. You literally cannot configure your Keychron hardware without internet. Air-gap server room? Yeah it’s a massive pain in the ass.

Immediately made me think of this https://youtube.com/shorts/quPd1_oveks

I’m struggling with this right now after losing my kitty and my irl best friend just months apart. I’ve hit a point of pure jealousy that they will never have to see any of the evil happening today and will never feel the pain I feel. Is it possible to ever move past this?

I hope Sam realizes humanity will remember him as just evil. I really hope they learn that before it’s too late

lol I think that was exactly it, and it actually had a good long-term effect as I’ve noticed an increase of using actual footage/images from the topics being discussed when prior it was more stock image stuff. And also 100% with the phases. Gotta binge and purge that dopamine 😭😂

How so? Not doubting, I just hadn’t heard anything before.

His stuff is great, there was a short time where he was using some AI generated content but the backlash was so severe that only lasted a handful of episodes

Check out Simon Whistler and his team’s channels. Tons of informative stuff and I think they make a sizable portion of all YouTube content lol

https://www.simonwhistler.com/

Oh and now gas costs!