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Optionally emulate a held shared shortcut during toggle / hands-free dictation #806
Description
Feature request
Add an opt-in cross-platform setting to emulate holding the shared dictation shortcut throughout active recording, including hands-free Toggle mode or double-tap activation where supported.
The use case is Discord Push to Mute: while I dictate into Hex, Discord should observe the shared key as held even after I release the physical key. When recording stops, Hex should release its emulated hold.
Context
Follow-up to #175 and merged PR #176. Those addressed sharing physical dictation key-down/key-up events with other apps. The maintainer's follow-up on #175 places this in Settings › Labs › Share dictation shortcut with other apps, also available with hex labs on share-shortcut.
This enhancement asks for sharing the recording session's lifetime: physical key release should not end the shared hold while hands-free recording continues. This is a feature request, not a verified regression in the latest build.
Scope and environment
All supported platforms: macOS, Windows, and Linux. The Windows/F24 use case in #175 is a motivating example, not a scope restriction. Document platform-specific permissions, input-injection limitations, and Linux desktop/compositor compatibility. That report listed Hex v2.3.0; this is historical context, not a version used to validate this enhancement. Current Hex, OS, and Discord versions remain to be recorded during validation.
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Activity
[-]Windows: optionally emulate a held shared shortcut during toggle / hands-free dictation[/-]thdxr commentedon Nov 1, 2026
sharing only exists on windows today (labs › share dictation shortcut) and passes along the real key down and up. with it on, hold mode already keeps discord's push to mute on for the whole dictation, since the key is physically held. holding a fake key down for a whole toggle recording is bigger than it looks, so this needs some real-world checks first.
if hex crashes, gets killed or loses its keyboard hook while holding the fake key, the key stays stuck down system-wide.
in toggle the real key-up has to be hidden from discord, and the next real press has to both stop hex and release the fake key without discord toggling again.
linux and macos have no sharing at all: linux shortcuts come from the desktop portal, which takes the key before any app sees it.
does discord react to a key that another program holds down, as opposed to a real keypress? if you can try it with something like autohotkey holding f24, that'd help.
is windows the only os you need this on?
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