From bde7e3fe45ada4d9ab96c1ce71f893f0502b2aa8 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: lxpollitt <630494+lxpollitt@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Jun 2026 08:21:16 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Inject synthetic keyup events to recover from macOS
 swallowing them while a Meta key is held

macOS suppresses keyUp events for non-modifier keys whose keyUp would
occur while a Meta (CMD) key is held - an OS-level behaviour inherited
by Chrome, Safari and Firefox.

GwtKeyboardMatrix's UI-thread constructor now installs a DOM-level
keydown/keyup listener (capture phase, so it runs before libGDX's own
document-level bubble-phase listener). The listener tracks which non-
Meta keys have unreleased keydowns and, on Meta release, dispatches a
synthetic keyup event for each. The synthetic events flow through
libGDX's normal keyup handler and clear its internal pressedKeys[]
state.
---
 .../java/emu/joric/gwt/GwtKeyboardMatrix.java | 86 ++++++++++++++++++-
 1 file changed, 85 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/html/src/main/java/emu/joric/gwt/GwtKeyboardMatrix.java b/html/src/main/java/emu/joric/gwt/GwtKeyboardMatrix.java
index 9c9934e..8792677 100644
--- a/html/src/main/java/emu/joric/gwt/GwtKeyboardMatrix.java
+++ b/html/src/main/java/emu/joric/gwt/GwtKeyboardMatrix.java
@@ -20,6 +20,12 @@ public class GwtKeyboardMatrix extends KeyboardMatrix {
      */
     public GwtKeyboardMatrix() {
         keyMatrix = createKeyMatrixArray();
+        // Install a DOM-level Meta-key watcher. See
+        // registerMetaKeyWatcher's Javadoc for the macOS keyup-
+        // suppression behaviour it works around. Only the UI-thread
+        // constructor calls this - the web-worker constructor below
+        // has no DOM to listen to.
+        registerMetaKeyWatcher();
     }
     
     /**
@@ -44,7 +50,85 @@ public native JavaScriptObject getSharedArrayBuffer()/*-{
         var keyMatrix = this.@emu.joric.gwt.GwtKeyboardMatrix::keyMatrix;
         return keyMatrix.buffer;
     }-*/;
-    
+
+    /**
+     * Installs DOM-level keydown/keyup listeners that synthesise
+     * keyup events for non-Meta keys whose natural keyup was
+     * swallowed by macOS while a Meta key was held.
+     *
+     * macOS suppresses keyUp events for non-modifier keys whose keyUp
+     * would occur while a Meta (CMD) key is held. THis is an OS-level
+     * behaviour inherited by Chrome, Safari and Firefox (open
+     * browser bugs dating back to 2011, still unresolved as of
+     * writing). The consequence in libGDX's GWT backend
+     * (DefaultGwtInput.java) is that its internal pressedKeys[]
+     * array gets stuck `true` for the un-released key. Typical
+     * symptom for Oric input behaviour: after CMD+X, X stays pressed,
+     * generating auto-repeat X inputs until the next plain X press.
+     *
+     * The workaround is to listen at the DOM level (capture phase, so 
+     * we run before libGDX's own document-level bubble-phase listener).
+     * On every keydown/keyup, observe event.metaKey to track Meta
+     * pressed/released. On the released transition, dispatch a
+     * synthetic keyup for every non-Meta key whose keydown we saw
+     * without a subsequent keyup. The synthetic events flow through
+     * libGDX's normal keyup handler, which clears its internal
+     * pressedKeys[] state. (Note that in the case where a non-Meta
+     * key is still held down when Meta is released, MacOS appears
+     * to generate suitable key events so they effectively appear as
+     * new key presses without the Meta modifier.)
+     */
+    private native void registerMetaKeyWatcher()/*-{
+        var metaPressed = false;
+        // DOM keyCodes of non-Meta keys we've seen keydown but not
+        // (yet) keyup for. Excludes the Meta key DOM codes (91, 92,
+        // 93 - values vary slightly across browsers and key
+        // locations - plus 224 for some Firefox variants).
+        var trackedKeys = {};
+
+        var update = function(e) {
+            var wasMetaPressed = metaPressed;
+            var isMetaPressed = !!e.metaKey;
+            metaPressed = isMetaPressed;
+            var code = e.keyCode;
+
+            // Track DOM press/release for non-Meta keys.
+            if (code !== 91 && code !== 92 && code !== 93 && code !== 224) {
+                if (e.type === 'keydown') {
+                    trackedKeys[code] = true;
+                } else if (e.type === 'keyup') {
+                    delete trackedKeys[code];
+                }
+            }
+
+            // Meta key just released. Synthesise keyup events for any
+            // still-tracked keys so libGDX's internal pressedKeys[]
+            // gate is cleared. Snapshot before iterating because the
+            // synthetic dispatch re-enters this handler (the keyup
+            // branch above) and would otherwise mutate trackedKeys
+            // mid-iteration.
+            if (wasMetaPressed && !isMetaPressed) {
+                var snapshot = [];
+                for (var k in trackedKeys) snapshot.push(k);
+                trackedKeys = {};
+                for (var i = 0; i < snapshot.length; i++) {
+                    var kc = +snapshot[i];
+                    // keyCode and which aren't part of KeyboardEvent's init dict,
+                    // so passing them to the constructor has no effect. Override
+                    // via Object.defineProperty after construction. libGDX's
+                    // keyForCode reads keyCode via NativeEvent.getKeyCode().
+                    var ke = new KeyboardEvent('keyup', { bubbles: true, cancelable: true });
+                    Object.defineProperty(ke, 'keyCode', { value: kc });
+                    Object.defineProperty(ke, 'which',   { value: kc });
+                    $doc.dispatchEvent(ke);
+                }
+            }
+        };
+
+        $doc.addEventListener('keydown', update, true);
+        $doc.addEventListener('keyup',   update, true);
+    }-*/;
+
     @Override
     public int getKeyMatrixRow(int row) {
         return keyMatrix.get(row);