deckcraft/docs/slideshow-parity.md

Slide show and presenter view: parity with PowerPoint

Last reviewed: 2026-10-14 · Last updated: 2026-10-22 · Change: major (community PR wave 2026-10-14: interactive decks, laser pointer, See All Slides and zoom, go-to-slide number, custom show playback, presenter timer, clock, notes size and keyboard, Show Media Controls, swipe; breadth 68%; duplicated rows and headers folded; previous: major, created) · Target: Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac 16.113 (Microsoft 365)

Presenting is the job PowerPoint is hired for. This doc covers the show window, presenter view, rehearsal and recording. Transition and animation playback are in animation-parity.md; display hardware in hardware-parity.md. Area score: checklist breadth 68% (measured), ~60% ready (estimated), 10–16 h to parity.

Running the show

Feature	PowerPoint	DeckCraft	Notes
Play from Start / from Current Slide (F5, Shift+F5, Cmd+Enter)	yes	yes
Next/previous by click, arrows, Space, Page Up/Down, Enter, Backspace	yes	yes	#17 reported arrows not working in v0.3.0 AppImage; recheck
Go to slide (number + Enter), first/last	yes	yes: the digits show as "Go to slide …" until Enter, Backspace, Esc, or 3 seconds	Slide numbers are 1-based; 0 and a number past the end do not move
Next/previous by trackpad swipe or mouse wheel	yes	yes	One flick turns one page. The pen ignores the flick
Go to slide (number + Enter), first/last	yes	yes
Black / white screen (B / W)	yes	yes
End screen, Esc to leave	yes	yes
Step clock: a click after a long pause plays its step (#11)	yes	yes
Hidden slides skipped	yes	yes
Hyperlinks and action settings followed (slides, web, mail, End Show, Last Viewed)	yes	yes	Only http(s) and mailto open outside the show, by design (safe_url)
A shape with a triggered animation plays it when clicked; shapes an animation has hidden cannot be clicked; a shape without an action on top of one with an action blocks it; the pointer is a hand over what can be clicked	yes	yes	Click boxes are bounding boxes; "play sound" actions (ppaction://media) do nothing yet
A slide the show returns to (link, arrow keys) looks as it was left; a triggered animation goes on where it stopped	yes	yes	A main-sequence step still playing when the show leaves is finished
"Advance on click" off: a click never leaves the slide (animation steps still play, keys still move on)	yes	yes
Hyperlinks and action settings followed (slides, web, mail, End Show, Last Viewed, Custom Show)	yes	yes	Only http(s) and mailto open outside the show, by design (safe_url). A Custom Show action plays that show
Media playback with controls, play across slides, full-screen video, Play/Pause/Stop in the click sequence	yes	yes	WMA/WMV not decodable. Click sequence since #116. Slide Show ▸ Show Media Controls (on by default) hides the playback bar. Seeks and loops preserve new-generation video frames and end-of-stream; queue regression and repeated seeks across H.264/HEVC/VP9/AV1 in crates/media
Animated GIFs play; pause from their corner button	yes	yes (#39)	The corner button hides with Show Media Controls
See All Slides grid during the show	yes	yes: G, or All on the show bar; click a thumbnail, Esc closes the grid	Hidden slides are labelled; the first 48 slides are shown
Zoom into part of a slide during the show	yes	yes: Z, then click the slide (or the presenter slide); 2×, Esc or another click leaves it	The presenter keeps the whole slide and draws a frame on the zoomed part
Pen and highlighter ink	yes	pen only (Cmd+P pen, Cmd+A arrow, E erases all ink)	No highlighter, per-stroke eraser, ink colours, or keep/discard annotations prompt
Laser pointer	yes	yes in the show	Cmd/Ctrl+L and the on-screen button draw the show's laser colour and leave no ink. The presenter window does not move that dot
Subtitles and live captions	yes (cloud speech)	no	AI dimension
Custom shows	yes	yes: Show plays that list in order and does not change Set Up; Set Up Slide Show can keep one for Play from Start	Hidden slides in the list are skipped
Set Up Show: loop until Esc, kiosk (browsed at a kiosk), show without animation/narration, pen colour, slides range	yes	yes, most options
Use rehearsed timings	yes	yes

Presenter view

Feature	PowerPoint	DeckCraft	Notes
Separate presenter window with current slide, next slide, notes	yes	yes (an egui viewport, 1100×700); the notes keep their bullets, numbers, indents and bold/italic, as in the notes pane
Elapsed timer	yes	yes
Pause / reset timer, clock	yes	yes: Pause/Resume and Reset in presenter view (T pauses, R resets); the clock is local time, --:-- where there is no clock	Pausing the timer does not pause the show, animations or rehearsal
Slide counter, previous/next/end buttons	yes	yes
Keyboard navigation while Presenter View has focus	yes	yes	Shares the audience window's key handling; handled keys are consumed before buttons, and the presenter stays available at the end screen
Notes font size, scrolling	yes	yes: A- / A+ (and [ / ]), 12–48 pt in steps of 4, default 18; the notes scroll
Placed on the presenter's display automatically, show on the projector	yes	no: opens wherever the OS puts it	Beta blocker, 3–5 h. Open PR #433 places the show on a second display when one is attached. This change does not
Swap displays	yes	no	Still open on #433
Pen, laser, black screen, zoom from presenter view	yes	Black, White and Zoom buttons; the audience zoom is framed on the presenter slide	Pen and laser are driven from the audience window only; the presenter window does not move the laser dot
See all slides from presenter view	yes	yes: All slides (or G) opens the grid in presenter view only, the audience keeps the slide; click a thumbnail to go there, Esc closes it
Rehearse with Coach (Speaker Coach)	yes (cloud)	no	AI dimension

Rehearse and record

Feature	PowerPoint	DeckCraft
Rehearse Timings, keep timings	yes	yes
Record Slide Show (narration, ink, laser, camera; Cameo)	yes	no
Clear timing / narration	yes	timings only
Export the recorded show to video	yes	no (see file-format-parity.md)

Reading View

Reading View in a window with navigation: present (checklist row done).

Estimates

Work	Hours
Highlighter, eraser, keep-annotations prompt, laser from presenter view	2–4
Presenter view on the right display and a swap-displays command	2–4
Record slide show with narration (no camera)	5–8
Total	~9–16 (the slide-show row of the feature table carries 10–16 h; recording overlaps the Media row)

Revision history

Date	Change	Summary
2026-10-22	minor	See All Slides from presenter view opens in presenter view, not on the audience screen (#1130)
2026-10-14	trivial	Community PR wave folded: one media playback row, the presenter pen/laser row matches the laser that exists, estimates keep only the open work (~9–16 h); checklist breadth 68%
2026-10-13	minor	Click handling for interactive decks: triggers, per-slide state kept across visits, visible-shape hit testing with hand cursor, advance on click
2026-10-13	minor	Video seek handoff no longer discards freshly decoded frames or end-of-stream (upstream #416); deterministic queue and four-codec seek regression tests
2026-10-14	minor	Presenter View handles slideshow keys in its own viewport, including returning from the end screen and Escape; regression tests cover navigation and avoiding duplicate button activation
2026-10-11	minor	Media effects (Play, Pause, Stop) in the click sequence play with their step (#116)
2026-10-13	minor	The show has a laser pointer (Cmd/Ctrl+L, the show's laser colour, no ink). Presenter view still does not drive it
2026-10-14	trivial	Show Media Controls hides the show's playback bar and GIF button
2026-10-14	minor	Typing a slide number during the show shows it, and Enter goes there. Esc clears the number before it leaves the show. Checklist breadth stays 66%
2026-10-14	minor	A custom show plays only its slides, from the Custom Shows dialog, from Set Up Slide Show, or from a click action. Checklist breadth stays 66%
2026-10-14	minor	Presenter view pauses and resets its timer (T, R) and changes notes size (A-/A+, brackets). The clock shows local time. Second-display placement and swap stay with #433. Checklist breadth stays 66%
2026-10-14	minor	See All Slides (G) and click-to-zoom (Z) during the show. Presenter view opens that grid and sets black, white and zoom. Checklist breadth stays 66%
2026-10-23	trivial	Presenter view draws the notes with their formatting (bullets, numbers, indents, bold/italic) instead of plain text (#1128)
2026-10-10	major	Created: show, presenter view, rehearse and record, compared with PowerPoint 16.113's Slide Show tab and menu