To your actual question - Physical or programmatic was there to support when ST devices actually reported an actual button press. It’s not really used because while it’s actually in some specifications it’s not in ALL specifications and even implementation of it is optional by vendors. If I’m not mistaken this led ST to stop passing the information along in a firmware update a couple years ago.
That said - read this thread: it works a champ to remedy the situation you discuss: Status of things slow to update