Archive for January, 2023

Default Folder X 6.0d21 preview release gets a rewrite of the Drag Zone

Sunday, January 29th, 2023

Version 6.0d21 of Default Folder X is available. This is a preview build of Default Folder X 6, containing new and rewritten features that will be released as part of version 6 of Default Folder X.

The latest addition to the DFX6 preview is a rewritten Drag Zone, the drag and drop “shelf” that sits on the left side of Open and Save dialogs. You can now select and multi-select items, drag them to reorder them, insert new items between existing ones, etc. Previews pop up if you hover the mouse over an item. Double-clicking an item will open it. Control-clicking on an item brings up a contextual menu with options to reveal the item in the Finder, open it in the file dialog, or remove it from the drag zone.

There are also a number of fixes for issues in the previous DFX6 build – if you’re curious about all of the changes, check out the Read Me file that accompanies the app when you download it. The Read Me also includes instructions for setting up other new features, such as the keyboard-centric quick entry window, syncing preferences via iCloud, running actions after saving a file and more.

Posted in Default Folder X, Version 6 | No Comments »

Default Folder 5.7.4 fixes problems in Open and Save dialogs

Friday, January 20th, 2023

Version 5.7.4 of Default Folder X is available, addressing several issues that could impact its reliability in Open and Save dialogs. These ranged from the mundane – a timing bug in the code that switches to new folders in file dialogs – to the “I wouldn’t have guessed that” – where Safari’s SandboxBroker helper app was tricking Default Folder X into thinking there were actually two Save sheets displayed at once.

All of these issues happened infrequently enough that they only generated a few tech support requests (my apologies to those unlucky folks), but chasing them down and getting them fixed will ensure that they don’t disrupt anyone else’s day.

The complete list of fixes and download links are on the Default Folder X release page. Or if you’re already running Default Folder X like you should be, just choose “Check for Update…” from its menu in your menu bar to see the change history and update to the new version.

Posted in Default Folder X, Ventura | No Comments »

App Tamer 2.7.6: New sorting options, UI tweaks and bug fixes

Thursday, January 19th, 2023

Version 2.7.6 of App Tamer is available for download, delivering a bunch of changes. Among them is the option to click on a column header to sort processes by name, CPU usage, or average CPU usage. Prior to this release, the list of running processes was always sorted by average CPU usage – you didn’t have a choice.

I’ve hesitated to add this because I worry that it may cause confusion for some people. If they accidentally click on a column header without realizing it, the list will no longer be showing the most CPU-hungry apps at the top. And they won’t know how to get it back to doing that.

Nevertheless, for those that understand it, sorting by something other than “% Avg” (average CPU usage) is helpful. It’s been a common request for quite a while, so I’m finally relenting – let’s hope my worries are unfounded and it doesn’t cause trouble for anyone.

In addition to this change, App Tamer 2.7.6 also improves its user interface in a number of little ways – everything from making buttons more obvious to smoothing out the animation used when its window opens.

And functionally, there are a couple of important fixes. App Tamer now correctly recognizes all battery-powered Macs. Prior to this release, it actually looked for “Book” in the model identifier of the machine to determine whether it should look for a battery. That was fine when the model identifiers were things like “MacBookAir10,1”, but then Apple released the 2022 MacBook Air with a model ID of “Mac14,2”. Whoops – now my “Book” shortcut looks pretty stupid 🙄.

In addition, the default throttling setting for common web browsers has been changed so that they’re allowed 10% CPU usage when they’re in the background, rather than 2%. This should reduce the possibility that audio or video will stutter when the browser’s not frontmost. If you still get choppy audio, try setting the limit for your browser even higher, or consider turning off “Slow down this app” in your App Tamer settings for it.

There a complete list of all the changes in version 2.7.6 on the App Tamer release page, along with links to download the new version.

Posted in App Tamer, Tips | No Comments »

Go64 1.4: To better assess your 64-bit and Apple Silicon readiness

Wednesday, January 11th, 2023

Version 1.4 of Go64 was released yesterday, correcting a few issues it had when running on Ventura and offering better reporting of the CPU architectures supported by your apps.

As a refresher, Go64 is our free app for analyzing all the apps you have installed on your Mac. It shows you which ones are 32-bit, 64-bit, Intel-only, and Apple Silicon-native. This gives you a full picture of which apps will run on newer versions of macOS (Catalina and later will not run 32-bit apps) and which will run best on newer Macs with Apple Silicon processors (M1 and M2).

Here’s a full list of changes in version 1.4:

  • Added an option to filter the list of applications to show CPU architectures that are not Intel or Universal.
  • You can double-click on the separator between column headers to automatically resize a column to fit its contents.
  • When saving the results of a scan, the architecture of applications is now exported along with the other information.
  • Fixed the formatting of exported application information that contains tabs, carriage returns and other special characters.
  • Updated terminology such as “preferences” to refer to “settings” when running on macOS Ventura and higher.
  • Go64 now correctly reports the developer and website for Akai Professional and Cycling ’74 audio apps.
  • Fixed user interface layout issues on macOS Ventura.

Go64 is free and can be downloaded here.

Posted in Go64, Ventura | No Comments »