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July 6th, 2023
Version 6.0a8 of Default Folder X is available. This is another pre-release build of Default Folder X 6, and primarily fixes bugs and stays in step with Apple’s beta releases of Sonoma.
macOS Sonoma Beta 3, released yesterday, includes fixes for several bugs I reported to Apple. That allowed me to remove some ugly workarounds and generally make Default Folder X function better. But true to the spirit of beta releases, there’s also a new bug in Sonoma B3 that impacts DFX, so there’s a workaround for that included in 6.0a8 😁
Long story short, if you’re running Sonoma Beta 3, make sure to use Default Folder X 6.0a8. But DON’T use it if you’re still running Sonoma Beta 2, as I’ve removed the ugly code that gets around the bugs in B2.
A list of changes and fixes, as well as download links, are available on the Default Folder X Testing page.
Posted in Default Folder X, Sonoma, Version 6 | No Comments »
June 19th, 2023
Version 2.7.7 of App Tamer is available. It now includes a button to reset all of its process taming settings back to their defaults, so if you’ve made lots of adjustments and things just aren’t working as you wanted, it’s easy to go back to square one and start over.
App Tamer 2.7.7 also addresses problems when running Windows applications via Parallels Desktop in Parallels’ “Coherence Mode”, updates some of its default settings, and corrects bugs that have been reported since the last release.
For details and download links, go to the What’s New in App Tamer page. Or if you’re already running App Tamer, just select “Check for Update” from its menu to get the new version.
Posted in App Tamer | 2 Comments »
June 11th, 2023
The latest preview release of Default Folder X 6 offers preliminary support for macOS 14 Sonoma, which Apple made available as a developer preview at WWDC.
Default Folder X 6.0a6 also gives you better management of folder sets. Folder sets are a frequently-missed feature that some users find invaluable when switching between multiple workflows, clients, or projects. Since it’s frequently-missed, these changes won’t excite all Default Folder X users, but I know some of you have been asking for this repeatedly. You can now keep folder sets in whatever order you want, not just sorted alphabetically, and managing them is easy with multi-select and drag-and-drop:
Version 6.0a6 also adds multi-select to Default Folder X’s menu customization dialog, making it quicker to reorganize DFX’s menu in your menu bar, as well as addressing several bugs.
As usual, if you’re already running an earlier preview build of Default Folder X 6, just select “Check for Update” from its menu. If you’re new to Default Folder X 6, you can get more info and grab a copy from the Default Folder X Testing page.
Posted in Default Folder X, Sonoma, Version 6 | 7 Comments »
June 2nd, 2023
Default Folder X 6.0a4 is available for download. This is another “preview” release, intended for testing and to get your feedback. Like earlier pre-release builds, this one adds a bunch of new features. It’s very stable, so you should be able to just install it and run it as part of your regular workflow. For a quick overview of all of the new features in version 6, see the Default Folder X 6.0 Tour page.
Debuting in 6.0a4 is the ability to customize the menu that Default Folder X puts in your menu bar. You can add, remove and reorder items, as well as putting the contents of any of the submenus (Favorites, Recent Folders, Finder Windows, etc) directly in the top-level menu for quicker access. Click on the “Customize” button in the General tab of the settings to get the editor.
There’s also an experimental option for Finder-click which recognizes items within Finder windows. Turn on this checkbox:
and Finder-click will change the location in file dialogs to the folder you click on, rather than just changing to the folder represented by the Finder window as a whole. In the example below, Finder-click will take you to the “Screenshots” folder that’s currently under the cursor, rather than the Downloads folder.
Of course, this also works when the Finder is in List View or Column View mode.
The reason this feature is still experimental is that I’m concerned that some people will find it confusing, and that even folks who like it may find it unintuitive when the Finder window is hidden behind the window of another app. As you move the mouse around, the folder name displayed by Default Folder X changes as it passes over different folders in the window (which you can’t see). Please try it and let me know your thoughts, positive or negative.
The new Quick Search window shows additional context when you hit the right arrow to search within a folder. The folder’s path is shown below the search field, and there’s a “back” arrow to take you back to your previous search results.
Also, searching for “..” will give you the parent of the folder you’re searching in. We’re getting pretty good at navigating through the filesystem with the keyboard 😉
There are a number of other additions and numerous bug fixes that are all detailed on the Default Folder X Testing page. There are also download links there, or if you’re already running an earlier 6.0 preview, just choose “Check for Update” from its menu in your menu bar to get the latest build.
Posted in Default Folder X, Ventura, Version 6 | No Comments »
May 31st, 2023
Default Folder X 5.7.8 is available, largely thanks to a single individual. Default Folder X user Andrea Bornstein discovered that browsing Time Machine backups caused Default Folder X’s Finder-click feature* to stop working.
I’ve been getting sporadic reports of Finder-click failing for quite a while, but was never able to isolate the cause of it. I tried numerous fixes based on the information I could collect from people that reported the issue (and discovered a few weird edge cases along the way), but the reports kept coming. I didn’t know how to reproduce the problem on a Mac here, so I never had a way to test locally. And people that reported it said it would come and go, so I couldn’t rely on them to test potential fixes either. Very frustrating. 😡
Then Andrea’s careful observation gave me a reliable way to make it happen, and I could finally test and debug a true fix. Hurray for smart, detail-oriented customers! 😎
And what an odd bug it was (and still is) – not in Default Folder X, but in the Finder. Default Folder X uses the macOS Accessibility API to gather information from the Finder – it’s essentially a way to programmatically say “hey Finder, give me a list of your windows”. Normally the Finder happily complies, but if an app asks that question after you’ve been browsing Time Machine backups, the Finder just says “nothing to see here!” Luckily, there’s another way to coax that info out of the Finder, so I’ve sidestepped the bug entirely while waiting for a fix from Apple (the bug is filed as FB12199998).
So – all you folks who restore files and folders from Time Machine on a regular basis, you can reliably use Finder-click without resorting to hidden settings in Default Folder X. I’m sorry it took so long to get to the root of the problem, but honestly, it’s a pretty weird one.
And in other news, version 5.7.8 of Default Folder X also adds badged icons to the Finder-click interface. If you’re running ForkLift or Path Finder alongside the Finder, you’ll see an icon indicating which of those apps “owns” the window you’re currently hovering the mouse over. Like the ForkLift 4 icon on the folder in the screenshot above.
Choose “Check for Update” from Default Folder X’s menu in your menu bar to get the update, or download it from the Default Folder X “What’s New” page. Oh, and the update’s free, as usual.
* For those that don’t know, Default Folder X’s Finder-click feature is available in the Open and Save dialogs of any app. While in the file dialog, you can click on any open Finder window behind it, and the file dialog will switch to show the contents of that folder. This works with ForkLift and Path Finder as well as the Finder.
Posted in Default Folder X, ForkLift, Path Finder, Ventura | No Comments »
May 17th, 2023
A new build of Default Folder X 6 is available for testing. If you’re just getting on board, this is a preview release of the next version of Default Folder X, which includes a number of major new features. There’s a full description of the new features here, including instructions for configuring and using them (one of the things still coming is the on-boarding when you run it for the first time).
Version 6.0a3 brings a host of refinements to the new Quick Search feature, including support for non-roman languages and non-English-speaking locales. Searching is also more responsive, user interaction is much smoother – it just works better all around. Please give Quick Search a try and let me know what you think!
I’ve also addressed issues with the synchronization of Default Folder X’s settings between multiple Macs over iCloud. There’s still testing to be done here – mostly in terms of detecting and diagnosing iCloud configuration problems. I’d welcome more people who have an identical (or similar) file and folder structure on two different Macs and want to have your recent and favorite items up-to-date and available on both machines.
6.0a3 also brings bug fixes and support for the beta version of ForkLift 4, and support for older versions of macOS (I’ve tested as far back as Mojave so far, but it should work fine on High Sierra too). A full list of changes is on the Default Folder X Testing page, and you can download it directly here.
Posted in Default Folder X, Development, ForkLift, Version 6 | 2 Comments »
May 17th, 2023
BinaryNights has ForkLift 4 in beta testing, and Default Folder X 5.7.7 includes updated support for it. When you’re using ForkLift, Default Folder X treats it as an equivalent of the Finder, showing ForkLift’s windows in its Finder-click feature and in its menu of Finder windows. You can also configure Default Folder X to open folders in ForkLift instead of the Finder when you choose them from its menus.
In addition, this release of Default Folder X addresses bugs, including a problem where file dialogs in the Brave browser would freeze if you were also running a Brave “shortcut” (Brave’s name for site-specific browsers that use its engine but run as separate apps). Other, less dramatic issues were also fixed, such as moving incorrectly through the history of recent folders after folders have been moved or deleted, a failure to recognize Finder windows immediately after your display has been reconfigured, and Default Folder X’s toolbar bezel not matching the light / dark theme of file dialogs on High Sierra and Mojave. Finally, several small problems in the version of Default Folder X available on Setapp have been fixed.
As usual, the full list of changes is available on the Default Folder X release page, along with download links for English, Japanese, French, German and Danish versions. Or if you’re already running Default Folder X, just select “Check for Update” from its menu in your menu bar to get it quickly and easily.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
May 8th, 2023
A new pre-release build of Default Folder X 6 is available for testing, adding Spotlight search as an option in its Quick Search window.
Quick Search will find files and folders super-fast in your recent and favorite items, but there are some occasions when you’re opening a file you don’t often access. In those cases, press Command+Shift+S and Quick Search will use Spotlight to find things instead. It’s not as fast, and matching file and folder names isn’t as smart, but you’ll be able to open what you want even if Default Folder X hasn’t seen it recently.
This release also smooths the flow of moving around and searching subfolders in Quick Search, refines the icons used in Default Folder X’s toolbar and Quick Search menu, enables Command+Shift+G correctly in Save As dialogs, and addresses other bugs in the previous alpha release.
Details and download links are on the Default Folder X Testing page. If you’re already running an earlier pre-release build of Default Folder X 6, you can just choose “Check for Update” from its menu to download the new build.
Posted in Default Folder X, Version 6 | No Comments »
April 29th, 2023
Version 6 of Default Folder X is gaining steam! I just posted the first alpha release, meaning it’s close to being feature-complete. There’s now a dedicated page explaining the new features, so I won’t rehash them again here. I do have to say I find the Quick Search feature and expanded filename fields to be essential now that I’ve been using them 😁
Release notes and download links for the latest build are on the Default Folder X Testing page. Please send feedback (suggestions, bug reports, and anything in between) to DefaultFolderX@stclairsoft.com.
Posted in Default Folder X, Version 6 | No Comments »
April 10th, 2023
HistoryHound 2.3.4 is available, updating our “personal web search” app with support for the Arc browser. This release also improves the contextual menus shown when you Control+click in HistoryHound’s search results or index window, and fixes an issue with indexing the content of some websites.
If you’re not familiar with HistoryHound, it’s an app that allows you to search the content of web pages you’ve visited or bookmarked. It creates a search index based on your web browsing history (even if you use multiple browsers), letting you find pages you’ve seen before while maintaining your privacy by keeping all data and searches on your Mac.
Full release notes and download links are available on the HistoryHound release page.
Posted in HistoryHound | No Comments »
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