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A much simpler way to create Name Mangler services

Thursday, May 30th, 2024

Remember last week, when we posted a very detailed writeup that explained to how create Quick Actions for Name Mangler 3.9 and newer? Well, we have found a much simpler way to get this done, thanks to Apple’s Shortcuts app—and to our user Eric, for spurring us on to find a simpler solution.

Here’s how the Shortcut looks (click to see the full Shortcut):

Apple’s Shortcuts app not only makes it (much) simpler to create Name Mangler Quick Actions, but you can also access them from Finder’s Finder → Services menu. Or run them from the menu bar. Or via a keyboard shortcut. Or use all of the above methods at once. And if you want to share your Shortcuts with others, it’s as easy as a couple of clicks.

We’ve created a template that requires a few simple edits in Shortcuts, and is then ready to go for your own use. Here’s how to get going…

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Leech and Name Mangler updated

Wednesday, May 22nd, 2024

Leech 3.2 and Name Mangler 3.9.1 have been released. Both are relatively minor updates, so if you want to skip their release notes pages, here’s what’s new in each one:

Leech 3.2

  • Added new AppleScript commands: number of downloads, number of failed downloads, pause all, queue all, and cancel all.
  • Rewrote help to match latest macOS appearance and to cover new features added since last help update, including the AppleScript commands above.

Name Mangler 3.9.1

  • The warning dialog that appears when renaming files on a network volume can now be disabled.
  • Fixed a regression where date formatting in Advanced mode ignored a specified minimum number of digits and skipped placeholders under certain circumstances. (Hat tip to Ruben H and others for reporting this one.).

App Store users should see the updates in the App Store app (if not now then very shortly); direct users can update within the app by checking for updates, or by downloading a fresh copy of the app from our server (you won’t lose your settings).

Name Mangler 3.9 released

Tuesday, May 7th, 2024

Name Mangler 3.9 is out, for both direct and App Store customers. There are a number of behind-the-scenes changes in this update, as well as some visible ones. Of the visible changes, this is probably the most notable and useful among them:

When files can’t be renamed, the reason is now shown where the new filename would normally appear. As seen in the screenshot, you can still see the exact name that would have caused the problem by hovering over the red ‘x’ icon, but this should make it a lot easier to spot problems in your renaming actions.

Beyond that visible change, we’ve reworded the Filter menu’s entries to make it easier to understand what each one does; we improved the reliability of date formatting; and there’s a new warning dialog if you try to rename files on a networked drive. There’s more in the release notes, too.

In a rarity for us, we had to remove a feature from this update: The Create Context Menu Service, which let you easily create Services to use renaming actions from Finder, is gone. Changes in macOS made it impossible for the feature to work, which is why we had to remove it.

The good news is that there is still a way to use Name Mangler saved actions in Finder, via the Quick Actions menu. And we have not just a blog post that explains the process, but a video as well. You’ll find both here: Quick Actions are the new Services for Name Mangler. It’s not quite as convenient as before, but it’s really not bad at all, especially after you have one set up that you can use (with one simple edit each time) for other Quick Actions.

App Store users should see the update in the App Store app now; direct customers can check for updates from within the app, or by downloading a fresh copy of the app from our site—you won’t lose your settings.

Quick Actions are the new Services for Name Mangler

Tuesday, May 7th, 2024

Note: We have found a much simpler way to implement Quick Actions, via Apple’s Shortcuts app. See the linked post to download the template, make a few simple edits, and you’ll be up and running with Quick Actions.

You are welcome to use the following Automator solution, which still works fine, but the Shortcuts solution is easier, and offers more ways to invoke the Quick Action.

As of today’s Name Mangler update, sharp-eyed users will notice that the File → Create Context Menu Service menu item has vanished. Unfortunately, due to recent changes in what kinds of things Apple allows apps that create Services to do, we had to remove the feature. (Basically, the only thing we’d be able to include would be a set of standard pre-defined Services, and that’s not very useful for an app that renames files.) So that’s the bad news.

The good news is that there’s a relatively easy workaround that will let you create Quick Actions using Automator. These will function as Services did before, though via the Quick Actions menu instead of the Services menu.

The process of creating Quick Actions for Name Mangler isn’t overly complicated, and we have several different ways for you to learn how to complete the task.

We have a video for those who learn best by observing, and a step-by-step write-up for those who learn best by reading. Also, at the end, you’ll find a “just make it work for me!” section that provides a nearly ready-to-go Quick Action that you can duplicate and edit as needed. (However, knowing how to create Name Mangler Quick Actions is important, so we recommend watching the video and/or reading the instructions as well).

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Another round of minor updates released

Thursday, August 4th, 2022

This time out, here’s what’s changed…

  • Butler 4.4.6: Fixed a bug related to dragging and dropping items to Butler icons in the menu bar.
  • Name Mangler 3.8: Reworked the Services feature due to changes in macOS 12.5, and made a few other minor changes (documentation, demo mode behavior).
  • Resolutionator 2.3: Added support for the M2 MacBook Air and the 27″ Studio Display.
  • Witch 4.5.2: Restored tab support in Brave and Edge browsers, and improved VoiceOver support. Note that this update was actually released a while back, but we never documented it here; whoops!

Direct users can update from within the app, or by downloading a fresh copy of the app from the relevant page on our site (you won’t lose your settings). App Store purchasers of Name Mangler should see the update in the App Store app, if not now then shortly.

A major number of minor updates

Tuesday, June 14th, 2022

Today we’re catching up on a bit of a backlog of minor updates…the following apps have updates available for both their direct versions, and (where applicable) their App Store versions. Here’s what’s been updated, highlighting any important changes in each update. You can also click through to the release notes for the full details on each update.

  • Butler 4.4.5 [notes] We’ve hopefully fixed an issue that would sometimes cause Butler to hang if Music was running.
  • Keymou 1.2.10 [notes] We renamed ‘Move to Edge/Corner’ action (and added more details about it in Help) to hopefully prevent user confusion over its effect.
  • Leech 3.1.7 [notes] Nothing changed that you’d notice, but we fixed some minor bugs and improved the behind-the-scenes code.
  • Menuwhere 2.2.1 [notes] Fixed a bug that caused the preferences window to appear on launch, regardless of the setting for showing the preferences.
  • Moom 3.2.25 [notes] The ‘Bring Moomed windows to the front automatically’ setting is now applied more consistently. Lots of other little changes, too—see the notes.
  • Usher 2.2.1 [notes] There are a ton of behind-the-scenes improvements, and you can now insert metadata references into Notes via the Edit menu.

As always, direct users can update in the app itself, or by downloading a fresh copy of the app from our web site. App Store users should see the updates in their App Store app—if not already, then very shortly.

Save 50% on all our apps, and help the people of Ukraine

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022

Wrap up: The fundraiser has now ended. Through the sale period, our customers purchased just over $4,000 worth of our apps—wow! Peter and I are also going to contribute roughly $1,000 of our own money, bringing the total donation to $5,000, which we’ll split evenly between Global Giving and UNICEF. Thanks to everyone who participated!


Between now and the end of the day Sunday, March 6th, every one of our apps is on sale for 50% off*.

We will donate all of our net proceeds raised from the sale to two charities that are supporting relief efforts in Ukraine: Global Giving’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund and UNICEF‘s efforts to support Ukranian children and families.

This isn’t much, we know, but it’s a bit, and every little bit helps.

* If you want to save exactly 50% off, then you’ll want to purchase directly from us for apps whose prices aren’t divisible by two. On the App Store, we have to use price tiers, and in cases where we couldn’t divide things equally in two, we went with the higher tier, to increase the donation amount.

Our apps and macOS Monterey compatibility

Thursday, November 4th, 2021

Sorry this is a bit late; I didn’t think about it much because, well, everything basically works fine. There are two minor issues (you can’t see rotated movies in Usher, and menu items for saved layouts in Moom are slightly too tall), but both will be fixed in upcoming minor updates. Outside of those two things, we’re not aware of any other issues with our apps in macOS Monterey.

If you do run into a glitch of some sort, please do let us know about it.

Name Mangler 3.7.3 released

Thursday, August 12th, 2021

We had not one but two regressions1An issue found in an update that was not in the prior release in Name Mangler 3.7.2, one of which broke the licenses for anyone who had upgraded to Name Mangler 3 from Name Mangler 2. As a result, these users thought this was a paid update, which it clearly was not. You can read more about this in the release notes.

The other issue was that the Clear List menu item would become disabled after a renaming operation.

The good news is that Name Mangler 3.7.3 fixes both issues, and is available now for direct users, and should be available shortly, if not already, for App Store users. (The license issue didn’t affect the App Store version, given Apple controls the licensing for apps in the store.)

Butler, Name Mangler, and Resolutionator updated

Tuesday, August 10th, 2021

Three minor (but important) updates today. Butler 4.4.3 now works better with Monterey betas, Name Mangler 3.7.2 fixes a rare crash when dragging files out of the file list, and Resolutionator 2.1 adds support for the 24″ iMac, and improves the display name for some displays.

You could go read the release notes for all three apps, but really, that’s everything that’s in today’s updates. If you bought these apps from us, you can update within each app, or by downloading a fresh copy of the app from our server (you won’t lose your settings).

App Store users of Name Mangler can find the update in the App Store app.