Moom 2.1 released

June 29th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

This Moom update is so chock full of goodness that it could have easily merited a full version increment. But given we just did that, we’ll hold back and just go with a “dot” increment this time.

So what will you get when you install the (free, of course) Moom 2.1 update? A bunch of really nice new features, including:

  • The ability to save and restore window layouts. Have a layout you like a lot? Now you can save it with a simple button tap, and then restore it later via keyboard shortcut or Moom’s menus.
  • Speaking of keyboard shortcuts, you can now create single-key shortcuts that are usable only when the keyboard bezel is onscreen. No more working hard to identify non-used global shortcuts; just type a single character in the shortcut box, and that shortcut will only work after you’ve first brought up Moom’s keyboard bezel. (A yellow background behind the single-key shortcuts helps you identify them at a glance—and they appear in the cheat sheet as well!)
  • You can now use grid-based resizing in keyboard mode; just press the keyboard bezel activation shortcut a second time. (You have to enable it first, though, in the Keyboard section of Moom’s settings.)

There are some nice small touches, too. You can optionally highlight the window to be adjusted (via a user-settable slider in General); grid-based resizing shows a live preview of the window’s size and position on the screen; and you can optionally show the Custom Control menu in the mouse palette without clicking your mouse. Read the Moom release notes page for the full scoop on this release.

We think Moom 2.1 is really a great “minor” update, and the new features—especially the ability to save and restore window layouts—makes this a must-have window management utility.

As always, the update is available via in-app updating for those who bought directly from us, and via the App Store application for those who purchased on the Mac App Store.

Desktop Curtain 2.2 released

June 24th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

Today’s Desktop Curtain update adds two minor features, and includes a few bug fixes. The two new features are:

  • A ‘boss key’ to instantly bring the curtain to the foreground, covering absolutely everything (including the Dock and Command-Tab application switcher). It doesn’t, however, bring up a fake spreadsheet as did certain games of yore.
  • Image names are now shown while hovering over image thumbnails in the History menu.

Desktop Curtain is (as of now, at least) only available on the App Store, for $1.99 to new purchasers (the update is, of course, free to all current customers).

Make your own Moom with Moom 2

June 7th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

Today we released Moom 2, a major upgrade to our window moving and zooming utility. You may be saying to yourself, “didn’t they just release Moom 1 last week?” Well, it was actually just over three months ago, but yes, that’s still a very short interval for a major upgrade.

But that short interval is actually good news for existing Moom customers. Because it’s only been three months since the initial release, Moom 2 is a completely free upgrade for all purchasers. App Store users can download the new version through the App Store application, and direct customers can use the in-app updating to get the new release.

So what’s so cool about this release that merited a full-version jump? Custom controls, that’s what. And just what are custom controls? Custom controls let you turn Moom into a customized tool that does just what you want it to do. You can create a custom control for any Moom action, and then access that custom control via a defined keyboard shortcut, or via the menu bar menu. You can even access these custom controls in the mouse palette, via an option in the Mouse section of Moom’s settings window. (See the Moom product page to see how custom controls look, both while creating them and while using them.)

You can create as many custom controls as you like, too. To help keep all those custom controls straight, you can organize them by drag-arranging them in the Custom tab of Moom’s settings window. You can also insert separators, and apply group headings to groups of related actions.

We’ve been thrilled with the reaction to Moom so far, and we think Moom 2’s custom controls turn an already great tool into a simply amazing tool. If you haven’t tried it yet, download it from the Moom page and give it a try.

App Store reviews: Of one-way streets and sidewalks

May 11th, 2011 by Peter Maurer

Yesterday, I had an interesting (to me, that is) discussion about App Store reviews with Smile Software‘s Jean MacDonald (@macgenie) and Unmarked Software‘s Mark Munz (@mmunz) on Twitter (I’m @petermaurer, of course). It started with me trying to reach a user who had left an App Store review, including a suggestion that prompted me to believe he’d be interested in testing a beta build I had just completed.

So I took to Twitter, mentioned the name he had given in the review, and asked him to contact us. No result, as usual. From there, the following conversation unfolded…

Read the rest of this entry »

Another day, another Name Mangler release

April 27th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

We’ve just released Name Mangler 2.4.4, which contains an important fix for an issue introduced in yesterday’s 2.4.3 update: under certain conditions, renaming wouldn’t actually work, despite the filename preview showing correctly within Name Mangler. Version 2.4.4 fixes this problem, and that’s the only change in this release.

If you bought Name Mangler directly from us, the update has been released, and you can get it via in-app updating or by downloading Name Mangler again from our site. We apologize for two releases in two days, but we felt it was important to get this fix out as soon as possible.

If you’re using the App Store version, we’ve submitted 2.4.4 for approval, which we hope will take only a few days. If you find that version 2.4.3 won’t work for a certain renaming task, you can (temporarily) use the demo version from our site until the App Store update is approved. Continue reading to see how to do that.

Read the rest of this entry »

Touching things up on a Tuesday

April 26th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

Yes, it’s another installment of Touch Up Tuesdays…this time out, Butler, Moom, and Name Mangler are getting the update treatment.

Butler 4.1.10: There are some nice fixes in this release, including making Butler work properly with Address Book’s Smart Folders feature, and pasting clipboard items as plain text into Mail. (Full release notes)

Moom 1.2.1: Mouse users can Option-click the full screen icon to center windows, Moom now works properly when running Dreamweaver and/or HyperDock, and we’ve reduced Moom’s CPU usage through a smarter activation algorithm. (Full release notes)

Name Mangler 2.4.3: You can now use Command-Z (multiple times) to undo changes in Advanced mode, and you can use the forward slash character in renaming actions. (Full release notes)

As always, you can get the new versions via in-app updates, or by downloading a fresh copy from our site. App Store users: the updates for Moom and Name Mangler should be available very soon, if not already, from the App Store application.

Usher 1.1.3 update features temporary 50% price cut

April 19th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

Today we released Usher 1.1.3, a minor update that addresses a few issues (release notes). The release of 1.1.3 comes just days after Usher’s six month anniversary (it was released on October 14, 2010). As such, we’ve decided to celebrate this milestone by putting Usher on sale for a week—and on sale in a big way:

Usher will cost only $17.99 until Tuesday, April 26th, 2011.

We think Usher is an amazing tool, and at 50% off, now’s the time to bring order to your collection of movies and videos. You can purchase Usher directly from us, or via the App Store; the choice is yours, as it should be.

Moom 1.2 cheats its way onto the grid

April 15th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

Moom, our newest app, takes a big step forward today to version 1.2, which introduces a couple of very useful new features and improves Moom’s interactions with a number of programs. The update is available now (or very shortly) for both direct (via in-app updating or from our site) and App Store (via the App Store application) customers .

So what’s new, and why is Moom cheating its way onto the grid? Well, the cheating bit refers to a new cheat sheet for keyboard users—the cheat sheet displays the currently-assigned shortcut keys. This feature is off by default, and can be enabled on the Keyboard tab of Moom’s Settings window. The grid bit refers to a very cool new feature for mouse users that lets you easily move and resize windows to custom sizes and positions. Also off by default, enable the grid (and set its size) via the Mouse tab of Moom’s Settings window. (If you want more information on how the grid works, read the help file for a detailed look at this cool new feature.)

Moom 1.2 also resolves an issue that was causing crashes in LibreOffice and OpenOffice. For the record, this crash was not due to anything Moom was doing, but rather, in how those apps respond to requests via Apple’s Accessibility API. We’ve found a good workaround, though, and Moom 1.2 now works properly with these apps.

There is another class of applications where Moom doesn’t work properly—as with LibreOffice/OpenOffice, this is due to problems with those programs and the Accessibility API. Moom now ignores these applications, so such problems are avoided. You can see a list of these programs, along with the other changes in Moom 1.2, on the release notes page.

If you haven’t updated yet, we strongly recommend you do so now—between the new features and the bug fixes, this is an important update for all Moom users.

Witch and duplicated TotalFinder windows in the switcher

April 13th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths

With the release of Witch 3.6.3, one of the described fixes was:

A problem causing TotalFinder’s windows to appear twice in Witch has been fixed.

Unfortunately, due to the length of time between when we submitted the 3.6.3 update to the App Store and its approval, both Peter and I forgot that this fix is disabled by default, and that it must be enabled via a hidden preference. I’ll explain why in a bit, but for now, here’s how to get Witch 3.6.3 working with TotalFinder:

  1. Disable Witch (uncheck Enable Witch) and quit the app (App Store version) or close System Preferences (independent version)
  2. Open Terminal (in Applications > Utilities), copy and paste the following text, then press Return:
    defaults write ~/Library/Application\ Support/Witch/Settings "Work Around TotalFinder" -bool YES
    (That’s one long line; just select it and copy, and it should paste fine.) You won’t see any response from Terminal (other than a new command prompt), but Witch is now set up to work properly with TotalFinder.
  3. Restart Witch.

So why did we make a bug fix a hidden preference, and disabled by default? Because of the way we had to code this particular workaround, we were concerned about possible other issues with TotalFinder windows. We tested as best we could, but we still weren’t confident that we’d tested everything possible, so we decided to ship with the setting disabled.

Now that Witch 3.6.3 is out, we can ask all TotalFinder users to try this fix, and let us know if they experience any other issues with it. If none are reported, then we can enable it by default in a future bug fix update.

Witch 3.6.3 released

April 12th, 2011 by Rob Griffiths and Peter Maurer

Witch 3.6.3 is a minor bug fix release, available now via in-app updates for those who purchased directly from us, and soon (if not right now) via the App Store application for those who purchased through that channel.

Not a lot of big news about this minor update. It resolves an issue with double entries appearing for TotalFinder windows, and it works properly with Xcode 4’s new window structure. There are a couple other minor fixes which you can read about on the release notes page. Oh, and if you happen to be a developer running Lion, you’ll find that Witch works much better there now, too.