TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 22 January 2018

GraphicConverter 10.5.4 — Lemkesoft has issued GraphicConverter 10.5.4, a maintenance release for the graphic conversion and editing utility. The update adds HEIC export capabilities via an external helper tool (requires macOS 10.13 High Sierra), a separate text antialias option, support for Mailplane 3 as an email application, and a new Copy XMP Face Names to XMP Persons contextual menu item. It also improves the speed of thumbnail and preview creation/display in the browser, improves the manual sort option, and provides a two-image advance option for slideshows on dual-display setups. ($39.95 new from
Lemkesoft or the Mac App Store, free update, 181 MB, release notes, 10.9+)

Read/post comments about GraphicConverter 10.5.4.

Microsoft Office 2016 16.9 — In a major jump from December’s version 15.41 of Office 2016, Microsoft has now released version 16.9 with the addition of real-time collaborative editing. For Word and PowerPoint, you’ll need to save your documents to OneDrive or SharePoint Online and then send an invitation to
collaborators (Microsoft notes that Windows users need to be running PowerPoint 2010 or later). Collaborative editing in Excel requires an Office 365 subscription and spreadsheets saved to OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, or a SharePoint Online library.

Office 2016 also adds AutoSave to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, allowing Office 365 subscribers to enable the feature for files stored on OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, or SharePoint Online. The three apps also improve discovery of documents stored in your frequently used sites and groups in the Open menu.

In app-specific changes, Excel gains new charts (including funnel, sunburst, and histogram) and improves support for filters in a PivotTable. PowerPoint enables you to trim content from the beginning or end of an audio or video clip, and adds support for using your mouse as a laser pointer for improved focus during presentations. Outlook adds gestures for archiving (swiping left with two fingers) or deleting (swiping right) email from your Inbox. ($149.99 for one-time purchase, $99.99/$69.99 annual subscription options, free update through Microsoft AutoUpdate, release notes, 10.10+)

Read/post comments about Microsoft Office 2016 16.9.

DEVONthink/DEVONnote 2.9.17 — DEVONtechnologies has updated all three editions of DEVONthink (Personal, Pro, and Pro Office) and DEVONnote to version 2.9.17. All three editions of DEVONthink make PDF annotations and text entered into PDF forms searchable, improve link insertion into plain text and Markdown documents, enable you to customize colors of Markdown documents, and resume playback of audio files after closing and reopening. Additionally, the Pro and Pro Office editions add support for sheets (table-like data) created with version
2.4 or later of the DEVONthink To Go iOS app and enable you to search databases via URL command.

DEVONthink Pro Office improves its Web interface to be compatible with current Web browsers and ensures that importing email messages via drag-and-drop skips already imported messages. DEVONnote receives only the link insertion improvement in plain text documents, along with several of the bug fixes for the other apps. (All updates are free. DEVONthink Pro Office, $149.95 new, release notes; DEVONthink Professional, $79.95 new, release notes; DEVONthink Personal, $49.95 new, release notes; DEVONnote, $24.95 new, release notes; 25 percent discount for TidBITS members on all editions of DEVONthink and DEVONnote. 10.9+)

Read/post comments about DEVONthink/DEVONnote 2.9.17.

Mailplane 3.7.2 — Uncomplex has released Mailplane 3.7.2, adding support for the new Google Calendar in OS X 10.11 El Capitan by fixing display issues in the full month and “find a time” views. The Gmail-specific email client also adds Clearbit Connect as a plug-in, prevents automatic unpacking of tar.gz files if Open Downloads Automatically is unchecked, fixes return link handling in conjunction with Evernote, updates to the latest version of WebKit, and adjusts the OAuth dialog due to recent
Google changes. ($24.95 new, free update, 64.8 MB, release notes, 10.10+)

Read/post comments about Mailplane 3.7.2.

Fantastical 2.4.5 — Flexibits has released Fantastical 2.4.5, adding events and reminders to Spotlight search results in macOS 10.13 High Sierra. The calendar app also improves support for repeating Facebook events, hides extra Google Hangout and Google Meet notes sent by Google Calendar, conceals HTML tags in notes, and fixes an issue in High Sierra where event tooltips could appear upside down. Additionally, using AppleScript to add multiple items no longer requires a delay between each parse sentence command. ($49.99 new from Flexibits and the Mac
App Store, free update, 15.3 MB, release notes, 10.11+)

Read/post comments about Fantastical 2.4.5.

Ulysses 12.3 — The Ulysses writing app for the Mac and iOS has been updated to version 12.3, adding back the Services submenu to the Editor contextual menu. The update also fixes an issue with entering Chinese, Japanese, and Korean (CJK) characters into the editor search field, adds the Command-Control-Option-C keyboard shortcut for copying x-callback URLs, improves PDF export performance when using underlines, and fixes a crash that occurred when exporting to DOCX with fonts that have only bold styles.

Ulysses costs $4.99 per month or $39.99 annually for access to both Mac and iOS apps (a student discount is also available for $10.99 per 6 months). It’s available from the Mac App Store (which offers a 14-day free trial on all devices), as well as part of the $9.99-per-month Setapp Mac app subscription service. ($39.99 annual subscription, free update, 21 MB, release notes, 10.11+)

Read/post comments about Ulysses 12.3.

SoundSource 3.0.3 — Rogue Amoeba has released SoundSource 3.0.3 to provide full compatibility with macOS 10.13 High Sierra. The sound preferences tool also fixes a bug where playing back audio from a device could accumulate additional latency over time and corrects an issue with audio playback from single-channel devices to properly provide both channels. ($10 new with a 20 percent discount for TidBITS members, free update, 3.5 MB, release notes, 10.10+)

Read/post comments about SoundSource 3.0.3.

Piezo 1.5.6 — Rogue Amoeba has released Piezo 1.5.6, updating the Instant On component to version 8.4.5 to provide better compatibility with Skype 8. The “charmingly simple” audio recording app also adds support for full VoIP capture when using the Scopia Desktop video conferencing app, ensures Piezo’s popover behaves as expected in macOS 10.13 High Sierra, works as expected when using a device with very high sample rates, and corrects an issue with audio playback from single-channel devices to properly provide both channels. ($19
new with a 20 percent discount for TidBITS members, free update, 8.3 MB, release notes, 10.10+)

Read/post comments about Piezo 1.5.6.

1Password 6.8.6 — AgileBits has released 1Password 6.8.6, reimplementing iCloud sync using Apple’s native iCloud framework for faster and more stable synchronization. The update also fixes a bug that prevented viewing of an attachment more than once, ensures that Quick Look windows close when 1Password is locked, and prevents 1Password from requesting rich icons for items with invalid URLs. ($64.99 new from AgileBits and Mac App Store or free with a $2.99 or $4.99 per month
subscription, free update, 48.6 MB, release notes, 10.10+)

Read/post comments about 1Password 6.8.6.

Typinator 7.4 — Ergonis has released Typinator 7.4, improving the text-expansion tool’s Quick Search feature, which finds all items that match certain keywords or phrases. Quick Search now displays all matches in a scrollable list instead of limiting the list of matching items to the height of the screen. The update also now works with text entered via the Mac’s Keyboard Viewer, improves suggestions for AutoCorrections in the New Item window, fixes a bug that produced the previous expansion when you typed two abbreviations in quick succession, improves appearance of abbreviations with prefixes and suffixes in
Quick Search matches, and fixes feedback sounds that did not play when you triggered certain expansions from Quick Search. (€24.99 new with a 25 percent discount for TidBITS members, free update, 7.7 MB, release notes, 10.6.8+)

Read/post comments about Typinator 7.4.