TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 26 September 2016

Postbox 5.0.2 — Featuring a refined user interface and compatibility with macOS 10.12 Sierra, the Postbox email client sees a major update to version 5.0. Postbox can now add dynamic data fields to Responses and Templates, enabling you to populate these custom placeholder fields with company names, people, products, events, and more. It also adds an image scaling feature that resizes large inline images; enables you to easily forward email content to services such as Evernote, Slack, and Todoist; adds an anti-tracking
feature that alerts you when tracking tools have been used within a message; and offers 70 professionally written and customizable canned email responses (available as a separate download). Shortly after its initial 5.0 release, Postbox issued version 5.0.2 to fix a variety of minor bugs.

The price of Postbox has risen to $40 (up from $15 for version 4.0), though version 5 is on sale for $32 for a limited time. For those who purchased a Postbox license before 1 March 2016, you can upgrade to Postbox 5.0 at a discounted price for a limited time (I was able to upgrade from my version 4.0 license for $24 after requesting a discount code). If you purchased Postbox on or after 1 March 2016, or if you have a Lifetime License purchased prior to 31 July 2010, then you already have a Postbox 5 key and no additional purchase is necessary. ($40 new, upgrade pricing available, 23.8 MB, release notes, 10.10+)

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Sandvox 2.10.8 — Karelia has released Sandvox 2.10.8, fixing a crash that occurred when publishing to FTP or SFTP sites in macOS 10.12 Sierra and using simpler code in newly created documents in Sierra when using one of Sandvox’s main supported languages. The Web site authoring tool also resolves an issue that prevented Google Maps from appearing correctly in Sandvox’s preview, adds support for older Vimeo video IDs with less than eight characters, and turns off video preload when turning off video autoplay (which fixes an issue with poster images). ($79.99 new, free update from Karelia or the Mac App Store, 43.3 MB, release notes, 10.6.6+)

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Tweetbot 2.4.3 — Tapbots released Tweetbot 2.4.2, adding compatibility with macOS 10.12 Sierra and support for extended tweets, where photos, videos, GIFs, and quote tweets no longer count toward Twitter’s 140-character limit. The update also adds support for uploading videos up to 140 seconds long to Twitter and improves media previews for search results. Shortly after this release, Tapbots issued Tweetbot 2.4.3 with a fix for a corrupted image cache. ($9.99 new from the Mac App Store, free update, 11.7 MB, 10.10+)

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TextWrangler 5.5.2 — Bare Bones Software has released TextWrangler 5.5.2 to provide compatibility with macOS 10.12 Sierra. The free text editor also receives many of the fixes and improvements that Bare Bones added to BBEdit (TextWrangler’s elder sibling; see “BBEdit 11.6.1,” 24 August 2016). Notably, the View > Text Display menu gains three new commands (Zoom In, Zoom Out, and Actual Size) and the List Display Font setting in the Appearances preferences now has a slider to adjust the font size. TextWrangler also now features keyboard commands for Check
Syntax (Command-K) and Run (Command-R), and fixes bugs that prevented scratchpad documents from remembering and restoring their state across open/close cycles. (Free, 9.7 MB, release notes, 10.9.5+)

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HoudahGeo 5.1 — Houdah Software has released HoudahGeo 5.1, adding support for Apple’s Maps and MapBox maps on macOS 10.12 Sierra. The photo geotagging app can also now add locations to photos in your Photos library (requires Photos 2.0 in Sierra), improves camera setup options with the assumption that timestamps that already include time zone information are correct, changes the color of track logs from blue to red for better readability, and fixes a bug that could cause photo import to hang. ($39 new, free update, 21.7 MB, release notes, 10.10+)

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Parallels Desktop 12.0.2 — Parallels has released Parallels Desktop version 12.0.2 (build 41353) with several bug fixes for the virtualization software. The update rectifies a problem with printing from Windows using a shared Mac printer, fixes a bug that prevented using Control-click to open a contextual menu in virtual machines, and resolves an issue where the desktop would unexpectedly switch when in Full Screen mode while using an external monitor.

The Parallels Desktop 12 Standard Edition costs $79.99 as a one-time purchase or $79.99 per year as a subscription. Parallels Desktop Pro Edition costs $99.99 per year. For those who bought a non-subscription license, upgrades to the Standard Edition are $49.99, with a limited time offer to upgrade to a Parallels Desktop Pro subscription for $49.99-per-year for life. ($79.99 new for standard edition, $99.99 annual subscription for Pro/Business Edition, free update, 261 MB, release notes, 10.9.5+)

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Mailplane 3.6.7 — Uncomplex has released Mailplane 3.6.6, which is ready for macOS 10.12 Sierra. The Gmail-specific email client also now enables you to set a default sender account (handy if you want to use one of several accounts to send messages), ensures that attachment uploading works as expected, prevents drafts from being lost by accident, and adds a Create Calendar Event shortcut. A quick 3.6.7 update tweaks Mailplane’s attachment uploading to work with another change from Google. ($24.95 new, free update, 23.4 MB, release notes, 10.10+)

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CleanMyMac 3.5.1 — MacPaw has issued CleanMyMac 3.5 with full support for macOS 10.12 Sierra. Additionally, the all-purpose cleaning and maintenance app’s System Junk module can now find and remove Spotify cache files, correctly cleans up Sierra-specific unified logs, and ensures that Trash Bins cleanup and Shredder properly support files stored on iCloud Drive. Shortly after this release, MacPaw updated CleanMyMac to version 3.5.1 to fix an issue that affected Live Photos and resolve a user interface glitch that appeared when opening CleanMyMac. ($39.95 new, free update, 33.7 MB, 10.8+)

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Gemini 2.2.2 — MacPaw has released Gemini 2.2.2 with full support for macOS 10.12 Sierra, including proper iCloud files processing. The duplicate file finder also now adds labels to help you discern duplicates better, improves management of hard-linked duplicates, adds the capability to expand or collapse groups from Gemini’s menu, ensures file paths behave more predictably, improves searching, and adds a contextual menu for filters. An upgrade from any previous license costs $9.97. ($19.95 new from MacPaw and the Mac App
Store, $9.97 upgrade, 35.6 MB, 10.10+)

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Safari 10.0 — Apple has released Safari 10.0 for OS X 10.10.5 Yosemite and 10.11.6 El Capitan (it’s included with macOS 10.12 Sierra). While it doesn’t include some of the features available in Sierra (such as Picture-in-Picture), Safari now defaults to displaying HTML 5 video when available, enhances security by running plug-ins only on authorized Web sites, improves formatting in Reader view, and remembers the zoom level for each Web site you visit. The update also addresses several security issues, including the usual memory corruption issues in WebKit, validation issues in Safari Reader, and address bar spoofing in
Safari Tabs — all of which could compromise user information if visiting a maliciously crafted Web site. Safari 10.0 is available only via Software Update. (Free, release notes, 10.10+)

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1Password 6.3.3 — AgileBits has released 1Password 6.3.3 with a number of fixes aimed at helping those running macOS 10.12 Sierra, including a layout repair with the Password Generator, a correction for the multi-line height calculation for notes and tags, and another layout issue that affected choosing fields while exporting CSV or tab-delimited files. The password manager also corrects a hang that could be caused by documents with missing metadata, eliminates a crash with the updater when a copy of 1Password is on iCloud Drive, and fixes a crash that occurred when removing the Primary vault in 10.10 Yosemite. ($64.99
new from AgileBits and the Mac App Store with a 25 percent discount for TidBITS members when purchased from AgileBits, free update, 43.8 MB, release notes, 10.10+)

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Firefox 49.0 — Mozilla has updated its Firefox Web browser to version 49.0 with improved appearance of anti-aliased OS X fonts and better performance on Macs that lack hardware acceleration. It also brings controls to Reader Mode that enable you to adjust the width and line spacing of text and adds the Narrate feature to read the content of a page out loud. Finally, Firefox 49.0 ends support for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, 10.7 Lion, and 10.8 Mountain Lion, along with the Skype-like Firefox Hello communication client (introduced back in late 2014; see “Firefox 34.0,” 7
December 2014). (Free, 81.3 MB, release notes, 10.9+)

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OmniFocus 2.7 — The Omni Group has released OmniFocus 2.7 with the added capability to specify an encryption passphrase separate from your sync password. The company recommends that you set a different encryption passphrase only after you are running at least OmniFocus 2.16 on all of your iOS devices and OmniFocus 2.7 on all of your Macs. The task management app also updates the pasteboard format to match the TaskPaper format used by OmniFocus for iOS, fixes compatibility issues with macOS 10.12 Sierra, routes all sync pushes through Apple’s push service, fixes a crash that occurred when clicking a note or
attachment, and adds new Preferences icons. ($39.99 new for Standard and $79.99 for Pro from the Omni Group Web site, $39.99 for Standard from Mac App Store (with in-app purchase option to upgrade to Pro), 29.5 MB, release notes, 10.10+)

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Capto 1.1 — Global Delight has issued Capto 1.1 (formerly known as Voila) with a new Record Camera video option that’s ideal for creating tutorial videos, enabling you to record a video from a camera while simultaneously recording the screen. You can choose from either the system camera or an external recording device, reposition the video to one of nine locations, and select from three different video dimensions. The screen capture utility also adds an Advanced Audio Control, which enables you to adjust system and mic audio inputs separately. ($29.99 new from Global Delight with a 25 percent discount for TidBITS members or from the Mac App Store, 25.3 MB, 10.10.5+)

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Lightroom CC 2015.7 and Lightroom 6.7 — Adobe has released the standalone Lightroom 6.7 and Lightroom CC 2015.7 (available as part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud Photography plan) with compatibility fixes for macOS 10.12 Sierra, additional camera raw and lens profile support, and bug fixes. The professional photo cataloging and editing applications add a preference that enables you to use Smart Previews in the Develop Module for faster performance, let you drag images directly to the All Synced Photographs collection in the Catalog panel for improved sharing across your devices, and add the capability to
submit images directly to the new Adobe Stock Contributor Site. The apps also add support for a variety of additional cameras, including the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, iPhone SE, and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro. ($9.99 monthly subscription or $149 for the standalone app, free update, release notes, 10.8+ for Lightroom CC 2015.7 and 10.9+ for standalone Lightroom 6.7)

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Pages 6.0, Numbers 4.0, and Keynote 7.0 for Mac — Apple has released major updates for its trio of iWork apps for the Mac — Pages 6.0, Numbers 4.0, and Keynote 7.0 — with the addition of real-time collaboration, a beta feature first introduced at the iPhone 7 unveiling (see “Apple’s iPhone Event: Education, Karaoke, Mario, and More,” 7 September 2016). You’ll be able to see who else is working on the document (including being able to view cursor placement), view changes in
real time, and work on documents from a Mac, iPad, iPhone, or iCloud.com. According to this Apple Support document, these are the devices and Web browsers required for real-time collaboration:

• A Mac with macOS Sierra and Pages 6.0, Numbers 4.0, or Keynote 7.0 or later

• An iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 10 and Pages 3.0, Numbers 3.0, or Keynote 3.0 or later

• A Mac with Safari 6.0.3 or later, or Google Chrome 27.0.1 or later

• A Windows PC with Internet Explorer 11 or later, or Google Chrome 27.0.1 or later

The three apps also now use tabs to work with multiple documents in one window, provide wide color gamut image support, and require a minimum of macOS 10.12 Sierra. Pages and Keynote can open and edit documents from their ’05 versions, and Keynote introduces the Keynote Live feature — enabling you to broadcast a slideshow to a Mac, iPad, iPhone, or a Web browser (learn more about this feature from this Apple Support page). ($19.99 new for Pages, 228 MB; $19.99 new for Numbers, 170 MB; $19.99 new for Keynote, 469 MB; all three require 10.12+)

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SpamSieve 2.9.25 — Michael Tsai of C-Command Software has released SpamSieve 2.9.25, ensuring compatibility with Apple Mail in macOS 10.12 Sierra. (If you’ve already updated to Sierra or don’t see the SpamSieve commands in Apple Mail’s Message menu, choose SpamSieve > Install Apple Mail Plug-In.) The spam filtering utility adds an option in the Apple Mail – Server Junk Mailbox script to mark good messages as read, improves the reporting of Apple Mail training errors, works around an error in Microsoft Outlook that prevented a message’s subject from being read, fixes a bug where the Outlook – Filter Mailboxes
script filtered only one mailbox per account, and updates the Spanish localization. ($30 new with a 20 percent discount for TidBITS members, free update, 13.5 MB, release notes, 10.6+)

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macOS Server 5.2 — Apple has released macOS Server 5.2 (previously called OS X Server), which adds support for macOS 10.12 Sierra, as one might expect, and for migrating Server data from a volume with El Capitan 10.11.6 and OS X Server 5.1.7 or Yosemite 10.10.5 and OS X Server 5.0.15. The release adds integration with Apple School Manager, enables you to skip the Siri Setup Assistant pane in Sierra, provides enhanced control over peer replication, improves security by requiring SMB connections to be signed by default, and adds support for the Xsan 5 file system. macOS Server 5.2 now
requires a minimum of OS X 10.11.6. ($19.99 new, free update, 199 MB, release notes, 10.11.6+)

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KeyCue 8.2 — Ergonis has released version 8.2 of the keyboard cheat sheet utility KeyCue, adding integration with the company’s PopChar X character discovery tool. With this update, you can quickly display recently used and favorite characters from PopChar in KeyCue’s head-up display and insert them with a click. KeyCue 8.2 also launches faster, eliminates a delay after confirming changes in KeyCue’s settings, works better with Audacity, and fixes a bug that caused actions to be triggered even when the required key combinations were no longer pressed. (€19.99 new with a 25 percent discount for TidBITS members, free update, 5.4 MB, release notes, 10.6+)

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iBooks Author 2.5 — Apple has updated iBooks Author to version 2.5 with new templates for creating interactive EPUB books. The ebook production and publishing app also enables support for publishing to iBooks using an Apple ID with two-factor authentication, improves workflow when publishing books on behalf of multiple sellers, and brings the standard vague promise of performance and stability improvements. iBooks Author also now requires a minimum of OS X 10.11 El Capitan. (Free from the Mac App Store, 405 MB, 10.11+)

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BBEdit 11.6.2 — Bare Bones Software has released BBEdit 11.6.2, adding compatibility with macOS 10.12 Sierra and bringing a swath of bug fixes and improvements to the venerable text editor. The release resolves a couple of drawing glitches (in the list header of disk browser windows and when resizing the sidebar in the Differences windows), ensures the Differences window works properly when it has one unsaved document displayed and focus is in the differences list, works around a bug in Sierra that would cause strange behavior when switching color schemes, and fixes various memory leaks. ($49.99, free update, 14.0
MB, release notes, 10.9.5+)

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