TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 4 June 2012

QuarkXPress 9.3 — Quark continues to focus on ebook publishing with the release of QuarkXPress 9.3, which now enables you to export content directly to Amazon’s Kindle format without additional plug-ins. The update also provides support for inline tables of contents in EPUB files, a variety of unnamed fixes and enhancements to EPUB and Reflow views, and a fix for occasional crashes that occurred on some MacBook Pro models while concurrently saving a document and running a Time Machine backup. Additionally, the release resolves issues with facing page reordering, EPS/PDF previews, PDF box sizes, and more. ($849
new, free update, 1.1 GB, release notes)

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OmniFocus 1.10.2 — Preparing for the end of an era, version 1.10.2 of the Omni Group’s task management app OmniFocus removes direct support for syncing through MobileMe, which is slated to go dark as of 30 June 2012. Omni notes that sync settings will now appear under the Advanced (WebDAV) sync method if you’re currently syncing via MobileMe, and recommends that you switch to either the free Omni Sync Server or another WebDAV service. OmniFocus 1.10.2 also improves Inbox workflow by displaying the contents of groups in the badge count, fixing a bug where contents of groups were excluded in Context mode, and
ensuring the Next Action filter works correctly. ($79.99 new, free update, 22 MB, release notes)

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App Tamer 1.3 — St. Clair Software has updated their CPU-saving utility App Tamer 1.3 with more control over when the AutoStop feature gets activated. With this update, you can set AutoStop to begin working its magic only when your laptop battery falls below a specified charge level, which will help minimize battery drain and speed up recharging. The release also includes several AppleScript commands that enable you to turn AutoStop on and off as well as wake a stopped application in your scripts. Additionally, this version fixes a problem that caused Web browser helper applications to freeze the browser and an issue
where disabling AutoStop didn’t actually disable the feature for some machines. ($14.95 new, free update, 3.8 MB, release notes)

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Fantastical 1.3 — Adding one of its most requested features, Flexibits has released Fantastical 1.3 with support for both iCal and iOS reminders. You can now add a to-do item to the calendar utility and send it to iCloud’s reminders list (which syncs with both the Reminders app on your iOS device and iCal) or just to iCal’s reminders list (which doesn’t sync to iCloud). To create a reminder, toggle the slider at the top right corner of Fantastical’s window from calendar to reminder, or type “reminder,” “todo,” “task,” or “√” (Option-V) at the beginning of an entry to force Fantastical to create a
reminder and not a calendar entry. Additionally, you can set a reminder’s priority from low to high by typing from one to three exclamation points. Outlook users also get an improvement, with a notification sent to invitees after an event has been edited or deleted. If you’ve previously used a trial version of Fantastical that expired, you can try it again, as Flexibits has reset the 2-week trial period for this version. ($19.99 new from Flexibits or the Mac App Store, free update, 9.0 MB, release notes)

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Typinator 5.1 — Ergonis has refined its popular typing expansion utility with the release of Typinator 5.1, which now includes interactive input fields that can insert dynamic content into expanded text. This enables an abbreviation to open a dialog in which values can be entered into specified fields, ranging from text fragments that you type to scripts that create further dynamic expansions. Check out the Ergonis Extras page to download a collection of input field samples, including interactive date calculations and currency conversions. Typinator 5.1 also
includes more than 25 additional enhancements, including improved tab navigation between abbreviation and expansion, improved speed of repeatedly used AppleScripts, a fix for a problem where Quick Search results weren’t visible on multiple-monitor setups, and a workaround for an expansion and cursor positioning issue in Coda 2. The release also includes a signed developer ID for use with OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion’s Gatekeeper security feature. (€24.99 new with a 25-percent discount for TidBITS members, free update, 4.7 MB, release notes)

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Aperture 3.2.4 — Apple has released Aperture 3.2.4, which promises improved stability for the professional photo organizer and editor when running on Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. The only other item noted for this maintenance release is a fix for an issue that prevented the Viewer from updating correctly after editing a photo using an external editor. ($79.99 new in the Mac App Store, free update, 635.54 MB)

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Coda 2.0 — Panic has released Coda 2.0, a major update to its Web site development tool, with a revamped user interface and over 100 new features. Coda now incorporates a visual tab bar for faster navigation of your files, and the tab bar can be displayed as large icons with dynamic thumbnails or resized to just minimal text. The new version also introduces a customizable sidebar that enables you to drag the tools you use the most to its toolbar header. Other new features include an improved code editor with autocompletion for custom variables and functions and smarter closing tags, improved file management with support for the
git version control system, and an improved clips function that enables you to tab between placeholders that need input. Coda 2.0 also adds support for syncing sites using iCloud; however this feature is available only in the version purchased from the Mac App Store. Coda 2.0 is currently available for $75 for a limited time, but it will soon rise to its regular price of $99. Customers who purchased Coda 1.x directly from Panic will continue to be eligible for a $75 upgrade price to Coda 2.0 after this limited time discount ends. ($99 new, $75 upgrade, 41.8 MB)

In addition to the Mac version of Coda, Panic has also released the $19.99 Diet Coda for iOS. Along with enabling you to edit code and update your Web sites from your iPad when away from your Mac, Diet Coda can also turn your iPad into a dedicated preview screen. This AirPreview function requires that your iPad and Mac be on the same Wi-Fi network.

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Cobook 1.0 — Is it time to lose Apple’s leatherette Address Book in the back of a drawer? Developers Kaspars Dancis and Janis Dancis have released Cobook 1.0, a free Mac app that gives you access to your contacts without having to wade through Address Book’s weak and confusing interface. We first saw a beta version of Cobook at Macworld | iWorld 2012; see “Cool Products at Macworld | iWorld 2012,” 30 January 2012. It caught our eye not just because it could replace the much-maligned Address Book, but also because it can pull information (with your authorization, of course) from
Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, fleshing out your contacts without requiring you to do it manually. Cobook is also smart about adding new information: for example, just type a full address to populate the proper fields. Best of all, it’s free. (Free via the Mac App Store, 1.5 MB)

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Screenflow 3.0.6 — Telestream has released Screenflow 3.0.6, a bug-squashing jamboree of minor fixes that address a wide variety of glitches and annoyances in the screencasting software. While the vast number of fixes are individually too minor to list here, the release does reduce memory usage to help prevent the app from crashing, and it adds a signed developer ID for OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion’s Gatekeeper security feature. For a complete rundown of the voluminous number of fixes and improvements, download the PDF release notes from Telestream’s support page. ($99 new from Telestream or the Mac App Store, free update, $29 upgrade from 2.x or 1.x, 14.1 MB)

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Keyboard Maestro 5.3 — Pushing to get one last significant update in before Apple restricted the Mac App Store to apps that can be sandboxed, Stairways Software has released Keyboard Maestro 5.3 with a number of image manipulation and mouse click actions added to the powerful automation utility. On the image front, Keyboard Maestro 5.3 now enables you to create new images; flip, rotate, resize, and crop images; create images out of composites of images, styled text, and shapes; find an image on your screen; and capture one or all screens or a selected window. Enhanced mouse click actions include support for double and
triple clicks, dragging with any button, and clicking relative to the center of a window, screen, or image. You can also now type the word APPLICATION (in all caps) within menu selections as an alias for the current application. Other additions include a new Highlight Location action and live reporting of condition test results in action editors. A number of tweaky bug fixes round out the update. ($36 new, free update, $25 upgrade from versions previous to 5.0, 17.5 MB, release notes)

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