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TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 18 February 2013

Fission 2.1.2 — Rogue Amoeba has released Fission 2.1.2 with a fix for a bug that made it seem that the audio editing app was hanging while exporting and transcoding — even while the app was indeed diligently working away. The update improves the Start window’s memory of the state of things as well as the app’s memory of previous settings for saving and exporting. Additionally, the app improves the VoiceOver controls, corrects some issues related to re-encoding audio, improves reading of chapterized AAC files, resolves a conflict with the window-managing Moom app, fixes an issue where the Mac App Store version would fail to save to a previously specified location, and makes progress bars appear more reliably during export. ($32 new with a 20-percent discount for TidBITS members, free update, 11.5 MB, release notes)

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Mailplane 2.5.11 — Uncomplex has released version 2.5.11 of its Gmail-specific email client Mailplane — the app’s first update since September 2011. The app now displays an alert should you use Gmail’s new inline composition window, and Uncomplex recommends that you revert to the old composition window. If you want access to Gmail’s new inline composition interface, you can try the Mailplane 3 beta (available only for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and 10.8 Mountain Lion). The update also
adds support for Evernote 5.0.5 and ensures that disabling the option to check automatically for updates within Preferences works as it should. On the downloads page, Mailplane 2.5.11 is available for Lion and Mountain Lion (12.6 MB), 10.6 Snow Leopard (8.4 MB), 10.5 Leopard (20.4 MB), and 10.4 Tiger (20 MB). ($24.95 new, free update)

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Skype 6.2.73.1117 — Skype has added a gifting option to Skype 6.2.73.1117 that enables you to send Skype credit to a contact — however, it seems this gifting possibility occurs only on a contact’s birthday. The Mac client also adds the capability to send a one-way SMS message without having to first add and verify your mobile number, fixes a hang that occurred when signing out with a Facebook account, and ensures your Skype credit amount is the same in both the main Skype window and in the account window. Skype also notes that the app may crash for those running a MacBook Pro with a
Retina display with a non-Retina external display, and the company promises a fix for the next release. For the time being, the best workaround is to select Skype in your Applications folder, press Command-I to open Get Info, and then check the “Open in low resolution” option. (Free, 37.4 MB, release notes)

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MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.7 — Duplicating a fix provided by the recently released Firmware Update 1.6 (see “SMC Firmware Updates for MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air,” 31 January 2013), Apple has released MacBook Pro SMC Firmware Update 1.7 to target a range of specific models — both 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro models released in mid-2010 and early 2011. Like the previous update, this one addresses a “rare issue” that caused laptops with a battery that had accumulated more than 1,000 charge cycles to shut down and possibly fail to boot back up again. As
always with firmware updates, we recommend relying on Software Update or the App Store app to ensure you get the firmware update for your MacBook Pro, and being careful not to interrupt the update process. (Free, 1 MB)

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Mellel 3.1.3 — Offering a number of improvements and bug fixes, RedleX has released version 3.1.3 of its Mellel word processor. The update alters the document default scheme, making all new documents based on a default template or one that’s selected from the template browser. An option for selecting a default template was added to Mellel’s preferences, while default styles, background color, and other settings were removed. The update also changes the location for factory templates, keeping them with the app bundle rather than copying them to the ~/Library/Application Support
folder in order to improve future template updates. Other changes include support for Retina displays, an improved look for the track changes annotation pane, enhanced control of bibliography and citation text formatting options, and improved language support. Mellel 3.1.3 also fixes an issue that caused the app to hang when opening pre-3.0 documents, assigns current text language when creating a footnote or citation, fixes an issue that caused dragged tabs and margins in the ruler to jump to unexpected places, and ensures that superscripted or baseline-shifted characters don’t get clipped at the top of a page. ($39 new, free update, 93.8 MB, release notes)

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BBEdit 10.5.2 — Bare Bones Software has released BBEdit 10.5.2, delivering fixes large and small for over 40 customer-reported issues. Among the highlights, the update now displays the name of each document as it’s opened in the “Restoring [BBEdit] state” panel, fixes a bug with Save a Copy that would result in data loss “if the wrong choices were made,” ensures that accurate results are returned in the pre-comparison screening for multi-file Find Differences, fixes BBEdit’s Search and Replace Automator action for grep-based searches, squashes a bug that would return stale Clipboard contents in
operations that required a clipboard import from an external application, and stops BBEdit from beeping if you right-clicked in an improperly formed HTML or XML document. Note that BBEdit 10.5.2 now requires at least Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard. ($49.99 new from Bare Bones or the Mac App Store, free update, $39.99 upgrade from pre-10 versions, 12.6 MB, release notes)

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Microsoft Office 2011 14.3.1 — If you’ve been inundated with alerts telling you are running an unlicensed copy of Microsoft Office 2011 since installing the most recent Service Pack 3 (a.k.a. version 14.3.0), then you’ll be happy to learn that the newly issued version 14.3.1 should take care of that problem. Aside from the proper acknowledgement of your licensed status (and minimized annoyance), the update offers no other changes. (Free updates via the Office for Mac Web
site
or through Microsoft AutoUpdate, 106 MB, release notes)

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BusyCal 2.0.3 — BusyMac has released BusyCal 2.0.3, a maintenance release with an assortment of fixes and user interface additions. The update fixes a syncing bug that unsubscribed Google calendars, adds Show Declined & Canceled Events to the View menu, displays meeting requests in Inbox for Google Calendar (as well as older CalDAV servers), sends Sync Alarm snoozes/dismissals across multiple devices when syncing through iCloud, enables alarms to be added to meeting invitations, and merges duplicate birthdays. It also adds the following localizations: German, French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese
(Portugal), and Portuguese (Brazil). You can download a trial of BusyCal via the BusyMac Web site, but the only way to purchase the app is through the Mac App Store, where it’s currently selling for $29.99 through 15 March 2013. ($49.99 new, free update, 9.0 MB, release notes)

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