TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 8 June 2015

Fission 2.2.4 — Rogue Amoeba has released Fission 2.2.4 with a small but important collection of stability improvements. The previous 2.2.3 release had partially updated the import engine to ffmpeg 2.6.2, and version 2.2.4 now fully updates the engine. Plus, Fission 2.2.3 introduced a crash that occurred when importing files. That and another crash associated with certain FLAC files have now been resolved, as has a bug that prevented some MP4 files from opening correctly. ($32 new from Rogue Amoeba with a 20 percent discount for TidBITS
members, free update, 14.8 MB, release notes, 10.7+)

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QuarkXPress 2015 11.0.0.1 — In late April, Quark released QuarkXPress 2015 11.0 with a faster 64-bit architecture (enabling consumption of all available system RAM to improve performance) and PDF/X-4 output (which allows transparency while keeping files small). A major update for the professional graphic design and page layout software, the update improves automation capabilities, with automatic footnotes and endnotes, a faster table tool for Excel integration with table styles, and text variables for automatically populating recurring fields (such as running headers). QuarkXPress 2015 11.0 also enables you to
create fixed layout ebooks that can include interactive enrichments such as slide shows, page flips, animations, and more. Other additions include an Orthogonal Line Tool, the capability to relink any picture in the Usage dialog, user-definable Shortcut Keys, support for OS X 10.10 Yosemite, table styles, and a Format Painter. At the end of May, Quark issued version 11.0.0.1 with unspecified stability improvements. A full license costs $849 (with a free trial available), and you can upgrade from any previous version
for $349. ($849 new, $349 upgrade from previous versions, free update for version 11 licenses, 10.8.5+)

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CrashPlan 4.2 — Code42 Software has issued the latest version of its CrashPlan Internet backup software, jumping all the way to version 4.2 from the previous 3.7 in order to unify with the Code42 cloud edition. The update improves handling of individual files with large amounts of metadata (over 1 MB per file), fixes a bug that prevented adding multiple filename exclusions at one time, and ensures that a change to the username or email on the Settings > Account screen no longer requires changing the first or last name in order to save. It also changes the recommended steps for restoring a large number of
files from a Friend destination (formerly Guest Restore); see this Code42 support document for details. There’s no need to download CrashPlan 4.2 manually, as the app should upgrade itself automatically in the coming days if it hasn’t already — the version number is displayed prominently in the app’s splash screen and Settings > Account screen. (Free with a 30-day trial of CrashPlan’s online backup service, 54 MB, release notes, 10.6+)

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SpamSieve 2.9.20 — Michael Tsai of C-Command Software has released SpamSieve 2.9.20 with improvements to the app’s filtering accuracy and launch agent process, which no longer runs when Apple Mail is not running to reduce overall memory use. The spam filtering utility includes the sender’s address in trained entries displayed in the log, works around a bug that prevented Microsoft Outlook from correctly returning a message’s source, fixes a text conversion bug in OS X 10.10.3 Yosemite, makes a number of error handling improvements, and updates many sections in the manual. ($30 new with a 20 percent discount for TidBITS members, free update, 14.2 MB, release notes, 10.6+)

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Evernote 6.0.13 — Evernote has released version 6.0.13 of its eponymous information management app with several bug fixes. The update addresses a scrolling issue in the note editor for older versions of OS X, resolves a number of selection-related issues in Work Chat for users of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and 10.9 Mavericks, fixes several crashes related to the sidebar, and ensures that dragging email from Apple Mail to a note will successfully attach the mail. Note that Evernote first released version 6.0.12 with these same updates, but that had to be pulled due to a default font issue in the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean
localizations. (Free from Evernote or the Mac App Store, 64.1 MB, release notes, 10.7.5+)

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iFlicks 2.2.1 — Jendrik Bertram has released iFlicks 2.2.1 with an improved watch folder agent that monitors folders even when iFlicks isn’t running. The video encoding and metadata management app also stops forcing square artwork, adds more tag actions to Rules (found in Preferences), correctly restores the sidebar size at launch, and fixes some rare crashes. ($18.99 new from the Mac App Store, free update, 13.6 MB, release notes, 10.8.3+)

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Mactracker 7.4.4 — Ian Page has released Mactracker 7.4.4 with detailed information about the Apple Watch, as well as the new MacBook Pro with Force Touch trackpad and entry-level iMac with Retina 5K display (see “Apple Releases Updated MacBook Pro, iMac, and iPhone Dock,” 19 May 2015). The popular encyclopedia of Apple products also adds an entry that indicates whether Handoff is supported on a particular model and updates Support Status for Apple’s latest Vintage and Obsolete products. (Free from Mactracker Web site or Mac App Store, 38.7 MB, release notes)

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Tinderbox 6.3 — Eastgate Systems has released Tinderbox 6.3 with a new treemap view, which enables you to visualize the complex hierarchical structure of hundreds of notes at a glance. The personal content assistant improves progress bars and pie charts, updates Outline elements more smoothly while dragging the pane splitter, improves responsiveness of large and complex maps, fixes a bug that caused a note with text links to shift the link positions in the text, adds a Print command to the contextual menu for the HTML Preview pane, and enables you to hide the tab bar (which will spring open as your mouse moves near the top
of the window). ($249 new, free update, 49.4 MB, release notes, 10.8+)

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Fantastical 2.0.6 — Flexibits has issued Fantastical 2.0.6 with the addition of a pop-up calendar widget that appears when editing start and end dates. The popular calendar app also links back to OmniFocus and Mail when creating events from those apps, adds a time picker to simplify choosing an end time when editing an event, enables you to cycle through detected invitees using the Command-Shift-I keyboard shortcut when creating an event, and adds a time zone menu. Fantastical 2 has a 14-day free trial, and currently costs $39.99 from either the Flexibits Store or the Mac App Store; the price will go up to $49.99 after an introductory discount period. ($39.99 new, free update, 12.8 MB, release notes, 10.10+)

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