Archive for October, 2023

App Tamer 2.8.2 fixes bugs and offers a new menu bar configuration

Monday, October 30th, 2023

Version 2.8.2 of App Tamer is available, giving you the option to save a few pixels of menu bar space while still displaying CPU stats.

A user emailed recently and asked why App Tamer couldn’t just display the stats for performance and efficiency cores without the total CPU usage. He pointed out that the total is, after all, just the sum of the ‘P’ and ‘E’ values and he can add those together himself. Given the plethora of menu bar apps these days, he’d rather do that and save the extra 30 pixels that the overall CPU usage takes in his menu bar.

Well then – I’m not sure why I never thought of that myself 🤦🏻‍♂️. So here it is – App Tamer 2.8.2 separates control of the overall CPU display from the performance and efficiency core values, giving you more choices in configuring what it shows in your menu bar.

In addition, this release fixes two bugs that could result in apps running slowly even when they’re in the foreground. The first could occur when your Mac wakes from sleep with a throttled app frontmost. The second case only happens if you force-quit App Tamer or if it crashes for some reason (which is fortunately a very rare occurrence). In both instances, apps will now be returned to their correct state, running at full speed and on your Mac’s performance cores if you’re using an Apple Silicon powered Mac.

Details and download links are on the App Tamer “What’s New” page. Or if you’re already running App Tamer, just choose “Check for Update” from the menu in the lower-right corner of its window to get the new version.

Default Folder X 6.0.1 is out!

Wednesday, October 18th, 2023

I was so busy getting version 6 of Default Folder X rolled out that I neglected to blog about it when it finally dropped. Oops! If you missed my earlier posts about Default Folder X 6, check out the tour of Default Folder X’s new features.

Today we’re up to version 6.0.1, adding a few nice enhancements like the new menu bar icon you see above and changeable keyboard shortcuts for the search modes in Quick Search. There are also some convenient little Quick Search additions like the ability to recall past searches, always remembering your previous search mode, and being able to flip back to “Search All” by just hitting the keyboard shortcut twice.

This update also delivers fixes for issues that have been reported since the release of 6.0. The largest of these is improved support for older versions of macOS (Monterey and prior), where Default Folder X could sometimes stumble when taking you to a new folder or file in Open and Save dialogs.

Default Folder X’s new “Make the filename editing field wider” feature in Save dialogs now works well with TextExpander macros that pop up an input window. Previously, TextExpander would often refuse to paste its text because DFX’s wider edit field confused it.

Also fixed are problems typing text in Save dialogs that had custom edit fields below the file list. Affected apps included Adobe Illustrator, Microsoft PowerPoint and PDFPen Pro. Menus showing the contents of folders containing tens of thousands of items are now built reliably, Save Actions are synced correctly via iCloud, and a number of smaller issues have also been addressed.

For a complete list of changes, check out the Default Folder X Release Page. You can also download the new version there, though if you’re already running Default Folder X, just choose “Check for Update” from its menu in your menu bar.

Default Folder X 6.0.1 is a free update if you’ve already bought a version 6 license. If you haven’t upgraded yet, there may be a cost, depending on when you last purchased a license or upgrade. Details are on the Default Folder X Upgrade Page.