TunesArt 1.6 now available

After several weeks of active developement, we are proud to announce a new release of TunesArt on the Mac App Store. This version 1.6 is now sandboxed and fully optimized for OS X Mountain Lion (10.8) and Retina displays. It also adds some new features, revamped windows and a lot of bugs fixes. Check release notes on this page.

We’ve also put a small goodie for our Lyrics lover. Even if we can’t get back automatic lyrics fetching (check previous post), you can however download lyrics from LyricWiki in an easier way: press “Option” on your keyboard before clicking the “Show” button, and see what happens 😉

To celebrate this new release, you can buy TunesArt for just 2.99$ !

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TunesArt 1.6 is coming

We’ve just sent a new release of TunesArt to Apple. This new version 1.6 is a major release. First, we’ve implemented sandboxing as resquested by Apple. We’ve also optimized TunesArt for Mountain Lion 10.8 (bugs fixes, notification center support) and for Retina displays. You’ll also find many other improvements such as new customizable keyboard shortcut, new Brazilian localization and revamped UI. Last but not least, we’ve fixed many bugs in this version (Amazon and Twitter engines were not working anymore).

We really hope you’ll enjoy this new release, so stay tuned, it’s coming … as soon as Apple approves the update (hopefully quickier than for TrashMe). Until then, check TunesArt page.

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Why TrashMe does not uninstall some apps?

Many users are posting some comments on the Mac App Store about TrashMe being unable to uninstall apps. We also receive some emails about the same “issue”, so we think it’s time to clarify this restriction a little bit more.

First, you need to know that publishing an application on the Mac App Store is something quite difficult, especially for small developers. Apple has written very restrictive rules that developers must conform to. One of these rules is about privileges: an application must not ask for user’s password in any case.

But some applications installed on your Mac have special privileges, mostly applications installed through the Mac App Store. You can test by yourself: if you try to put one of those apps to the Trash, OS X will ask for your account’s password. The problem is that TrashMe can’t ask for your password due to Apple restrictions. This is why you can see a warning message when this situation occurs. Hopefully, we’ve developed a small add-on that will allow you to uninstall this sort of applications, by asking your password.

We think this is a balanced solution: being on the Mac App Store is a chance for us, because it’s very easy to buy and update application for end-users. We didn’t find any alternative, after many hours spent to discuss with Apple employees. So, we hope our customers will understand that this is not an issue, but “on-purpose”…

Check our Frequently Asked Questions to download this add-on.

TrashMe 2.1.4 is available

We’ve updated our application TrashMe, mostly to fix bugs. Smart detection was sometimes popping improperly, after you’ve restarted your computer. We’ve also fixed some cosmetic bugs and some issues with history (search was not working and sort order was ascending instead of descending). Among improvements, we’ve added spanish translation (thanks to Jose Manuel Calero) and related files results are now showing filesize.

More information on TrashMe page.

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TunesArt will be updated soon

TunesArt did not receive any update for almost one year, but we did not give up our iTunes companion. We’re currently preparing an update, with some visible enhancements and some other invisible improvements.

First, upcoming version will be sandboxed, as requested by Apple for any update on the Mac App Store since 1st June 2012. This part was not so easy, because we needed to test all parts of our application, in order to detect possible issues. For end-user, this does not change anything except that he feels more secure 🙂

TunesArt version 1.6 will also be fully compatible with OS X Mountain Lion, as some issues are occurring with version 1.5.1 (mostly when you switch from one space to another one). In addition, all the application will be optimized for Retina display of new MacBook Pro, and that was a lot of work.

Among new features, TunesArt will be able to use the notification center found in Mountain Lion, the search window will be revamped for better performance, many UI parts will be improved and many bugs will be fixed. Arrival on the Mac App Store was not really easy because Apple asked us to remove fetching of lyrics from LyricWiki. We did not find any affordable replacement, as the cheapest solution would cost 25,000 $USD per year. We’re aware many users are disappointed about this lack of lyrics fetching, but there will be a small new feature in upcoming version (you’ll have to find it by yourself!).

We hope most users will be happy with this brand new version, so stay tuned, it’s coming very soon!

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TrashMe 2.1.3 is now available

We’ve just updated our application “TrashMe” to fix two issues: one with the smart detection not working properly (app was opened but with no visible window) and the other one displaying the fullscreen button in titlebar.

By the way, we’ve added a new feature in latest version: you can search for junk files on your hard drive, for example Windows files (Desktop.ini, Thumbs.db) or other files (.svn, .git). Upcoming version should add new languages and some improvements too (modify favorites password…).

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An update is coming for TrashMe

With Mountain Lion being released few days ago, TrashMe needs an update. The application is working fine, but you may notice that the main window is not as beautiful as other apps, and some icons are missing in the title bar. In the meantime, we’ve optimized TrashMe for Retina display of new Macbook Pro and we’ve fixed bugs (for example, the smart detection was crashing for some users).

This update has been sent to Apple for reviewing, but these days, they are pretty slow. Please be patient, the update should be released in less than 2 weeks (we hope so).

EDIT : the update is now available on the Mac App Store!

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Optimizing our apps for Retina display

One month ago, Apple unveiled a new model of Macbook Pro with Retina display. Default resolution on the Macbook Pro Retina is 1440×960 but LCD panel has an actual resolution of 2880×1800. This is quite revolutionary as most users will not see any pixels on this sort of display panel, as for latest iPhone and iPad.

However, most applications need to be optimized for this new sort of display, otherwise some GUI elements may appear pixelated or blurry. We’ve started to optimize our apps to support this new Retina technology. Expect new releases in a few weeks.

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Gatekeeper on OS X Mountain Lion

Apple recently unveiled its upcoming version of OS X, Mountain Lion. This announcement was quite surprising, as OS X Lion was released just 8 months ago, and only 3 updates have been published so far (current version is 10.7.3). However, the name Apple chose seems to indicate an improved version of 10.7 and not a major release. And the funniest part is that a Mountain Lion is also known as Cougar or… Panther ! For our earlier-switchers, Panther was the name of Mac OS X 10.3.

Among new features in Mountain Lion, we find “GateKeeper”, which is presented by Apple as an improved security for end-user:

Gatekeeper in OS X Mountain Lion makes the Mac safer than ever. It helps protect you from downloading and running malicious software. It brings you new levels of security. And it puts you in control.

To be more precise, you’ll have three choices:

  • Allow software downloaded from anywhere
  • Allow software downloaded only from Mac App Store
  • Allow software downloaded only from Mac App Store and identified developers

The last option should be selected by default (at least in current Developper Release of 10.8). This is a pretty good choice for most users, as Apple will disable a Developper ID when a software is known as malicious. Some people may find it’s a bit strict, but you’ll be able to select another option, especially “Allow software downloaded from anywhere”.

Here, at Jibapps, we find that it’s a fair solution, much more efficient than requesting sandboxing for every application. We regret that in a near future, some applications will be forced to quit the Mac App Store (because not compatible with Sandboxing) and we hope that Apple will change its mind (after all, they decided to delay Sandboxing a little bit, until June 2012). And don’t forget: sandboxed app doesn’t mean better-coded app!

Apple and application sandboxing

The biggest revolution for Mac applications is coming soon. Apple is going to force developers to implement sandboxing in their applications, before the end of March 2012. At least for applications available on the Mac App Store.

Sandboxing is a great concept for end-user, as it improves security: a sandboxed application does not have any access to your system, except for some particular and limited tasks. Thus, the application don’t see your filesystem, but only its “sandbox” (also called “container”). iOS already implements this concept, which main limitation is the impossibility for an application to read or write file in another application container.

However, what is good for a mobile phone is not always good for a computer! On Mac OS X, many applications need a wide access to your system, such as our application TrashMe (we’re looking and deleting files in you Library folder, which is forbidden for a sandboxed app). We don’t have any guarantee that our app will be compatible with future Mac App Store rules. Previous deadline was November 2011, but there were too many bugs with sandboxing and Apple decided to define a new deadline.

We’re working hard on improving our applications and testing sandboxing (and a new project is coming soon). We’ll keep you informed.