Simon version 4.2b1 is now available.

This first beta includes the following changes:

Added an Exclude Block filter

• Added a new Exclude Block filter that outputs the text outside the block, instead of inside like the normal Block filter.
• Enhanced the Block filter feature to support specifying whether to output the text before the Start, the Start text itself, the text between the Start and End, the End text, and/or after the End text, or any combination of those, optionally joined by some separator.

Email improvements

• The Preview now supports the Email notifier; it will display the message that is sent, with placeholder values for any variables. (Tip: you can check that an email notifier is configured correctly by showing the Preview or just clicking the Reload toolbar button, or File > Notify Now.)
• Added support for STARTTLS connection security and Password (PLAIN) authentication in the Email Transport panel.
• If the Port field is clear, or contains a standard port number for a connection security, it is changed to the typical port number when the connection security is changed.

Several fixes of the reports feature

• Fixed an issue with uploading reports to remote FTP servers.
• Fixed a crasher when adding a new report with the Preview pane selected.
• Fixed a logic error that prevented recent checks, changes, etc from being listed on the detail pages.
• Fixed incorrect last report date display when the report hasn't been generated yet.

More convenient upgrade licensing

• When adding an upgrade license, now automatically looks up the original license, instead of just telling you it's needed (which can cause confusion, since it's an unusual situation).

Lots more stability improvements

• Fixed a common crasher when editing at the Auto Pause pages.
• Fixed another crasher when changing pages at the bottom of the window.
• Fixed a cosmetic issue where the editor info background could show garbage in some situations.
• Fixed a couple of rare crashes with deleting items.
• Fixed a rare crasher with the Find filter.

If you're using a recent version of Simon already, you can update to this beta by checking for updates in the app. If you haven't used a beta previously, you may need to change your Updates preferences within Simon to include Beta & General Releases. Otherwise, you can download Simon 4.2b1.

Simon version 4.1.1 is now available for download.

Please update to this release for El Capitan compatibility, including:

• Fixed a crash on OS X 10.11 when changing tests with the Preview displayed.
• Improved the layout of the Preview.
• Added exceptions to 10.11's restrictions on http:// access.
• Fixed several issues raised by the latest development tools.

It continues to work on Yosemite (10.10 and later) too.

Download Simon 4.1.1 now!

Announcing the general release of Simon version 4.1!

This update is free for licensed customers of Simon 4. It includes several significant improvements and fixes.

Redesigned web feature

One of the most noticeable changes is a redesign of the Web (HTTP) feature. It now uses a list of pages including Parameters, Headers, Cookies and Other. Clicking on one shows the corresponding page.

Support for custom headers

Another much-requested enhancement to the Web feature is support for custom headers. This enables you to send extra values to the server, for example a "User-Agent" so the server thinks the request is coming from a specific web browser.

Load dynamic web content

Many websites nowadays use JavaScript to load additional content after the initial HTML is loaded, for example to incorporate updating values from a database, or activity tracking, and other uses. Previously, Simon wouldn't see that dynamic content — it only looked at the base HTML. Now, you can enable a new option to load the dynamic content a specified number of seconds after the base HTML loads, to incorporate such later changes.

Plus much more

There are many more changes, including various tweaks to the UI, moving the Delete function to the Edit menu, adding a crash reporter to make it easier to capture issues, and localization improvements (including adding Chinese).

Read the release notes for full details of the changes.

Download Simon 4.1 now!

Oh look, another beta!

• Fixed an issue in the previous betas with the Username and Password fields in the Web feature.
• Simon now uses the third-party Fabric Crashlytics framework to automatically capture crash reports. Previously it would attempt to ignore crashes, so it might crash a little more than before, but hopefully not. Automatically aggregating crash reports will enable faster fixing any that occur.
• If a crash occurs, Simon will now display an assistant window on next launch to ask for information about the crash, which may help trace the cause. There are also optional fields for your name and email address, in case there are any questions.
• Updated a few pages in the help book.
• Integrated a German translation into the help book.

EDIT: A quick update to fix another couple of issues:

• Fixed a crasher in the Web feature when quickly editing custom headers or cookies.
• Fixed an issue in previous betas with the Web feature when using a username and password.

EDIT 2: Hey why not make it a trio: another quick update with some further tweaks of this area:

• Fixed another crasher in the Web feature (caused by earlier beta changes).
• Fixed an issue in previous betas with the Web feature when editing Parameters values.

Download Simon 4.1b7 now!

One last beta, with just localization changes. English customers can feel free to skip this update if you like, though it's trivial to update.

• Added Chinese localization, thanks to WeiOSX. Anyone familiar with Chinese, please provide feedback on this work (any issues or improvements).
• Removed Japanese localization, as it has not been updated for a while. If anyone experienced with Japanese localization would like to take over this, please get in touch.
• Updated the German and French localizations in some of the plugins (where they hadn't been used before).

Download Simon 4.1b4 now!

I'm pleased to introduce zCloud, a new app in the Mac App Store to quickly and easily share screenshots and other files.

zCloud lives in your menu bar, and has shortcuts to take screenshots, upload them to Dropbox, and place a link to share them on your clipboard. Just hit the shortcut then paste the link to share with co-workers, friends or family.

You can also drag any file to the menu bar icon to upload and share it.

The preferences enable you to choose what happens when you upload a file, and enable automatically uploading screenshots from the Desktop:

zCloud can even watch any number of folders to automatically upload new files:

The screenshot shortcuts can be fully customized:

The history of uploaded files can be viewed via the menu bar icon, enabling re-sharing, viewing or removing previous items:

zCloud was written by Dejal, as a contract project for zFoundry, LLC. To find out more about Dejal's consulting / contract development service, visit the Dejal Consulting page.

Learn more about zCloud via the zCloud site or the Mac App Store. Available now!

One more beta with a few fixes, for good measure. This will probably be the last beta before general release; please let me know if you find any issues.

• If the When pop-up menu for a test filter is changed to None, the filter plugin controls are now removed, as expected.
• Changed the (-) button to set the When pop-up menu to None for the last filter or notifier in the test.
• Fixed an issue where the Preview source wouldn't finish loading if the Preview is displayed on launch of the app.

Download Simon 4.1b3 now!

Just been a couple of days, but here's another beta of Simon 4.1, with some exciting changes:

Redesigned Web feature

• The Web (HTTP) editor has been significantly redesigned, to use a list of pages including Parameters, Headers, Cookies and Other. Clicking on one shows the corresponding page.
• The Method pop-up menu is now on the Parameters page, since it indicates how the parameters are sent.
• The Username and Password fields are now on the Other page; they are only useful if you connect to a server that has an authentication challenge (as displayed in a web browser via a sheet; not the same as a in-page form-based login).

Web feature support for custom headers

• The new Headers list enables you to add custom headers to send with the request, e.g. Accept, User-Agent, etc.
• Note that sending a request via Post will set the Content-Type and Content-Length headers, overriding any you may add.

Download Simon 4.1b2 now!

Time for an update to Simon! This first beta release includes:

Support for dynamic web content

• Added an option to the Web (HTTP) service to enable capturing the rendered source some interval after the base HTML is loaded, to support including dynamic changes from JavaScript, as is more and more common nowadays.
• Now does Post requests via the more compact application/x-www-form-urlencoded content type, instead of multipart/form-data. (Please let me know ASAP if this breaks any of your POST tests.)
• Updated the web helper to 64-bit.

Other changes

• When adding a new test with the Preview displayed, now displays a message saying that there's no location, instead of making the test a failure immediately.
• Changed the display of status icons in the Tests list to support the Use simple status icons preference option (that uses just green & red instead of fading colors over time).
• Moved the Delete menu item from the File menu to the Edit menu, to match the placement in most other apps.
• Fixed enabling and disabling of menu and toolbar items depending on the selected list items.
• Fixed a very vexing code signing issue with the Growl framework.

Download Simon 4.1b1 now!

It's my birthday today! To celebrate, I give you a gift: a redesigned Watch app for Pack!

Like many developers, I was excited by the ability to write an app for the new Apple Watch, so I wrote one before the Watch was actually available: Pack 1.1.

And like many developers (e.g. Marco's Overcast), once I actually had a Watch and used my app on a real device, I realized that my initial design wasn't all that good.

I had thought that scrolling a long list of items to pack, like on the iPhone, would be annoying on the Watch. So I split the packing list up between two screens: a list of categories (or other groupings), where you tap on one to drill down to the items within that group.

In practice, that was cumbersome. Scrolling long lists is actually really easy and fast with the digital crown (or even swiping), and realistically most packing lists aren't all that long, especially as you get towards the end of packing. Having to go back and forth between categories was a pain.

So for version 1.2, I redesigned the Watch app. I collapsed the two screens into one simple list, with headings for groupings.

I also added a Force Touch menu to change the grouping (between by item name, category, or person), and to mark all remaining items as packed (or mark all as unpacked).

I also found, as many others have, that going to the app home screen is less preferred as a way to launch apps. The best way in most cases is to use a Glance from the watch face. So I also added a Glance to Pack, which indicates the number of items still to pack. Now one can simply tap that to launch the full app.

Here are all the changes in version 1.2:

• Redesigned the Apple Watch app to simplify the layout, with all items in one list like in the iPhone app.
• Added a Force Touch menu in the Watch app, with buttons to change the arrangement and to mark all items as packed or unpacked.
• Improved the appearance of the Watch screen when all items have been packed.
• Now automatically updates the Watch app when making changes in the iPhone app.
• Fixed a crash when launching the Watch app in some circumstances.
• Added a Glance on the Watch, as a quick indication of the number of items remaining, and a quick way to get back to the app.
• The iPhone and Watch apps now arrange by category by default (your selection is still remembered).

Learn more about Pack, or download for free on the App Store.

Quickly following the 1.1 update, which introduced the Watch app, here's version 1.1.1 with an important fix:

• All items are now selected by default, so you can begin packing immediately.
• Fixed a crash when adding a new item.

Learn more about Pack, or download for free on the App Store.

The Apple Watch is available for pre-order and in-store tryout today, and will be delivered starting April 24 for those who stayed up late enough to get their order in quickly. Did you order yours? What did you get? Let me know in the comments.

Personally, I ordered two Watches: a 42 mm for myself and a 38 mm for my wife, Jenn:

Ordered Apple Watch Sport 42 green & 38 blue via web Store at about 00:10; confirmation at 00:14 says delivery 4/24-5/8.

— David Sinclair (@dejus) April 10, 2015

Also available today is an update to my Pack iPhone app, to include an Apple Watch extension to help you even more quickly and easily pack for trips.

The Watch app for Pack is very simple: the idea is that you choose what to pack on your iPhone, then you can put the phone in your pocket while actually stuffing your clothes etc into your suitcase, and just tap on your Watch to mark things as packed.

This will be much more convenient. I've used Pack for my own travel for several years (as a pre-release prototype), and while it is quite easy to mark things as packed, having to take my iPhone out of my pocket while I have my hands full of clothing can be a little inconvenient. Being able to just tap my watch will be so much easier.

Since I don't have a Watch yet, I've only been able to test this in the simulator, but Apple has tested and approved it (after a couple iterations of fixes and clarifications), so I'm confident that it'll work well. I'm sure I'll add further features in a future version, based on my and others usage. If you already have a Watch, please try it and let me know what you think!

Here's a brief looping demo of the Watch app in action:

Learn more about Pack, or download for free on the App Store.

Another small update of Simon, to version 4.0.3.

This update is notable as the first to be delivered via the Sparkle update framework, for people on 4.0.2 (where that was introduced). Hopefully it'll work properly. :) (Yes, seems fine; I just tested it.)

Changes in this release include:

• When the Show the Simon icon in the Dock preference is turned on, its status is now immediately updated.
• If a password has been set to access Simon, the unlock panel is now shown without the Monitor window.
• Fixed a hang in the Twitter notifier when typing in the message text area.
• Fixed some cosmetic Console warnings with the notifier options editor.
• Fixed an issue that prevented the MySQL helper from starting.
• Fixed the helper to launch Simon on login.

If you have Simon installed already, you can get the update via the Simon ▶ Check for Updates... command in the app, which will install it for you; no more need to download manually. You can even check the box to have future updates installed automatically if you wish.

If you don't have Simon yet, you can download Simon 4.0.3 now!

Here are a bunch of fixes for Simon 4, plus one exciting change: Simon now uses the Sparkle framework, like many other non-App Store apps do, to make updating the app easier. I've resisted using Sparkle for years, as it had various issues that made it incompatible with my apps, but those have been resolved in recent updates.

So it's time to sparkle, finally.

After this update, you should no longer need to download the app from here when there's a new version; Simon will be able to update itself in place, and even do so completely automatically if you wish.

Edit: Note that the update checkbox will be off initially, but the app will ask you if you want to automatically check for updates on the second launch.

Here are the changes in this version:

• Simon now uses the popular Sparkle framework for app updates, so it can finally download and install updates itself.
• Changed the Updates preferences for the Sparkle framework, and to add a handy button to show the release notes.
• Fixed the New pop-up menu being disabled when in full-screen mode.
• Fixed the app not resuming full-screen mode on launch if it was in full-screen when quit.
• Fixed a too small icon in the status menu and Dock when a Wi-Fi hotspot is detected.
• Fixed the auto-pause function, which sometimes wasn't engaging when it should.
• Fixed the Find filter with regular expressions when not finding a match should be a failure.

Download Simon 4.0.2 now!

When I added recognition of version 4 groups in version 3.6.2, I did so for tests, but services, filters, notifiers and reports can also have groups in version 4. So here's Simon 3.6.4 to fix an issue with editing those.

If you're using OS X 10.10 (Yosemite), I recommend that you upgrade to version 4, if you haven't already. It includes heaps of great improvements. But if you're on 10.6 (Snow Leopard) to 10.9 (Mavericks), you can download Simon 3.6.4 now.

BlogAssist version 2.4.1 was recently released here on the Dejal site.

Those using the Mac App Store edition, BlogAssist Express, will be pleased to learn that Apple has just approved the update, so version 2.4.1 is now available for that edition too.

The changes again are just:

• Fixed some issues with the Substitutions preference page.
• Updated for OS X 10.10 (Yosemite).

The standard edition is available for download here, or you can get BlogAssist Express 2.4.1 from the Mac App Store.

Simon 4 was a major release, and great to get it out. Fortunately, there weren't any major issues with it — I always dread having to do an urgent bug fix immediately after a major release.

But there were some minor issues that were important enough to get fixed fairly quickly, especially for non-English users. So here's version 4.0.1. It's a recommended update for everyone.

• Fixed an issue with duplicating a test where filter settings could become linked with the original until quit.
• Fixed a localization issue with the Method popup menu in the Web (HTTP) service.
• Fixed layout of the Twitter and SMS notifier editors.
• Fixed issues with selecting URLs to import in the Setup Assistant.
• Fixed the Dock icon static animation getting mixed with the normal status icon when checking or uploading reports while the Licenses or Setup Assistant windows are displayed.
• Changed the way relative dates are formatted, to make them more compatible with localizations.
• While uploading a report, a circular progress indicator is now displayed in the Reports list.
• Fixed the scheduler not starting until the Tests list is displayed.
• Tweaked the layout of the Context views, and made localizable.

Download Simon 4.0.1 now!

I know that I just said that BlogAssist doesn't need any updates, but apparently I was wrong: I had a report that the Substitutions preference page didn't behave properly under Yosemite. So here's a fix.

• Fixed some issues with the Substitutions preference page.
• Updated for OS X 10.10 (Yosemite).

Download BlogAssist 2.4.1 now!

A quick fix to version 3:

• Fixed an issue that prevented the password preference from being used under OS versions before Yosemite.

As I said in my previous post, if you're using OS X 10.10 (Yosemite), I recommend that you upgrade to version 4, if you haven't already. It includes heaps of great improvements. But if you're on 10.6 (Snow Leopard) to 10.9 (Mavericks), I recommend that you download Simon 3.6.3 now.

Strange as it may seem (to me, anyway) to do a version 3 release after version 4 (out of order releases hurt my brain!), here it is: Simon version 3.6.2.

This is a bug-fix update of version 3, to fix some compatibility issues with version 4. It also retrofits the password feature from version 4, at the request of a volume purchase customer who paid extra for that... yes, sometimes I can be bribed. ;)

And yes, this version still uses the old icon — that makes it easier to distinguish versions 3 & 4.

Here are the changes since 3.6.1 in 3.6.2:

• Added an option in General Preferences to specify a password to use to unlock Simon access.
• If set, the password is required when launching or switching to Simon.
• Now recognizes version 4 groups, and doesn't allow editing, checking, previewing, etc them.
• Removed the Kagi in-app license options.
• Fixed handling of version 4 licenses.
• Fixed the license reminder overlapping the toolbar buttons.
• Fixed an error when doing an update check if version 4 has been used.
• Rebuilt for Yosemite using Xcode 6.

If you're using OS X 10.10 (Yosemite), I recommend that you upgrade to version 4, if you haven't already. It includes heaps of great improvements. But if you're on 10.6 (Snow Leopard) to 10.9 (Mavericks), I recommend that you download Simon 3.6.2 now.