Black Ink 2.1 for iOS introduces all-new native support for Apple Vision Pro, featuring a streamlined interface tuned to the “glass” look and feel of the platform:
The iOS version, as well as Black Ink 2.3 for Mac, now support the graphical overlays that are included in certain New York Times puzzles. Sometimes these images drive home a theme or are useful hints for solving the puzzle. And sometimes they’re just pretty:
Both updates come with a variety of other improvements. Here is the list of changes shared by both releases:
iOS-Specific Changes:
Mac-Specific Changes:
If you enjoy Black Ink, please consider writing a review or rating the app on the App Store, the Mac App Store, and spreading the word on Facebook or Twitter! Thanks for your support.
]]>This update includes a major new premium scripting addition, facilitating mouse automation by providing a variety of new scripting commands, including a powerhouse for synthesizing clicks and drags:
Because synthesizing user events can easily conflict with inadvertent inputs from the actual user, FastScripts also supports a command to suppress user interaction while a script is running:
When automating mouse events, the clicks, drags, and releases can happen so fast that it confuses or overwhelms some interface components. For this reason, FastScripts imposes a short delay between the generation and delivery of each individual event that makes up a requested automation command. I’m calling this delay the event cadence, and it can be overridden with a longer or shorter cadence by supplying a parameter to the click mouse command, or for the duration of a whole script by setting this property:
Finally, there are two new properties for querying the state of the mouse and keyboard:
On top of these new automation features, there are a few bug fixes and enhancements. Here is the complete list of changes in this update:
Complete list of changes for this release:
If you enjoy FastScripts, please consider spreading the word on Facebook or Twitter! Thanks for your support.
]]>Black Ink 2.2.9 for Mac is now available on the Black Ink site and on the Mac App Store. Black Ink 2.0.4 for iOS is available on the iOS App Store.
If you enjoy Black Ink, please consider writing a review or rating the app on the App Stores, and spreading the word on Facebook or Twitter! Thanks for your support.
]]>This update focuses on improving the accessibility of the app with improvements for VoiceOver and other assistive technologies:
If you enjoy Black Ink, please consider writing a review or rating the app on the Mac App Store, and spreading the word on Facebook or Twitter! Thanks for your support.
]]>Yesterday, in the excitement of debuting Black Ink for iOS, I neglected to notice that somehow in the process of submitting and releasing the app publicly, a months-old version of “Black Ink 2.0” was swapped in and became the version that went public!
This means there were a number of bugs in yesterday’s release that had long been fixed. To avoid any ambiguity, today I’m releasing Black Ink 2.0.1, which I have now confirmed is in fact the latest version of the app. If you did jump on the initial release yesterday and installed 2.0, please update to 2.0.1 ASAP so you have a better experience.
If you haven’t installed Black Ink for iOS yet, the initial experience should go a lot smoother starting with today’s update!
If you enjoy Black Ink, please consider writing a review or rating the app on the App Store, and spreading the word on Facebook or Twitter! Thanks for your support.
]]>Like its Mac counterpart, core features are free to use, forever. These features include downloading puzzles from a variety of bundled “sources”, and solving the puzzles in the beautifully-rendered Black Ink grid.
Premium features include Check Answer, Reveal Answer, and planned future features such as Printing. Premium features can be unlocked by purchasing a monthly subscription for $1.99 (US), or an annual subscription for $19.99 (US). Exact amounts may vary internationally due to App Store pricing tiers.
Black Ink for iOS has been under development for an exceptionally long time. How long? Nearly 16 years! Looking back through my development notes, I found the very first step was taken on April 6, 2008:
commit b9257fa30eb3b329f5643583608a3f8113d0f282 Author: Daniel Jalkut <jalkut@red-sweater.com> Date: Sun Apr 6 23:29:07 2008 +0000 Very first building blocks for touch based Black Ink.
Why did it take so long? A combination of factors, but in a word: priorities. Something else was always swooping in to demand my attention. The app has been roughly working for at least 15 of those 16 years, but there were many rough edges to polish before finally calling it “done” (for now).
Now that the initial release is out, I anticipate more iterative improvements over the coming days, months, and years. I hope you enjoy the app, and that if you do, you’ll share the news of its existence with other crossword lovers in your life.
If you enjoy Black Ink, please consider writing a review or rating the app on the App Store, and spreading the word on Facebook or Twitter! Thanks for your support.
]]>This update continues to improve the stability, performance, and functionality of the app.
Complete list of changes for this release:
If you enjoy MarsEdit, please consider writing a review or rating the app on the Mac App Store, spreading the word on Facebook or Twitter, and of course, writing about the app on your own blog! Thanks for your support.
]]>MarsEdit 5.1.1 is now available on the MarsEdit site and on the Mac App Store.
This update improves several issues that snuck through the cracks in the substantial 5.1 update, which was released last week.
Here’s the complete list of changes for this release:
MarsEdit 5.1.1
If you enjoy MarsEdit, please consider writing a review or rating the app on the Mac App Store, spreading the word on Facebook or Twitter, and of course, writing about the app on your own blog! Thanks for your support.
]]>This is a substantial update to MarsEdit 5, featuring all new support for the Mastodon publishing system, which is used to host a large number of independently operated Twitter-like microblogging services.
The addition of Mastodon support is a natural extension of the new Micropost Panel which was introduced in MarsEdit 5. I’ve prioritized the feedback of many users and added the ability to resize, add images, view character count, and more. I will continue to improve upon this in future updates.
While I was working on the improvements above, I spotted the opportunity to improve upon the Tumblr support a bit as well. Previously only one image could be added to a Tumblr photo post. That limit has now been removed. At this point it’s not clear what the future of Tumblr is exactly, but I hope this change will be welcomed by MarsEdit users who continue to enjoy posting on that platform.
Here is the complete list of changes for this release:
If you enjoy MarsEdit, please consider writing a review or rating the app on the Mac App Store, spreading the word on Facebook or Twitter, and of course, writing about the app on your own blog! Thanks for your support.
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