Twelve new StandBy clock faces, and a long list of connection fixes from the public beta.
new
Twelve new clock faces: Apogee, Vault, Triad, Cadre, Obelisk, Almanac, Overprint, Circuit, Facet, Meridian, Palisade and Aubade, on every iMac Encore supports.
Calendar on the big clocks: Obelisk, Almanac, Overprint and Circuit can show your next events.
fixed
Wi-Fi crash: Encore no longer crashes when network timing arrives out of order.
Stuck on Retrying or Pairing: A lost connection is retried properly, and a pairing that dies now says so.
StandBy button: It works on the first click, also while Encore is still connecting.
Wi-Fi and cable: A short blip no longer ends a healthy session, Wireless stays on Wi-Fi, and Encore finds its way back to the cable by itself.
improved
Only on this network: This option is gone for now, because it never worked. Anyone who had it selected now connects automatically as usual.
v0.8.8Mac & iMac
Report a problem
For the public beta: tell us when something goes wrong, straight from the app.
new
Report a Problem…: In the app menu of Encore and Encore Receiver. It opens the report page with your version and Mac already filled in.
v0.8.7iMac
The album cover, every song
Fix for AirPlay music on the iMac: the cover now shows for every song again.
fixed
Album cover: Spotify and iPhones send the next cover just before the song itself. The iMac kept dropping it; now it shows straight away.
Same album: The next song on the same album keeps its cover, and a cover the iMac cannot read never replaces a good one.
v0.8.6Mac
Calmer buttons, quicker activation
Small release for the Mac app: a cleaner window and a license key that goes straight in.
improved
Window: Buttons and chosen options are plain system blue with white labels, like the menu bar panel.
License: After buying, Open Encore on the welcome page puts your key straight into License. Buy in the app opens the site.
v0.8.5Mac
The panel from the notch, now every time
Small release: the menu bar panel opens reliably and connections start on the cable.
improved
Panel from the notch: Move the pointer up under the notch, or scroll up at the top edge, and the panel drops down, also while the Encore window is in front.
Connecting: While an iMac connects, the panel drops down by itself for the connect moment and lifts again after the check.
Cable first: Every new connection starts on the cable when there is one. Choosing Wi-Fi lasts until you disconnect.
v0.8.4Mac & iMac
Smoother over a cable, and a new home for every iMac
Encore on the Mac gets a calm new window and a menu bar panel that drops from the notch. Over a cable everything now runs on the cable from the first frame, and your iMac can answer when you say Hey Mac.
new
A new window: One calm window: every iMac shown as the real model it is, with what it shows on its screen and all its controls next to it. Settings and StandBy sit behind two round buttons at the top right.
Panel from the notch: Rest the pointer at the top edge and the black panel drops down from the notch with a soft sound. Monitor or StandBy, sound, camera, cable or Wi-Fi, and Sharp or Smooth are one click each. Press and hold StandBy to pick a clock face. You can turn the panel off in Settings.
The connect moment: While an iMac connects, a cloud of fine dots condenses and flies into a check, large in the open panel and small in the menu bar.
Hey Mac: Add an AI key on the iMac, or once from the Mac, and ask your iMac anything while it rests in StandBy. The wake word and your question are recognised on the iMac itself; only the text of the question leaves it. Listening is off until you turn it on.
Volume on the iMac: Change the volume from your iPhone or Mac while it plays to the iMac, and a calm volume bar shows it on the iMac's screen.
Always awake for your Mac: The iMac keeps listening for your Mac, so it is there right away instead of asleep. Its screen can still go dark, and it lights up when music starts.
fixed
Cable lag: Dragging windows over a cable no longer turns into blocks, the picture no longer starts on Wi-Fi, and the bitrate now follows what your cable can carry.
Wi-Fi sharpness: After a short hiccup the picture now climbs back to full quality within a drag instead of staying blocky.
Stability: Fixes for still tiles that never arrived on slow cables, a frozen picture after a decoder error, and the reply path switching back and forth next to a cable.
Menu bar panel: The panel opens at its full height and no longer flickers open and closed at the top edge.
v0.8.2Mac & iMac
A new Encore, with music, lyrics and a presenter screen
Encore on the Mac is rebuilt as a native Mac app with an Overview of every iMac. And while your iMac rests, it becomes an AirPlay speaker with a Now Playing screen.
new
One window: A sidebar like System Settings: Overview, every iMac on its own page, StandBy and Settings, all in one window that never jumps in size.
Overview: Live charts for latency, frame rate and bitrate per iMac, plus how long each one was connected today.
Menu bar panel: Click the Encore icon, or rest the pointer at the top edge above it, and a dark panel drops down to connect iMacs, pick where sound plays and switch Sharp or Smooth.
AirPlay on the iMac: While no Mac uses it, the iMac shows up as an AirPlay speaker. Play from Spotify, YouTube or Music and the iMac shows the cover, a spinning record and the time left.
Dark by default: Choose Automatic, Light or Dark in Settings.
Sing along: When lyrics exist, the Now Playing screen shows them in time with the music, line by line.
Presenter screen: While Keynote plays on your Mac, the iMac can show your notes, the next slide and a timer. A teleprompter for video calls is there too.
improved
Quit from the app: Quit Encore sits in Settings and in the menu bar panel, and ⌘Q works while the window is open.
Dutch everywhere: The iMac app now speaks Dutch completely on a Dutch Mac, from pairing to the world clock.
fixed
StandBy face previews no longer all show the night clock when they were made late in the evening.
v0.5.8Mac & iMac
A cable always wins
Plug a cable straight from your Mac into the iMac and Encore now sees it and uses it. And Check for Updates on the iMac always gives you an answer.
Each iMac has its own Cable | Wi-Fi switch in the Encore window.
improved
Sees a direct cable: A Mac cabled straight to the iMac, with no router in between, used to look like it only had Wi‑Fi. Encore now spots that cable and picks it.
Cable comes first: Connecting on its own no longer gets stuck on Wireless. Wireless is only offered when the iMac has Wi‑Fi, and a cable the iMac starts using takes over.
fixed
Check for Updates on the iMac now always answers on screen, also outside StandBy, stays clickable while a download runs, and tells you when the app has to move to Applications first.
v0.5.7iMac
Encore Receiver Legacy on OS X Yosemite
iMacs from 2007 to Early 2009 that never got past OS X 10.10 Yosemite can now be a second screen too.
new
Runs on 10.10: Encore Receiver Legacy now runs on OS X 10.10 Yosemite, not only on 10.11 El Capitan.
improved
Download from our site: These older systems don't trust GitHub's download certificate, so the Legacy download now comes straight from the Encore site.
v0.5.6Mac & iMac
StandBy really lets go
When an iMac switches to StandBy, your windows come back to the Mac and no video is sent anymore. The sound keeps playing.
fixed
In StandBy, the iMac's screen is now really removed from your Mac, so no window stays behind on a screen you can't see. Switch back to Display and the screen returns.
v0.5.5iMac
Encore Receiver Legacy for 2007 to Early 2009 iMacs
A receiver for older iMacs on OS X 10.11 El Capitan, like the 20- and 24-inch aluminium iMacs.
new
Encore Receiver Legacy: A separate download for iMacs from 2007 to Early 2009. It updates itself, like the other apps.
A picture that fits: The iMac measures how much video it can decode, and your Mac sends a picture that fits.
v0.5.4Mac & iMac
Safer connections and Check for Updates
Fixes from our security review before launch, and the version number with Check for Updates right in the dashboard.
security
Always encrypted: Keyboard and mouse only travel over an encrypted connection. There is no unencrypted fallback anymore, and an attempt to weaken the connection is refused.
Safer pairing: Pairing without a code is refused, the pairing file is only readable by you, and the iMac checks every StandBy photo and face it receives.
improved
Version and Check for Updates: Both are now at the bottom of the dashboard on your Mac.
Only a screen: Turning it off now gives the iMac its screen saver settings back.
v0.5.3Mac & iMac
Widgets in StandBy
StandBy on the iMac can show widgets with real data now, in six layouts. And the dashboard on your Mac scrolls.
new
Six widget layouts: Forecast by the hour and the day, sunrise and sunset, your photos, and from your Mac: Now Playing, batteries and your calendar. Only real data, never placeholders.
Pick them on your Mac: The layouts sit next to the faces in the StandBy panel. Your Mac only sends its widgets while an iMac shows them, and asks for calendar access only when you switch the calendar on.
fixed
The dashboard on your Mac now scrolls and fits the screen, so no button is out of reach.
v0.5.2Mac
Smoother with two iMacs on one Wi‑Fi
Two iMacs on the same Wi‑Fi now share it fairly, busy pictures stop dropping frames, and the cursor stays smooth.
improved
Fair Wi‑Fi: Two iMacs on one Wi‑Fi share what the network can really carry, measured as you go, instead of a fixed amount each.
No dropped frames: Screens take turns on your Mac's video engine, so busy pictures no longer drop frames.
Smooth cursor: The cursor stays smooth on Wi‑Fi that hiccups.
Cable tip: When two iMacs share the Wi‑Fi, the dashboard suggests a cable for the busiest one.
v0.5.1Mac & iMac
Pair by typing a code
The iMac shows a code when your Mac asks for it, and you type it on the Mac. Nothing to click on the iMac.
The iMac shows its code. Type it in Encore on your Mac.
new
Typed code: Pairing is now one code you type on your Mac.
Home screen: The iMac shows a home screen with a blurred photo of the day, the time and glass tiles.
Notification cards: Instead of a disconnected screen, the iMac shows a small card: connection lost, reconnected, asleep, paired, sound, keyboard and mouse, updated.
improved
Stays unlocked: When the iMac is only a screen, its screen saver stays off and it no longer asks for a password after sleep.
v0.5.0Mac & iMac
StandBy, several iMacs and updates that install themselves
From this version on, both apps update themselves. When the iMac isn't a screen, it shows a clock, the weather and your calendar.
StandBy on the iMac, one of twelve faces.
new
StandBy: Twelve faces with the time, weather and calendar. Pick one on your Mac, and switch a connected iMac between Display and StandBy without disconnecting.
Automatic updates: Encore and Encore Receiver now update themselves. On the iMac the update installs quietly.
Several iMacs at once: Each iMac gets its own Connect button, Wireless or Cable choice and signal meter.
Keyboard and mouse: Control your Mac with the keyboard and mouse plugged into the iMac.
Sound: Play your Mac's sound on one or more iMacs, all at the same moment. The volume keys on your Mac control it.
