StitchBuddy-MD

Starting today with version 2.12.0 StitchBuddy for Mac is exclusively distributed via Apple’s Mac App Store, providing an even better user experience: With one click you can download and install the free version, which updates completely automatically. This version offers all functions, but can only save designs up to 1,000 stitches. And if you decide to buy the unlimited StitchBuddy Pro version after your test, registration is only another click away and without delays instantly active.

And no worries for existing customers: In the past all StitchBuddy updates were provided for free, and this is not going to change: Install StitchBuddy’s free version from the Mac App Store, and it will recognize your existing license code and unlock the Pro version with no additional charge. Please be aware that unfortunately I had to remove the function to delete hidden system files from USB sticks as it did not comply with store guidelines, and StitchBuddy requires OS X 10.9 or higher, now.

I just released a minor update of StitchBuddy (v2.5.3) fixing an issue when importing some rare PES designs, and preparing StitchBuddy for OS X 10.9 “Mavericks” by an internal change of the stitch simulator. Although the latter modification might impact the simulator’s performance, I am confident it will not affect the user’s experience.

New releases of the iOS apps were sent for Apple’s review in parallel, incorporating Facebook / Twitter integration and minor bug fixes.

During my vacation a user reported that some few PES files were not shown correctly by StitchBuddy. With the given example file I could easily reproduce the error, and today I was able to identify and fix the problem. Interesting enough: Some other embroidery programs have the same issue.

The bug fix still needs some thorough testing, but I expect minor updates of all (!) StitchBuddy products in the next weeks. The new version will also include a fix to support OS X 10.9 “Maverick”, and Facebook / Twitter support for iOS … and the mentioned limitation to iOS 6.0 (and above).

On Monday Apple has introduced the next versions of OS X and iOS at its Word Wide Developer Conference. While OS X 10.9 “Mavericks” (a surfing location in California) is expected to come with only little changes for the end user, iOS 7 features a complete redesign of the user interface.

The WWDC keynote made me curious enough to download and install very first versions of both operating systems, previews only available to registered developers: Although I was able to identify minor issues with StitchBuddy’s Quick Look plugin and the stitch simulator on OS X 10.9, these might be caused by the very early state of Apple’s preview. I will check again at a later more stable state, and I am confident to resolve any possible problem. iOS 7 is currently only available for the iPhone, so I checked StitchBuddy View, and found it working, yet with an unfamiliar appearance.

A user reported gaps in her designs after importing PES / PEC files and saving them with StitchBuddy. It turned out that StitchBuddy was too strict when identifying regular stitches: Some were interpreted as jump stitches, resulting in gaps after optimizing the design when saving…

This bug existed since the early days, but now it is corrected, and I just released StitchBuddy v2.5.1. While Mac users can immediately download from the web site, the iOS versions of StitchBuddy View and -HD will take some more days until they are approved by Apple.

A user reported StitchBuddy to crash on Mac OS X 10.5.8, so this morning I took an old Leopard system back to work and started StitchBuddy v2.4.5 and … it crashed. It turns out that Apple had changed some internal handling when building programs, something I wasn’t aware of. As a matter of fact I hadn’t tested StitchBuddy’s last release with this OS X version, which last update is about 3.5 years old: Shame on me.

As I announced on Facebook yesterday, StitchBuddy v2.4.5 is just released for both, Mac and iPad as a free update. In addition to some minor enhancements the new version is able to read Janome JPX design files, and adds WonderFil Splendor to the supported thread charts. Customers asked for both features, and I’m happy I could provide them.

Unfortunately the support for JPX files is not as smooth as I wanted it to be: As a matter of fact the file extension “.jpx” is already reserved by another file type: JPEG 2000, a graphic file, so Janome made a bad decision using the same extension for their embroidery designs. Implications for StitchBuddy can be found on the related support pages (Mac, iOS).

I’m currently looking into Janome’s JPX embroidery format: extracting stitches / threads seems quite easy, but I’m unsure about the image background which is used to layer JPX designs with graphics. Unfortunately I don’t have any Janome software and therefore no experiences with this feature on my own. @Horizon users: How are you using the new file format? Feel free to comment on StitchBuddy’s Facebook page.

Apple has just approved a new version of StitchBuddy HD, and I have updated the Mac version, too: Version 2.4.4 is now available for both platforms and supports Coats Rayon and Trilobal thread charts.

In addition the iPad app has a feature to highlight a selected thread, which makes it easier to identify where a specific color was used in a design.

Today I enlisted in Apple’s Mac Developer program to support the “Gatekeeper” security feature in OS X 10.8 “Mountain Lion”: Unfortunately my iOS certificate was not sufficient to sign StitchBuddy for Mac.

I just uploaded a very, very, very minor release of the OS X app and its plugins: StitchBuddy v2.4.3 is now completely code-signed to comply with Gatekeeper of OS X 10.8 “Mountain Lion”. In addition I tested all functions of StitchBuddy and the Quick Look / Spotlight plugins with the upcoming operating system, and everything is working flawless.