Posted By Aaron Wasserman on November 29th, 2023

For well over a decade, Apple has made a practice of releasing annual updates to their operating systems. New OS versions are unveiled at the Worldwide Developers Conference in late spring, then tested over the summer, with official releases coming in the fall. These OS upgrades often significantly change how your devices work, particularly when it comes to MacOS. Apple has now made it possible to upgrade your OS, and even install pre-release beta OS versions, with just a few clicks.

While the ease of beta release installation can be convenient for developers, it poses risks for most users. As one of Rogue Amoeba’s frontline support technicians, I’ve observed the negative effects MacOS updates sometimes cause. That’s why we always recommend taking things slow when it comes to updating your Mac’s OS, as well as avoiding beta OS versions entirely.

Beta Breakers

The recent MacOS 14.1 beta update is a case in point, as it introduced substantial breaking changes. Those changes interrupted significant functionality in the then-current versions of our apps. For folks using our apps for production or other critical work, installing a beta version of the OS brought things to a halt until we could issue our own updates. We worked swiftly to debug problems and then ship new versions to restore functionality, but that type of work often requires days or even weeks. Those users who didn’t install MacOS 14.1 betas avoided headaches, blissfully unaware of the hiccups.

Check Your Settings

The aforementioned issue affected a significant number of users who had tested the MacOS 14 (Sonoma) betas over the summer. These users ran into trouble because Apple opted not to reset the beta OS updates setting in MacOS, even after the official Sonoma release shipped. As a result, many users who thought they were now on a normal OS update track were surprised to find themselves running beta versions of MacOS 14.1.

If you tested Sonoma over the summer, you may still be enrolled to receive Apple’s beta software updates. Turning that setting off is strongly recommended. This can be done by going to the General section of System Settings, selecting Software Update and ensuring that Beta Updates are switched off. We recommend disabling Automatic Updates there as well, so that you have full control over scheduling when your Mac’s operating system changes.

Rogue Amoeba’s Test Releases

Since our founding, Rogue Amoeba has provided our users with hundreds of high-quality free updates to our software, containing both bug fixes and enhancements. We also work hard to ensure our software is ready for Apple’s major updates to MacOS. All of that requires a great deal of time and careful testing.

As part of our development process, we provide our own optional access to pre-release versions of our products, called test releases. As the introductory post explained:

Test releases are the precursor to full, official releases of our software, and provide early access to new features and functionality. Though not recommended for those with production systems, these releases are vetted internally, and should be suitable for general use.

If you’re interested in trying out our test releases, see this article for instructions.

β Is For Bugs

For nearly all users, sticking with official releases of both MacOS and our own software is the way to go. If you do plan to test beta versions of MacOS, go into the process knowing that problems may occur, and remember to try our test releases as well. As well, for current compatibility information on all our apps, our Status page is always a helpful resource.

Of course, whether you’re using a beta version of MacOS or a public release, we’re always here to assist. If you notice a problem, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You’ll get a reply from me or one of my colleagues on our friendly Support team.

Posted By Paul Kafasis on November 2nd, 2023

Our flagship recording tool Audio Hijack can now act as your own personal stenographer! We’ve just released version 4.3, with a brand-new Transcribe block to turn spoken audio into a written text transcript. Read on for more details, or grab this free update immediately by selecting Check for Updates in the Audio Hijack menu or downloading right here.

The Brand-New Transcribe Block

Transcribe can convert speech from an astonishing 57 languages into text, providing you with a written transcript of any spoken audio. It’s powered by OpenAI’s automatic speech recognition system Whisper, and features two powerful models for fast and accurate transcriptions.¹

Best of all, unlike traditional transcription services, Transcribe works for free inside of Audio Hijack. There’s absolutely no ongoing cost, so you can generate unlimited transcriptions and never again pay a per-minute charge. It’s pretty incredible.

It’s also completely private. When you use Transcribe, everything happens right on your Mac. That means your data is never sent to the cloud, nor shared with anyone else.

Transcribe Audio From a Microphone

To get started, use Audio Hijack’s Template Chooser to create a new Transcribe session, which you can see running below:

This straightforward configuration takes audio from a microphone and runs it through the Transcribe block, while also saving a recording for reference. Just speak into a microphone connected to your Mac and you’ll get a transcript file.

Transcribe Calls or Any Audio From an Application

Thanks to Audio Hijack’s ability to capture audio from any app running on your Mac, you can now transcribe anything you can hear. This is particularly useful for voice and video calls over Zoom, Skype, and other VoIP services.

Skip the note-taking! With text transcripts, your meetings on Zoom and calls on FaceTime can now be referenced and searched. And of course, this isn’t limited to just VoIP apps. Use Transcribe with any application on your Mac, for endless speech to text possibilities.

Transcribe From a File

Your audio doesn’t even need to be live. If you already have a recorded audio file, it can serve as a source for transcription. Play the audio file in any app (such as our audio editor Fission), then capture the audio with Audio Hijack and route it through the Transcribe block to get your transcript.

Great for Podcasters

With Audio Hijack and the new Transcribe block, it’s easy for podcasters to provide audiences with a text transcript of every show. Make it part of your podcasting setup, and your transcript will be ready for you moments after you finish recording.

When recording from multiple inputs, Transcribe can even handle multiple hosts, with the transcript accurately labeling each speaker:

Your resulting transcript will be easy to read:

You may wish to clean up transcripts for accuracy before posting, but even a rough, unedited transcript can be very helpful for listeners.

Beta; More to Come

When using the Transcribe block, you may notice it has a “beta” label. It’s not yet as polished as we plan for it to be and you should be cautious when using it in production systems. Still, we’ve tested it thoroughly, and it’s incredibly useful even as a beta.

Try it out, then let us know what you think. We already have plans for more transcription integration in future Audio Hijack updates, and user feedback will definitely be a helpful guide.

Get Audio Hijack 4.3 Right Now

The new Transcribe block will be a boon to all manner of users, from podcasters to lawyers to doctors and more. The ability to quickly convert spoken audio into a text file opens up countless new workflows, and we’re excited to see how you use it!

Get the brand-new Transcribe block right in Audio Hijack 4.3, which is a free update for all existing users of version 4. Just select Check for Updates from the Audio Hijack menu to download it today.

If you’re new to Audio Hijack, visit the app’s product page to learn more about the Mac’s very best audio recording tool, then download the free trial to test it out. You’re going to be delighted.

Footnotes:

1. For the best experience, Apple Silicon-based Macs are strongly recommended. Due to the processing requirements of the machine learning models, Intel Macs can be very slow to transcribe. Transcribe will run on any Mac that supports Audio Hijack 4.3, but Apple Silicon Macs are best. ↩︎

Posted By Paul Kafasis on October 28th, 2023

As you can see on our trusty Status page, every Rogue Amoeba application is now updated with full support for MacOS 14 (Sonoma).

Prior to Sonoma’s official release in September, we announced that all of our software had initial support for the new OS. Nevertheless, we always urge caution with OS updates, particularly for those with production setups like podcasters. Taking it slow with even official OS releases is a good idea to avoid unnecessary headaches.

Following the 14.0 release, we also spent quite a bit of time testing against Apple’s betas of 14.1. There were substantial breaking changes made by Apple in 14.1, and additional updates were required. Those updates shipped last week, and we’re now delighted to declare that our entire lineup has full support for Sonoma. If you’ve been putting off updating to Sonoma, now’s a great time to make the move.

Just make sure you’re running our latest versions, and you’ll be ready to upgrade your Mac’s OS.

Posted By Neale Van Fleet on September 30th, 2023

Exactly 21 years ago today, Rogue Amoeba shipped its very first product: Audio Hijack 1.0. In a small nod to our birthday, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at our app icons over the years. Below, I’ve lined up the icons for all the Mac apps Rogue Amoeba has sold since the beginning:

As you can see, our icons have changed quite a bit over two decades. This is due in part to shifts in broad design trends on the Mac, which we follow to some degree. It also reflects the reality of Rogue Amoeba having multiple designers over time. My own tenure here began in 2015, and several talented designers did icon work before me.

Early Rogue Amoeba icons, like Audio Hijack’s original audio thief and Nicecast’s satellite dish, were very detailed. This was a response to the then-massive 128×128 pixel canvas size of Mac OS X, which represented a huge size increase from the previous 32×32 icon size. Icons have recently grown even larger, up to 1024 pixels square on Retina screens. The original Macintosh’s entire screen was only 512×342, which means it couldn’t show even a quarter of a modern-day icon (and it would be in black and white to boot).

Check out this comparison of app icon sizes in 1984, 2002, and present day:

Over time, the excitement of being able to make photorealistic icons wore off, and Apple toned down their skeuomorphism. This led us to shift our icons to simpler shapes, which often include bolder colours.

Apple’s 2020 decision to switch the MacOS app icon standard to an iPhone-esque squircle shape also led to major changes. I’ve previously bemoaned the recent loss of distinct icon shapes, and Rogue Amoeba hasn’t followed Apple’s change rigidly. That said, we don’t want to clash with other app icons. We’ve updated many of our icon designs to fit in well on the Mac, while still maintaining some individuality.

In a way, this above image is more than just a timeline of icons, it’s a timeline of the apps themselves. Early on in Rogue Amoeba’s existence, there was a fair amount of churn in the product line. More recent years have been a lot more stable. I think this is a product of both our maturity as a company and of the Mac platform as a whole.

Posted By Paul Kafasis on September 15th, 2023

Apple’s latest update to the Mac’s operating system, MacOS 14 (Sonoma), is arriving on September 26. With the release of SoundSource 5.6.1 today, all of Rogue Amoeba’s products are now ready for the new OS.

Make sure have the latest versions of Airfoil, Audio Hijack, Farrago, Fission, Loopback, Piezo, and SoundSource, and you’ll be good to go.

As Always, Be Cautious

Every year, we recommend taking it slow when it comes to updating your Mac’s operating system. Though we’ve spent the summer testing on Sonoma, we’re still watching for issues with the official release. We’ll post any relevant notes on our always-helpful Status page, and additional testing and feedback is likely to lead to further updates.

Waiting a little bit to move up to the newest OS can often avoid plenty of headaches. Whether your Mac is mission-critical to a production like a podcast or not, you can often save yourself headaches by waiting a bit to move up to the latest OS.

Whenever you do move up, though, just be sure you’ve got our latest versions and you’ll be good to go.