MetaScope 1.1.7 (Build 20)

MetaScope 1.1.7 (Build 20)

November 2025 - Build 20

This release focuses on faster RAW browsing, a rebuilt toolbar/navigation experience, sturdier export flows, and an upgraded metadata toolchain.

Highlights

• RAW thumbnail pipeline is faster end-to-end with optional disk caching and tuned memory usage.
• Experimental LibRaw path for Fuji RAF files delivers progressive upgrades with developer logging for verification.
• Unified toolbars, window sizing persistence, and deep-link handling create a more coherent desktop experience.
• Export, popout, and Settings flows receive focused UX polish, cache controls, and updated ExifTool v13.40.
• Popout viewer adopts adaptive toolbars, full-bleed Metal rendering, and resolves CATransaction warnings during resize.

What’s Improved

Startup & Restore

• Deterministic “master” window: slot 0 now restores into the primary window before additional windows appear, preventing blank orphaned windows.
• Splash/EULA attach only to the master window during launch; subsequent windows (⌘1, etc.) skip splash entirely.
• Window restore hygiene reduces flicker and duplicate windows when multiple workspaces are saved.

Navigation, Toolbars & Layout

• Nav bar/toolbar controls share a unified 28×28 look with consistent spacing and separators.
• View toggles (List/Grid) and thumbnail size controls live in the nav bar across environments. No duplicates.
• Filesystem toolbar concludes with Filter • Refresh • Sort, removing the unneeded “More” popover in this context.
• Photos toolbar trims to Add to Album, Remove from Album, Delete, and Sort for clarity.
• Visual spacing tightened for compact widths, giving a balanced look on smaller displays.
• Batch UI disables animations during show to prevent the vertical “jump,” and remembers the last-used tab (defaults to Date Operations on first use).
• Geolocation panel stays left-aligned when switching sources; first-frame guards eliminate micro-nudges.

Maps (Geolocation)

• Snapshot-first map picker keeps a still preview with pinned header/footer, instantiating the interactive map only when needed. No more zero-size renders.
• Guarded MKMapView host uses flat/muted style, trims POIs/buildings, and disables rotate/pitch to reduce VectorKit console noise. Remaining diagnostics are benign.

Viewer & Popouts

• Orientation corrections apply consistently when zooming images with EXIF rotations (e.g., 90° CW or 180°), even as previews upgrade to full quality.
• EXIF and IPTC Template Managers are fully resizable, matching the Batch UI default window size (900×650).
• Export windows are dedicated popouts with persistent sizing and reliable “Reset Size” defaults:
  • Filesystem Export: 1045×800
  • Photos Export: 1045×800
  • Format Options: 1050×700
• Footer buttons are aligned consistently across Filesystem and Photos export windows.
• Popout toolbar adapts to compact widths, collapsing metadata earlier so navigation and zoom controls remain accessible.
• Metal preview now fills the content area with an opaque black backdrop, eliminating the cyan edge seen during resizing.
• Suppressing CAMetalLayer transactions during draws removes the lingering “deleted thread with uncommitted CATransaction” warning.

Export & Modals

• Export Wizard pickers (Choose Folder, Import Fonts) attach to the active wizard window, even when launched from layered sheets like Batch UI.
• Common modals are limited to one instance per window; Option-click opens a secondary instance when needed.
• Closing export windows no longer leaves blank views. Content cleanup now follows window lifecycle correctly.
• Picker focus priority fixes ensure Finder panels never appear behind Settings or other windows.

File Browser & Thumbnails

• RAW thumbnail pipeline skips noisy ImageIO attempts, tunes responsiveness, and budgets heavy containers (HEIC/HIF/AVIF/JXL) with ~200ms Quick Look timeouts.
• Optional disk cache (Developer ▸ Thumbnail Performance) speeds re-loads; memory cache controls expose size indicators plus clear/trim actions.
• Subfolder browsing and grid scrolling are smoother thanks to reduced redundant work in thumbnail views.
• List view start-up reliably presents the first page when Include Subfolders and filters are active via separated debounce handling.

Metadata, Settings & Developer Tools

• Metadata Editor adds a “Search values” toggle (on by default) for key-only queries on massive datasets.
• Edits are staged locally until Save, reducing publish churn while typing.
• Info Panel parity: Full dataset / Staged and All rows / Paged chips now live in the Editor with shared settings.
• Raw EXIF tab gains debounced search, Equatable rows, and consistent columns/typography with Full EXIF.
• Developer tab updates: RAW disk cache toggle renamed to “Disk Cache for RAW Thumbnails,” covering raf, dng, nef, cr3, cr2, arw, orf, rw2, gpr.
• List filtering logs are silent by default; enable Developer ▸ Enhanced Debug Logging to surface List_Filter_Compute_*.
• Append-while-scanning toggle uses AppDefaults and avoids resorting while active.
• Settings adds Advanced cache management controls for disk/memory.

Backup & Restore

• Renamed from Data Migration; no more startup prompts post-upgrade while automatic backups continue for safety.
• Welcome flow appears only on new installs or machines when a backup is detected.
• UI clarifies automatic backups, shows the most recent backup with name/date/size, and adds a one-click “Reveal in Finder”.
• Backup introspection now falls back to file metadata when manifests are missing, avoiding warnings.

Performance & Stability

• RAW browsing feels snappier with tuned caching and deferred heavy work, especially on RAF-heavy libraries.
• Batch UI map embedding avoids CATransaction console noise while keeping interactions fluid.
• Export flows retain focus and dismiss cleanly, removing cases where blank controllers lingered after closing windows.

QA: How to Test LibRaw (RAF)

1. Enable the toggle: Settings ▸ Interface ▸ Image Preview ▸ “Enable LibRaw for RAF (Experimental)”.
2. Grid behaviour: Browse RAF folders and watch for Quick Look placeholders that upgrade in the background. Logs should emit lines like “RawGrid: RAF placeholder…” followed by upgrade timing.
3. Preview behaviour: Select an RAF; adaptive mode renders quickly and upgrades quality when memory budget allows. Disable the toggle to confirm the fallback path.
4. Disk/Memory indicators: Settings ▸ Advanced ▸ Cache Management shows disk/memory usage with controls to clear or reclaim caches.
5. Regression checks: NEF and other RAW formats continue to use their existing pipelines; GPR remains Quick Look-first.

How to Update

MetaScope is available on the Mac App Store. Updates are delivered automatically, or you can visit the App Store page:

• Download: https://apps.apple.com/nl/app/metascope/id6748312854

For questions, feedback, or feature requests, contact support via the MetaScope Help menu.