every commit
Release Notes
Track every update, improvement, and fix we ship to SnapCuller. We're building for photographers, one feature at a time.
Improvements & Fixes
Filmstrip Thumbnails No Longer Stick On A Placeholder
In big folders, most of the filmstrip could show the "Preview not available" tile for photos that opened fine in the main view. Thumbnails still waiting their turn were cancelled when you switched to Single view, or gave up after a long wait on a slow external drive, and the placeholder was then kept as if the file were unreadable. They now try again and load properly. The placeholder only shows when a file really can't be read, or for RAW files on the free tier.
Same Fix In Grid View And Burst Stacks
The grid, the stack strip and the stack peek view all load thumbnails the same way now, so a slow folder doesn't leave gaps in any of them either.
Work That Used To Go Missing
Smart Cull No Longer Reverts Your Own Flags & Labels
Running a cull merged its results onto a stale copy of your metadata, so anything you flagged or labelled since the previous run was quietly rolled back and written through to your JSON and XMP sidecars. It now merges against your current state, including work you do while a cull is still running.
Smart Cull Settings Actually Save
Changing only the shoot type, keeper rate, or safeguards never triggered a save, so your choices were gone at the next launch. It looked random because moving to another photo happened to save as a side effect.
Rating Inside A Burst Hits The Frame You Picked
Peeking into a stack and selecting a frame, then pressing a rating, changed the stack cover instead. Every frame except the cover was unreachable from the keyboard.
Improvements & Fixes
No More Crash On The Empty Folder Transition
Opening a folder with no supported photos and then opening a real one broke the viewport outright.
Exposure Warnings Tell You Which Mode Is Active
The toggle cycles highlights, shadows, and both, but nothing said which one you had landed on, and the Tools menu could only ever reach the first of the three. Both entry points now behave identically and a brief message names the active mode.
Code Replacements Header No Longer Bleeds
Rows scrolling underneath the sticky header showed straight through the column labels.
Release Pipeline Repaired
v1.2.9 shipped for macOS only, which took the Windows update channel down entirely rather than leaving it a version behind. Added a completeness check so a half published release now fails loudly instead of silently.
What's New
A Completely Redesigned Interface
Every screen has been redrawn around a new light and dark design system with new typography. Single View now frames your photo properly with EXIF and the HUD on the canvas, the TopBar gained a real View menu with checkmarks and shortcuts, and Grid View, the sidebar, and every dialog were rebuilt to match.
AI Culling That Sets Itself Up
No terminal required anymore. SnapCuller detects whether Ollama is installed, starts it for you, and downloads a vision model from inside the app with a progress bar. If Ollama is already running with a vision model, AI is simply ready the moment you launch — no settings trip at all.
Flag & Label Culling Modes
Smart Cull can now apply its verdict as flags or colour labels, not just buckets and star ratings. A pre-run estimate tells you what you're committing to before the batch starts.
Improvements & Fixes
Large Folders No Longer Stall
Fixed the hang when opening folders of roughly 800–2000 RAW+JPG files. Thumbnail and EXIF work is now paced, cancellable, and bounded to what your machine can actually take, and the RAW preview scan no longer blocks the app while it runs.
More Trustworthy AI Verdicts
An objective local sharpness measurement now cross-checks the model's blur judgement instead of taking its word for it. One shared prompt across local and cloud, safeguards genuinely wired to what the model is asked, and far tougher response parsing.
Face Detection Works Offline
Face detection assets now ship with the app instead of being fetched on first use, which used to fail silently without an internet connection — the exact thing SnapCuller promises not to do.
Cloud AI Providers Repaired
Real model IDs for every provider, Anthropic enabled, and a connection test that actually tests the connection rather than reporting a valid key as invalid.
Security: TLS Verification Restored
Removed a global certificate-verification bypass that had been disabling TLS checks for the entire application, not only for AI requests.
Improvements & Fixes
Grid View Performance Breakthrough
Fixed critical performance issue causing 2+ minute freezing on initial Grid View load for large shoots by actively pairing RAW files with their existing .JPG companions for instant loading.
What's New
macOS Universal Binary (Apple Silicon + Intel)
Ships natively for both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs with build pipeline conflicts resolved for native modules (no Rosetta 2 required).
HEIC Support Unlocked for Free Tier
iPhone and modern camera HEIC/HEIF files can now be loaded, viewed, and culled by all users for free.
NSIS Installer Branding
Custom branded header and sidebar images for a professional Windows installation experience.
Improvements & Fixes
Tutorial & Trial Modal Overlap Fix
Interactive Tour Guide now waits for Trial Welcome modal dismissal to avoid UI overlapping.
Image Pairing Engine Hardening
Expanded support to include .heic and .heif in the PREVIEW_EXTENSIONS list for correct RAW+HEIC pairing.
AI Culling Service
Minor reliability improvements to batch grouping and pair detection logic.
What's New
Lifetime Quota Monetization Gate
Replaced folder-based resets with a persistent local-storage budget of 500 lifetime culling actions to prevent free-tier abuse.
OS-Specific Installation Guides
Embedded visual step-by-step guidance below all landing page download buttons to simplify macOS Gatekeeper and Windows SmartScreen security confirmation steps.
Improvements & Fixes
Stability & Test Coverage Verification
Audited and verified full TypeScript build and Vitest integration suites for rock-solid app stability.
What's New
Intelligent Auto-Advance Navigation
Instantly and smoothly transition to the next image after rating, flagging, or labeling. Toggleable directly from the Navbar.
On-App Secure Purchase Gateway
Buy SnapCuller Pro without leaving the app! Hosted secure Gumroad checkout within the desktop interface traps successful transactions for instant automatic activation.
Gateway-Agnostic License Proxy
Fully modernized authentication routes that hide API secrets behind secure Vercel serverless functions, protecting user keys and allowing seamless future transitions.
Improvements & Fixes
Continuous Regression Testing
Added a complete automated Vitest suite tracking critical features: dev free mode restrictions, IPC modal channels, and Auto-Advance state changes.
Automated Release Pipeline
Integrated a dynamic API endpoint directing external platforms to the latest compiled Windows and macOS installer versions automatically.
What's New
Improved RAW+JPG Pairing Engine
Robust case-insensitive matching and expanded support for Panasonic, Sony, Olympus, Pentax, Leica, and Samsung RAW formats.
Automated XMP Synchronization
Real-time Adobe-standard XMP sidecar generation with native Lightroom mapping for Pick/Reject flags.
High-Performance Metadata Engine
Batch XMP writing system makes bulk updates up to 10x faster with zero UI lag.
Intelligent AI Orchestration
Active request abort and smart debouncing to optimize resource usage during rapid navigation.
Unified Workspace Database
Consolidated metadata storage into a single robust workspace file for better reliability.
Improvements & Fixes
Viewport & UI Stability
Resolved critical TypeScript errors and improved metadata lookup across all view modes.
Culling Service Reliability
Enhanced pair detection and group processing with expanded system logging.
Type Safety
Standardized internal property definitions to prevent regressions in automated tests.
What's New
Genre-Aware AI Safeguards
Quality checks like Closed Eyes or Horizon Level now adapt automatically based on your selected shoot type (Wedding, Architecture, etc.).
Stop Culling Button
Immediate termination of active batch processes for faster workflow adjustments.
Production AI Pipeline
Full transition to real-world Cloud AI orchestration for high-precision rejection and approval insights.
AI Dual-Mode Orchestrator
Seamlessly switch between Local (Ollama) and Cloud AI models with settings persistence across sessions.
Improvements & Fixes
Intelligent Debouncing
Added a 500ms delay to auto-analysis to prevent redundant resource usage during rapid gallery scrolling.
Active Request Cancellation
In-flight AI requests are now instantly terminated when navigating away, significantly reducing GPU and token usage.
Summary Modal Overhaul
Detailed results now dynamically display only the metrics relevant to the safeguards used during the run.
UX Polish & AI Insights
Standardized duration reporting to HH:MM:SS and integrated transparency badges for AI analysis results.
What's New
Stack Peek Overlay
A premium, non-destructive way to explore bursts. Peek into stacks with a sleek, blurred overlay in Grid View.
Manual Stack Control
New toggle button in Single View replaces auto-hide behavior, keeping the strip closed until requested.
Peek & Unstack Workflow
Click Peek on a stack in Grid View to view all frames, select the best ones, and click Unstack to pull them out for standard culling.
Internal Stack Navigation
Use [ and ] keys to cycle through images within a stack; shortcuts now target the specific visible photo.
Grid Visibility Polish
Static filenames are now always visible below thumbnails with a redesigned grid engine to prevent overlap.
Bucket Format Preference
Configure buckets for RAW+JPG, JPG Only, or RAW Only for absolute workflow control.
Improvements & Fixes
Thumbnail Stability
Resolved black thumbnail issues with automatic loading retries and better request handling.
XMP Generation
Enhanced engine to support industry-standard Dublin Core and Photoshop namespaces.
What's New
Batch Rename
Powerful renaming engine with date templates, sequence numbering, and custom prefix/suffix support.
IPTC Editor
Full IPTC metadata management. Edit keywords, descriptions, and copyright across single or multiple files.
Improvements & Fixes
Performance Boost
Optimized multi-threaded RAW extraction, making image loading 30% faster on multi-core systems.
Sony ARW Support
Improved compatibility with the latest Sony A7R V and A7 IV RAW compression formats.
What's New
Smart Buckets
Physical file routing. Move or copy files to custom folders with a single keypress. The ultimate workflow accelerator.
Search & Filter
Filter by camera, lens, ISO, rating, and label. Find any shot in seconds using advanced EXIF queries.
Improvements & Fixes
UI Redesign
A complete overhaul of the interface. Darker, sleeker, and more focused on your photography.
What's New
Focus Peaking
Military-grade focus peaking overlays. Instantly see which parts of your image are sharp.
Auto-Advance
Option to automatically move to the next image after rating or labeling. Great for rapid-fire culling.
Improvements & Fixes
Memory Usage
Reduced RAM footprint by 40% when handling very large folders (5,000+ images).
What's New
Grid View Library
Toggle between Single View and a high-performance Grid View. See your entire shoot at a glance.
Compare Mode
Side-by-side comparison for up to 4 images with synchronized zoom and pan.
Improvements & Fixes
RAW Engine
Updated LibRaw integration for broader support of the latest mirrorless cameras.
What's New
XMP Sidecars
Full compatibility with Lightroom and Capture One. Ratings and labels now sync perfectly via XMP.
Improvements & Fixes
App Stability
Fixed various edge-case crashes when handling corrupted RAW files or disconnected drives.
Initial Release
Zero Import Culling
The core SnapCuller engine. Instant RAW previews directly from your filesystem.
Keyboard Mastery
Full keyboard control for rating, labeling, and navigating through thousands of photos.
Flag System
Simple Pick/Reject workflow for the initial triage of your shoot.