Signal 1.2.3 is now available for Windows users, fixing a bug that could cause a 404 error to be seen in the web interface. The problem did not exist in the Mac version, so for Mac users the current version remains 1.2.2.
Hot on the heels of the last update comes version 1.2.2, a Mac-only release that enables System Preferences on Snow Leopard to load the 64-bit version of the preference pane. With this update you’ll no longer need to relaunch System Preferences in 32-bit mode in order to access Signal, which was annoying. Grab it via software update or on the download page.
Signal 1.2.1 is now available, resolving a potential hang issue with the web interface, a bug preventing folder-based album art from being displayed, and some Unicode compatibility issues for Windows users.
Due to a bone-headed move on my part Windows Mobile users will need to install the updated client through the web access URL or ActiveSync after upgrading to 1.2.1. The 1.2 client has a bug that prevents the automatic update from working on Windows Mobile 5 and later. The worst part is that I specifically tested to make sure over-the-air upgrades were working before shipping 1.2…but on a Windows Mobile 2003 device where the bug does not occur. My sincere apologies for the inconvenience, really kicking myself for letting this one slip through.
The web interface hang issue was a rare but long-standing bug where you’d sometimes see the browser pause for a few seconds before loading the page. The problem was caused by a remote device going to sleep without signaling that it had closed its network connections, then being woken up it up before Signal detected the connection loss itself. When the device came back online the server would try to send information to the inactive connection, delaying the real messages that should have been to the device. Signal now transmits all pending messages at once and sorts out the connection state in the background so nothing is held up.
1.2.1 is available now via the download page and software update.
Signal 1.2 is here! This release brings some long-awaited changes for Mac and Windows Mobile users, and performance improvements across the board. It’s available now on the downloads page and through the built-in software update.
Media library indexing performance received a lot of attention in this update and has been significantly improved. In addition to being much faster, indexing is now performed on a low-priority background thread so an automatic re-index for a large library will not impact the performance of other applications on your computer. The re-indexing triggers have also been made more intelligent so that trivial changes to the library will not trigger a re-index.
Album art is now optimized on the server for the device requesting it. This results in smaller files to transmit over the network and faster updates for all clients.
Signal has been moved from a standard application running in the dock to a background application controlled through System Preferences.
Note: Signal now requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later.
Mac users can now benefit from a feature that has been in the Windows version for a while – automatic media library updates. Signal will detect changes to the iTunes media library so as you add or remove songs these modifications are reflected within Signal. As soon as a change is detected the media library view is automatically refreshed, so if you happen to have the podcast view open when a new podcast finishes downloading the new entry will show up automatically.
The Windows server now has an option to start Signal automatically when Windows starts. The server application has been designed to use as few resources as possible when no clients are connected, so you can leave it running and it will be there when you need it.
The toolbar and menu items have been reworked as softkeys to integrate better with Windows Mobile 5 and later devices.
Note: Signal now requires Windows Mobile 2003 or later.
Windows Mobile is the first to client platform to benefit from the improved media library data transfer in Signal 1.2. Reading media library information from the server is now much faster, allowing for live scrolling of the media library on the device.
The complete list of changes is available in the release notes. Enjoy!
Signal is moving to System Preferences. It will now run as a background application without any dock or menu bar icon, so your Mac’s UI stays nice and clean. It will also start automatically at login if left running when the system shuts down, so in most cases you can set it once and forget about it.
If you already have Signal installed the move will be handled for you via software update. After installing and relaunching you’ll be presented with an upgrade utility that will install the new preference pane and remove the old version from /Applications.