What's New in WindowShelf

If you run into any issues, please let us know. You can find our contact details in the Privacy Policy.

AI-generated changelog summary. We are primarily focused on building the app itself, so this release summary is generated by AI. Please understand that the wording may not match the detail, nuance, or tone you would get from a human-written changelog. The full version history below is loaded from the same What's New page available in Settings.

v1.0.130September 3, 2026Latest
Improved

Native Apple Silicon, Shelf Fixes & Performance Gains

  • Runs natively on Apple Silicon — WindowShelf is now a Universal 2 app (arm64 + Intel). M1–M4 Macs no longer need Rosetta 2, and Intel Macs remain fully supported.
  • Gray “closed” shelf rows fixed — windows whose internal number changes (Notes, Chrome tabs, after sleep or display changes) no longer appear gray in shelves; the app now re-links them automatically and waits a few cycles before showing a placeholder.
  • Far lighter on your Mac — the sidebar repaints only when something actually changes, the system monitor pauses while hidden, the disk metric is cached, and the refresh heartbeat slows down while the sidebar is hidden or you are away from the keyboard.
v1.0.129July 6, 2026Previous
Stability

Duplicate Row, Shelf Click & Window Migration Fixes

  • Shelf rows no longer appear as gray/ghost — fixed a bug where two windows sharing the same CGWindowID (e.g. multiple Chrome tabs in one window on macOS 26) would get identical identifiers, causing the second row to render gray. The identifier generator now applies an occurrence counter for collision safety.
  • Clicking a shelf title now restores all windows — fixed window matching on macOS 26 where the AXWindowNumber attribute is unsupported, preventing the shelf title click from finding windows from other apps like Notes or VS Code.
  • Clicking a Chrome row no longer highlights the wrong row — the bounds-based fallback for finding the correct AX window now uses the window's array index as a tiebreaker when multiple tabs share identical bounds in the same Chrome window.
  • Windows no longer fall out of shelves after sleep/wake — the window-number rotation detection (Phase 1b) now keeps its tracking data for a grace period, so CGWindowID reassignments after sleep, display changes, or app restarts no longer permanently break shelf assignments.
  • Stale auto-generated entries now auto-cleaned — over time, titles like "All iCloud – N notes" or "Notes – N notes" accumulate in the assignment database; the app now automatically removes redundant auto-generated entries to keep the database clean.
  • Anonymous telemetry & analytics — install and update events now include optional download-source attribution, and the analytics dashboard can group installs by page, host, or channel for better insights.
v1.0.128June 24, 2026Previous
Hotfix

Sidebar No Longer Flashes Empty After Refresh

  • REFRESH button no longer shows an empty sidebar — the window list now stays visible while a new scan runs, instead of clearing everything first and leaving the sidebar blank for several seconds
  • Log noise reduced — sidebar background mode is now only logged when it actually changes, keeping the console cleaner
WindowShelf
+
🔄
MY SHELVES
📂
Work
Safari — Dashboard
VS Code — app.tsx
APPS
🦊
Firefox
GitHub — PRs
Windows stay visible during refresh — no more blank sidebar
v1.0.127June 16, 2026Previous
Improved

Your Shelves Now Remember Everything — Across Restarts, Tab Switches, and Sleep

  • Shelf assignments are now permanent — windows dragged to a shelf stay there through app restarts and no longer drift back to their app category
  • Window order inside each shelf is preserved across title changes — switching Chrome tabs, navigating Finder folders, or creating new Notes no longer drops windows to the bottom of the shelf
  • "Remove from Shelf" finally sticks — explicitly removing a window from a shelf now hard-blocks it from reappearing until you drag it back manually
  • Sidebar no longer jumps between monitors — multi-monitor detection is now smarter, and the monitor-cycle button remembers your choice across launches
  • Shelves no longer appear empty after restart — orphaned shelf assignments are now correctly restored even when window titles briefly show as generic app names
WindowShelf
+
☰
MY SHELVES
📂
Work✓
Safari — Project dashboard
VS Code — app.tsx
Terminal — build watch
💬
Chat
Messages
Slack
APPS
🦊
Firefox
GitHub — Pull Requests
Shelf order survives tab switches, Finder navigation, and restart
Reliable shelves + multi-monitor stability
🔒
v1.0.126May 21, 2026Previous
Fixed

Auto Split Feels More Stable When Windows Need To Stay Clear of the Sidebar

  • Avoid-sidebar windows now stay protected while Auto Split expands — windows such as Notes no longer briefly slip behind WindowShelf when the sidebar widens into Auto Split
  • Sidebar relayout is smoother during width changes — WindowShelf now recalculates the safe frame directly instead of restoring a nudged window first and creating a visible bounce
  • The result is a steadier live-window experience — sidebar growth and layout changes now feel more continuous when you are working with shelf-assigned notes and other windows near the edge
🪟
Auto Split and avoid-sidebar now cooperate better, so windows stay clear of the sidebar without the visible jump
What's New
Latest
No more behind-the-sidebar bounce during Auto Split growth
Auto Split + avoid-sidebar fix
✨
v1.0.125May 19, 2026Previous
Improved

Shelves Feel Clearer, Popups Are More Intentional, and Telemetry Gets Better Attribution

  • Shelf interactions are now more predictable — collapsed shelves show a lightweight `(+N)` count, empty shelves are visually dimmed, and moving a ghost APP WINDOWS row like a Chrome sandbox entry now updates the real shelf assignment reliably
  • Window row popups are now fully click-driven — hover-triggered row popups are gone, so the row menu behavior is more deliberate and easier to control
  • Install telemetry is now more useful without polluting public totals — first launches can now preserve anonymous download-source attribution, internal/test installs are hidden by default in the dashboard, and app lifecycle events can be mirrored into GA4 when the server has a Measurement Protocol secret configured
🗂️
Shelf clarity, click-only popups, and cleaner install analytics all land together in this release
What's New
Latest
Internal/test installs stay out of public totals, while real sources are easier to trace
Shelf polish + telemetry refinement
✨
v1.0.124May 18, 2026Previous
Improved

Window Popup Controls, Better Split Behavior, and Install Tracking

  • Window popups are now much more useful — same-app window popups can appear on hover or click, stay open more reliably, show more windows before scrolling, sort by recent use, and let you minimize a sibling window with a double-click directly inside the popup
  • Sidebar interaction and Auto Split behavior are more predictable — active rows can highlight more clearly, Auto Split activation can wait before opening, and stale hover states no longer keep split mode active after the pointer has actually moved away
  • WindowShelf can now measure installs and completed updates — the app sends minimal anonymous first-launch and post-update events, while the website now tracks download-button clicks in GA4 so you can compare website interest against real installs
📈
Popups, split behavior, and install analytics all got sharper in one release
What's New
Latest
Download clicks, first launches, and completed updates can now be compared
Popup UX + telemetry release
✨
v1.0.123May 11, 2026Previous
Fixed

Double-Click Restore Fixes and Clearer What's New Notes

  • Native double-click window restore behaves correctly again — double-clicking the macOS title bar to zoom and restore now keeps the expected pre-sidebar frame instead of restoring to the narrower sidebar-adjusted size
  • What's New now explains the AI-generated summary inside the app and on the website — the changelog now clearly says that the short summary is AI-generated, while the full version history stays consistent between Settings and the website
  • Test builds and public releases now show the right notes — preview builds can still show matching upcoming notes, and once a version ships the app and website return to the same official release entry
🪟
Double-click restore and What's New guidance are now more reliable
What's New
Previous
Native double-click restore now keeps the correct pre-sidebar frame
Double-click restore fixed
✨
v1.0.122May 10, 2026Previous
Fixed

Reliable Launch, Better What's New, and Window Behavior Fixes

  • Launch now reveals the sidebar immediately — fresh installs and updates now show WindowShelf on the user's saved side and saved screen right away
  • What's New stays in the app and uses the live website — the in-app changelog window keeps its AI summary header and Open in Browser shortcut while loading the latest windowshelf.app/whats-new.html page, so updates only need to be published once on the website
  • Settings now opens above WindowShelf overlays — the Settings window is raised above the floating sidebar and system monitor detail panels instead of appearing hidden behind them
  • Native title-bar zoom restore is preserved — native macOS double-click zoom/restore now keeps the expected pre-sidebar frame when `avoidSidebar` is enabled
  • Restore/minimize behavior is more predictable — the shelf eye icon now mirrors the row title behavior, and title-bar zoom restore keeps the original pre-sidebar frame
💬
See what changed in WindowShelf 1.0.122
What's New
Open
Shown automatically once per version
Launch + restore flow updated
✨
v1.0.121April 1, 2026
Improved

Adaptive Liquid Glass Control

  • New sidebar glass mode — choose Auto, On, or Off in Settings
  • Auto mode follows system accessibility — adapts to Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast
  • Force modes for power users — keep liquid glass always enabled or always use opaque fallback
  • Live switching — applies immediately without app restart
Liquid Glass Mode
Auto
On
Off
Auto adapts to system accessibility display settings.
Automatic and manual control in one place
v1.0.119April 1, 2026
Fixed

Clearer Accessibility Recovery Guidance

  • Warning banner text refined — the sidebar permission warning now uses the shorter and clearer phrase: “repeat if needed”
  • 5-second OFF/ON flow preserved — guidance still explicitly keeps the required wait step for Ventura and newer systems
  • All languages kept aligned — localization remains synchronized so the warning and onboarding flow communicate the same sequence
⚠ Accessibility Required
1) System Settings -> Privacy & Security -> Accessibility
2) Find WindowShelf in the list
3) Switch OFF -> wait 5 sec -> ON, then relaunch (repeat if needed)
Shorter copy, same reliable recovery flow
v1.0.118March 31, 2026
Improved

Multi-Monitor Control & Reliability

  • Remember last monitor — sidebar reopens on the same screen used before app quit
  • Move to next monitor — new sidebar header button cycles sidebar across connected displays
  • Tiling respects sidebar screen — sidebar offset now applies only on the monitor where sidebar is visible
  • Open app windows faster — app context actions can open a new window and refresh window list automatically
  • System monitor panel pairing — detail panel can show companion sidebar for faster window actions
  • Menu bar stability updates — improved text rendering stability, template auto-color mode, and appearance refresh handling
  • Permission flow cleanup — clearer screen recording/accessibility guidance and safer permission checking behavior
WindowShelf
⚙
↔
+
MY SHELVES
☰
Work
Project Brief.docx
APPS
S
Safari
Apple Developer
Stack Overflow
Move to next monitor
Remembers last screen on relaunch
💻 System Monitor
CPU
Memory
Companion panel flow
v1.0.117March 11, 2026
Improved

Monitor Switcher & Sibling Windows

  • Monitor switcher button — move sidebar to next monitor with one click
  • Context menu: sibling windows — right-click any window to see other windows from the same app
  • Color auto-visibility tooltips — clearer “app is/is not adjusting this color” framing
  • Multi-monitor tiling — sidebar offset only on the sidebar’s screen
  • “Use system auto-color” — let macOS auto-tint menu bar text via template images
WindowShelf
⚙
⧉
+
MY SHELVES
☰
Work
Project Brief.docx
APPS
S
Safari
Apple Developer
Stack Overflow
Switch Monitor ⧉
👁Focus
—Minimize
✕Close
Other Safari Windows
◎Stack Overflow
◎GitHub — Issues
◎Twitter / X
📥Add to Shelf…
NEW: Sibling windows
v1.0.116March 11, 2026
New

Color Status Tooltips

  • Hover tooltips — hovering over “(not needed now)” or “(adjusting now)” shows an explanation tooltip
  • Live status indicator — green for “not needed”, orange for “adjusting”
  • Auto-visibility checkboxes — label text always visible; color pickers always active
Settings → Colors
Title Text
(not needed)
Subtitle Text
(adjusting)
Header Text
(not needed)
✓ Not needed
This color is already visible against the background.
Hover for details
v1.0.115March 11, 2026
New

Auto-Visibility for Text Colors

  • Auto-adjust text colors — title, subtitle, and header text auto-switch to a visible alternative if hard to see
  • Info popups — explanatory tooltips in Settings for each auto-visibility toggle
Title Text
Subtitle text barely visible
✗ Hard to see
→
Title Text
Subtitle text now clear
✓ Auto-adjusted
Colors auto-adjust for visibility
v1.0.114March 10, 2026
New

Menu Bar Text Color Settings

  • Separate light/dark color pickers — customize menu bar metric text for each appearance
  • Auto-adjust toggle — automatically pick visible text color
CPU8%
MEM62%
DSK45%
☀️ Light Mode — dark text
CPU8%
MEM62%
DSK45%
🌙 Dark Mode — light text
Separate colors per appearance
v1.0.113March 10, 2026
New

System Monitor

  • Real-time monitoring — CPU, memory, disk, network, and battery in sidebar and/or menu bar
  • Detail popup — donut charts, CPU sparkline, memory breakdown, network speeds, battery details
  • Menu bar display — 8 styles from ultra-compact to full-size
  • Per-metric toggles — show/hide individual metrics independently
  • Auto-detect battery — hidden automatically on desktop Macs
  • Full localization — all system monitor text in 10 languages
CPU12%
MEM67%
DSK48%
NET↑2.1 ↓15.4
Menu bar metrics
💻 System Monitor
CPU — 12%
12%
Memory — 67%
67%
10.7 GB / 16 GB
App: 6.2 · Wired: 2.8 · Comp: 1.7
Disk — 48%
228 GB / 476 GB
Donut charts
CPU sparkline
Click to copy IP
v1.0.111March 8, 2026
Changed

AX Warning Banner Redesign

  • Red warning card — prominent card with lock icon and clear heading
  • 3 numbered steps — guided setup instructions to enable Accessibility
  • Full-width action button — “Open System Settings →” opens Privacy directly
🔒 Accessibility Required
1
Open System Settings
2
Go to Privacy & Security → Accessibility
3
Enable WindowShelf in the list
v1.0.110March 8, 2026
New

Ghost Windows & Drag Hints

  • Show all windows in App section — shelf-assigned windows appear as ghost rows with strikethrough text
  • Drag-hint banner — onboarding banner shows new users how to drag windows into shelves
  • Improved empty shelf hint — “↓ from Apps below” text guides users
  • New app icon — S9c variant with frosted panel and accent bars
WindowShelf
MY SHELVES
☰
Work
Project Brief.docx
APPS
S
Safari
Apple Developer
Project Brief.docx
💡 Drag a window into a shelf above!
Ghost row (shelf-assigned)
Drag-hint banner
v1.0.63July 12, 2025
Fixed

Tooltip & Window Stability

  • Tooltip hides on click/drag — tooltip dismisses immediately when clicking row buttons or starting a drag
  • Photos and empty-title windows — apps like macOS Photos now included if window is large enough
  • VSCode shelf stability — windows no longer drop from shelves when title changes
WindowShelf
APPS
♣
Photos
Photo Library
VS
VS Code
main.swift — WindowShelf
settings.json — Prefs
Photo Library
Photos now included
Stable shelf binding
v1.0.12March 1, 2026
New

Visual Shelf Distinction

  • “MY SHELVES” / “APPS” section labels — clearly separate custom shelves from auto-grouped app categories
  • Custom shelf tray icon — shelves show a tray icon distinguishing them from app categories
  • Smart drag restriction — windows can only drop into their own app or custom shelves
WindowShelf
MY SHELVES
☰
Work
Project Brief.docx
☰
Research
Wikipedia — Safari
APPS
S
Safari
Apple Developer
Section label
Tray icon
v1.0.11March 1, 2026
New

Auto-Update, Hotkey & Thumbnails

  • Sparkle auto-update — checks every 4 hours + manual check in Settings
  • Global hotkey ⌥S — toggle sidebar from anywhere
  • Inline window thumbnails — optional live preview in sidebar rows
  • Multi-monitor support — Primary Screen or Screen with Mouse
  • Homebrew Cask — brew install --cask windowshelf
🔔
Update available!
v1.0.12 is ready to install
Update
Sparkle auto-update
⌥S
Toggle Sidebar
Preview
👁 Thumbnail
v1.0.6 – v1.0.10February 28, 2026
New

Cards View & Visual Polish

  • Cards/tiles display mode — card view with window thumbnails per shelf
  • Shelf border option — toggleable border around shelf groups
  • Adjustable header font size — separate slider for category headers
  • Web favicon support — favicons for browser window tabs
  • Expand & restore on tap — expand minimized windows when clicking
Safari
Apple Dev
Stack Overflow
YouTube
GitHub
Cards display mode
v1.0.2February 28, 2026
New

Window Tiling & Keyboard Nav

  • Window tiling — halves, corners, fill, or center; respects sidebar width
  • Row spacing slider — adjustable vertical spacing between rows
  • Auto-hide on fullscreen — sidebar hides when a window is fullscreen/maximized
  • Launch at Login — via System Settings integration
  • Window thumbnail preview — live screenshot at sidebar bottom
  • Keyboard navigation — ↑/↓ to select, Enter to focus, Esc to deselect
Left Half
Right Half
Bottom-L
Bottom-R
Tile positions
↑↓Navigate
⏎ Focus
Esc Deselect
v1.0.0February 28, 2026
New

Initial Release

  • Floating sidebar panel — non-activating with vibrancy blur
  • Live window list — macOS Accessibility API enumeration
  • App-grouped categories — auto-grouped by application
  • Custom Shelves — organize windows across apps
  • Drag & drop — reorder windows and categories
  • Window actions — focus, minimize, restore, close
  • Show Desktop — minimize all with one click
  • Edge-trigger auto-show — reveal sidebar at screen edge
  • Settings panel — position, width, font, colors, auto-hide
  • Multi-Space support — visible on all Spaces
WindowShelf
⚙
+
◰
MY SHELVES
☰
Work
Project Brief.docx
Budget.xlsx
☰
Personal
Vacation Plans
APPS
S
Safari
Apple Developer
Stack Overflow
X
Xcode
WindowShelf.xcodeproj
T
Terminal
zsh — 80x24
Non-activating panel
Custom shelves
App categories