Nisus Writer and macOS Sonoma

12/27/2023Posted inNisus Writer Express, Nisus Writer ProNo Comments

The latest versions of Nisus Writer Pro (version 3.4) and Nisus Writer Express (version 4.4) resolve Sonoma system incompatibilities and ensure a smooth writing experience. Many issues have been fixed, including crashes that were triggered by Apple’s new predictive text typing feature.

New versions are available via all channels depending on your original purchase method:
• Use the menu Check for Updates inside the app
• Download an update from nisus.com
• Update via the Mac App Store (if you purchased from Apple)

InfoClick and macOS Sonoma

12/27/2023Posted inInfoClick1 Comment

InfoClick initially had issues on macOS Sonoma; crashes during system text decoding could be triggered by certain email content. We don’t know exactly what content caused crashes, but Apple appears to have fixed it.

If you’re using InfoClick on Sonoma we recommend that you update to macOS 14.2.1 or later. You do not need to update InfoClick

Sonoma Compatibility

10/3/2023Posted inNisus Writer Express, Nisus Writer Pro6 Comments

If you recently updated to macOS Sonoma you likely had trouble with Nisus Writer. The most serious issue is related to Apple’s updated system-wide predictive text typing feature, which consistently triggers crashes in Nisus Writer.

There are a few other Sonoma issues that affect Nisus Writer, including problems using the print dialog. We have a pre-release beta version of Nisus Writer Pro that attempts to fix the most serious of these problems.

We’re very sorry for the trouble! We hope the beta helps while we smooth out other remaining issues.

UPDATE: The beta has been superseded by new app versions that officially support macOS Sonoma.

SummerFest Sale

7/26/2023Posted inGeneralNo Comments

The current news checks out: yep, it’s hot! I think we all know this, so let’s move on quickly.

Like most people who’ve tried ChatGPT, I’m impressed by the technology. It’s amazing and somewhat scary. For entertainment purposes (and to save myself some typing) let’s have it tell you about our annual SummerFest sale:

Summer is in full swing, and so is our SummerFest Sale! Time to sit back, relax, and soak up those rays of savings. You can get your hands on Nisus apps for a price that’s cooler than the ice-cold lemonade you’re sipping! Don’t miss this opportunity to dive into a world of writing magic at a price that won’t melt your wallet.

Wow, thanks ChatGPT, that sounds great to me!

Doing my human duties, here are the details: enter coupon code SUMMERFEST2023 during checkout at the Nisus store. All Nisus apps are discounted by 25% off their regular price. That includes Nisus Writer Pro, Nisus Writer Express, and InfoClick.

The sale is also in swing for other excellent SummerFest apps like Scrivener, BBEdit, and Bookends. See the SummerFest website for full details about participating apps and their discounts.

And finally, as ChatGPT says: “Stay cool, keep writing, and have a magical summer“.

WinterFest Sale

1/5/2023Posted inGeneralNo Comments

Nisus Software is again participating in the yearly WinterFest promotion. It’s simple: good discounts on a lot of great software.

All Nisus apps are discounted by 25% during WinterFest. That includes Nisus Writer Pro, Nisus Writer Express, and InfoClick. To receive the discount just enter coupon code WINTERFEST2022 during checkout at the Nisus store.

Other WinterFest participants include Scrivener, BBEdit, Bookends, DEVONThink, Yojimbo, and many more excellent apps. The exact discount varies by vendor from 20-30% off, but most are 25% off. To see a full list of participants and discounts visit the WinterFest website.

The WinterFest sale ends on January 17, 2023, so get to ‘festing soon!

iPhone SOS via Satellite

11/15/2022Posted inGeneralNo Comments

In case you missed it amongst Apple’s recent announcements, apparently the iPhone 14 will be able to send messages to emergency services via satellite in situations without cell service.

This is pretty amazing to me! There are a lot of great reasons to celebrate this capability to improve safety, but I guess we’ll have to see how Apple decides to monetize this. If would be awesome if all new iPhones had access to this for free.

On the other hand, people being people, someone will use this to tell emergency services that their BBQ pork order was cooked improperly.

Nisus Writer Pro 3.3 and Express 4.3

9/1/2022Posted inNisus Writer Express, Nisus Writer ProNo Comments

We are happy to announce the release of Nisus Writer Pro version 3.3 and Nisus Writer Express version 4.3. The main points are to ensure compatibility with macOS Ventura (pending Apple’s final release) and restore the Spanish localization. There’s also the usual batch of smaller fixes and improvements.

These app updates are free for existing users of current versions. The updates are available in-app using the menu Check For Updates, via the Mac App Store, or as downloads from our website.

Nisus Writer and macOS Ventura

7/18/2022Posted inNisus Writer Express, Nisus Writer Pro2 Comments

Apple recently made it possible for adventurous Mac users to install macOS Ventura ahead of the new system’s final release. A developer account is no longer required; any user can participate. You need only enroll in Apple’s beta program.

We generally don’t recommend that our users try beta versions of macOS, unless you have a high threshold for potential headaches (and good data backups). However, if you are sinking your toes into Ventura’s sandy beaches, be aware that the current release versions of Nisus Writer are not compatible. Nisus Writer will likely crash when attempting to load documents on Ventura.

We are working on updates to smooth over any incompatibilities that aren’t resolved by Ventura’s final release. If you need access to a version of Nisus Writer that runs on Ventura please join the Nisus beta team. We’re already privately testing to make sure we’re ready for Ventura’s release one way or another.

UPDATE: Nisus Writer has been updated for macOS Ventura compatibility (pending Apple’s final release).

SummerFest Sale

6/24/2022Posted inGeneralNo Comments

Yep, it’s hot and sticky again. But we’re lucky to be pants-free Netizens working from home nearly the whole day. And, unless you’re on a video call, you can actually go further; whole hog as they say, free range, the full monty python, unfettered by cotton… well, you get the idea. The world is truly coming apart.

But enough nonsense. Down to business! The business of making and selling software, which is now on sale for a limited time.

The new season brings new plans, fresh projects, and great new ideas. Whether you’re mapping out your next novel, finishing your dissertation, planning a product, or writing memories for your grandkids, great tools can help. As is our custom in this season, we’re taking part in a gathering of software artisans called SummerFest.

You can save 25% on all Nisus Software apps by entering the coupon code SUMMERFEST2022 at checkout in the Nisus store. Likewise you can save up to 25% on other participating SummerFest apps. Check it out soon, before the savings come to an end.

How to Copy a File Path in the Finder

3/21/2022Posted inGeneral, Tips2 Comments

Maybe I should file this under “old news that I should be ashamed I didn’t already know”, but I recently learned you can easily copy the path of any file or folder in the Finder:

1. Select the file or folder in the Finder.
2. Hold down the Option key on the keyboard (and keep it down until you finish step 3).
3. Choose the menu Edit > Copy “Your File” as Pathname.

The item’s path has been placed onto the clipboard.

This same menu command is also available from the item’s contextual menu. As with the main menu, you have to hold down the Option key to see the alternative command (it supplants the normal Copy command).

The only remaining question is who at Apple decided to call this a pathname? That is a real term, but nobody calls it that. “Certainly milord, I shall fetch your pathname posthaste!” 🎩 Round these parts we just call ’em paths.

Scan Paper Documents with Your Mac

1/28/2022Posted inGeneral, TipsNo Comments

It’s a beautiful thing to go completely paperless when it comes to personal documents. No more monthly statements, yearly declaration packets, and other junk cluttering your space. One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to finally digitize old accrued papers. It’s like a weight loss program for filing drawers– let’s feel the burn! 📄🔥

Did you know that you can scan papers by taking photos with your iPhone? The results are pretty good. There’s some filtering that increases contrast to hide lighting irregularities and sharpen text. You can add scans on your iPhone using the Notes app.

What’s even nicer is that you can initiate scans from your Mac using something called Continuity Camera. This mode will save the scan results directly to your Mac. Here’s the incredibly useful workflow:

1. Switch to the Finder and right-click on the Desktop or any other folder.
2. Choose the contextual menu command Import from iPhone > Scan Documents
   → Scanning mode will be activated on your phone.
3. Using your iPhone take photos of your paper documents, and click Save when finished.
   → A PDF file will be saved to the folder you used in step 1 above.

The resulting PDF will contain all of your scans, one photo per PDF page.

Nisus Writer Font Previews

1/13/2022Posted inNisus Writer Express, Nisus Writer Pro, TipsNo Comments

Nisus Writer’s font menu has long been WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get, for any kids out there). But that isn’t always helpful. You don’t want to see how a list of font names will look. You actually want to see how your text will look.

This is where Nisus Writer’s font preview can help. For example, let’s say that you select a text equation in your document and use the menu Format > Font > Show Font Previews. You’ll see a dialog like this:

This dialog lets you pick a great looking font for your particular text. The previews also take into account whatever other formatting is already applied to your text, e.g. font size, color, underline, etc, so you can maximize WYSIWYGNESS and save yourself a bit of fiddling time.

WinterFest Sale 2021

12/21/2021Posted inGeneralNo Comments

We’re proud to again join WinterFest, a yearly seasonal sale and festival of artisanal software. The makers of WinterFest apps work hard to ensure our tools work together, each carefully crafted and maintained by a small, dedicated team with vision and determination.

You can save up to 25% on all WinterFest apps including Scrivener, Bookends, BBEdit, DEVONThink, TinderBox, Hook, and other high quality software. Nisus Writer Pro, Nisus Writer Express, and InfoClick are also on sale. To receive your discount visit the WinterFest web page or enter coupon code WINTERFEST2021 during checkout.

WinterFest apps are all full versions with complete support and upgrade privileges. No contests or hullabaloo. Just great prices for great software.

This sale ends on January 11, 2022, so take advantage soon

Happy Holidays!

12/17/2021Posted inGeneralNo Comments

All of us at Nisus Software would like to wish you a very happy holidays. We really do appreciate our kind and dedicated customers, to whom we’re very grateful. No matter how you celebrate, do it with joy in your heart!

As for me, I’m a simple soul. The small things make all the difference. It’s important to keep up deep ancestral traditions like visiting ☃.net (aka unicodesnowmanforyou.com) and breaking out the Festivus pole.

Should You Upgrade to macOS Monterey?

12/10/2021Posted inGeneral1 Comment

Now that macOS Monterey has been out for a while, is it a good time for you to upgrade your system? Let’s consult our old friend the 🎱✨

Ahh, that seems about right.

So far we haven’t heard of any major Monterey problems from our users. Our apps are compatible and we aren’t aware of any significant new bugs. But the smart question is how many Nisus users are actually using Monterey? To answer that let’s look at macOS Big Sur’s usage share for Nisus users:

You can see the big drop-off for Big Sur in November 2021, the first full month that Monterey was available. Although the numbers for December are incomplete (today is Dec 10th), this month shows that Big Sur and Monterey are exactly tied, both with a usage share of 33%.

My own upgrade to Monterey was relatively smooth, but there were some issues. The only potentially critical failure was that Apple Mail did not import all of my emails. Several hundred emails were completely blank and invalid:

I can’t be totally certain, but these emails appear to be unimportant messages from mailing lists and other impersonal sources, so it didn’t worry me too much.

Otherwise there are only a few irritating Monterey regressions, like how all windows on my screen are incorrectly resized and repositioned after my external monitor goes to sleep. But there are no showstoppers. And hey, it wasn’t all bad. I mean, just look at this cute ASCII art error from Apple’s developer notarization tool:

Everything considered, is it a good time for you to upgrade to Monterey? Maybe. But if you don’t have any compelling reason to upgrade, it might be best to follow the advice of the 8 ball or TidBits and wait for Apple to smooth things out a little more.

InfoClick 1.2.8 – M1 is Back

12/3/2021Posted inInfoClickNo Comments

Are you an InfoClick user with a snazzy new M1 Mac? You’re in luck. InfoClick already has native support for Apple Silicon. However, the last version accidentally removed this support. InfoClick version 1.2.8 restores M1 support and includes a few other fixes.

If you’re not an InfoClick user please try our free demo. You don’t have to be angry at Apple Mail’s frustrating search any longer. InfoClick quickly finds your emails and shows you all possible remaining search criteria– unsuccessful searches are impossible.

Apple Silicon and Nisus Writer

11/18/2021Posted inGeneral, Nisus Writer Express, Nisus Writer ProNo Comments

Some customers have asked whether or not the new Macs with Apple Silicon will improve their Nisus Writer writing experience. The short answer is yes! Apple’s new M1 chip is really fast and Nisus Writer has native support for M1 that will definitely reduce wait times.

Let’s take a look at some firm numbers to see what you can expect. The following benchmarks were collected by comparing two humble Mac Minis:

Intel i5: 2018 Mac Mini, 16GB RAM, SSD
Apple M1: 2020 Mac Mini, 16GB RAM, SSD

Those Macs were tested using two large Nisus Writer documents. One is our Nisus Writer Macro language reference guide, and the other is our Nisus Writer Pro full user guide. Both are relatively complex documents using features like tables, bookmarks, cross-references, etc.

Now for the fun part. Let’s have the Intel and M1 Macs fight it out to see who is faster 🤓

The above graph is for our macro guide which contains 54K words, over 145 pages, with a 330K compressed file size. The results are clear: the M1 is about twice as fast as Intel. That’s awesome!

Let’s try the same common operations using our full user guide:

That’s also nearly a 2x speed improvement for the larger file which contains 227K words, over 770 pages, with a 90MB compressed file size.

If you’ve read about the M1 elsewhere you already know that it’s a significant leap forward for computing. By all accounts Apple’s new MacBooks are excellent machines. So these results are no surprise, but it’s nice to confirm that the M1 will also speed along your writing.

How to Reopen Closed Safari Windows

11/5/2021Posted inGeneral, TipsNo Comments

Maybe file this tip under “just open your eyes dummy” but I recently learned that Safari on macOS has a feature that allows you to reopen recently closed windows. That doesn’t mean just a single web page. You can restore a window fully, including the many tabs that were inside the window.

You can use this Safari feature via the menu History > Reopen Last Closed Window, or more generally via History > Recently Closed. I don’t expect to use this often, but we’ve all had that moment of regret after accidentally closing a window with like 10 tabs we still needed to review 🤬

Thanks to a Nisus user who tipped me off to this feature. That user was actually requesting that we add the same feature to Nisus Writer, in case a window with many tabbed Nisus documents is accidentally closed. We’ll certainly consider it as a potential future enhancement.

If you’d like to see Nisus add this feature (or any others) please get in touch with us. We love to get feedback from our users! You can leave a comment here on our blog, chat on our user forum, or contact us directly.