1.4

Tart Manager v1.4.0 lets you pull images from the default registry, ghcr.io/cirruslabs, in Settings. Delete VM can now keep the VM's disk as a file. This release also makes job cancel more reliable.

Added

• Pull from the default registry. Open Settings → Storage → Registries and select Default. Select an image from the list and click Pull. The image then appears on the Images page, where you can clone it to a VM.
• Custom registries. Select Custom to sign in to or out of a registry that you enter. Sign-ins that you already have stay in tart's Keychain items.
• Pull jobs. A pull shows in the sidebar Jobs section, with progress and cancel.

Changed

• Delete VM. You no longer type the VM's name to confirm. A new Remove the VM disk with the VM option, on by default, lets you keep the disk as a file in the Kept Disks folder of the VM storage folder. The option is not available for stacked VMs.
• Registry URL. The field accepts an https URL as well as a host.
• New VM quick picks. The menu now shows the same image list as Settings. Tart Manager makes at most one attempt in 24 hours to download this list from raw.githubusercontent.com. If the download fails, it uses its saved or built-in list.
• Launch check. Tart Manager no longer looks for an installed tart while the selected bundled tart works. The warning about an older selected tart does not show in this state.

Fixed

• Job cancel. A cancel that arrives while a clone, pull, or other job is starting now stops its tart process.

License

The bundled tart is licensed under FSL-1.1-ALv2, not under the MIT License of Tart Manager. To read the license, open Settings → About and click View License.

Note: this release is not Developer-ID signed or notarized. A new install is blocked by macOS on first launch. On macOS 15 or later, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, click Open Anyway, and confirm. On macOS 14, Control-click the app, choose Open, then confirm. Updates from inside the app open with no warning.

Full changelog: v1.3.0...v1.4.0

1.3

Tart Manager v1.3.0 includes tart, so you no longer need Homebrew or a separate tart. A new Tart panel in Settings lets you choose the tart that Tart Manager uses. This release also fixes the Dock icon in menu-bar-only mode.

Update from inside the app. Tart Manager 1.2.0 offers this update by itself. To check now, open Settings → About and click Check for Updates. Tart Manager 1.0.0 and 1.1.0 cannot update themselves: download the DMG below, and drag Tart Manager to Applications one time.

Added

• Bundled tart. Tart Manager now includes tart 2.41.1, so you do not need Homebrew or a separate tart. The bundled tart is the default for new users, and it updates with Tart Manager.
• Tart panel in Settings. Open Settings → General → Tart to choose Bundled or Path. Path uses the tart installed on this Mac. Click Choose… to select another tart file. Active tart shows the version, source, and path in use.
• One-time question. When both the bundled and your installed tart work, Tart Manager asks once which one to use. Until you answer, it keeps your installed tart. It also warns you when the selected tart is older than the other one, because VMs that a newer tart changed can fail to open with an older tart.
• Switch from the banner. When the selected tart is missing, damaged, or too old, the banner in the main window now offers Use bundled tart or Use installed tart if the other tart works. Tart Manager never switches by itself.
• Tart details in error reports. Copied error reports and Settings → About show the version, source, and path of the active tart.
• Acknowledgements. Settings → About has an Acknowledgements panel with the tart license (View License) and a link to tart on GitHub.

Removed

• Removed the Detected tart row from Settings → Storage. Settings → General → Tart shows it now.

Fixed

• Dock icon in menu-bar-only mode. After you close the main window, a click on the Dock icon opens the window again. Before, Tart Manager became active but showed no window (#5).
• Dock icon with two windows. The Dock icon now stays when you close one of two main windows.

License

The bundled tart is licensed under FSL-1.1-ALv2, not under the MIT License of Tart Manager. To read the license, open Settings → About and click View License.

Note: this release is not Developer-ID signed or notarized. A new install is blocked by macOS on first launch. On macOS 15 or later, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, click Open Anyway, and confirm. On macOS 14, Control-click the app, choose Open, then confirm. Updates from inside the app open with no warning.

Full changelog: v1.2.0...v1.3.0

1.2

Tart Manager v1.2.0 adds in-app updates, so this is the last version you install by hand. It also adds a compact About tab in Settings and a Jobs section in the sidebar.

Install this version by hand one time. Tart Manager 1.0.0 and 1.1.0 cannot update themselves. Download the DMG below, and drag Tart Manager to Applications. After that, new versions install from inside the app.

Added

• In-app updates. Tart Manager checks for a new version once a day. When one is available, an Update Available button shows next to the title, and the menu-bar menu shows Update available…. No window opens by itself. Click the button to read the release notes, then choose Install Update, Skip This Version, or Remind Me Later.
• Safe install. Tart Manager verifies the signature of each update before it installs it, and refuses a changed download. If jobs run, the relaunch waits until they finish, and the button shows how many jobs it waits for. Your VMs continue to run during the relaunch.
• No more Gatekeeper warnings for updates. Updates that install from inside the app open with no "unidentified developer" warning.
• About tab in Settings. It shows the version, the update status, a Check for Updates button, and links to GitHub and the documentation.
• Update setting. To turn off the daily check, open Settings → General and turn off Check for updates automatically.
• Jobs section in the sidebar. See the progress of clone, import, export, create, and cache-cleanup jobs, and cancel a job that you no longer need. A failed job stays in the list with a link to its error details.

Changed

• Tart Manager → About Tart Manager now opens Settings on the About tab.
• The build number (CFBundleVersion) now matches the release version.

Removed

• Removed the long About window. The README now describes how to run, stop, and suspend VMs, replace a disk, read memory warnings, and prune caches.

Privacy

The update check sends no system profile. GitHub, which hosts the update feed, receives your IP address and the app's user agent.

After an update, macOS can ask again for access to files and folders.

Note: this release is not Developer-ID signed or notarized. On first launch, macOS blocks it. On macOS 15 or later, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, click Open Anyway, and confirm. On macOS 14, Control-click the app, choose Open, then confirm.

Full changelog: v1.1.0...v1.2.0

1.1

Tart Manager v1.1.0 improves the screen that shows when VM storage is not available, and reduces background work in that state.

Changed

• New storage unavailable screen. The screen now tells you the cause: the volume is not mounted, or the folder is not writable. It shows the storage path with a copy button. Retry is the main action. The design works in light and dark themes.
• Less background work when storage is unavailable. Tart Manager no longer runs tart list every 3 seconds when the storage volume is missing. It checks the folder every 30 seconds instead. Click Retry or switch back to the app to check at once.

Fixed

• Fixed the main-window controls (close, minimize, zoom) so they align with the top bar and stay in position when you resize the window.
• Fixed the truncated Choose Another Folder… button on the storage unavailable screen.

Note: this release is not Developer-ID signed or notarized. On first launch, Control-click the app, choose Open, then confirm.

Full changelog: v1.0.0...v1.1.0

1.0

Tart Manager v1.0.0 is the first release of a native macOS control center for local Tart virtual machines.

Manage, create, run, stop, clone, snapshot, and configure Tart VMs without the terminal.

Note: this release is not Developer-ID signed or notarized. On first launch, Control-click the app, choose Open, then confirm.