v2.2.3-beta.2

CoolDock 2.2.3-beta.2 (Beta)

Beta 2 adds "Clicking the active app" (Hide), New Private Window for Opera, Chromium, Arc, Firefox and Zen, a new color picker, lower idle battery use, and File Shelf drops from browsers and Photos. Everything from Beta 1 is included.

🆕 New in Beta 2

• Click the active app to hide it — Settings > Dock > Apps > Clicking the active app: None (default, same as the macOS Dock: the app comes forward again) or Hide. With Hide, clicking the icon of the app you're using hides it; if that app has no window open on this desktop, the click opens or restores one as before. Thanks to Mandro.
• New Window / New Private Window for more browsers — right-click Opera (also Opera GX, Air, beta and developer), Chromium, Arc, Firefox (also Developer Edition and Nightly) or Zen in the dock for New Window and New Private Window. If CoolDock isn't allowed to choose the browser's menu command, a clear message tells you which permission to turn on. Thanks to Mandro.
• A new color picker everywhere — every color setting opens the same picker in a small pop-over: the Appit palette first, any custom color one tab away. That covers Pixel Clock and Overlap Clock, the Focus timer accent, clicker and metronome colors, the divider line color, the File Shelf icon color and the Trash badge color. Your saved colors stay as they are.
• Easier on your battery — CoolDock uses much less power while idle. Loading placeholders (for example a Weather widget that hasn't loaded yet) stop shimmering after a few seconds, Quick Toggles read Wi-Fi without starting a helper every 2 seconds, and app badge checks no longer start helpers for apps that already answered. Thanks to Sean.
• File Shelf takes images from browsers and Photos — an image dragged out of Opera, Chrome or Safari, a photo from Photos, or any other app's dragged file now lands on the File Shelf, instead of the shelf lighting up and adding nothing. Thanks to Mandro.

🆕 New in Beta 1

• Hide the dock from screen sharing — Settings > Privacy > Screen Sharing > Hide dock from screen sharing & recordings. The dock, its labels, previews and widget pop-ups stay on your screen but are left out of Zoom, Meet and Teams shares, screen recordings and screenshots. Off by default, and switching applies right away.
• Turn off the window layout controls on previews — Settings > Dock > Apps > Window layout controls on previews. Turn it off and window previews (and the App Switcher gallery) no longer show the Full Screen / halves / corners grid: a click just brings that window to the front. On by default, as before. Thanks to Jeremy and Nazar.
• More AI usage widgets your way — the Cursor, Copilot, GLM, Grok, OpenCode and Antigravity usage widgets get the same right-click choices as Codex and Claude: Percentage (Used or Remaining) and Click Action (Refresh or open the provider's website). Thanks to Lazar.

✨ Improved (Beta 1)

• Steadier updates — the update installer now starts in its own helper instead of inside CoolDock. If macOS ever stops an update from starting, CoolDock tells you to quit and reopen it (with a link to the latest download) instead of freezing on a second try. Thanks to Akiva.
• macOS 27 permission name — on macOS 27, where Apple renamed Accessibility to "Device Control and Data Access", every CoolDock permission message, button and onboarding step now uses the new name, so you can find the setting. Thanks to Akiva.
• World Clock finds more cities — San Francisco, Austin, Seattle, San Diego, Las Vegas, Dallas, Houston, Boston, Washington DC, Miami, Atlanta, Montreal, Munich, Barcelona, Milan, Beijing, Bengaluru, Osaka and Tel Aviv now show up when you search. Thanks to Lazar.
• Export Diagnostics tells us more about updates — it now keeps the update helper's messages and notes when an update made CoolDock stop responding, so we can help you faster.

🐛 Fixed (Beta 1)

• Swap at the Bottom with a macOS Dock menu open — right-clicking an app in the macOS Dock no longer brings CoolDock back on top of it while the menu is open. CoolDock waits until the menu closes. Thanks to gingerbeard.
• Hide/Show shortcut works on the first press — after Reset Layout, and with docks on all displays (including a display connected while the dock was hidden), one press now hides or shows the dock instead of needing two.
• Now Playing cover after resuming Music — the first song after you resume Music shows its cover instead of an empty frame. Thanks to Karol.
• Window layout controls on stacked displays — with one display above or below another, Full Screen, halves and corners now place the window on its own display, not on the dock's display.

✅ QA checklist

Quick checks for the team and beta testers. Tick each one and report anything off to support@appitstudio.com.

New in Beta 2

• Update + launch: with the Beta setting on, update from 2.2.3-beta.1 (or 2.2.2) via Check for Updates → the update installs without hanging, CoolDock relaunches as 2.2.3-beta.2 (65), dock and profiles as before, license still active.
• Clicking the active app = None: leave the new setting on None, click the icon of the app you're using → it stays in front, like before.
• Clicking the active app = Hide: Settings > Dock > Apps > Clicking the active app > Hide. Click the icon of the app you're using → it hides; click again → it comes back. Minimize all its windows and click → they come back instead of hiding. Click CoolDock's own items → CoolDock never hides itself.
• Private windows: right-click Opera (or GX/Air), Chromium, Arc, Firefox and Zen in the dock > New Window and New Private Window → each opens the right kind of window. With Accessibility (Device Control and Data Access on macOS 27) off, Firefox or Zen > New Private Window shows a message that says what to allow, and the dock keeps responding while it's open.
• Chrome, Brave, Edge, Vivaldi, Safari: their right-click New Window / New Private Window still work as before.
• Color picker: change the color in Focus (timer accent, clicker, metronome), the divider line, File Shelf icon, Trash badge, Pixel Clock and Overlap Clock → the picker opens as a pop-over, the pick applies right away, Default (where it shows) resets it, and the color is still there after a relaunch.
• Battery: leave CoolDock running idle for an hour (with Weather and Quick Toggles if you use them) → Activity Monitor > Energy shows CoolDock low; a Weather widget that can't load stops shimmering after a few seconds.
• Badges + Wi-Fi toggle: unread badges (Mail, Messages, Slack) still show and clear; the Quick Toggles Wi-Fi switch shows the right state and still turns Wi-Fi on and off.
• File Shelf drops: drag an image out of Opera, Chrome and Safari, and a photo out of Photos, onto the File Shelf tile and onto the open File Shelf → each one is added and can be dragged out again. A plain Finder file still works; dragging a plain link doesn't light the shelf up.

From Beta 1

• Check for Updates again: after relaunching, choose Check for Updates → it says you're up to date, no error and no freeze.
• Swap at the Bottom + Dock menu: choose Swap at the Bottom, move to the bottom edge so the macOS Dock shows, right-click an app in it and move the pointer up into the menu → only the macOS Dock and its menu show; close the menu and move away → CoolDock comes back.
• Hide from screen sharing: Settings > Privacy > Screen Sharing, turn on Hide dock from screen sharing & recordings, take a screenshot (Shift-Command-3) → the dock is visible on your screen but missing from the screenshot. Turn it off, screenshot → the dock is there. Turn it on again, screenshot → hidden again.
• Screen sharing pop-ups: with it on, open a widget pop-up and hover an app for its preview while sharing in Zoom/Meet/Teams (or recording the screen) → none of them show in the share; Settings and other titled windows still do.
• Hide/Show shortcut: press your Hide/Show shortcut to hide the dock, use Reset Layout, then press the shortcut once → the dock hides on the first press. With docks on all displays, hide the dock, connect a display, press once → every dock shows.
• Window layout controls off: Settings > Dock > Apps, turn off Window layout controls on previews, hover an app with several windows → no layout grid; click a preview → that window comes to the front. Turn it back on → the grid is back.
• Stacked displays: with a display above or below the main one, hover an app whose window is on the other display, use Left Half from its preview → the window snaps on its own display.
• Now Playing cover: pause Music for a while, then press play → the cover shows for the first song, not an empty frame.
• AI usage widgets: right-click a Cursor, Copilot, GLM, Grok, OpenCode or Antigravity usage widget > Percentage > Remaining → it shows the percent left; Click Action > Open, click it → the provider's website opens.
• macOS 27 wording: on macOS 27, open Settings > Layout and onboarding with the permission off → the text says "Device Control and Data Access" and the button opens that pane. On macOS 26 or older it still says "Accessibility".
• World Clock search: add a World Clock, search for San Francisco, Austin and Tel Aviv → each city is found and shows the right time.
• Export Diagnostics: Settings > Diagnostics > Export → the file saves and opens without the dock freezing.
• Basics: app launches, license stays active, Check for Updates works, no crash after 10 min of normal use.

Thanks for testing CoolDock! Please send anything that looks off, with a screenshot or Export Diagnostics if you can, to support@appitstudio.com. Appit Studio