v0.7.0 - Localization and Interactive Animated Themes

So, it's been a while... welcome back!

Since the last update, a couple of major things have changed, and a couple of minor things. Patch v0.7.0 is meant to reflect the patch that will be going live as v1.0. We plan for this to happen later this year. With that, DropStack is now feature-complete, so let's look at the features that it gained over v0.6.4:

Localization

DropStack is now available in several languages:

• English (as always)
• Danish (thanks, @FireCubeStudios for the help)
• Ukrainian (courtesy of @Phyan, magnificent work!)
• German (localized by yours truly)

If you'd like to contribute yourself, you can get in touch and request the necessary resource files. And yes, we do support right-to-left languages!

Interactive Animated Themes

If your main language is English, you may still appreciate this fun new feature. As part of another project, we developed the Ozora Engine, which will soon be released as an independent open-source project to GitHub. This application provides a suite of tools that allowed us to craft interactive and dynamic experiences for each of our themes:

• Bliss: Ozora's efficient hard body physics simulation breathes life into the Bliss theme by adding a sun that follows the mouse cursor as well as a day-night-cycle. The sun will rubber-band towards the mouse cursor, if you pull hard enough, it can even overshoot it. It can also bounce off the sides of the window and slowly come to a stop when it's no longer being dragged.
• Colorful: Ozora's particle-based cloud simulation, while not viable as an actual cloud simulation just yet, can provide a colorful blob that follows your cursor around the screen.
• Evening: Ozora's ParulAI Bird Behavior Simulation creates a convincing bird simulation where each bird in the scene has a defined personality through several character traits, which in turn influence the decision birds make. Birds are also able to respond to each other, which can increase their social character trait. For example, if a bird is complimented by another bird, its confidence in its chirping skills will increase and you can see it singing more often. Same goes for birds forming a choir. There is a lot more to this simulation than would fit into these release notes. A deep dive may follow later.
• Thunderstorm: While not part of the Ozora Engine, the Thunderstorm theme can simulate the view into a sky during a thunderstorm. This will occasionally result in very bright flashes, which may obstruct content for up to half a second. Please refrain from using this theme if you are suffering from epilepsy.

These experiences will be available in normal mode and should be enabled by default, but you are free to toggle the animations off next to the theme picker in settings if you so prefer. If you have any feedback, please contact us, and tell us what you think!

Other Changes

Different publishers may disagree on this one, but apps shouldn't only get larger, they should also refine what is already there to provide a more intuitive user interface. So, here's a non-conclusive list of what's changed:

• The settings panel now has a maximum width and you can tap anywhere around it to dismiss it now, because it makes sense
• Fixed several crashes, related to Windows Hello™️ authentication, tapping into an empty space of the files list and more
• Fixed several visual and functional bugs related to the context menu and details pane
• Improved the reliability of preview features, such as music previewing and fixed an issue where the preview windows couldn't be dragged around

Important Notice

Please do note that the certificate from the last patch is no longer valid, you will have to import the new certificate into the trusted root certificates. We apologize for any inconvenience this may be causing you. Kindly refer to this StackOverflow reply for assistance with importing the certificate. Thank you.

v0.6.4 - More Bugfixes

Welcome back,

this patch includes a small design tweak for the sake of consistency with the Windows 11 context menu, as well as a couple of bug fixes.

To align with future Windows 11 updates, the context menu will from now on display labels in the quick access row - this has been introduced by Microsoft to the Windows Insider Program with Build 26058.

Furthermore, we fixed some bugs related to dragging the Simple Mode window and also to picking the default launch mode.

Thank you for using DropStack!

v0.6.3 - Stability Improvements and Bug Fixes

Hello again,

This update mainly addresses crashes and bugs related to the onboarding flow and general usage between the first and second launch. Therefore, this patch includes the following changes:

• fixed a crash that would occur after having picked the main portal folder
• fixed a crash related to adding a secondary folder during the first session
• fixed an issue where settings would incorrectly display portal folders after the onboarding flow was completed
• fixed an issue that persistently displayed a placeholder item in the "Reveal in Explorer" menu in normal mode
• always launching into Simple Mode is no longer the default in the onboarding flow
• fixed an issue where Windows would refer to the DropStack window incorrectly

If you are an existing DropStack user, feel free to skip this patch if you aren't bothered by the fixed bugs, however, if you are a first-time user, it is recommended you install DropStack via this patch using the install.ps1 file.

v0.6.2 - Bugfixes and Better Search, other Improvements

Welcome back!
This release includes some fixes and improvements:

• improved caching reliability
• improved search accuracy
• soft reload should no longer impact search and filtering
• fixed a bug that would see soft reload ordering new files in a reverse order, which was already assumed to be fixed in the last update
• added an attribution to WinUIEx
• added several file types to known file types: .heic, .HEIC and .DNG

This update is recommended for all users on DropStack v0.6.x.
Thank you for using DropStack!

v0.6.1 - Hotfix for Soft Reload

This update includes a hotfix that aims to address soft reload displaying newly added files in the wrong order.

Thank you for using DropStack!

v0.6.0 - QuickLook, Better Performance, Lenient Search, Experimental Details Sheet and more

Good morning!

It's been a while, but now, we're proud to announce a slew of careful refinements and new experiences that will reduce the need and desire to ever leave DropStack, starting with...

File Preview

Now, a macOS file feature wouldn't be a macOS file feature without the ability to preview your files without opening a different app. Starting today, we are rolling out previewing support for images, videos and PDF files. The image preview beautifully adapts itself to the size of your image and displays it in an elegant floating window that opens instantly without any distracting UI elements around it whatsoever. Of course, you can still pinch or Ctrl + Mouse Wheel to zoom in or out. Videos also appear in a similar window format. PDF files are rendered using Microsoft Edge's PDF viewer. File Preview is available across all three modes.

Supercharged Context Menu

We finally brought the context menu to the default DropStack experience but, as you'd expect, it is supercharged with new features. Next to the preview feature, it now also supports rotating images, opening files with a specific program rather than the default one and deleting files.
We also fixed a long-lasting bug related to right-clicking an already selected file.

Lenient Search

Search now uses a new approach to find your files. Rather than searching for perfect matches, search will now also find your files if you do a typo or forget whether your naming convention involved underscores instead of hyphens or not.
Search's leniency can be configured in settings.

Performance Improvements

We fixed the delay at launch before DropStack would start loading in images, additionally, DropStack will now reuse previously used images, so if you only have PDF files in your downloads folder, DropStack will only load the PDF icon once and then intelligently reuse it for other PDF files. Images and other file types with file icons are excluded from this rule so DropStack still displays the correct thumbnails for them.

Soft Reload

When giving the window focus, DropStack will now automatically check in the background whether you have new files and add them to the list if it finds one without refreshing it entirely.

Hidden Pins

If you don't use pins, you can now hide them in both modes they are supported in to maximise the space that your portal files and the sort buttons get.

Unified Settings

Settings are now bundled in with About DropStack, giving them more room to breathe and cleaning up the interface.

Experimental: Details Sheet

We are experimenting with a new experience that gives you a richer overview of your files. In Settings and About - Appearance and general behavior, we added a toggle for the new Details Sheet. Toggling it and selecting a file will slide up a details sheet at the bottom of the app. From here, you can access the newly added features from the context menu, as well as renaming your file or previewing audio and video files in the file thumbnail. If you hover over the file icon, it will jump at you, giving you a better look at it. You can dismiss the Details Sheet by either clicking the according icon or by sliding it down to where it came from.
We are looking forward to your feedback on possible additions to this experience going forward. Please leave feedback if you have any ideas. We'd be happy to hear from you!

Other Changes

Some bugfixes, incorrect references and minor performance improvements.

Thank you for using DropStack!

v0.5.1 - Mini Mode, Windowing, and minor adjustments

Welcome back!
This update includes two major and two minor things, let's dive right in...

Mini Mode

Well, as you could see on the far right of the image above, we brought back old simple mode but supercharged it with new DropStack features, which is to say caching, the compact command bar flyout and all the performance improvements since the last UWP build, while also giving it a new touch with the new compact layout adjustments. The layout will no longer waste space from, left and center, but rather organize itself, using opacity and size to guide your attention towards important aspects, and still providing glanceable information - all while being remarkably compact.

We also kept the toolbar from the previous version with its slick animations but updated it to no longer show buttons that would already be present inside of the flyout toolbar. And of course, you still have the option to pin it in settings.

And, while we are using a new way to save your launch preference regarding your choice of modes, it is fully backwards compatible, meaning that if you previously set simple mode as your mode of choice, your decision will be retained. Speaking of simple mode...

Windowing in simple mode

We were told that you wanted simple mode but without its limitations of being designed around acting as a system shell element. That's why we now give you the option in settings to make it behave like a normal window, which will still be pinned on top of your other apps. As such, it will now show up in the taskbar and CoolSwitch, it is movable, resizable and uses the default window caption buttons.

But because we are now using the default caption buttons, we had to rethink how we would get back to normal mode - we decided to show a persistent button just left to the filter options, so the enhanced capability of normal mode is just one click away. And now you also have a new reason to go there because after we fixed light mode, we now worked on dark mode...

Other changes

Contrast adjustments

Choosing a lighter theme in normal mode while you had dark mode enabled could sometimes make text unreadable, especially on lower-contrast screens. This turned out to be a big problem with the Ukraine theme, but neither Bliss nor the very pretty Microsoft theme were left untouched by this issue. Not cool. That's why we started treating themes the same across all modes now, applying the logic from simple mode to normal mode.

Minor changes to tooltip positioning

The tooltips for a succeeded file copy in normal mode as well as the one for a failed drag (which we hope you will never see) are now displayed at the top so even if you drag your window to the bottom of the screen, you can still see it, because it won't hide behind the taskbar anymore.

Thank you for using DropStack.

Keep the feedback coming!

Sincerely, the DropStack team

v0.5.0 - Aligning DropStack to your expectations...

Welcome back!

After a month, we are finally back with a new release. The focus of patch v0.5.0 is aligning DropStack's behavior with how you would expect it to react. This includes (but is by far not limited to) optimizing its perceived performance by improving launch speed. For example, search and filtering now work instantly after launch, even if not all files are loaded in yet. But much more importantly, we are excited to announce...

Caching

That's right, we finally introduced caching to DropStack. The moment you load your files for the first time, DropStack will create a file, storing details about files, so there is no need to reload them anymore, wasting resources*. So, rather than loading everything from fresh each time DropStack starts, instantly showing you a list of files that was present when it last launched. It then proceeds to do the following:

1. Check for new files, if there are, they are added to the view
2. Check if all the displayed files still exist and remove them if not
3. Load in thumbnails, respecting your settings

Writing these systems that can dynamically add and remove files also allowed us to apply the same logic to the other app - adding a file to the pins or dragging out a file from the portal section now also does not refresh the entire list anymore, while refreshing the list manually will still load in the whole list and update the cache. Talking about pinned files, those also received a new update:

Remove pinned files

In normal mode, at the top right corner of each pinned file, there is now an icon to unpin the file, which gives you a confirmation dialogue and, once you click the button to confirm your wish, the file is unpinned. Note that DropStack creates a copy of each pinned file, so that it can show them to you, even if you deleted the original. Unpinning a file will delete that copy and never affect the original. And just like the other two scenarios mentioned earlier - this will of course instantly be saved in DropStack's cache.

But now you might be left wishing to also manipulate files in simple mode, just like in normal mode. If you do, this patch will fundamentally change how you interact with DropStack!

Simple mode toolbar flyout

Yes, we are adding a toolbar to simple mode! But wouldn't this make it more complicated? Wouldn't adding buttons to it make it harder to focus on the actual files? Well, no, because this toolbar only appears when you need it. Whenever you select a file, DropStack shows you a selection of three different icons:

• Open
• Copy
• Pin

Clicking the three dots or right-clicking a file will expand this flyout to include advanced actions:

• Reveal file in Explorer
• Enable selection mode
  ... which is the perfect transition into the next feature:

Selection Mode

Multi-select has been a feature in DropStack, prior to the launch of v0.5.0 - however, it has never worked for tablet users. Now, we are introducing checkboxed multi-select. In settings, you get the option to turn this feature on or off or sync it to your file explorer settings - when on, checkboxes will be displayed next to files so you can select them more easily on a tablet. If you don't wish to constantly have these on but want them in certain moments, simply hit the new button in normal mode's toolbar or, alternatively, press Ctrl+Q!

Fixed light mode

Yeah. Light mode looks good now. That's it.

Other changes

There is a whole fleet of usability improvements that absolutely deserve mentioning, but not so much a separate title:

• Simple mode will no longer allow you to load pinned files when they are protected through Windows Hello
• OOBE now does not allow swiping through it and completing setup anymore, instead, if you attempt to finish it while the app is not set up, it will guide you back to the uncompleted page
• The button to open files now opens all selected files
• Improved accuracy of search, as dragged out items will not be shown anymore
• About DropStack menu now fades the whole background, including the title bar
• The reveal in explorer button will now show a dropdown, letting you choose between all your connected folders to reveal

And, of course, there are multiple other changes to improve DropStack's performance, predictability and elegance.

Thank you for using DropStack!

Happy 100th commit anniversary!

*About DropStack caching files: The files are stored in DropStack's LocalState folder - they are deleted as folders are disconnected or as DropStack is uninstalled. DropStack never sends these files to anyone. They contain file (display) name, file path, file type (as well as DropStack's internal type tag), file size (suffix - suffix referring to KB/MB/GB, which is used to display the size), file modified date and some internal variables that are a direct result of the above-mentioned information. The file size of this caching file is around 0.8KB per file reference.

v0.4.3 - Multi-Select, Custom Performance Settings and more maintenance

Welcome back,
this release includes some important bug fixes again, but first, let's talk new features!

Multi-Select

As you can see, multiple files have been selected. This currently works in normal mode for portal files. We currently do not have plans to expand this to simple mode, however, if you would like to see it, please let us know by submitting feedback.

You can select multiple items by holding down the control key and clicking multiple items in a row or batch-select a range of files by selecting the first item, holding shift and then selecting the last item.

You can then drag them out or copy all these files at once, using the button or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C.

Custom Performance Settings

For a long time, we had to find a balance between people with a NASA PC and people with their grandma's Celeron laptop. Well, not anymore, DropStack now lets you decide how much content to load. How? Well, in settings, you will find a new section, called "Performance and efficiency", which gives you a couple options to customize the app's behavior. let's go through them:

• Loaded items in normal view: Does what it says, restricts loaded items in normal view. This of course only applies to portal files, your pinned files will always be loaded completely, since that's what you pinned them for.
• Loaded items in simple view: Basically same thing, except for simple view.
• Loaded thumbnails in both views: Restricts how many file thumbnails are loaded. This helps if you want to search for old files, because reducing this number allows you to dial up the number above, since loading the thumbnails is by far the most ram-eating and most time-consuming process. We suggest you keep this the same as the number of items loaded in simple mode.
• Thumbnail resolution: Previously, DropStack would load thumbnails at a resolution of 256x256 pixels. We reduced this default to 64x64 pixels, helping with performance without greatly impacting visuals. But you can also customize this now to improve the app's speed and help it go easy on your memory - or rather your computer's memory.

You can also click the button below to reset these values to their default.

What if I set this too high?

Don't you worry, we thought of everything. We added new launch arguments, so you can just go to your Command Prompt and execute one of these commands:

• DropStack resetPerformanceSettings to reset the settings to default, a.k.a. 1000, 250, 250 and 64
• DropStack lowerPerformanceSettings to set the performance settings to very low values, specifically 1, 1, 1, 16
  Note that unlike in previous patches, executing a command like this does not launch an app window, so you will have to do that yourself afterwards.

Bugfixes and changes

• In normal mode, if you have a long file name, the list finally stops clipping out the right of the window, but instead now properly trims the text, as seen in simple mode.
• Improved simple mode dragging and selecting reliability
• Opening and dragging files in secondary folders works now - we are sorry for the inconvenience caused by this bug.
• Dragging a file out of normal mode will now refresh the list to prevent the file from being displayed after it was moved.

Well, that would be it for today. Thank you for using DropStack!

v0.4.2 - Hotfix for scaling bug

This release fixes the issue that could occur when the user used their Windows install at any scaling setting other than 100%. It would reveal itself through DropStack clipping out of the visible screen area and appearing off-centered due to faulty position calculation, as well as due to not accounting for having to reduce its height, since it did not detect that it would exceed the screen limits, if scaling caused it to do so.

Changelog

• fixed the aforementioned issues - position calculation now works regardless of scaling, window shortening now also takes scaling into account
• the pills in simple mode that display file type and size in simple mode were moved down slightly, to help content that was being displayed inside of them appear more centered

If you encounter any other issue, please let us know. We are always looking to provide you with the best possible experience we can deliver.
Thank you for participating in the DropStack Public Beta!