Annex 0.3.7-pre.3

Annex 0.3.7-pre.3

A pre-release for testing: turn on Beta updates (About → Updates) to get it. Install it on both computers.

Improved

• More direct connections with a code. Some internet providers forget an idle connection after a minute, so a code that waited a while before the other computer typed it ended up on the relay. While a code waits, Annex now keeps the way in open, so the two computers can still connect directly.
• See how many relay sessions are left. While a session goes through Annex's relay, the sharing page shows how many of today's 10 are left. When they're used up, it says so: they come back at midnight UTC, or you can add your own relay and server in Settings → Advanced → Internet, which have no limit.

Built by CI from this tag. Installation steps: see the README.

Windows Extend-mode driver: optional in the installer (off by default). The installer signs it on your PC
with a one-off certificate whose private key is deleted right away, so it loads without test signing.

Linux: .deb (Ubuntu, Debian, Raspberry Pi OS, JetPack, Mint), .rpm (Fedora, RHEL, openSUSE) and
.tar.gz, for x86_64 and arm64. Install with sudo apt install ./Annex-…-linux-<cpu>.deb or
sudo dnf install ./Annex-…-linux-<cpu>.rpm. Video needs the system's H.264 codecs: see docs/LINUX.md.

Signing: the Mac app is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens without
warnings. The Windows installer isn't code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may warn the first time:
click More info → Run anyway. Annex checks every in-app update against SHA256SUMS.txt.sig.

Full Changelog: v0.3.7-pre.2...v0.3.7-pre.3

Annex 0.3.7-pre.2

Annex 0.3.7-pre.2

A pre-release for testing: turn on Beta updates (About → Updates) to get it. Install it on both computers. Thanks to Saidev Dhal for testing over the internet.

Improved

• A sharper picture over the internet. Annex used to lower the picture's quality every time a single frame got lost on the way, and was slow to raise it again, so a good internet connection could look blurry. It now ignores the odd lost frame, lowers the quality only when the connection really can't keep up, and climbs back faster.
• Fewer blocky moments. Each frame carries more repair data, so a short burst of lost packets no longer spoils it.
• HEVC on every platform. When both computers support it, the picture is sent as HEVC: sharper at the same speed. Otherwise it's H.264, as before, with nothing to set up.
  • Mac: every Apple silicon Mac, and Intel Macs that decode HEVC in hardware.
  • Windows: sending needs a graphics card with an HEVC encoder (NVIDIA, Intel or AMD); receiving needs Windows' HEVC decoder (the HEVC Video Extensions, built into many PCs and available from the Microsoft Store).
  • Linux: sending needs an HEVC encoder on the graphics chip (Intel and AMD through VA-API, NVIDIA); receiving needs a GStreamer HEVC decoder (gstreamer1.0-libav has one).
  • When several computers watch one screen, it's HEVC only while all of them support it.
  • Turn it off in Settings → HEVC if the picture misbehaves.
• The relay is only a fallback, and no longer a lesser one. Annex uses it only when the two networks block a direct connection. A relayed session now has the same quality as a direct one and no 20-minute limit. Each computer can use it for 10 sessions a day. It stays end to end encrypted.
• The sharing page shows "Relay" next to a viewer connected through the relay.

Built by CI from this tag. Installation steps: see the README.

Windows Extend-mode driver: optional in the installer (off by default). The installer signs it on your PC
with a one-off certificate whose private key is deleted right away, so it loads without test signing.

Linux: .deb (Ubuntu, Debian, Raspberry Pi OS, JetPack, Mint), .rpm (Fedora, RHEL, openSUSE) and
.tar.gz, for x86_64 and arm64. Install with sudo apt install ./Annex-…-linux-<cpu>.deb or
sudo dnf install ./Annex-…-linux-<cpu>.rpm. Video needs the system's H.264 codecs: see docs/LINUX.md.

Signing: the Mac app is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens without
warnings. The Windows installer isn't code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may warn the first time:
click More info → Run anyway. Annex checks every in-app update against SHA256SUMS.txt.sig.

Full Changelog: v0.3.7-pre.1...v0.3.7-pre.2

Annex 0.3.7-pre.1

Annex 0.3.7-pre.1

A pre-release for testing: turn on Beta updates (About → Updates) to get it. Install it on both computers. Thanks to Saidev Dhal for the logs that found this.

Improved

• More internet connections go direct, without the relay. Some internet providers share one public address among many homes, and their routers give each connection its own port. A viewer used to knock on the wrong port, give up and use the relay. Annex now also connects to the port that computer's router really uses. Nothing new is opened to anyone: it's a path the sharing computer's own router made towards the viewer, and only packets signed with your code can point Annex to it.
• The log says why a connection used the relay. It names the network that blocked a direct connection (this one, the other one, or both), and notes when a session connects directly or switches to the relay.

Still the same

Every session is end to end encrypted (TLS 1.3, checked against each computer's identity), whether it's direct or through the relay. The relay only forwards packets it can't read.

Built by CI from this tag. Installation steps: see the README.

Windows Extend-mode driver: optional in the installer (off by default). The installer signs it on your PC
with a one-off certificate whose private key is deleted right away, so it loads without test signing.

Linux: .deb (Ubuntu, Debian, Raspberry Pi OS, JetPack, Mint), .rpm (Fedora, RHEL, openSUSE) and
.tar.gz, for x86_64 and arm64. Install with sudo apt install ./Annex-…-linux-<cpu>.deb or
sudo dnf install ./Annex-…-linux-<cpu>.rpm. Video needs the system's H.264 codecs: see docs/LINUX.md.

Signing: the Mac app is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens without
warnings. The Windows installer isn't code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may warn the first time:
click More info → Run anyway. Annex checks every in-app update against SHA256SUMS.txt.sig.

Full Changelog: v0.3.6...v0.3.7-pre.1

Annex 0.3.6

Annex 0.3.6

Fixed

• Linux: sharing no longer flips on and off by itself. If sharing failed right after it was turned on (for example on a GNOME screen that was still locked), Annex could start turning it off and on again many times a second. The Share switch now reacts only to your clicks.

Annex 0.3.5

Annex 0.3.5

Fixed

• Linux on GNOME: the desktop no longer freezes at login. On some graphics drivers, Annex starting at the same moment as GNOME froze the whole desktop. Annex now starts 15 seconds after login, and earlier installs switch over the next time Annex opens.
• Linux on GNOME: a headless computer stays shareable. With No one at this screen on, GNOME locked the idle screen after a few minutes, and the next viewer got no picture. While sharing this way, Annex now keeps the screen from locking. If GNOME closes the screen share anyway, the next viewer gets a new one. A locked screen now says how to unlock it over SSH (loginctl unlock-session).
• Mac: Reverse Mouse Wheel only reverses a mouse wheel. When you view Windows or Linux, trackpad and Magic Mouse scrolling stays natural.
• Linux: switches look right on every theme. Themes like Mint-Y showed a checkbox square instead of the knob. Annex now draws its own switches.
• Linux: Annex's icon shows everywhere. It now appears in menus that read it early, like Cinnamon's, and in the taskbar and window switcher.

Annex 0.3.4

Annex 0.3.4

Install it on both computers. Each side takes its own echo out, so both need 0.3.4.

Fixed

• No more echo with the microphone and speakers on. With Send my microphone on, each side used to hear itself come back. Annex now cancels the echo the way video-call apps do: the computer you view from takes the other computer's sound out of your microphone, and the computer you view takes your voice out of the sound it sends back. Headphones are no longer needed.
• Your microphone sounds cleaner. Steady background noise, like a fan, is filtered out of it.
• Music and videos are left alone. The computer's own sound is only touched for a moment while your voice plays on it, and never filtered for noise.

Annex 0.3.3

Annex 0.3.3

Install it on every computer you use with Annex. The new sound and microphone switches are on the computer being viewed, so that computer needs 0.3.3.

New

• Sound and microphone switches for each device. Under "Can use this computer's mouse and keyboard", each paired device now has Can hear this computer's sound and Its microphone plays here. Both start on; turn either off for one device without changing your Sound settings. Find them on the Devices page and on the device's card in Nearby.

• Annex for Linux has a full command line. Control Annex from a terminal or over SSH, which suits a computer with no screen such as a Raspberry Pi:

  • annex status, annex share on|off, annex start --headless --share, annex quit
  • annex settings, annex get <setting>, annex set <setting> <value> for every setting
  • annex devices with allow-control, allow-sound, allow-mic and forget
  • annex nearby, annex connect, annex disconnect, annex code, annex pin
  • annex send, annex transfers, annex pause|resume|unsend, annex update check, annex logs

  Add --json for scripts. annex help lists everything.

Fixed

• Mac: computers on your Tailscale network show in Nearby again. Opened as an app, Annex couldn't read Tailscale's list of computers, so Nearby only showed computers on the same Wi-Fi.
• The log now says why Nearby is missing a computer on a private network: how many computers Tailscale listed, how many answered, and why Tailscale couldn't be asked.

Annex 0.3.2

Annex 0.3.2

Install it on both computers. Sound and the smaller picture need 0.3.2 on each side.

New

• Sound. You hear the computer you're viewing, and you can send your microphone back. On Linux your microphone appears there as Annex Microphone, so you can pick it in a call. Find the switches in Settings → Advanced → Sound. The Mac asks for microphone permission the first time you turn on "Send my microphone".
• Pause or unsend a file. Files you're sending show Pause and Unsend in the island at the top of the screen; files arriving show Stop. Unsending deletes what had already arrived.
• Annex for Linux looks and works like the Mac. A dark window with a sidebar, grouped settings, the Quality picker, update checks, live session stats, the code's countdown with a Copy button, and this computer's addresses.

Changed

• Smooth video on slow connections. On a slow link Annex lowers the bitrate further and sends a smaller picture, so the video stays live instead of falling seconds behind. The full picture comes back when the link speeds up.
• Verbose logging is on by default on every platform, so a first report already says what went wrong. Turn it off in Settings → Developer.
• Linux keeps both computers awake during a session, and Esc leaves a view-only session, as on the Mac.
• Annex waits longer for its fast connection before falling back to one that can't send files, which helps slower computers.

Fixed

• Mac: the notch glows as soon as you drag a file, and the island hangs right from the camera with no gap.
• Mac: the menu bar icon is solid while connected and faded otherwise.
• Mac: a failed connection now says why, on Nearby and in the menu bar.

Built by CI from this tag. Installation steps: see the README.

Windows Extend-mode driver: optional in the installer (off by default). The installer signs it on your PC
with a one-off certificate whose private key is deleted right away, so it loads without test signing.

Linux: .deb (Ubuntu, Debian, Raspberry Pi OS, JetPack, Mint), .rpm (Fedora, RHEL, openSUSE) and
.tar.gz, for x86_64 and arm64. Install with sudo apt install ./Annex-…-linux-<cpu>.deb or
sudo dnf install ./Annex-…-linux-<cpu>.rpm. Video needs the system's H.264 codecs: see docs/LINUX.md.

Signing: the Mac app is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens without
warnings. The Windows installer isn't code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may warn the first time:
click More info → Run anyway. Annex checks every in-app update against SHA256SUMS.txt.sig.

What's Changed

• Fix the cancel test that timed out on the v0.3.1 tag by @SkidGod4444 in #39
• Sound, smaller picture on slow links, Linux like the Mac, island Pause/Unsend by @SkidGod4444 in #40
• CI: fix main after #40 (Linux clippy lint, trimmed and updated tests) by @SkidGod4444 in #41
• Fix code scanning alert #11; give QUIC 6 s before the TCP fallback by @SkidGod4444 in #42
• Release notes for 0.3.2 by @SkidGod4444 in #43

Full Changelog: v0.3.1...v0.3.2

Annex 0.3.1

Annex 0.3.1

Install it on both computers. After updating, Annex shows a short "What's new" once; it's also on the About page.

New

• Copy here, paste there. While you control another computer, text and pictures you copy on one can be pasted on the other. Passwords copied from password managers stay on the computer they were copied on. Turn it off in Settings → Clipboard and files.
• Send files by dragging them onto the window showing the other computer. They arrive in its Downloads folder, checked so they're exactly what was sent.
• Drop islands. Start dragging a file and a black island with a silver edge pops out at the top of the screen: from the notch on a Mac, from the top on Windows and on Linux (KDE, Sway, Labwc and X11 desktops). Bring the file close and drop it to send it. On GNOME (Wayland) there's no island; drop files on the viewer window.
• Scrolling feels the same everywhere. A Mac with natural scrolling now scrolls the same way when it controls Windows or Linux. Change it in Settings → Viewing.
• What's new after each update, and a What's New button on the About page.

Changed

• A log that explains what went wrong. Every feature now logs what it does. When something fails, the moments before it are saved in the crashes folder. Turn on Verbose logging while chasing a problem, and use Show log files to find them. Only your account can read the log, and it never holds what you type, copy or send, or your PINs and codes.
• Mac: small scrolls on a Mac you control no longer judder.
• Linux Extend uses the viewer's scale, so text on the extra display is the right size.
• Connect with a code has a close button and starts empty every time you open it.

Fixed

• Mac: looking for nearby computers no longer opens Tailscale.

Built by CI from this tag. Installation steps: see the README.

Windows Extend-mode driver: optional in the installer (off by default). The installer signs it on your PC
with a one-off certificate whose private key is deleted right away, so it loads without test signing.

Linux: .deb (Ubuntu, Debian, Raspberry Pi OS, JetPack, Mint), .rpm (Fedora, RHEL, openSUSE) and
.tar.gz, for x86_64 and arm64. Install with sudo apt install ./Annex-…-linux-<cpu>.deb or
sudo dnf install ./Annex-…-linux-<cpu>.rpm. Video needs the system's H.264 codecs: see docs/LINUX.md.

Signing: the Mac app is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens without
warnings. The Windows installer isn't code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may warn the first time:
click More info → Run anyway. Annex checks every in-app update against SHA256SUMS.txt.sig.

What's Changed

• Clipboard, file transfer, drop islands and a debug log for every feature by @SkidGod4444 in #37
• Log: readable only by this account by @SkidGod4444 in #34
• Linux Extend: use the viewer's scale, and a setting to change it by @SkidGod4444 in #35
• Mac: don't open Tailscale; logs for lag and failed codes; smoother scrolling by @SkidGod4444 in #36
• What's new dialog after updates; Connect with a code closes and starts fresh by @SkidGod4444 in #38

Full Changelog: v0.3.0...v0.3.1

Annex 0.3.0

Annex 0.3.0

Thanks to Saidev Dhal for most of this release. Install it on both computers.

New

• Annex for Linux. Share a Linux screen, view other computers, and use a Linux computer as an extra display (Extend), with the same pairing and encryption as the Mac and Windows apps. Packages for x86_64 and arm64: .deb (Ubuntu, Debian, Raspberry Pi OS), .rpm (Fedora, openSUSE) and .tar.gz. Tested on a Raspberry Pi 5. See docs/LINUX.md.
• Headless mode: control a computer no one is sitting at. Turn on No one at this screen (Mac and Windows) or run annex --headless (Linux). The pairing PIN is also written to pairing-pin.txt in Annex's data folder, so you can read it over SSH, and paired devices can control the computer without someone clicking Allow. The file is readable only by you and is deleted once pairing ends.
• One-line install on every system. Mac and Linux: curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NRanjan-17/Annex/main/scripts/install.sh | sh. Windows (PowerShell): irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NRanjan-17/Annex/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex. Both check the release's signature before installing anything.
• Says which computer is sharing and which is viewing, with an arrow from one to the other. If both computers have the same name, Annex asks you to rename this one.

Changed

• Updates offer the newest version straight away, not each version in between, and check again when you click Install.
• Annex always keeps a log (annex.log, Settings → Developer → Log file). It stays on your computer; Annex never sends it anywhere. If something goes wrong, attach it to a bug report. It holds about 10 MB at most.
• Settings: the five that matter are on top, with everything else under Advanced. Codes no longer need the Internet switch turned on first.
• Mac: full screen opens and closes at once, on the current Space. Disconnecting from full screen takes about 90 ms instead of 650 ms.
• The menu bar and tray menus hide Nearby during a session.
• A pointing hand over everything clickable, on Mac and Windows.

Fixed

• Mac: the shared picture is no longer washed out on the viewer. Dark greys were about 14 % too light.
• Stopping sharing and disconnecting no longer freeze the app for up to half a second.
• Mac Extend no longer briefly captures a display that doesn't exist. Sessions over peer-to-peer Wi-Fi now say so.
• Running the command-line tool no longer breaks the app's connections. It keeps its own key, and the app repairs a certificate that doesn't match its key.

Built by CI from this tag. Installation steps: see the README.

Windows Extend-mode driver: optional in the installer (off by default). The installer signs it on your PC
with a one-off certificate whose private key is deleted right away, so it loads without test signing.

Linux: .deb (Ubuntu, Debian, Raspberry Pi OS, JetPack, Mint), .rpm (Fedora, RHEL, openSUSE) and
.tar.gz, for x86_64 and arm64. Install with sudo apt install ./Annex-…-linux-<cpu>.deb or
sudo dnf install ./Annex-…-linux-<cpu>.rpm. Video needs the system's H.264 codecs: see docs/LINUX.md.

Signing: the Mac app is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so it opens without
warnings. The Windows installer isn't code-signed yet, so SmartScreen may warn the first time:
click More info → Run anyway. Annex checks every in-app update against SHA256SUMS.txt.sig.

What's Changed

• Fix "keys may not be consistent: KeyMismatch" after running the CLI by @SkidGod4444 in #20
• Mac host: picture no longer washed out; Extend start; peer-to-peer label by @SkidGod4444 in #21
• Settings: five that matter on top, the rest under Advanced; codes need no switch by @SkidGod4444 in #22
• Pointing hand over everything clickable, Mac and Windows by @SkidGod4444 in #23
• Credit Saidev Dhal next to Nalinish Ranjan by @SkidGod4444 in #24
• Disconnect and stop sharing without the lag by @SkidGod4444 in #25
• Say which computer is sharing and which is viewing by @SkidGod4444 in #26
• Annex for Linux: View, Share and Extend, with .deb/.rpm/.tar.gz packages by @SkidGod4444 in #27
• Updates: install the newest release, not the one found hours ago by @SkidGod4444 in #28
• Headless mode: pair and control a computer no one is at (Mac, Windows, Linux) by @SkidGod4444 in #29
• Fix flaky internet test: answer keyframe requests by @SkidGod4444 in #30
• Always keep the log, and tell users it stays on their computer by @SkidGod4444 in #31
• README: short, one-line installers for every OS, download links and chart by @SkidGod4444 in #32
• Release notes for 0.3.0 by @SkidGod4444 in #33

Full Changelog: v0.2.0...v0.3.0