v2.0.0

WiFi Lens v2.0.0

WiFi Lens 2.0 is a major engineering release focused on making Wi-Fi analysis more accurate, diagnostics more reliable, and the codebase easier to evolve. It includes a substantial rewrite of the app architecture, major IEEE 802.11 parsing fixes, a hardened Network Self-Check, Russian localization, and reliability improvements across the open-source edition.

Join the Community

Questions, feedback, or just want to talk about WiFi Lens?

Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/gH6sTCYaJ7

Highlights

More Accurate Wi-Fi Analysis

WiFi Lens now interprets more of the underlying 802.11 information correctly instead of relying on simplified assumptions.

• Fixed HT channel-width parsing that could incorrectly report some 20 MHz networks as 40 MHz.
• Improved handling of 20, 40, 80, 160, and 80+80 MHz operating widths.
• Corrected HE / Wi-Fi 6 capability parsing from standard 802.11 Extension Information Elements.
• Improved detection of 802.11k, 802.11r, and 802.11v capabilities.
• Corrected RSN security, AKM, cipher, WPA3, Fast Transition, and OWE interpretation.
• Hardened malformed Information Element handling to avoid reporting capabilities that cannot be established from the available data.
• Updated Spectrum, network tables, MCP output, and saved network snapshots to use the corrected operating-width semantics consistently.

Network Self-Check Improvements

Network Self-Check is now more conservative and resilient when the network changes while diagnostics are running.

• Improved default-route, interface, and gateway selection.
• Network changes now invalidate stale diagnostic runs more reliably.
• Route checks are bounded so a stalled system command cannot leave diagnostics waiting indefinitely.
• Improved handling of VPN/TUN routes, proxy configuration, PAC resolution, DNS uncertainty, and HTTPS failures.
• Cancelled or replaced diagnostic runs can no longer publish stale results into a newer run.
• Diagnostic conclusions preserve uncertainty instead of turning incomplete evidence into overly confident results.

Russian Localization

WiFi Lens is now available in Russian.

• Added Russian localization across the open-source app.
• Refined compact terminology for channel metrics and network tables.
• Improved layouts for longer localized strings.
• Expanded localization regression coverage while preserving the existing English, German, Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese interfaces.

Architecture and Reliability

WiFi Lens 2.0 also includes a major internal restructuring designed to make future development safer and more predictable.

• Extracted shared application logic and UI into the new WiFiLensCore module.
• Simplified the open-source app into a thin macOS application host around the shared core.
• Reorganized the project around explicit module and product boundaries.
• Centralized application storage paths and runtime namespaces.
• Hardened the local MCP server with stricter HTTP request validation and bounded request sizes.
• Improved privacy-manifest and localized permission-description handling.
• Preserved backward compatibility for previously saved network snapshots.
• Expanded regression coverage across scanning, diagnostics, Spectrum, MCP, storage, and protocol parsing.

Other Changes

• Improved localized layouts and accessibility coverage.
• Updated dependencies and project tooling.
• Simplified the repository and Xcode project structure.
• Continued reliability work across network observation and diagnostic state handling.

This release covers the open-source (OSS) edition; Pro-specific updates ship separately.

Links

• WiFi Lens Website: https://wifi-lens.shiinalabs.com/
• Get WiFi Lens Pro on the Mac App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6776590746

New Contributors

• @rvetlyakov made their first contribution in #98

Full Changelog: v1.6.0...v2.0.0

v1.6.0

What's New in 1.6.0

WiFi Lens 1.6.0 expands the live Wi-Fi workspace for OSS and Pro with AP Radar, a componentized Spectrum workspace, and a new aggregate Heatmap — while Pro continues the path from live diagnosis to history, reporting, and analysis.

Join the Community

Questions, feedback, or just want to talk about WiFi Lens?

Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/gH6sTCYaJ7

Highlights

AP Radar (Preview)

• Select an access point and follow its received signal strength as you move around.
• See whether the signal is getting stronger, getting weaker, or staying stable, with a clear signal-lost state when the target disappears.
• Optional pulse audio changes with signal strength; sound controls and pulse presets are available in Settings.
• AP Radar provides RSSI-based guidance. It does not determine an access point’s exact direction or distance.

Componentized Spectrum Workspace

• Spectrum panels are now componentized, so each panel can be switched between Spectrum, Trend, Table, and Heatmap views.
• The existing network table is easier to tailor: choose the columns you want to keep visible alongside the network details that matter to you.
• Band selection and view-specific controls stay together, making it easier to build the workspace that fits your current task.

Aggregate Spectrum Heatmap

• See where Wi-Fi activity is concentrated across frequency and signal strength.
• Compare the current environment as an aggregate view instead of following one access point at a time.
• Switch between supported 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz bands with a band-aware heatmap.

WiFi Lens Pro

• Timeline can export an anonymized Markdown report and provides richer localized event details.
• Statistics and Insights now have clearer localized actions and feedback entry points.
• Pro connects live observation with recording, historical events, recurring-pattern analysis, menu-bar access, and export workflows.

Reliability, Localization, and Accessibility

• Heatmap rendering now uses hardware acceleration when available and falls back safely when it is not.
• Improved rendering stability for concurrent updates, changing scan results, and sparse channel plans.
• Expanded localization and accessibility coverage across AP Radar and the new Spectrum workspace.

Edition Availability

The componentized Spectrum workspace, aggregate Heatmap, AP Radar Preview, and core live Wi-Fi analysis are available in both the open-source (OSS) and Pro editions.

WiFi Lens Pro adds recording, Timeline history, Statistics, Insights, menu-bar access, and extended export workflows for longer-term observation and analysis.

Full Changelog: v1.5.1...v1.6.0

v1.5.1

WiFi Lens v1.5.1

WiFi Lens 1.5.1 bundles the IEEE MAC vendor database directly into the app, reworks Network Self-Check into a three-stage diagnostics pipeline, adds a first-run welcome and lifecycle guidance, and ships a round of window-management fixes and Apple-style UI polish.

Join the Community

Questions, feedback, or just want to talk about WiFi Lens?

Join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/gH6sTCYaJ7

Highlights

Bundled MAC Vendor Database

• Vendor names are now bundled with the app, so the network table shows device vendors immediately, with or without a downloaded vendor list.
• The bundled column stays available when downloads are unavailable, and update dates are derived from the official IEEE sources.

Network Self-Check Improvements

• Reworked Network Self-Check into a three-stage pipeline with a grouped diagnostics workbench.
• Proxy routing through virtual network interfaces (VPN/TUN) is now recognized.
• Connectivity checks now use Apple's authoritative captive-portal probe.
• Probe matching is case-insensitive, tunnel detection is better bounded, and check summaries are clearer.

First-Run Welcome and Guidance

• Added a welcome screen on first launch with onboarding guidance.
• Added lifecycle guidance moments: diagnostics completion, export success banner, and an OSS invitation card.
• Added Debug-only manual testing controls.

Window Management and Interface Polish

• Enforced the 820×620 main-window minimum size and stopped hidden pages from forcing an oversized window.
• Detail pages and sidebar badges now adapt to narrow window widths.
• Apple-style UI polish across core surfaces, with more defensive globe rendering.

Reliability Improvements

• Hardened Network Self-Check probe orchestration and bounded tunnel probe waits.
• Bundled vendor data loads once and is no longer re-fetched per view.
• Replaced polling and watchdog waits with event-driven synchronization in tests.

Other Changes

• The release DMG now packages WiFi Lens.app correctly inside WiFiLens.dmg.
• Localized the remaining hardcoded strings across the app.

This release covers the open-source (OSS) edition; Pro-specific updates ship separately.

Full Changelog: v1.5.0...v1.5.1

v1.5.0

WiFi Lens v1.5.0

WiFi Lens 1.5.0 introduces a new Network Self-Check, more flexible Spectrum controls, clearer navigation, and extensive reliability improvements across Wi-Fi scanning, roaming observation, window management, and Pro event recording.

Highlights

Network Self-Check

A new user-initiated diagnostic workspace helps identify common macOS network problems without leaving WiFi Lens.

It checks:

• Current network connectivity
• DNS resolution
• Configured HTTP, HTTPS, and SOCKS proxies
• Whether explicitly configured proxy servers are reachable

Each check reports a clear Normal, Abnormal, or Indeterminate result, followed by an overall network conclusion.

Network Self-Check is available in both the open-source and Pro editions and is localized in English, German, Spanish, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese.

More Flexible Spectrum Controls

• Spectrum panels now maintain their own filters and access-point limits independently.
• Access-point visibility and visibility locking are now separate controls.
• Important access points can be locked so that they remain visible when filters change.
• Improved Spectrum state consistency when switching between views.
• Fixed chart state restoration and recording-view behavior when returning to the page.

Clearer Navigation and Interface

• Reorganized the sidebar into clearer functional sections.
• Added semantic sidebar badges for previews, experimental tools, and Pro features.
• Refined Pro feature previews with more representative Timeline, recording, and menu-bar layouts.
• Improved toolbar attachment, compact-window behavior, and interface consistency.
• Expanded localization coverage across the application.

Reliability Improvements

• Introduced a unified Wi-Fi observation pipeline shared by scanning, overview diagnostics, roaming, and status surfaces.
• Limited observation processing to prevent outdated scan cycles from accumulating under heavy workloads.
• Improved consistency by using one immutable network snapshot for each admitted scan cycle.
• Improved preservation of scan settings and user navigation intent across window lifecycle changes.
• Fixed RSSI fallback handling for unavailable signal readings.
• Improved main-window activation and restoration from the menu bar.
• Improved UI test coverage and test reliability.

WiFi Lens Pro

• Strengthened Timeline event ordering and local journal durability.
• Added structured network identity to recorded events.
• Improved custom date-range normalization and event filtering.
• Improved menu-bar deep links into Timeline events.
• Preserved recording scan intervals correctly when settings change.
• Improved multi-window Timeline and recording lifecycle behavior.

Other Changes

• Centralized official website, support, App Store, and repository links.
• Redirected the legacy GitHub Pages website to the official WiFi Lens website.
• Updated project architecture, build verification, localization, and contributor tooling.
• Expanded unit and UI regression coverage.

Full Changelog: [v1.4.3...v1.5.0](v1.4.3...v1.5.0)

v1.4.3

Release Notes

This OSS release is aligned with the current App Store version, including the latest fixes, UI refinements, and behavior updates.

App Store-specific packaging and Pro-only features remain separate from the OSS edition.

Full Changelog: v1.4.2...v1.4.3

v1.4.2

What's Changed

• Feat/app store link by @SHIINASAMA in #2
• [codex] Split spectrum debug chart navigation by @SHIINASAMA in #6
• [codex] Fix chart annotation and spectrum section boundaries by @SHIINASAMA in #7
• feat: counterfactual channel recommendation by @SHIINASAMA in #8
• [codex] Move secondary navigation into the window toolbar by @SHIINASAMA in #9
• chore(deps-dev): bump vite from 6.4.2 to 6.4.3 in /web in the npm_and_yarn group across 1 directory by @dependabot[bot] in #10

New Contributors

• @dependabot[bot] made their first contribution in #10

Full Changelog: v1.4.1...v1.4.2

v1.4.1

What's Changed

• Accessibility improvements for App Store readiness by @SHIINASAMA in #1

New Contributors

• @SHIINASAMA made their first contribution in #1

Full Changelog: v1.4.0...v1.4.1

v1.4.0

Full Changelog: v1.3.3...v1.4.0

v1.3.3

Full Changelog: v1.3.2...v1.3.3

v1.3.2

Full Changelog: v1.3.1...v1.3.2