Workbench 2.8.0

Workbench 2.8.0

Four familiar tools, with a simpler way to move between them.

• Find the tool you need. Annotate, Voice to Text, Snap and Present are the core navigation. Profile cards, live camera and voice reaction controls live with Present.
• Copy a Snap while you work. Copy the image with your current edits, keep working, undo or save it later. Saved images reopen ready to copy and reuse.
• Choose when to use Snap & Talk. Turn it on in Settings → General → Experimental features. It starts off, keeps its saved sessions, and stays inactive until enabled.
• Meetings has its own app. Meetings 1.0.1 is available separately through the private Meetings repository; downloading it requires repository access. Existing transcripts remain in Workbench History. The separate app can copy your recordings and transcripts without moving or deleting the Workbench originals. If you do not have Meetings, Settings retains Show saved recordings for recovery.

Your saved work and settings remain in this edition’s library. Meetings uses its own library and manual updates; installing Workbench does not move your recordings or install Meetings.

Use Settings → General → Updates in Workbench for this edition’s updates. For a first download, unzip, move Workbench.app to Applications and open it there. When replacing an existing copy manually, quit the app and replace it at the same Applications location. Keep your Application Support data.

Verification and limits

This exact archive is Developer ID signed and Apple notarized. Package signature, stapled ticket, Gatekeeper and packaged-content checks passed.

Fresh native checks on this exact signed production build covered the upgrade from Workbench 2.7, opening and build identity, retained permissions and settings, four-tool navigation, Snap capture/copy/export/cancel, Snap & Talk off/on/off, Annotate exit, Persona show/hide/end, Present without a phone, and live-camera start/hide/end. An unfinished dictation and its delivery recovery were preserved. A saved synthetic History transcript copied completely into TextEdit. A read-only audit found no missing originals and all 275 historical transcript records unchanged. These are bounded observations on one Apple silicon Mac running macOS 26.5.1.

Automatic-paste success reuses the maintainer’s short TextEdit observation from Workbench 2.5, with an independent review of the exact old and new delivery source. Fresh 2.8 recognition, Copy and recovery checks are separate evidence: no new microphone-to-automatic-paste success or physical global-shortcut dispatch is claimed. Automatic paste depends on the destination and permissions; Copy and manual paste remain the fallback.

Receiving-app image drag delivery remains unverified; the automation also failed a Finder-to-Finder control drag. Physical iPhone/USB and Continuity Camera, external call receivers, measured voice-wave amplitude, sustained audio load, and a fresh Mac or minimum-supported-macOS install are not newly certified. Public first-install and live update-feed delivery are checked separately after publication.

Release identity

• Version: 2.8.0; build: 20261027003443
• Edition: production; bundle: com.ethdawg.workbench
• Source: 02941dda946959f15cf7d663bf0a4c2bca8533a4
• ZIP SHA-256: 9bbde103ecbd38339c4836c77579feca61a822e0823a128df944d219c07b18bf

Workbench 2.8.0 Preview

Workbench Preview 2.8.0

Four familiar tools, with a simpler way to move between them.

• Find the tool you need. Annotate, Voice to Text, Snap and Present are the core navigation. Profile cards, live camera and voice reaction controls live with Present.
• Copy a Snap while you work. Copy the image with your current edits, keep working, undo or save it later. Saved images reopen ready to copy and reuse.
• Choose when to use Snap & Talk. Turn it on in Settings → General → Experimental features. It starts off, keeps its saved sessions, and stays inactive until enabled.
• Meetings has its own app. Meetings 1.0.1 is available separately through the private Meetings repository; downloading it requires repository access. Existing transcripts remain in Workbench History. The separate app can copy your recordings and transcripts without moving or deleting the Workbench originals. If you do not have Meetings, Settings retains Show saved recordings for recovery.

Your saved work and settings remain in this edition’s library. Meetings uses its own library and manual updates; installing Workbench does not move your recordings or install Meetings.

Use Settings → General → Updates in Workbench Preview for this edition’s updates. For a first download, unzip, move Workbench Preview.app to Applications and open it there. When replacing an existing copy manually, quit the app and replace it at the same Applications location. Keep your Application Support data.

Verification and limits

This exact archive is Developer ID signed and Apple notarized. Package signature, stapled ticket, Gatekeeper and packaged-content checks passed.

Fresh native checks on this exact signed Preview covered opening and build identity, retained permissions and saved work, four-tool navigation, Snap capture/copy/export/cancel, Snap & Talk off/on/off with its saved session retained, Annotate exit, Persona show/hide/end, Present without a phone, and live-camera start/hide/end. Copy from the retained dictation draft into TextEdit also passed. These are bounded observations on one Apple silicon Mac running macOS 26.5.1.

Automatic-paste success reuses the maintainer’s short TextEdit observation from Workbench 2.5, with an independent review of the exact old and new delivery source. Fresh 2.8 recognition, Copy and recovery checks are separate evidence: no new microphone-to-automatic-paste success or physical global-shortcut dispatch is claimed. Automatic paste depends on the destination and permissions; Copy and manual paste remain the fallback.

Receiving-app image drag delivery remains unverified; the automation also failed a Finder-to-Finder control drag. Physical iPhone/USB and Continuity Camera, external call receivers, measured voice-wave amplitude, sustained audio load, and a fresh Mac or minimum-supported-macOS install are not newly certified. Public first-install and live update-feed delivery are checked separately after publication.

Release identity

• Version: 2.8.0; build: 20261026215541
• Edition: preview; bundle: com.ethdawg.workbench.preview
• Source: 02941dda946959f15cf7d663bf0a4c2bca8533a4
• ZIP SHA-256: bf630d418bde1ee47d825c32b9e1b67ee6fbf55521d8e266a25f75586c71b815

Workbench 2.7.0

Workbench 2.7.0

Press Finish and your meeting is already written down; moments later it has a name. Copy it and go.

• Finish, then Copy. Meetings confirms your call's words a phrase at a time while you talk, so Finish saves the transcript in about half a second instead of transcribing the whole call again (a 15-minute call used to take 12 seconds). The words are as accurate as before.
• Every meeting has a name. Shortly after Finish, Apple Intelligence names the meeting and says in a line what it was about, with the decisions and next steps worth finding again. History, Home and Review transcript lead with that name; History has a Meetings filter and reads by day; and copying a meeting starts with its name, app, time and length, so meetings pasted together stay apart. Naming happens on your Mac and never changes your words; rename one in Details…, or turn naming off in Meetings' Recording options. Needs Apple Intelligence; otherwise meetings are named by their app.
• Your words stay yours on laptop speakers. The other side's voice coming back through your microphone is now matched to the call and kept out of "You"; when it isn't clear, nothing is dropped. Quick replies like "Yes" keep every word, and short pauses no longer split what you said into new paragraphs.
• Dictate sooner, even straight after an update. Your first live words show about 0.6 seconds after you start speaking, down from nearly 1.5. After Workbench or macOS updates, speech needs about 15 seconds to get ready: Dictate now starts recording at once and writes your words once speech is ready, instead of sending you to Models.
• Meetings take half the space. Saved recordings are kept in Apple Lossless once their transcript is saved, every sample identical: an hour of a two-sided call should take about 400 MB instead of 800 MB. Recordings you already have are compressed quietly in the background.

Also in this release:

• Follow up on any meeting. Prepare follow-up… is on every meeting in History, not only the newest, and ⌘F finds words in Review transcript.
• Safari and FaceTime calls. Meetings offers a Safari call when macOS can tell it apart, and says so when it can't, before anything records. FaceTime and relayed iPhone calls record the call's audio.
• Long meetings say when they'll finish. From 1 h 55 m the page, menu-bar panel and Home say when Workbench will finish the meeting, and a meeting Workbench ends itself says so and why in its notes.
• Follow-ups you can trust. A failed follow-up can be run again from its meeting; one you stopped isn't re-sent unless you choose Retry… in History.
• Snap's region crosshair appears a quarter of a second sooner.

When you're ready, update from General › Updates. Your saved work stays in this edition's library.

First download: unzip Workbench, move it to Applications in your home folder, then open it there. When replacing an existing copy, quit it and use the same Applications folder.

Verification

• Production 2.7.0, build 20261022072417, Apple Silicon (arm64), source 130c358. It carries everything merged since 2.6.0:
  • #389: the verified #377 Meetings defects (echo-free live words, follow-ups and limits, Safari and FaceTime detection).
  • #392: the transcript ready at Finish.
  • #393: Apple Lossless originals.
  • #394: Dictate while speech gets ready.
  • #395: the Snap region sooner.
  • #396: live words every second.
  • #398: meetings name themselves on this Mac, with the Meetings filter, day headings and follow-up on every meeting.
  • #397: version and notes.
• Exact-source main CI passed in the merge queue.
• The signed release run passed:
  • 344 Swift package tests (two intentional skips);
  • every check mode, including 82 meeting-name checks;
  • 343 StageKit tests / 6,811 assertions with no failures;
  • all configured harnesses and the packaged self-checks.
• Developer ID signing, Apple notarization, the stapled ticket and Gatekeeper passed on the final extracted ZIP. Apple submission: 9bb4d4e2-507d-405d-a5e6-4d46dda29ea2.
• Native, on the exact package:
  • It replaced an installed production 2.6.0 in place, with the same signing identity and designated requirement.
  • It opened, without a crash, to its single-instance guard, because Workbench Preview was running.
  • It kept every saved-work count identical: 136 transcripts, 5 meetings, Library, Packs, Snaps and scenes.
• Archive: Workbench.zip, 77,292,033 bytes. SHA-256: 324a33a14ee3fb38a7d858893b377e8d8882bd79992cab701a598f604f08330f.

Verification limits

• What is attested. This release attests the fresh smoke and the signed 2.6.0 → 2.7.0 upgrade on the package. That is a bounded slice by the maintainer's decision (#7).
• What the maintainer tests in production. Dictation (D1), the first full launch (meeting naming and the Apple Lossless sweep) and the other foundation journeys. He reports through Report a Problem.
• Meetings' two-sided capture is not attested. It needs System Audio Recording allowed for the edition and a real call.
• Meeting names have not been seen on a real meeting. They need macOS 26 with Apple Intelligence.
• Going back to 2.6.0. It removes names typed in Details… the next time it saves History. Names written on your Mac and apps come back in 2.7.0. Finish any pending meeting first.

Workbench 2.6.0

Workbench 2.6.0

Fewer surprises: every dictation, Snap and meeting now ends with your words kept and a plain answer about where they went.

• Snaps stay sharp and easy to fix. Screen captures keep every Retina pixel. A new caption starts selected, so typing replaces "Your text", and Undo steps back one whole edit, not one keystroke. Copy says "Image copied" where you pressed it.
• Dictation always tells you what happened. If a live insertion stops early or you cancel after words have landed, your words stay copied and the result says so where you acted, with Retry beside it. Light cleanup no longer deletes acronyms like ERM or UM, or mangles "Uh-huh".
• Meetings hold up on long calls. A long call stays responsive with its page open and always saves. Plugging in headphones restarts only the audio that changed, so your microphone keeps recording. If no sound arrives from the call app, Meetings says why and where to allow it. ⌘Q while recording asks first.
• Snap & Talk keeps your take. Quitting mid-narration keeps what you said and transcribes it once speech is ready. A retake that hears nothing keeps your earlier words, and Snaps you add join in the order you captured them.
• Keys that tell the truth. A shortcut another app is holding shows as unavailable, and clears by itself once that app lets go. Every Change shortcut… opens Keyboard on that shortcut.

Also in this release:

• Prepare follow-up… offers the Meeting notes and follow-up skill first, on the runner you've set up, and a meeting is handed off once.
• Presenting is quieter. Present, Draw and Persona successes stop pinning orange lines in the menu-bar panel. The Timer keeps the display awake only while a countdown shows. Board export is reachable while a board is up.
• Updates and installs explain themselves. An update that fails says why and what to do, and long prompts insert in seconds.
• A fresh install reads as ready to set up, not as a failed speech setup, and History's Copy and Copy result confirm beside the button.

When you're ready, update from General › Updates. Your saved work stays in this edition's library.

First download: unzip Workbench, move it to Applications in your home folder, then open it there. When replacing an existing copy, quit it and use the same Applications folder.

Verification

• Production 2.6.0, build 20261020110933, Apple Silicon (arm64), source 413c989. It carries everything merged since 2.5.0: #323 and #324 (Persona and gallery follow-ups), #353 (the 15 October release train: Meetings on long calls, dictation outcomes, Snap and Snap & Talk, transcripts and follow-ups, presenting, Keyboard, Home, install and updates, Persona and Library, 30 reviewed PRs), #374 (Meetings: per-route device recovery, live words through boundaries, silence explained, Quit asks while recording) and #388 (version and notes).
• Exact-source main CI passed. The signed release run passed 344 Swift package tests (two intentional skips), 343 StageKit tests / 6,811 assertions with no failures, all configured harnesses and the packaged self-checks.
• Developer ID signing, Apple notarization, stapled ticket and Gatekeeper passed on the final extracted ZIP. Apple submission: c10661e9-9cec-4d46-a40a-12d9d2e1b815.
• Native, on the exact package: it replaced an installed production 2.5.0 in place with the same signing identity and designated requirement, opened and stayed running, and kept every saved-work count identical (136 transcripts, 5 meetings, Library, Packs, Snaps, scenes). Report a Problem's keys are present in Stable.
• Archive: Workbench.zip, 76,628,112 bytes. SHA-256: 148b1bfa6c126366cb0a070931e15ce6fedea1a0706cd2e3a5465928398167ef.

Verification limits

This release attests the fresh smoke and the signed 2.5.0 → 2.6.0 upgrade on the package (a bounded slice by the maintainer's decision, #7). He tests dictation (D1) and the other foundation journeys in production and reports through Report a Problem. Meetings' two-sided capture is not attested: it needs System Audio Recording allowed for the edition and a real call. Going back to 2.5.0 is unsupported while a Snap & Talk narration is still transcribing or has failed; let every new take reach Ready first.

Workbench 2.5.0

Workbench 2.5.0

A Home worth opening, your phone on a clean stage, and a way to tell us when something goes wrong.

• Home shows what's yours. Your latest meetings with the follow-up you prepared, your Snap & Talk decks (a sample deck shows until you build one), what this Mac lets Workbench use, and the keys worth learning next. Set up a permission from the same card, or change one in System Settings; Workbench asks only when you choose to. On a work Mac it says when an administrator has to switch something on, and Copy permission details gives your IT team what to allow.
• Automatic paste, explained and on your layout. If automatic paste is off, the first copy says it needs Accessibility. Dictated words now paste with your keyboard layout's own ⌘V key, so Dvorak and Turkish F paste instead of sending another shortcut.
• Learn your keys. Your keys shows your shortcuts on a keyboard and rings the next ones worth learning. Practice one, change it, or put Snap on ⌥G in one click. A key counts as learned once you've practised it or used it for real.
• Present with your phone. Plug in your iPhone with a cable and it appears in the preview before you press Present. One line says what is happening and the one next step. If the phone doesn't appear, Can't see your phone? walks through the checks.
• Report a problem. Choose Help › Report a Problem…, say what happened, and add a screenshot or a short voice note if it helps. The report goes privately to the Workbench team, and its receipt says when it was received. The same button sits beside a Dictate or Snap problem.
• Every page, one way. Dictate, Meetings, Snap, Snap & Talk, Draw, History, Library, Persona and Settings share one set of cards, notes and a single primary action. A problem looks the same on every page, with its fix beside it.
• The Mac's own menus. Hide Others, Show All, Zoom, Bring All to Front and Redo are where you expect them, and ⌘M minimises the window. Workbench reopens where you left it, and opening at login keeps it in the menu bar.

Also in this release:

• History you can use again. Search saved work, review a transcript, and reuse it from the same place.
• Meetings keep their words. Copy a finished transcript directly, and a recovered meeting keeps the text it had.
• Dictation that fits. Words land with the spacing and capitals the insertion point needs, and names keep their capitals mid-sentence. Cancelling a paste leaves your transcript on the clipboard.
• First speech setup you control. The model download is explicit and cancellable, and files already on this Mac are kept.
• Library and Packs. Resources are easier to find, reuse and recover. Installed Packs work without setup.
• Hand off without an assistant connected. Copy instructions carries the whole request, the selected text and the attachments to name, ready to paste into any assistant. Snap & Talk names the app it actually opened.
• Updates in one click from the sidebar, with a line about what's new.
• Persona: your camera and your photo, one click apart. Choose Persona leads with My Profile and Live Camera, and switching fades one into the other in place. React to my voice rings both. Live Camera offers Centre Stage where the camera supports it and opens Video Effects…, with gesture reactions off, so a thumbs-up mid-demo fires nothing. Connecting headphones while the ring listens can no longer stop Workbench.

What's gone or paused since 2.4.1:

• Read is retired: its page, its voices and its Services menu item. Text you saved in Read is kept, word for word, in Library.
• Switch to Browser Tab is paused. Saved links and browser settings are kept.
• Present's gentle motion is retired, and a scene can no longer be set as your desktop picture. Restore desktop still puts back a picture Workbench applied earlier.
• Library's From iPhone section and the photo handoff settings are gone; they never worked in the public app. Photos already saved on this Mac are untouched.

When you're ready, update from Settings: Workbench updates in 2.4.1, or General › Updates from 2.5.0 on. Your saved work stays in this edition's library.

First download: unzip Workbench, move it to Applications in your home folder, then open it there. When replacing an existing copy, quit it and use the same Applications folder.

Verification

• Production 2.5.0, build 20261008222126, Apple Silicon (arm64), source af19bda. It carries everything merged since 2.4.1 and the 7–8 October work: #317 (the release train: Present, Report a Problem, the desktop window and Home, Settings, menus and every page), #318 (release gate), #319 (Persona Live Camera and My Profile), #320 (permissions on work Macs, automatic paste, ⌘V by layout), #321 (microphone restart), #322/#325 (notes) and #326 (a test that needed the foreground).
• Exact-source main CI passed. The signed release run passed 343 Swift package tests (two intentional screen-control skips), 325 StageKit tests / 6,458 assertions with no failures, all configured harnesses and the packaged self-checks.
• Developer ID signing, Apple notarization, stapled ticket and Gatekeeper passed on the final extracted ZIP. Apple submission: 22c607ff-4bff-4e30-b897-febd4cd46c9b.
• Native, on the exact package: it replaced an installed production 2.4.1 in place, opened, and kept every saved record (133 transcripts, 5 meetings, Library, Packs, Snaps, scenes), adding only Read's saved text to Library, byte for byte; Microphone, Accessibility, Screen Recording and Camera stayed allowed; dictation into TextEdit pasted automatically with no paste problem recorded. Report a Problem's Sentry keys are present in Stable.
• Archive: Workbench.zip, 75,756,934 bytes. SHA-256: 32b1eb2b15c570d745c81b6d0e021a25ceb318b16b647db5cf281cf8a9dcbc42.

Verification limits

This release attests the smoke, D1 dictation and the signed 2.4.1 → 2.5.0 upgrade on the package (a bounded slice by the maintainer's decision, #7); he is testing the other foundation journeys in production and reporting through Report a Problem. Present with an iPhone was checked on the 2.5.0 Preview (picture drawn on the stage, seen by eye), not on this package. Not newly certified: Present in a call's shared screen, report attachments sent live, VoiceOver across the redesigned pages, external displays, and the Permissions panel on a standard account, an MDM-managed Mac or macOS 27.

Workbench 2.4.1

Workbench 2.4.1

Follow your words as you speak, keep conversations together and move more easily from saved work to the next step.

• See words while you speak. Meetings and Dictate show a live transcript with local Parakeet v2. Compatible text fields can receive live dictation directly; other fields keep the existing delivery when you finish. The floating pill stays compact.
• Keep a conversation together. Start a detected supported call in one click, pause and resume the same recording, and see when audio is reconnecting. Supported calls offer a cancellable finish countdown after their app stops using audio; silence alone never ends a recording.
• Prepare what comes next. A saved meeting keeps its transcript visible with review and follow-up preparation beside it. Send the conversation to your chosen destination for decisions, commitments and a useful draft; nothing is sent automatically.
• Keep saved work dependable. History reuses unchanged search results while you select captures. Screenshot imports avoid duplicate Snaps after a failed Trash move, and unreadable Dictate preferences are preserved before replacement.
• See your voice in the controls. Dictation has a responsive seven-bar trace, and Persona's optional voice ring has a colour you choose. Reduce Motion keeps both still. Persona uses its microphone only while shown and records nothing.

Choose Settings › Workbench updates when you're ready. Your saved work stays in this edition's library.

First download: unzip Workbench, move it to Applications in your home folder, then open it there. When replacing an existing copy, quit it and use the same Applications folder.

New live meeting recordings need Workbench 2.4.1 or later for review. Keep the recording folders and original audio if you roll back to an earlier version.

Verification

• Production 2.4.1, build 20261005234010, Apple Silicon (arm64), source 5f209ca. The combined release integrates #246, #249, #251, #254/#255 through #257, #258 and #261, retaining the earlier main changes.
• Exact-source main CI passed. The signed release run passed 341 Swift package tests (two intentional screen-control skips), 273 StageKit tests / 5,857 assertions with no failures, all configured harnesses, packaged self-checks and the test-preference cleanup guard.
• Developer ID signing, Apple notarization, stapled ticket and Gatekeeper passed on the final extracted ZIP. Apple submission: d2f25b8a-d0e2-435f-820b-aaf826480c62.
• The installed production app reported the exact version, build and clean source through Copy build details. Synthetic speech played through QuickTime produced live meeting words before Finish. Pause/Resume retained one timeline, including the actual pause interval; Finish saved one transcript and its original audio. Original playback, one-meeting follow-up preparation, normal restart and saved-work preservation were checked. No provider task was started.
• Archive: Workbench.zip, 72,720,026 bytes. SHA-256: f0df1e31da757458d359103ef1dca2c2feb52b5fa09460694282b8e1c71cb147.

Verification limits

The live meeting check used generated English speech and app audio on the maintainer Mac. Actual relayed phone calls, physical headset switching, long meetings, fresh-Mac permissions and external receiving-app compatibility were not newly certified. The pre-existing Dictate draft and unfinished-delivery state were preserved; external-field dictation was not exercised during this production acceptance pass. Exact-field behavior has synthetic regression evidence. The official signed archive installer performed this upgrade; an old-to-new Sparkle installation was not repeated for this cut. Earlier 2.4.0 hardware and receiver limits still apply.

You/Others identify capture channels, not named speakers. Call-end detection uses app audio activity; apps that keep audio active still need Finish. Preference-recovery copies remain in the same preferences domain and are not independent backups.

Workbench 2.4.0

Workbench 2.4.0

Keep dictation, capture and presentation controls close to the work you are doing.

• A clearer floating toolbar. The three-dot menu is gone. Each tool shows its next action, and Switch tool keeps running jobs and their controls together.
• A live Persona camera bubble. Show a mirrored webcam over your other apps, with Start, Hide, Show again and End controls. Nothing is recorded by the bubble; camera availability depends on other apps using the device.
• Pick up unfinished captures. Snap & Talk brings capture, narration and review into one workspace. Review unfinished Snap reopens its draft directly, and a narration that hears nothing keeps the screenshot.
• More useful speech controls. Meetings has its own page with Pause and Stop & transcribe. Sublime dictation uses one guarded paste and keeps your words copied; a changed or unreadable destination retains the copied fallback.
• Consistent everyday actions. Timer uses the same Start, Pause, Resume and Stop controls across surfaces. Stop drawing closes a whiteboard while keeping its ink, and microphone-refusal messages offer the relevant settings shortcut.

Choose Settings → Workbench updates when you are ready. Your saved work stays in this edition’s library.

First download: unzip Workbench, move it to Applications in your home folder, then open it there. When replacing an existing copy, quit it and use the same Applications folder.

Verification

• Stable 2.4.0, build 20261001032329, Apple Silicon (arm64), bundle com.ethdawg.workbench.
• Built from clean main commit d6b36af, including #235, #236 and test-suite isolation #234. Both required jobs passed on that exact commit.
• Developer ID team GHVAAH9P5Z. Apple notarization Accepted, submission b554eb0c-673f-4ead-83f4-24580b0e758b. Stapling, signature, native Shortcuts metadata and Gatekeeper checks passed on the final extracted ZIP.
• Full release regressions passed: 338 package tests (2 skipped), StageKit's 273 tests / 5,229 assertions, 197 synthetic meeting checks, 139 Snap checks and 64 synthetic text-delivery checks. The Preferences guard confirmed no new test settings suites were left behind. These checks do not establish physical keyboard, live-call or camera-sharing acceptance.
• All configured packaged self-checks passed, including reading resources, reading packs and transcript handoff from the final extracted archive.
• ZIP SHA-256: b1852d9270f0f6ea353af6ae15325ccf85b2ebc7aa46675f36b8c25edef9bd63.

Known limits

Fresh-Mac setup, macOS 14/15, camera sharing with Zoom, camera disconnect/permission changes, additional displays and full VoiceOver were not newly certified for this release. Remaining click-through refinements stay in issue #134; this release does not claim every physical-input scenario passed.

Workbench 2.3.1

Workbench 2.3.1

Open Workbench and pick up where you left off.

• A clearer place to start. Home brings Dictate, Snap, Snap & Talk and recent work together. Continue an explanation from its card, or collapse the sidebar for more room.
• Make images say more. View and edit images in one resizable workspace. Add text, crop to a slide shape, move marks, rotate, undo, copy and export while keeping the original.
• Capture from the toolbar. Choose Region, Window or Screen directly in Snap and a prepared Snap & Talk session. The floating controls stay upright at screen edges, reveal clear icons and show shortcut hints.
• Put yourself in the picture. Choose a photo for your local Me profile, adjust its appearance and use it as a Persona when you present. Your previous scene artwork stays intact.

Choose Settings → Workbench updates when you’re ready. Your saved work stays in this edition’s library.

First download: unzip Workbench, move it to Applications in your home folder, then open it there. When replacing an existing copy, quit it and use the same Applications folder.

Image compatibility: Images saved with text or rotation use Snap format 2 and need this update or a newer release. The first promotion keeps the previous metadata as a backup; original and earlier rendered image files are preserved.

Verification

• Production version 2.3.1, build 20260930054504, Apple Silicon (arm64). This is a newer build of 2.3.1; the earlier release and its assets remain available.
• Source: 85e63436ae8f139f5f51d2f05407eb5445a7fc8b, integrated in PR #229. The packaged source is clean.
• Signed with Developer ID, accepted by Apple notarization, stapled and checked with Gatekeeper. The exact final ZIP was extracted and verified again. Notarization ID: 1eb8a0e7-8dac-4285-88a6-ffa692c3193e.
• Release regressions passed, including 328 Swift package tests (2 gated skips), 253 StageKit tests, 139 Snap checks, 43 image-workspace checks and the packaged resource/self-checks. The final PR also passed 344 toolbar fixtures and 282 surface renders with no flags.
• The exact notarized production archive was installed in place on the release Mac. Native Copy build details confirmed the edition, version, build, source and unmodified Release build. Home retained the existing session; Screen capture opened New Snap; rotation, Undo, Redo and the discard guard passed without saving the test draft.
• Earlier Preview acceptance covered synthetic image editing, crop, text, move/resize, copy/export, original preservation, camera recovery and profile-photo selection. The maintainer confirmed toolbar hover, controls and edge dragging. Source acceptance record.

This release was not tested on a fresh Mac or clean account. Full VoiceOver, physical camera capture, natural-speech visual response, additional displays and receiver hardware were not newly verified. The camera Retake/Use photo follow-up is deferred. An old-to-new Sparkle restart was not repeated for this build; the release helpers verify the archive and feed signatures. Personal iCloud sync is not enabled in this production package.

Archive SHA-256: b18bfb70404849c59d7c35d6183c0cbecb1fa42357fc5b1bf77b85f7e69ab0ca.

Workbench 2.3.1

Workbench 2.3.1

A calmer Mac toolbar and clearer navigation, with fixes for captured work, reading and Persona controls.

• Floating toolbar: a quiet resting handle reveals compact controls for the current tool. Contextual Tools, Prompts, Review and Appearance controls stay alongside their tool. Tab and Shift-Tab move through the row, and shortcut hints describe the actual action.
• Recording and results: dictation, narration, reading and their results share the same floating host. Older recovery notices remain available while you work. Starting Persona, Draw, Present, Timer or a screenshot handoff preserves an unrelated dictation failure and clipboard receipts.
• Home and navigation: Home brings current work and recent History together. Settings stays at the bottom of the sidebar, and one Floating toolbar switch controls its visibility. Page and menu names agree.
• Persona: clearer Selected and Shown states, editable portrait drafts, Circle / Card / Original appearance choices, and handles for moving and resizing a shown persona.
• Everyday reliability: rejected copied text preserves the Read draft; stale timer controls cannot trigger a different step; capture, recovery and delivery checks cover more combined states.

This Apple Silicon download requires macOS 14 or later. Use Settings → Workbench updates, or replace Workbench in the same Applications folder. Stable and Preview retain separate libraries and settings.

Verification

Developer ID signed, notarized by Apple and stapled. The final extracted archive passes signature verification and Gatekeeper. Build 20260929044112, source 6aac0cb.

Verified on an Apple M5 running macOS 26.5.1: the full regression suite (292 Swift tests, one opt-in keyboard test skipped; 239 StageKit tests and 4,761 assertions), packaged speech/reading/capture checks, and an actual Sparkle upgrade from 2.2.0 to 2.3.1. The updater rejected an unavailable feed and an invalid signature, deferred restart during drawing, then installed the exact archive when idle. Saved state, boards and update preferences were retained. Signed Preview acceptance covered native keyboard traversal and pending-failure preservation across Persona and Present transitions.

Fresh-Mac first-run permissions, external displays/receivers, USB device video, VoiceOver and routed/headphone call capture were not separately verified for this release. Existing capability and hardware limits remain in the guide.

The archive checksum and exact provenance are included in SHA256SUMS.txt and release.json alongside the download.

Workbench 2.3.0

Workbench 2.3.0

A voice-reactive persona ring, faster reading aloud and searchable Snaps for Workbench on Mac.

• React to my voice puts a ring around the persona you are showing that moves as you speak, so your audience can see who is talking. Turn it on in Persona or the toolbar's Persona Overlay menu. It uses the microphone only while that persona shows, measures loudness and records nothing. With several overlays, the ring follows the selected one.
• Read aloud starts almost at once and highlights each word as a Mac voice speaks it. Voices show their accent and quality. When your language has only compact voices, Workbench names a free Premium voice to add in System Settings. Markdown and assistant output read naturally.
• Snap History finds a Snap by the words in its image, and organising a selection proposes repeated captures of the same screen. Add image → Import Desktop screenshots… saves your Desktop screenshots in Snap History, then moves the originals to the Trash.
• Meeting and call transcripts label turns You and Others when you include the microphone.
• Suggest details fills in people, companies and tags on this Mac. Nothing is saved until you save, and Ask an assistant… still opens the connected review.
• Built-in skills add Meeting notes and follow-up, alongside prompt and coaching skills, for transcripts you hand off to Codex or Claude Code.

This Apple Silicon download requires macOS 14 or later. It is Developer ID signed and notarized by Apple. Replace Workbench in the same Applications folder, or use Settings → Workbench updates. Existing Stable saved work is preserved; Preview has a separate library and is not copied automatically.

Automated checks passed on this exact source before packaging: 194 Swift package tests, the Stage suite (174 tests, 3,446 assertions), 64 browser tests, the Python suites and 85 Snap checks, then every packaged self-check on the signed, notarized app. React to my voice passed a real-microphone check in a signed Preview. Listening with your own voice, real calls, Bluetooth headsets, an old-to-new updater installation and first installation on another Mac remain unverified.

Source: 63922860adf2bb918d6a93d9bab79183f10c88fc. The immutable archive digest is in SHA256SUMS.txt and release.json.