Circle Lens 1.3.0-preview.2 for macOS and Linux (preview)

• Linux: the lens stays live without a compositor. It used to take one still as it opened, so moving more than about 450 px away showed white. Now, while it's open, it asks the X server to keep windows offscreen (no compositor needed) and reads what's under it as it moves.
• Tested on a real X server through Xephyr: the circle gesture, Shift twice, zoom and the live lens all work.

Circle Lens 1.3.0-preview.1 for macOS and Linux (preview)

The first preview of the desktop app on macOS and Linux: unsigned builds to try, published as a GitHub pre-release. The Windows app is unchanged and doesn't see previews.

• macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon and Intel (CircleLens-1.3.0-preview.1-mac.zip): a live lens through ScreenCaptureKit, the circle gesture, Shift twice or a key combination, Ctrl + +/− and Ctrl + wheel to zoom, and a menu-bar menu with the same settings as on Windows, plus Start at login. It isn't notarized: the first open needs System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
• Linux, X11 sessions, x86_64 and ARM (CircleLens-1.3.0-preview.1-linux-<arch>.tar.gz): the same lens, live under a compositor, with a tray menu. ./circle-lens -install adds it to the app menu and start-up, under ~/.local.
• Not in the previews yet: updates, the setup and settings windows, and recording your own shortcut. Wayland isn't supported yet.

Circle Lens 1.2.3

• Updates no longer fail with "Couldn't update". The setup asked the running copy to quit, then replaced it as soon as its window closed, while Windows still held the old file. Now it waits for the old copy to end, and tries again for a few seconds. If the old file is still in use, it moves it aside, which Windows allows.
• Errors fit the window. A failed install or update names the file that failed, not its full path, and long text wraps instead of running off the edges.

Circle Lens 1.2.2

• A fresh setup file, so downloads go through again. Windows Defender's cloud check began flagging the 1.2.1 setup file too (Trojan:Win32/Wacatac.B!ml) about an hour after release, a false positive. Its code is unchanged from 1.2.1, which scans clean when built again. Defender judged the published file, not the program. Every release up to 1.1.0 scans clean.
• Downloads are named with their version on the website (CircleLens-Setup-1.2.2.exe), so a saved file says which release it is.
• The setup file's details are shorter: a description and the source address.
• Keys and labels are monospace on every PC. Without JetBrains Mono, Geist Mono or IBM Plex Mono installed, they fell back to the text font; now they use Windows' own Cascadia Mono or Consolas.

Circle Lens 1.2.1

Don't use this setup file. Windows Defender flags it as Trojan:Win32/Wacatac.B!ml, a false positive. Use 1.2.2 or later.

• Downloads work again. Windows Defender's machine-learning check flagged the 1.2.0 setup file as Trojan:Win32/Sabsik.FL.A!ml, a false positive that blocked downloads. 1.1.0, and the same code built elsewhere, scanned clean. This is a fresh build, with the program's symbols kept (stripped Go programs are scored as more suspicious).
• The setup file says what it is: its details (Properties → Details) describe it as an open-source screen magnifier and give the source and where to report a problem or a false antivirus detection.
• Proof of origin: every release file now has a signed attestation that it was built by this repository's release workflow. Check it with gh attestation verify.
• README: a "Your antivirus flagged it?" section on checking a file and reporting a detection.

Circle Lens 1.2.0

Don't use this setup file. Windows Defender flags it as Trojan:Win32/Sabsik.FL.A!ml, a false positive. Use 1.2.2 or later.

• A new icon: a lens, not a search. The tray icon, the panel's mark and the app icon are now a thin hollow ring with a curved glint of light inside, instead of a magnifying glass. The app icon puts it, large and fine, in near-black on a white tile.
• "Circle twice. Read anything." The setup window's headline (and the store's promo tiles) now say what opens the lens: two circles.

Circle Lens 1.1.0

• The website's monochrome look for the setup window and the tray panel:
  • Colour and text: near-black with a soft neutral light, white headlines over a grey second line, no gradients or glows.
  • Buttons: solid white primary buttons with dark text and hairline secondary ones, with 10 px corners.
  • Switches and chips: light switches with dark knobs, grey selected chips, flat keycaps.
  • Installing: a white progress ring.
  • Uninstall: keeps its warning in soft red text rather than a red button.
• The tray icon fills its glass in light grey while the lens is open (dark on a light taskbar), instead of blue.
• The app icon follows suit: a near-black tile with a fine light edge, the white magnifier and sparkle, and the lens glass in blue, the one colour.

Circle Lens 1.0.0

• Circle Lens 1.0. The Windows app, the browser extension and the website script are stable: they install, update and uninstall cleanly, and keep your settings.
• A proper app icon: the white magnifier on a rounded tile in the brand's blue, with a small sparkle. It reads at every size on light and dark backgrounds: the setup file, downloads, Start menu, taskbar and Settings → Apps. The extension's store and extensions-page icons use it too. Its toolbar icon stays a plain magnifier.

Circle Lens 0.9.0

• How to use, What's new, Website: a four-page tour of the lens, using your own keys, and this version's release notes, both in the setup window's style. The panel's links row and the right-click menu open them, along with the project's website.
• A lighter panel: more room around the header, a calm flat "Open lens" button (it reads "Close lens" while the lens is open), small flat switches, borderless chips and smaller type. The setup window's switches match.
• The tray icon shows the lens open in the brand's blue, instead of following your Windows accent colour.
• Better type, nothing bundled: text uses fonts you may already have (Inter, Geist, Bricolage Grotesque, JetBrains Mono, IBM Plex Mono), falling back to Windows' Segoe UI Variable. The exe ships no fonts.

Circle Lens 0.8.0

• Choose the keys that work while the lens is open:
  • Zoom in and zoom out: Ctrl+= and Ctrl+− by default. Click a keycap in the panel to record others, or use "Keys while the lens is open" in the menu.
  • A close key: none by default. Choose Esc, or record any combination.
  • Rules: the keys are taken only while the lens is open. A typing key on its own is refused, as are clashes with your other shortcuts and combinations another app already has.
• Fixed: a shortcut ending in the keypad's plus (Ctrl+Num+) couldn't be read back from the settings file.