Handy Tool 2.1.4

A fix release: Shortcut Keeper stays in front in Remote Desktop, and Handy Tool starts on PCs without Vulkan.

Shortcut Keeper stays in front in Remote Desktop (Windows)

The 2.1.3 log showed why kept shortcuts still reached the remote session. The Windows App puts its own keyboard hook back in front of Shortcut Keeper's a few seconds after you enter a session, and then every 15 to 35 seconds. The 2.1.2 self-heal reacted only after you had typed for 3 seconds unheard, and after mouse-only use it waited up to a minute.

Now, while a session has the keyboard, Shortcut Keeper puts its hook back in front after every second in which it heard no key and no key is held. A key let go while the client's hook was in front no longer makes the next kept shortcut go to the remote.

Still best effort: a shortcut pressed within a second or two of the client taking the front can reach the remote. Press it again, or click outside the session and back in.

Handy Tool starts on PCs without Vulkan (Windows)

On a PC without a Vulkan graphics driver (often an older laptop), Windows refused to start Handy Tool: "The code execution cannot proceed because vulkan-1.dll was not found". Handy Tool now loads the Vulkan library only when Whisper first looks for a graphics card. Without it, Whisper models run on the processor.

A Vulkan driver older than version 1.2 now also counts as "no graphics card", instead of closing Handy Tool when a Whisper model loads.

Install

Windows x64 — Handy.Tool_2.1.4_x64-setup.exe below. The installer is not code-signed with Authenticode, so SmartScreen will warn: More info → Run anyway. Existing installs update in place: click the version in the sidebar → Update now, or let the nightly silent update do it. (winget still offers 2.0.3; Handy updates itself from there.)

Linux — rpm, deb or AppImage. These are built but have not been tested on real hardware.

macOS — the disk images are built, but the app does not work on macOS yet.