Darpan 1.4.2

Sharper video

• Text is sharper after every change. The Linux computer's GPU now spots unchanged frames itself, so the encoder can use its better two-pass mode. A still screen still costs nothing, even while the pointer moves.
• Full colour at Higher Quality and Max in the Mac app, on Macs that decode it in hardware: coloured text such as code stays crisp.
• The bitrate recovers after a Wi-Fi hiccup instead of staying low.
• New in the display panel: Use more of the Linux computer's GPU, for sharper fast scrolling.

Easier to start

• A welcome on both sides. On Linux, click Get started, sign in, and Darpan shows the password to connect with.
• The Mac's disk image shows how to open Darpan the first time.
• The toolbar introduces itself on your first connection.
• The Linux window shows Darpan's version.
• A new icon: white lotus petals with a touch of pink.

Updating: 1.4.1 on Linux and on the Mac offers 1.4.2 by itself (Software Updater on Linux; on the Mac, Darpan checks once a day).

Darpan 1.4.1

Restarts just work, and Darpan got lighter.

• The login screen after a restart: turn on Show the login screen in the Linux window once. After a restart you log in from your Mac or a browser, with nobody at the Linux computer.
• 40 MB of GPU memory instead of 250: the video encoder now runs through Vulkan Video on the same NVIDIA hardware, at the same speed and quality. NVENC through CUDA remains the fallback.
• Update from the Linux window: when a new Darpan is out, the window offers it with one click. On the Mac, a dialog offers Install & Relaunch, and updates no longer get stuck.
• Simpler quality choices: Faster Speed, Balanced (the default), Higher Quality and Max, on the Mac and in the browser.
• Resolution remembered: the Linux computer switches back to the resolution each device picked last.
• Files: clicks in the Mac's Files window always select, with the Finder's own icons. In the browser, a folder on its way can be cancelled.
• Clear messages: the Linux window says when a driver update needs a restart to use the GPU, and the Mac says when the remote computer is still starting up.

Updating: the Linux computer offers 1.4.1 through Software Updater, or the new Update button in the Darpan window. The Mac app offers it within a day, or right away with Check for Updates…. If Darpan 1.4.0 on the Mac keeps spinning after Install & Relaunch, quit it by hand once; 1.4.1 fixes that.

Darpan 1.4.0

File transfer on the Mac, both ways, and a Mac app that updates without asking about its sign-in again.

Install

• Linux: on 1.3 or later, Software Updater offers this update by itself. New install: download darpan_amd64.deb and run sudo apt install ~/Downloads/darpan_amd64.deb.
• Mac: on 1.3.0, Darpan offers this update itself: click Install & Relaunch. New install: open Darpan.dmg and drag Darpan to Applications. After this update, macOS may ask once more to Always Allow Darpan's saved sign-in. The app now has a stable signature, so it won't ask again after later updates.

What's new

• The Files window on the Mac: two panes, this Mac and the Linux computer. Select files or folders and Send or Receive them, or drag between the panes. A transfer list shows progress, and Darpan asks before anything would be replaced (Keep both, Replace, Skip). Files dropped on the window still land on the Linux desktop.
• Browser: received folders keep their structure in Chrome and Edge.
• A stable signature on the Mac app: macOS stops asking about the saved sign-in after each update.
• Polish: the drop highlight and transfer notices now use the toolbar's look.
• Linux: the capture helper exits cleanly when the desktop session ends.

SHA-256

aac253817011c8621098b4ff1d6b279105fb249a6794086a85d13f97544657bd  darpan_amd64.deb
ea132d0c7a048669c82f90adde5981bf75af635739ce9f8f4b304df1e3785c1b  Darpan.dmg

Darpan 1.3.1

Quieter on quiet screens: the Linux computer no longer sends frames that would show you nothing new.

Install

• Linux: if you have 1.3.0, Software Updater offers this update by itself. Otherwise download darpan_amd64.deb and run sudo apt install ~/Downloads/darpan_amd64.deb.
• Mac: no change. This release carries the 1.3.0 app again.

What's new

• Skips identical frames. When something animates anywhere on a GNOME desktop, the whole screen is redrawn 60 times a second, even when nothing visible changes. Darpan now drops those frames: a static screen goes from about 52 frames a second to none, and a blinking cursor to about 9. There's no added latency, and it saves decoding work and battery on the Mac, plus network traffic.

SHA-256

ecda631b70af041136baf2ed9266462242523ae6786cc820cbe928ec9c0560ce  darpan_amd64.deb
c914f1a4386c6362f999d1290309cbb34c0791f007f45b2e46eb301de3aaba6d  Darpan.dmg (1.3.0, unchanged)

Darpan 1.3.0

Darpan is now free and open source. This release brings file transfer in the browser, dictation, a list of your computers, and updates that install themselves.

Install

• Linux: download darpan_amd64.deb, then run sudo apt install ~/Downloads/darpan_amd64.deb. It's the last update you install by hand: from now on, new versions arrive through Software Updater.
• Mac: download Darpan.dmg and drag Darpan to Applications, replacing the old copy. From now on, Darpan offers new versions itself (⚙︎ → Check for Updates Automatically).

What's new

• Your computers: the Mac app lists the Linux computers on your tailnet that run Darpan. One click connects.
• Files: files dropped on the window land on the Linux desktop. In the browser, the Files window browses the Linux computer, sends files and folders into any folder, and receives them. The Mac gets its own two-pane window next.
• Dictation: Wispr Flow and other dictation apps paste straight into Linux, and nothing stays held down afterwards.
• Toolbar: a floating capsule at the upper right, movable by its grip. The clipboard button is gone, since ⌘C and ⌘V sync both ways.
• Updates: Linux through the system's updater (a signed APT index in every release), Mac through a signed manifest checked once a day.
• A new icon: the lotus.

SHA-256

fd9563e85c4e0e523a02119ab8fb02805e323db9999ac4b65b35bf7ac5d0c8f8  darpan_amd64.deb
c914f1a4386c6362f999d1290309cbb34c0791f007f45b2e46eb301de3aaba6d  Darpan.dmg

Darpan 1.2.0

What's new

• Sound. Whatever plays on the Linux computer now plays on your Mac, or in the browser. The speaker
  button in the toolbar mutes it. It costs the Linux computer about 0.25 % of one CPU core while
  something plays, and nothing while it's silent.
• ⌘ in Linux terminals. ⌘C copies, ⌘V pastes and ⌘T opens a tab, as in the Mac's Terminal, while
  ⌃C still interrupts. Before, ⌘C in a terminal interrupted the running program.
• More robust: sound recovers by itself when the Linux sound server restarts, and sign-in is
  hardened against idle connection floods.

Install or update

• Linux: download darpan_amd64.deb and run sudo apt install ~/Downloads/darpan_amd64.deb. It
  upgrades in place.
• Mac: download Darpan.dmg and drag Darpan to Applications, replacing the old copy. If macOS asks,
  choose Always Allow for Darpan's saved sign-in.

SHA-256

7b406cb7a7b3811ed10164f5fa697bc1837f46ea7c47908afa5652d7c714aab9  darpan_amd64.deb
157b3eac7ccd4030c1e00f664b719de023cdc8675bff45f0b9b4e37f79bb5827  Darpan.dmg

Darpan 1.1.0

First release from this repository.

Install

• Linux (the computer you connect to): download darpan_amd64.deb, then run
  sudo apt install ~/Downloads/darpan_amd64.deb. Installing over an older version upgrades it in place.
• Mac (the computer you connect from): this release's Mac download was withdrawn; get Darpan.dmg
  from a newer release.

What's new

• Mac: Tailscale is built in. The Mac no longer needs the Tailscale app: sign in once in Darpan.
• Host: viewers that disappear without closing are detected and dropped, the video resync backs
  off, and a disconnect can no longer get stuck.
• Host: the published address always matches the port the host really listens on, uploads use
  bounded memory, and sign-in resists idle connection floods.

SHA-256

bab004e69eafc3751c0290895d386c58b970d590461b3ee2eb3f6552e6f76939  darpan_amd64.deb