Beta 0.1.2 (69)

Redo the FSNT setup screen and draw the VPN switch by hand

The setup screen is now three numbered cards that follow FSNT's own menus
(Preferences > Integration Settings > Throne API) and button names, with a
Paste button for the key and separate messages for a malformed key and a
refused connection.

The panel's VPN switches used the system switch, which turns gray while
its window is not key. The panel seldom is, so an active VPN often looked
off. PanelSwitchStyle draws the switch itself and keeps it green.

Polka 0.1.2

Fixed

• The notch is recognized on a MacBook with an external monitor attached, including right after the monitor is connected and after waking from sleep. Polka looks at the display again once macOS has finished rearranging displays.
• "Built-in display" in settings picks the MacBook screen even when its notch is hidden by the chosen resolution or the monitor is the main display.
• The volume in the Music section follows the volume keys, Control Center and a Bluetooth speaker's own buttons straight away, and shows when the sound is muted. It used to catch up only every few seconds.
• The wings beside the notch no longer overflow when music, a meeting countdown and VPN are shown together: they widen evenly and the countdown stays on one line.

Changed

• Diagnostics list every display with its size and notch, to make display problems easier to report.

Install

• Homebrew: brew tap romabmstu/polka https://github.com/romabmstu/polka && brew install --cask romabmstu/polka/polka
• Disk image: open Polka.dmg, drag Polka to Applications, then run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Polka.app once (Polka is not notarized yet).

Step by step, with pictures and fixes for common problems: https://romabmstu.github.io/polka/install.html

Already installed? Polka updates itself — no need to download this by hand.

Polka 0.1.1

Added

• If an update closes right after it starts, Polka puts the previous version back, says so, and offers to report it. That build is not installed automatically again.

Changed

• New installs get updates from releases. The beta channel, with every build from main, is one switch away in Settings › Updates.
• Links opened from Polka go to a new tab in the browser window you have open (Safari, Chrome, Arc, Brave, Edge, Yandex Browser) instead of a new window. Opening a whole group in a new window works as before.

Fixed

• Copying a large picture no longer makes the panel stutter: pictures are converted in the background, and clipboard history keeps them under 40 MB in total.
• A panel layout saved by a newer version no longer resets after going back to an older one.

Security

• Updates are installed only if they are signed with the same certificate as the running app, so macOS keeps the permissions you granted.

Install

• Homebrew: brew tap romabmstu/polka https://github.com/romabmstu/polka && brew install --cask romabmstu/polka/polka
• Disk image: open Polka.dmg, drag Polka to Applications, then run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Polka.app once (Polka is not notarized yet).

Step by step, with pictures and fixes for common problems: https://romabmstu.github.io/polka/install.html

Already installed? Polka updates itself — no need to download this by hand.

Polka 0.1.0

The first public release.

Panel

• Opens from the MacBook notch on hover or with ⌥⇧K; on other displays it is a slim capsule in the menu bar and follows the pointer between screens.
• The closed notch shows what is playing, an active VPN and a countdown to the next meeting.
• English and Russian.
• A welcome window on first launch shows the live status of every permission (each installed browser, calendars, accessibility) with one-click requests, open at login and the shortcuts. It is available again from Settings › About.

Sections

• Tabs: groups and nested groups; ⌥⇧S saves the current tab or the whole window from Safari, Chrome, Arc, Brave, Edge or Yandex Browser and asks which group; Save to Polka… in the Services menu; paste lists, Markdown and OneTab exports; search and sorting.
• VPN: system VPN connections, Tunnelblick configurations, and FSNT Client / Throne through its local API.
• Music: title, artist, artwork, seeking and the app that is playing.
• Translator: on-device translation with Apple’s Translation framework (macOS 15+), ⌥⇧T for selected text, Translate with Polka in the Services menu.
• Calendar: browse days and weeks, choose calendars, one-click join for Meet, Zoom, Teams, Telemost, Jitsi and Webex.
• Calculator with currency conversion.
• Clipboard history in memory, pictures included.
• Shelf for files, with AirDrop.
• Scenarios: VPN, music, tabs, links, Shortcuts, opening and quitting apps, dark mode and volume in one click.

Help

• Report a Problem opens a pre-filled GitHub issue with diagnostics (versions, Mac model, displays, permission status; no personal data). Copy Diagnostics puts the same text on the clipboard.
• After a crash, the next launch offers to report it with the crash summary and shows the crash file to attach.

Distribution

• A disk image with a drag-to-Applications window, and a Homebrew cask. Every image is mounted and its app signature checked before it is published.
• Every build is launched on CI and must keep running before it reaches anyone.
• Built-in updates verified with an Ed25519 signature; a beta channel gets every build from main.
• Release builds carry a build provenance attestation.

Install

• Homebrew: brew tap romabmstu/polka https://github.com/romabmstu/polka && brew install --cask romabmstu/polka/polka
• Disk image: open Polka.dmg, drag Polka to Applications, then run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Polka.app once (Polka is not notarized yet).

Step by step, with pictures and fixes for common problems: https://romabmstu.github.io/polka/install.html

Already installed? Polka updates itself — no need to download this by hand.