Release Notes

Enhancements

• Integration with GitKraken now works as expected.
• The initial zoom value of images in the image comparison is much more useful.

Bugfixes

• The search field in a text comparison was sometimes too small to be usable.
• Restores the ability to make windows fullscreen.
• Includes .DS_Store files when comparing folders with the Scan hidden files and folders option turned on.
• Using git difftool -d with ksdiff would show an empy sidebar.
• Fixes to memory management.
• Smaller fixes.

New Features

• If comparisons take more than a few seconds, a progress bar will now give you an indication for the maximum wait time.
• If the document running the comparison is no longer in front when the comparison is finished, you will get a user notification.

Enhancements

• Major speed improvements in certain areas of the text comparison.
• When Kaleidoscope detects larger documents with changed line endings, it will automatically turn on Ignore Whitespace, in order to be able to show a reasonable comparison.
• You can now change settings in the bottom toolbar while a comparison is running. In case of Ignore Whitespace this will need to restart the comparison.
• Major improvements to the Alfred Integration, see its notes in Alfred. As a result, Alfred 5 is now required.
• The Share Extension has been overhauled for macOS Ventura. In particular, sharing images from apps like Pixelmator Pro or Acorn now works better.
• Added a File > Share… menu item that mirrors the Share toolbar button in text comparisons.
• Added way to enable comparing Pages documents, through the help of macOS Shortcuts on Monterey and later.
• Modernized the way Software Update works, to be experienced in future updates.

Bugfixes

• We found some (very old) mistakes in the text comparison that led to inconsistent results.
• Opening just one file could lead to the file not being selected / shown.
• The Terminal App Preference once again works (and displays) as intended.
• The layout of ksdiff --help has been repaired.
• Found and fixed a few rare crashes.

Bugfixes

• Fix a regression that prevented activating a license through the website.

New Features

• Integration with BBEdit. An entry in the BBEdit script menu shows unsaved changes of a document in Kaleidoscope. Go to Kaleidoscope > Integration… > BBEdit to learn more. Also let us know if you have additional BBEdit integration suggestions.
• Warp can now be used as Terminal app. (Direct version only)

Enhancements

• The JetBrains integrations (AppCode, IntelliJ IDEA, PhpStorm, PyCharm, WebStorm, …) can now be configured as diff and merge tools in 2022.x versions of their IDEs. Go to Kaleidoscope > Integration… > JetBrains IDEs to install it.
• The Alfred workflow no longer requires ksdiff to be installed. Go to Kaleidoscope > Integration… > Alfred for more info.
• Kaleidoscope can now work with .strings files in binary plist format.
• Improved the path context menus. The file menus have new entries to Copy file contents (in case of JSON both as-is and normalized) and to save the current state to a new file.
• The Save As… entry for temporary files has been improved.
• Improved the path view for temporary files.
• Improved the path view in the case of git merges.

Bugfixes

• The Safari extension would potentially open many Kaleidoscope windows at once. Now it opens everything in one window, and no longer opens the same page multiple times. But you can still get multiple items, in the case of websites that use frames.
• The Compare Kaleidoscope Quick Action shortcut no longer fails, even with repeated uses.
• An updated VSCode extension is available, go to Kaleidoscope > Integration… > VSCode.
• The Xcode Debugger Integration can be installed when running macOS Big Sur.
• A few smaller fixes and improvements.
• Removed the cause of a few rare crashes.

New Features

• Sharing You can now share any text diff using the familiar and convenient Share button in the window toolbar. Choose from functionality provided by macOS to directly share via AirDrop, Mail, Messages, or open a comparison in Notes. You can also choose to share via Share Menu extensions provided by the other apps you use. Kaleidoscope converts your diff into a HTML document in those cases.
• Save a Patch File. Kaleidoscope now has the ability to write a text diff to a standard patch file, which is also accessible via the Share button.
• There's now a preference setting to disable JSON normalization by default, if the functionality doesn't suit your workflow. When disabled, you can still enable it when needed from the bottom toolbar.
• Kaleidoscope now enables you to modify a comparison that contains normalized JSON, after confirming this is what you want. It also offers to switch to the non-normalized variant
• The File Shelf offers an option to save temporary content (such as imported from the Clipboard, ksdiff, Services or Shortcuts) to a file.

Enhancements

• The Find functionality is now also available for single documents (such as added or removed files in a changeset).
• The processing icon in the bottom toolbar (JSON normalization) is more prominent when turned on.
• The backspace character is now also being treated as invisible character, and shown accordingly.
• The JSON normalization will no longer quote slash (/) characters. We were surprised ourselves that it is defined with a quoted slash in the JSON standard.

Bugfixes

• Various fixes to the Find functionality
• When installing a license via double-clicking a license file, a potential Trial Expired dialog will now correctly disappear.
• Moving a window between screens no longer results in occasional unintended size changes.
• Several fixes to the Open Recent menu. You may need to get rid of corrupted old entries by cleaning it once after installation.

Note

• Kaleidoscope 3.6 had been stuck in App Review since August 5. After receiving a phone call from Apple on September 9, an updated version 3.6.2 has been approved.

Chnages

• Terminal/iTerm integration is not possible in the App Store version. The necessary entitlements have not been granted.
• The new ksdiff integration is available.

BUGFIXES

• git difftool/mergetool invoked inside a repository subdirectory.
• ksdiff launched directly out of the application bundle.

NEW FEATURES

• New look and features for the changeset window. The changeset window now sports a modern macOS look with a sidebar that can be hidden. The filter on the bottom now allows filtering files by type, in addition to the file name filter and the buttons that hide or show files that have been modified, added, deleted, or moved. Power user hint: try option-clicking items.
• Notifications for longer running changesets. Opening larger changesets takes time, due to the ongoing git interaction. You can now receive a notification once processing is complete. Be sue to allow notifications when asked by macOS for this to work.
• Removed the need to update ksdiff. Beginning with the first update after Kaleidoscope 3.6, you should no longer need to update the ksdiff command line tool when we make changes. This includes the App Store version. This is a major change, and we certainly hope we got it right. For our users who like technical details: instead of installing the ksdiff tool by copying it to /usr/local/bin, we just create a link to ksdiff inside the app in /usr/local/bin. Kaleidoscope will notice when the link no longer works (if you’ve moved the app, for example), and will offer to fix it.
• (App Store only) The Kaleidoscope command line tool ksdiff is now compatible with Apple’s requirements for the App Store. This means it can be delivered as part of Kaleidoscope and no longer needs to be installed separately. If you aren’t familiar with ksdiff yet, we suggest you take a look at Kaleidoscope > Integration…
• ksdiff is now always part of the application bundle under Contents/MacOS/ksdiff. Previous only the direct version shipped it under Contents/Resources/bin/ksdiff.

Enhancements

• Reduced memory consumption.
• Closing a changeset window or quitting Kaleidoscope now stops processing in ksdiff (and git). This means Kaleidoscope will no longer open another window and continue.

Bugfixes

• Opening image comparisons could result in the wrong zoom level, which could make images invisible.
• Comparing Word documents (or other files) that contained Chinese characters could crash Kaleidoscope.
• In some situations, you could end up with an item missing in the File Shelf.
• When a changeset is shown in Kaleidoscope and you then stash changes or switch branches, Kaleidoscope will no longer crash.

Bugfixes

• Merging and saving of JSON files works again.
• Fix a crash in Changeset documents.
• Changing a git working copy while a Changeset document showing that working copy is open, will no longer cause Kaleidoscope to misbehave.

NEW FEATURES

• Normalize JSON. By default, Kaleidoscope 3.5 will normalize JSON files when opening them. This enables humans to actually compare the content, and provides major speed improvements when comparing large files. Normalization can still be turned off using a new button in the bottom toolbar.
• Compare Archives via Compare Folders Shortcut action. The folder comparison has a new use case, thanks to integration with Shortcuts (available on macOS Monterey and later). You can now send any file list in Shortcuts to Kaleidoscope to compare that list as a folder. On our blog, we describe how to use that to compare popular archive formats like .zip or .jar.
• Integrate with iTerm. Many of our users prefer iTerm over Terminal, and so do we. Using a new preference setting, you can now choose to have Kaleidoscope open paths in iTerm instead of Terminal.
• New preference setting for the File Shelf view. Some users prefer that the File Shelf is always visible. Others prefer that it not be visible. Now you can choose the default that works best for you.

Enhancements

• Overhauled Preferences organization
• Better keyboard navigation for folder comparisons
• When opening a comparison or merge via ksdiff, the Welcome window will no longer be shown.
• New windows are no longer stacked when an existing window is (almost) covering the whole screen.
• The Compare Files and Compare Text Shortcut actions allow you to optionally set a document title.
• Initial improvements for compatibility with future versions of macOS.

Bugfixes

• The Reveal in Finder context menu entry in a folder comparison will now select all selected items in Finder.
• Fixed a rare situation in which the merge button in the bottom toolbar would be erratically disabled.
• Opening read-only files now works in the App Store version.
• Trying to add the same file to a document twice no longer results in unexpected outcomes.
• Fixed a resize issue with the search field in Find.
• When copying text from Word and pasting it in Kaleidoscope, no longer results in an image comparison.
• Opening Word .docx documents through the Compare Files Shortcut action now works as intended.
• Fixed a rare issue where the app could get stuck.
• Fixed various rare crashes.

NEW FEATURES

• Kaleidoscope is now part of our new company, Leitmotif GmbH.
  The team behind Kaleidoscope remains the same!

Bugfixes

• Under certain circumstances, printing or exporting a document would not print/export the entire document.
• Fix multiple issues related to merging, in particular when combining typing, merging and undo/redo.

Bugfixes

• Switching the View mode once again retains the scroll position.
• Fix an issue where opening a diff or merge would not scroll to the first change/conflict.
• Fix a potential crash when opening a merge document.
• Fix a crash when switching System Appearance after having closed a merge.
• Fix a rare crash when switching views.
• Fix a potential crash when opening and closing a lot of documents.
• Improve performance when closing large documents.
• The bottom toolbar no longer allows making changes to text imported from PDF or Word documents.

Bugfixes

• Printing now also works in the App Store version.
• Fix for a potential crash in the changeset window.

Bugfixes

• When opening large files with a merge conflict, it could happen that the first conflict was not selected and navigation would not work afterwards.
• When repeatedly opening documents in Kaleidoscope from other apps (such as Ulysses), Kaleidoscope would open a new window for each file, instead of showing them in a comparison. (BTW, as of Kaleidoscope 3.4 you can drag items from the File Shelf onto other windows.)
• Fix cases where files opened through the Kaleidoscope Share Extension could disappear.
• The window resize animation is now faster.

NEW FEATURES

• Printing! Text comparisons can now be saved as PDF or be printed on paper. For the first time, you can share what you see in Kaleidoscope with others. This works both for normal file comparisons and changesets. Note: landscape orientation is recommended when printing source code. Let us know if you like this new feature and how well it fits your needs!
• Some text editors have a mini map– Kaleidoscope now features a micro map showing an overview of all changes in a text comparison within the scroll bar.
• Modified (and unsaved) files in a changeset window are now shown in italics in the sidebar.
• Items can be dragged from the File Shelf of one window onto another window to move them.

Enhancements

• Major parts of the user interface have been modernized under the hood. Everything should work at least as well as before. Let us know if you find any glitches.
• Tabs in Kaleidoscope are now macOS-native. While this should result in no major changes, is is another massive technical change for this release.
• Kaleidoscope now honors configuration files (such as .gitconfig) if they are a symlinks.
• The Path Bar now makes better use of the available space.
• Windows can now be closed also when not active. Finding a solution for this took way longer than you would expect.
• The Open in Terminal action available from several contextual menus is now also available in the App Store version.

Bugfixes

• Shortcut actions that would sometimes not work as expected have been fixed.
• Dragging files into Kaleidoscope, e.g. screenshots from the (iOS) Simulator now works consistently and no longer crashes.
• Configuring git now works even if there is no .gitconfig file yet.
• Plus a few of the usual "overall stability and performance improvements".

NEW FEATURES

• Kaleidoscope Developer Tools for Safari. Compare HTML or CSS code, or use the new ksdiff function in the JavaScript console or debugger to find bugs in your code.
• Kaleidoscope for Visual Studio Code. This new extension lets you open files, git changesets and git merges quickly from VSCode.
• Finding invisible character differences. Kaleidoscope can now visualize invisible UTF characters (like U+FEFF) and spot differences including them. There's also a new option to show invisible characters in the whole document.

Enhancements

• The Share Menu Extension will now try to reuse an existing window for new content of the same kind.
• Added documentation for the Services support that always existed, the Share Extension, and the new integrations.

Bugfixes

• Several bugfixes.

Bugfixes

• This time for real, fix a regression with merges where a sidebar would erratically appear.
• Fix more regressions where the sidebar in changesets would cover half the window width and not be resizable.
• Kaleidoscope would often crash when being opened from Versions.
• The view options in Folder Comparisons would sometimes change on their own when inspecting folders.
• The middle mouse button can now be used to close tabs, as is common on macOS.

Enhancements

• Add a context menu option to copy the relative path, if one exists. Hat tip to Brett.

Bugfixes

• Fix a regression from version 3.2, where 3-way merge documents would show a large empty sidebar.
• [App Store] Try to work around macOS showing Kaleidoscope.app is damaged and can't be opened. Please contact us if it still happens.
• A few more minor fixes.

NEW FEATURES

• A new Share Extension brings Kaleidoscope even closer to where your content is. Use it from the Finder or any other app that supports sharing. At this point, we no longer know how we were able to use Kaleidoscope previously.
• The Changeset window gains new tricks:
  • Better progress display while loading
  • Animations in the table view. You won't believe how many hoops we had to go through for this.
  • The font size in the sidebar can now be controlled, see the brand new context menu.
  • That context menu also allows opening a pair of changed files in a new window.
  • Still in that context menu, you can now get to the selected file in the current working copy, in case it exists there.
  • The path shown for files in changesets is more useful.
  • The sidebar of the changeset window can be resized (and even hidden in Reader View).
• ksdiff now support process substitution, so you can call it like

  ksdiff <(sort file1) <(sort file2)

Enhancements

• Once again, lots of work to improve folder comparisons. In particular:
  • A progress bar gives you feedback on how far the comparison has evolved.
  • You can speed up processing quite a bit by limiting exact file comparison. See the preferences for details.
  • More bug fixes to make folder comparisons more reliable and faster.
• The Alfred workflow gained another action to open immediately selected files using a hotkey.
• You can now opt in to receive betas of future Kaleidoscope versions.
• The Ignore Whitespace toolbar button is back for changesets. Be advised that it only will do anything meaningful when inspecting changes that are not already committed.
• The display name in the File Shelf can now contain slashes, but not colons, much like file names in the Finder.
• Command-clicking the file name in the titlebar now always shows file A. That also works for 3-way merges.

Bugfixes

• The separate ksdiff Installer now also starts on macOS 12.2, but lacks a background image in dark appearance. A combination of both seems not viable at this point.
• Image conflicts can once again be resolved.
• Fixed a few potential crashes in various places.
• Lots of smaller fixes in various areas.

NEW FEATURES

• New single-click integration with Android Studio to use Kaleidoscope as diff and merge tool. Android developers also deserve some fun.
• Copy/paste or drag of XCTest logs into Kaleidoscope to have them shown as a diff. This is a lot of fun when you're dealing with structures like JSON in test results.

Enhancements

• The Date Modified and Size columns of the folder views now use a fixed-width font for better readability

Bugfixes

• Various fixes, improving the reliability of the folder comparison

Enhancements

• [Direct Version] Improve the Register Kaleidoscope window with additional details
• Items opened as part of a folder comparison no longer get added to the Recent Documents menu

Bugfixes

• The Open in New Window option in the open dialog is now off by default, restoring previous behavior
• Fix a sporadic crash when closing documents while scrolling
• Fix a regression in the Integration window
• Fix a text color issue in dark mode

New Features

• Integration with IDEs from JetBrains, like IntelliJ IDEA, AppCode, PhpStorm and others. Open Kaleidoscope > Integration… for details.

Bugfixes

• Fix crash on switching views in three way merge.
• Fix ksdiff to include Apple silicon (Apple M1 chip) support.
• Fix ksdiff to continue without waiting for stdin pipe to close with new --no-stdin option.

New Features

• On macOS Monterey, Shortcuts support is here with two actions: Compare Files and Compare Text
• Install the sample shortcut, offering a useful Quick Action for the Finder
• Open Kaleidoscope > Integration… to learn more.

Enhancements

• Major fidelity improvements to the copy operation in folder compare. A huge thanks to Mike for helping us track this down.
• Improved color contrast for text in Dark Appearance.
• Ongoing UI consistency updates. Thanks Matt!

Bugfixes

• Fix an issue where the popup menus next to the Choose A and Choose B buttons were missing in three way merge.
• Fixed the underlying issue for an This app needs to be updated system alert on macOS 12, making it unnecessary and not appear.
• Fixed an issue that could make one side of the Folder compare disappear unexpectedly in certain rare situations.

Major Changes

• First big interface redesign in 8 years, including a new app icon. Kaleidoscope now feels at home on macOS Big Sur and macOS Monterey.
• Gorgeous new dark appearance for those who like it darker.
• Runs natively on alls Macs, including those based on Apple silicon (Apple M1 chip).

New Features

• Reader View that lets you focus on the content.
• Much more control over how text is laid out: Better font options, choose your preferred tab width, line height, hide all invisibles, and turn off line numbers if you don’t need them.
• Convenient filtering of items in changeset windows.
• Git changesets now recognize moved files.
• Ability to ignore particular folders and files in folder compare using powerful patterns.
• Powerful integration with Alfred.

Enhancements

• New consistent top toolbar with convenient Add and Paste buttons.
• New look for the Unified text view.
• Binary plists are now supported (including webloc files).
• Rebuilt the File Shelf from the ground up.
• Switch between absolute and relative image rendering directly from the menu.
• Progress feedback when adding a second folder to the folder scope.
• Proper sorting of the sidebar in changeset windows.
• Option to turn off wrapping around when jumping through changes/conflicts.

Bugfixes

• Way too many to note individually.