What changed in each version of Shrike. Newest first. For downloads, see the releases page.
0.2.30
Latest
New
The sidebar is redesigned. It is one folder tree that always opens to the folder you are in and highlights it.
Favorites are quick jumps to your most used folders. Locations shows Home and your disks.
There are no empty headings, and the names line up. Eject is always visible on a disk.
The folder menu has Open in New Window and Copy Path.
A disk that was unplugged shows that its folder is gone.
When you drag photos over a closed folder in the sidebar and wait a moment, it opens, so you can drop into a subfolder.
Faster
Listing a very large folder is faster, and it stops when you close the Browser.
Changed
A read-only folder or disk refuses drops. It does not light up.
Fixed
The info panel is readable in a light window.
The New Folder… menu item no longer shows a wrong shortcut.
0.2.29
Faster
Shrike uses less memory while a viewer is hidden (after Back to Browser).
Fixed
Going back to the viewer after a minute no longer flashes a small, blurry copy of the photo first.
The info panel updates its size and dimensions when another app changes the photo, also while you edit.
A Browser no longer misses photos that are copied into the folder while it is open.
0.2.28
New
Settings > Editing has Delete All Backups…, to clear the saved originals in one step. It asks first, and Cancel is the safe choice.
Shrike asks before it saves over a photo that another app changed while you were editing.
Home and End jump to the first and last photo in the grid.
The Tab key now moves through the photos, the search box, the sidebar and the info panel, and back with Shift-Tab.
Faster
Adding files to a big folder no longer freezes the window.
Select All is fast, even in a big folder.
Thumbnails load faster.
Shrike gives memory back when you close a window, and uses less memory while you edit.
Changed
Batch asks before it changes your original photos, also when the output is the same folder. It never overwrites a photo without telling you.
Edits to CMYK and black-and-white photos are now applied. Shrike tells you it converted the photo, and saves a copy.
Batch renames that shift or swap names now work, even when a new name is the name of another photo in the batch.
Backups of photos on an unplugged disk, or on iCloud and not yet downloaded, are kept.
Saving keeps your colour labels, Lightroom settings and camera notes.
Remove Location also removes the place names.
The Replace question in Copy and Move names the extra RAW and sidecar files that go to the Trash too.
The word "photo" is used everywhere. Buttons say "Save Copy…" and "Don't Save". When you leave an edited photo, Cancel is the safe default.
The delete dialog has a clearer title, and Cancel is the default.
Messages can use two lines, and long file names are shortened.
The cards in a narrow viewer fit the window, and the buttons stack when there is little room.
Compare uses clearer words, and its options are in View > Compare Options.
While you edit, the info panel steps aside. It comes back when you finish, unless you opened it yourself.
The viewer title bar is a soft, see-through band.
VoiceOver reads the rating items in the menu as words, such as Rate 3 Stars.
In the Browser, the window can be narrower when the side panes are hidden.
In the info panel, mixed tags show how many photos have each tag.
Reduce Motion is respected in the full-screen animation.
Fixed
Shrike no longer quits when you leave an edit without saving after another app changed the photo. It shows the photo as it is now.
Batch counts (Run N Photos and the question before it changes your originals) leave out photos Shrike can't read. After Undo Batch, the done screen says the batch was undone.
The Replace question names every file that goes to the Trash.
The "Can't open" card fits above the filmstrip in a small window, and Reveal in Finder shows when the broken photo is the first one you open.
Revert brings back the right photo, even after a photo was replaced.
Undo Copy never deletes a different file with the same name.
If you type a tag after you click a colour tag, the colour tag stays.
The viewer toolbar updates as you move with the keyboard.
In Compare, a photo you bring in with the right arrow key gets the same zoom as the others.
A folder change during a slow move to another photo is no longer lost.
A photo that was skipped on purpose can be selected in Batch's done screen. Batch rows are listed in order, and Undo Batch is one of the done actions.
The tag filter has a Tags row, also when you open it from the toolbar. It says so when there are no tags.
Quitting during a save waits for the save and says so.
The zoom label only shows when you zoom.
The info panel for a selection whose first photo cannot be read shows a neutral stack, not "Can't preview".
In the editor, the photo fits above the note about saving, and the buttons keep their size.
VoiceOver reads the info panel, the rating and the tag chips with clear names.
0.2.27
Changed
Batch progress and done screens now share one centred column. Nothing jumps when a batch ends. The counter has its own line, so long counts fit.
Shrike is about 2 MB smaller (18 MB). It is just as fast.
A new Batch window starts with the settings of your last run, so a custom setup (for example Rotate only) is not lost.
Fixed
The zoom label in full screen always goes away after a moment.
In Batch, a file Shrike cannot read is now counted as failed, not as skipped.
The Batch hint about selecting skipped files only shows when there is a skipped file you can select.
The Batch photo list fits and lines up at the smallest window size.
A viewer opened on its own no longer reloads thumbnails when you set ratings, flags or tags.
0.2.26
New
Batch tells you before it changes your original photos in place. If a run stops part way, you can review and retry only the steps that did not finish.
Contact Sheet shows a small preview of the first page and tells you how many pages it will have.
Compare can keep one photo as a reference while you look at others. This works with or without synced zoom and pan.
Browser filters and searches can be removed one at a time.
Settings groups viewing and performance options, and offers larger text for tasks.
Changed
Editing is clearer. The buttons say Save Changes and Save Copy. Shrike says when it must convert a photo and whether a backup of the original exists.
When you leave an edited photo, Shrike offers to save changes or save a copy first. Cancel keeps you where you were.
Apply in Crop or Resize keeps your crop or size in the edit. The photo stays unsaved until you save it.
The Browser, Compare and Batch windows open at a good size and stay inside your screen.
Copy and Move show their progress and result in a band above the photos. The band never covers photos or moves the sidebar, and the result has an Undo button.
In Batch, Return starts the batch, and the stop button now says Stop Batch.
The Compare submenu in the View menu is now called Compare Window.
The info panel has a Tags heading. It uses the same words in the Browser and the viewer (Rating & Flag, Flagged).
The Reset buttons in Settings stay at the bottom while the options scroll.
Shrike uses less memory when you close viewers or run big Batch jobs.
Review controls can move to the next photo after you change a rating, if you turn that on.
Fixed
Browser filters no longer cover the search field. Its hint now says Search and fits small windows.
Grid thumbnails no longer stay blank when a folder opens for the first time.
A photo saved with Save Copy shows up in the Browser at once.
Changes made in one Shrike window (save, rotate, rename, move, delete, tags and ratings) now update the other open windows of the same folder.
The title, photo number and size at the top of the viewer are easy to read in light and dark mode.
Crop and Resize numbers update when you press Tab or click another control, and the fields line up.
Saving… only shows once the save really starts.
Photos you never edited no longer say the original backup is unavailable.
Batch no longer shows an empty Review Remaining after every step worked.
Settings text is clearer: the trackpad help is not repeated, and the External Editors note only mentions controls you can see.
When a photo is removed, the message says it was moved or deleted.
Fine rotation shows the right angle, and Undo works for each turn. Reset Crop brings back the full photo.
Right-clicking a photo in the Grid or Filmstrip acts on that photo.
Switching from a preview to the full photo no longer makes the picture jump.
Show Hidden Files refreshes the Browser and sidebar without closing your open folders or losing their scroll position.
Ratings, flags and tags stay correct after Undo and Redo. A tag added twice appears once.
If you rotate a photo and then open Edit Image, the editor now starts from the rotated photo, and its own rotate buttons turn the preview as they should.
The Batch progress bar now matches the "n of N" counter at once instead of trailing behind it.
Screen readers can read every row in the Browser list.
Batch retries keep your file names and numbers.
Resetting Settings updates open windows at once.
Rotated photos keep the right size when a file changes on disk.
When you press Esc during a Copy or Move, the message, the files on disk and Undo now agree. The file being copied at that moment is counted and can be undone.
After Save Copy, the info panel in the viewer shows the new photo count at once, the same as the title.
The Browser's info panel shows the new picture when its photo is rotated or changed in another window.
The Copy and Move progress bar, in the Browser and in the viewer, matches its counter at once.
Setting ratings, flags or tags no longer makes other windows reload thumbnails. Only real picture changes do.
The Batch progress bar stays in one place when the time left appears or changes.
The viewer's info panel keeps its rows while a rotated photo is read again.
In Batch, the file name under the bar is the next photo to do, not one that already finished.
Slideshow says "photo" when it has only one.
Return in a Levels field sets the value first. A second Return saves.
Typed crop sizes move the crop frame. Undo keeps the Resize fields in step, and Reset clears pending crop and resize changes.
Clicking or right-clicking a photo in the Filmstrip keeps Move to Trash available.
Error messages fit larger text sizes.
Compare's Sync Zoom and Pan tells screen readers whether it is on or off.
Browser rating, flag and tag filters update after Undo and Redo. Photos that no longer match are deselected.
Editing waits until the photo has fully loaded, so a save can never replace the wrong photo.
Unreadable folders and files offer a way to recover. Ratings and flags tell you if they could not be saved.
The viewer's Back to folder label follows where you came from.
The Filmstrip stays clear of scroll bars, and empty filter controls close up.
The Keyboard Shortcuts list scrolls properly, and search keeps working when you change the text size.
Resize shows the number and the % sign apart, so the field is easy to edit.
Reset Rotation shows Done when nothing else is left to save. Undo and Redo still work.
Coming back from Batch or Contact Sheet keeps your selection inside the current Browser filters.
Batch recovery shows one Output row and lets you change the destination folder.
Save and recovery buttons keep readable text at every text size.
Editing a photo that can only be saved as a copy no longer leaves an empty toolbar button.
Review controls wrap in narrow windows and stay above the full-screen controls. Storage warnings have a solid background.
Selecting photos and using the Filmstrip works for photos scrolled out of view.
0.2.10 to 0.2.11
Changed
The mouse wheel keeps every notch, also when you spin it fast. Before, a quick spin could skip photos.
The wheel with Cmd (or Option) zooms in smaller steps: 12 % for each notch. A short two-finger move with Cmd zooms about 25 %. Before, a few turns took the zoom from 25 % to 1600 %.
The chosen tool in the edit bar is easier to see: a stronger blue with a thin ring. This holds in full screen too.
In the shortcut list, the Esc line now reads "Exit Full Screen, Return to Browser, or Close". With no Browser open, Esc closes the viewer.
Fixed
In the shortcut list, searching no longer loses the Cmd sign. "Zoom In" and "Zoom Out" keep their real keys while you type.
The search box in the shortcut list takes your typing the moment the window opens, also when you open it again.
A window that gets narrower while you edit becomes wide enough again, so the tool panel never covers half of the photo.
The photo is always fitted to the window when you start editing and when you stop, also after a trip through full screen. Before, it could stay zoomed in and run under the tool panel until you pressed Cmd 0.
A photo that can't be opened no longer shows the photo before it behind the message.
In a folder where the first photos can't be opened, the mouse wheel moves to the next photo, like the arrow keys.
0.2.8 to 0.2.9
New
The info panel in the Browser and the one in the viewer follow one design. Section titles are easy to read, and the numbers line up on the right edge. In a narrow info panel a long value wraps instead of being cut, and the size and the date get a shorter form.
The right-click menu in the viewer has Slideshow, Batch and Compare, in the same order as in the Browser.
The edited mark on a photo is now a small chip with a pencil. It is easy to see on a bright photo. Point at it to read what it means.
The Welcome window has one main button: Open Folder. Press Return to use it.
External Editors in Settings is a clean list. It shows only the editors you added, and a short message when there are none.
In edit mode the right side looks like a panel. With no tool chosen, a tall card fills it and says what to do. The histogram sits in that column under the tool panel, never on your photo. It hides when the column has no room, or while the Levels tool shows its own.
Edit mode needs a window at least 648 points wide. If your window is narrower, the info panel steps aside and the window gets wider. When you finish, the window goes back to its old size, unless you changed its size yourself. The edit bar is always shown when you start.
In the Browser list, you can hide the Rating, Flag, Tags and Dimensions columns. Right-click the header row. The choice is kept. Rating is narrow and shows a star with a number, such as ★3.
On macOS 26, every item in the Shrike, File, Edit, View and Window menus has an icon, so the names line up. Before, some rows had one and some did not.
A dark shade appears behind the title and the subtitle when a bright photo runs under them, for example when you zoom in. It goes away at Fit.
Changed
Show RAW File and Show JPEG File always stay in the menu. They are grey when they do not apply, so you can find them.
The name under a photo that has a RAW follows the file you see. Show the RAW and the name ends in the RAW extension.
In the viewer, Edit and Rotate turn off the moment you switch to the RAW.
The edit panels each end with one Reset button named for the tool: Reset Crop, Reset Rotation, Reset Resize, Reset Color, Reset Levels. The Resize panel has Width, Height and Scale, and says what the new size will be. All sliders show their numbers the same way.
Only one histogram shows at a time. When the info panel is open it has the histogram, and the floating one waits.
A photo that can't be opened shows a larger card with a bigger warning sign, and no histogram.
The Trash message is flatter and has no wide shadow.
Esc, Page Up, Page Down, Home and End are written as words in the shortcut list.
In menus, the plain keys (such as Q or 3) show as small badges in the shortcut column, in the main menus and in the right-click menus. A row with its own Cmd shortcut shows only that shortcut.
The blue that Shrike draws itself (the selection ring in the filmstrip, the drop zones, the button icons that turn on) is one blue. Controls that the system draws keep the system blue.
The Reset button is as wide as the panel in Resize and Levels too.
In the Browser list, the column titles are easier to read, in light and in dark, and the rows use 13 point text. After you sort or filter, the selected photo stays in view. A photo that is already in view does not make the list scroll.
Settings labels have no colon. The Thumbnails page says the real default size.
The Mouse and Trackpad note in Settings now tells the whole story about the two-finger scroll.
The loupe has a thin ring that you can see on light and dark photos.
Fixed
The window zoom button is not slowed down any more. The quick resize is only for the edit mode width.
A window that was made wider for edit mode, where you finished editing in full screen, goes back to its old size when you leave full screen.
Zoom to Fit (Cmd+0 or the View menu) puts the photo back to Fit, also after you zoomed out and also while a zoom is still moving.
The Undo button on the Trash message works when you click near it, not only on the exact letters. The message does not move when the zoom label comes or goes.
A folder with a thousand photos no longer freezes the app when VoiceOver or another tool reads the Browser.
After you rotate a photo, the small picture in the filmstrip turns too. It also follows Undo, and Done in edit mode.
The search box in the shortcut list is ready for typing when the window opens.
VoiceOver reads "edited" for an edited photo in the Browser.
0.2.7
New
Help > Keyboard Shortcuts (Cmd+/) opens a window you can search. Type a name, a key or a section. It stays open next to your photos.
Menus now show the plain keys, such as Q for Flag and 1 to 5 for the stars. They sit on the right of the menu item.
In Compare, Tab and Shift+Tab move from one pane to the next. The active pane has a thicker ring. The window title tells you about the keys.
The Browser filter has a Flag choice: Any, Flagged or Not flagged. Unrated is now the second line of the Rating choice.
The right-click menu in the Browser has Copy to Folder, Move to Folder and Rename.
A photo that can't be opened shows two buttons: Next and Reveal in Finder.
Slideshow and contact sheet start with your photos when you select two or more.
Opening a folder that is already open brings its window forward. No second window.
Changed
On the Mac keys, only Cmd+Delete moves a photo to the Trash. A plain Delete shows a short hint, once.
The Trash message with Undo stays 6 seconds.
Edit mode has one way to finish. Done saves everything. Cancel throws it away. Apply is only on Crop and Resize, and Done also applies a size you typed.
In edit mode the tool panel is as tall as its content.
The tools to edit (Crop, Rotate, Resize, Color, Levels) are in the bar at the top, and in full screen in the bar at the bottom. Point at an icon to see its name. The tool strip on the left is gone, with its menu item and its setting. Edit Image is now also in the right-click menu.
In a window, the filmstrip stays in edit mode. Click another photo to edit it next.
Long file names keep their number and their end, so IMG_4245_new.jpg and IMG_4245.jpg look different. This holds in the position pill of the viewer too. Point at a name to see all of it.
The inspector in full screen has bigger text and the same yellow stars as the Browser. The Clear link next to the stars gets an underline when you point at it.
Fixed
After you rotate a photo, the size in the title, the inspector and Actual Size now match the photo you see. The Browser list (Dimensions column and sort) and the Browser inspector show the new size too, also after a save, an undo or a change made outside Shrike.
In the Browser right-click menu, Rename is off when you select several photos. Use Batch for those.
A file smaller than 1 KB shows its size in bytes, not 0 KB.
A damaged photo shows a warning sign in the filmstrip and in the Browser inspector. The error text fits its box.
VoiceOver reads each thumbnail as one item, such as "IMG_4222.JPG, 3 stars, flagged", in the filmstrip too. The edit fields have names too.
The text on the "can't open" card wraps onto two lines instead of being cut.
In edit mode, Return in a size field sets the value. The next Return is Done.
The viewer inspector no longer shows the stars and flag of the previous photo after you open another one from the Browser.
Rename shows F2, not Cmd+F2, in the Browser right-click menu, and F2 is shown in the viewer right-click menu. Actual Size and Edit Image show only their Cmd key.
Share works in the Browser right-click menu.
The Browser list shows the new size of a file that was changed without a new date.
0.2.6
Faster
Scrolling fast through a big folder no longer leaves work behind. Thumbnails for photos you scrolled past are not made any more. In a test with 1000 photos, the work after the scroll stopped went from about 3 seconds to under 1 second. The processor load in the next 12 seconds fell from about 17 seconds of work to 5.
A thumbnail you saw before shows at once when you scroll back, with no blank cell and no fade.
The viewer uses less memory. A 1200 by 800 window uses 125 to 130 MB when it opens (it was 150 to 165 MB) and 135 MB after 50 photos (it was 165 MB). After 3 seconds on one photo, Shrike lets go of the two photos farther away. It loads them again when you move.
A Browser with 1000 photos uses about 180 MB after a long scroll (it was about 300 MB).
Full screen keeps two screen buffers instead of up to three. That is up to 70 MB less on a large display.
Changed
Thumbnails in the Browser are sharp on a Retina screen. They were made at half the size and stretched. Thumbnails made by an older version are made again when you look at them.
0.2.0 to 0.2.5
New
A new full-screen look. The bars hide by themselves and come back when you move the pointer to the edge. The bottom bar has 11 buttons.
Pins on the panels. A pinned panel stays open. The Unpin All Panels command lets them all go at once.
Toolbar buttons for Full Screen, Show in Browser and Histogram.
RAW and JPEG switch: when a RAW file and its JPEG show as one photo, press Option+R to see the other one.
Filmstrip hover: the photo under the pointer gets a white ring, a hand cursor and its file name.
The Browser has a Filmstrip view with a big preview. Grid, Filmstrip or List: Shrike remembers your choice.
The histogram can be turned on or off in every window. It shows the share of clipped pixels at both ends.
The Browser follows the photo you select in the viewer, also when you select a range with Shift+arrow.
A disabled tool on the edit bar now says why in its tooltip.
The photo number badge hides by itself after 2 seconds. It comes back when you move the pointer.
Toolbar buttons now light up clearly when you point at them, in the viewer and in the Browser (macOS 26). A group such as Previous / Next lights one button at a time.
Changed
The mouse wheel moves one photo per click in the viewer. In the Browser grid the wheel scrolls a third of a row per click.
In a Browser window that is too small, the viewer opens at 1200 by 800 points.
The Recent list skips folders that no longer exist.
Fixed
The edit tool buttons act on the tool you picked.
In edit mode, Done and Apply used the same blue as the toolbar. (From 0.2.7, Apply is a plain grey button and Done is the only blue one.)
The arrow keys work right after you open a folder. The first photo is selected there, also when the folder is sorted by date taken: it is the first one you see, not the first one by name.
After you used Share, its button no longer stays lit.
The default button of a sheet or panel (Rename, Go to Folder, Slideshow, Contact Sheet, Apply) has a dark label when your accent colour is a light one, such as Yellow.
In full screen the bars come back when you move the mouse.
The photo counter was cut off when the folder was short or the window was narrow.
A grey band showed under the title bar after it hid.
The info panel was empty when it opened a certain way. It follows the RAW or JPEG you see.
Photos you deleted stayed in the filmstrip and in the Browser.
The preview and the info panel blinked when you moved from one photo to the next.
A toast message could sit on top of the zoom label.
The Browser window changed size when you switched the view or when photos loaded.
A click in the grid or the filmstrip now selects only that photo.
The filmstrip keeps the selected photo in the middle when the panel opens or closes, and the strip no longer cuts file names.
Shift+click and Shift+arrow ranges keep the moving end in view.
The histogram close button no longer steals the keyboard focus from the photo.
0.1
New
First public release.
Move through photos with Space or the arrow keys. Shrike prepares the next photos before you ask.
Zoom with a pinch, pan by dragging, hold Z for a loupe, press A for 100 % and B to fit the window.
Browse a whole folder as a grid, a list or a filmstrip. Names sort naturally, so IMG_2 comes before IMG_10.
Rate with 1 to 5, flag with Q and add Finder tags. Copy, move, rename or trash from the keyboard, with undo.
A RAW file and its JPEG show as one photo.
An info panel with EXIF and a histogram. Open the photo's place in Apple Maps when it has GPS.
Compare up to 4 photos side by side, with zoom and pan in sync.
Light edits: crop, rotate, resize, colour and levels. Shrike keeps a copy of the original.
Batch convert, resize and rename with templates. Print a photo or make a contact sheet.
A slideshow with timing, fade or dissolve, random order and loop.
A FastStone-style shortcut preset for people who come from Windows.
Shrike