iStat Menus Updated With New Look, History Views, and Bandwidth Monitor

[stiligFox]

Just curious Bjango, if you see this, is there a way in v4 to put the fan speed back in the menu bar? I can't seem to find it -- that was one of the things I loved about v3.

[bobobenobi]

Originally Posted by Oui

I would venture a guess, that the ones who use their computers as tools, rarely if at all use istat for anything. They would simply do their work and move on, not messing about with istat nonesense.

I would venture a guess that you don't know too many professionals. Tools like iStat provide quick access to information that is important to people who want to know what their machine is doing.

What's with, all the commas, in your, post?

[Bjango]

Originally Posted by bobobenobi

Can I have them consolidated in the menu but all visible in the drop down?

Sure can.

To do so, turn on Combine cores into one item under the CPU & GPU tab.

Originally Posted by stiligFox

Just curious Bjango, if you see this, is there a way in v4 to put the fan speed back in the menu bar? I can't seem to find it -- that was one of the things I loved about v3.

Sure can. There's usually at least 2 fans in any given Mac model (far more in Xserves and Mac Pros). You can choose to show one or more in the menubar. To do so, drag one or more sensors from the available fan sensors area to the menubar sensors area.

Originally Posted by Oui

I would venture a guess, that the ones who use their computers as tools, rarely if at all use istat for anything. They would simply do their work and move on, not messing about with istat nonesense.

Our customers tend to be professional tool users, especially those running Xcode, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro X, Logic Pro, Lightroom, and server admins. As quick as computers are, it's still common for heavy duty tools to bring a quick Mac to it's knees.

Also, the world clock and calendar received lots of positive feedback when we added it. I suspect anyone who talks to people overseas may find it handy.

[curmudgeon32]

I have to say, I really think Dashboard is a great place for this kind of thing. I have plenty of things competing for menubar space, and I also don't really want another full-blown app sitting there when I command-tab through everything. The Dashboard is a spot where things can be out of sight until the moment they're needed. That's why I continue to run copy of the iStat Pro widget that I still have around from way back when. It continues to work nicely, and I'm not cluttering up my screen until I want to check on something.

[Bjango]

Originally Posted by curmudgeon32

I have to say, I really think Dashboard is a great place for this kind of thing.

It's a shame Apple don't seem to see much future for Dashboard.

Originally Posted by curmudgeon32

I have plenty of things competing for menubar space, and I also don't really want another full-blown app sitting there when I command-tab through everything.

Yep, menubar space is precious. It's worth noting that iStat Menus does not need to be in your Dock or open — it won't add another app to your command-tab overlay. We also added a way to combine all items or some items to a single menubar icon in iStat Menus 3.1, which saves a lot of space.

—

Almost finished on iStat Menus 4.02.

[Raunien]

Originally Posted by Bjango

—

Almost finished on iStat Menus 4.02.

Is the option to remove sensor dropdown menu stuff in 4.0.2?

[Bjango]

Originally Posted by Raunien

Is the option to remove sensor dropdown menu stuff in 4.0.2?

Nope, iStat Menus 4.02 doesn't add a way to selectively disable some sensors in the dropdown. We *may* add that in the future, if we can think of a smart way to do it.

[bobobenobi]

Originally Posted by Bjango

Nope, iStat Menus 4.02 doesn't add a way to selectively disable some sensors in the dropdown. We *may* add that in the future, if we can think of a smart way to do it.

Wasn't it in the old version?

[nuckinfutz]

Originally Posted by Bjango

Nope, iStat Menus 4.02 doesn't add a way to selectively disable some sensors in the dropdown. We *may* add that in the future, if we can think of a smart way to do it.

Just grabbed iSM 4. Buying the iOS version soon as I get my Mac mini setup as a sever. As always the stuff performs as well as it looks.

[Bjango]

iStat Menus 4.02 is out. Here's a list of what's new and improved:

• Added dark dropdown theme.
• Added white menubar theme (for those with a dark Mac menubar).
• Added more customisation options in Disks extra.
• Moved disk activity into main drop down in Disks extra.
• Improved download & upload order to be more consistent.
• Fixed some installation issues.
• Fixed several calendar issues.
• Fixed world clocks being in the wrong order in some cases.
• Fixed an issue that caused the menubar time to stop updating.

The white menubar theme is for those using Obsidian. Due to popular demand, we now have a dark dropdown menu theme.

Originally Posted by bobobenobi

Wasn't it in the old version?

It was, but it was a bit messy. The sensors tab was redesigned fairly significantly to improve other aspects, like allowing for more space for the available sensors (the area you drag the sensor tokens from).

Out of curiosity, which sensors do you want to disable? All the sensors of one type, or do you want to be more selective than that?

Originally Posted by nuckinfutz

Just grabbed iSM 4. Buying the iOS version soon as I get my Mac mini setup as a sever. As always the stuff performs as well as it looks.

Thank you. We really appreciate it. We're a small company, so people supporting our apps really does make a difference.

[milo]

Originally Posted by Oui

I would venture a guess, that the ones who use their computers as tools, rarely if at all use istat for anything. They would simply do their work and move on, not messing about with istat nonesense.

Then I guess you'd be wrong.

The work I do is very hardware intensive, and iStat has been hugely helpful in figuring out the best way to configure things for best performance.

[parish]

Originally Posted by Bjango

iStat Menus 4.02 is out. Here's a list of what's new and improved:

• Added dark dropdown theme.
• Added white menubar theme (for those with a dark Mac menubar).
• Added more customisation options in Disks extra.
• Moved disk activity into main drop down in Disks extra.
• Improved download & upload order to be more consistent.
• Fixed some installation issues.
• Fixed several calendar issues.
• Fixed world clocks being in the wrong order in some cases.
• Fixed an issue that caused the menubar time to stop updating.

I notice that you've also renamed theme dropdown to menubar theme (it was just 'theme' in 4.0 wasn't it?) making it clear that it only applies to the menu bar

[parish]

Originally Posted by Bjango

• Improved download & upload order to be more consistent.

Oops, you only changed half of it

[jmille44]

Originally Posted by jvpython

What Mac are you using it on? Has never done that to me.

Mac Pro with Radeon HD 5770 shows 100% memory usage.
I contacted the company and they claim it's Apple's fault and Apple
needs to fix it. Version 2 worked. 3 and 4 do not.

[Concorde Rules]

Just updated to 4 (long time user of iStat, dating back to the early days of the dashboard app!)

However updates should never remove features!!!!

There are currently missing features/annoyances that I would need putting back/fixing for me to update.

Note the following screenies are from my MBP...

1. Power Display (Watts) removed, please put this back. Along with all the sensors that have now gone missing.
2. Ability to remove sensors. I don't have a CPU B in my Mac Pro, so what is the point of displaying it!?!?!
3. Where has the RPM suffix gone???

Before/After




4. Network connections: Why does it show all of them now!? Please add the ability to disable/hide unused/unwanted connections.

PS: I use both network ports on my Mac Pro, so a user setting which one he wants to display isn't good enough.




5. My 6870 shows 100% memory usage at the desktop. I think not with 1GB on board :P

6. Add the ability to show 1/7/14 days of iCal reminders?

7. I don't like how the Voltage/Amperage in the Battery drop down is now in its own sub menu. It isn't like the battery one is a long list anyway, so can you put that back ala V3? Also the bar at the bottom looks a little out of place :S


What is the menubar/background polling rate? 1 second for the menubar and 1 min for the graphs? Im assuming this new version hasn't increased the CPU usage over the old one?

I DO like the history graphs, so if you can fix the above then I will purchase the upgrade.
I also like the time/date menu now too.



Thanks

[curmudgeon32]

Originally Posted by Bjango

It's a shame Apple don't seem to see much future for Dashboard.

I guess. I mean, it's still a part of Mountain Lion, right? Is it inherently more difficult to sell widgets vs. other kinds of apps, or are you guys just nervous that the Dashboard will go away in OS 10.9 or 11?

[NickZac]

This is not cool. I updated to it automatically. It looks so/so if you dont have a retina, it has no new useful features, and it serves no purpose for most users that 3 didn't. I'm really let down. What is the easiest way to get rid of it and back to 3? A Time Machine or CCC restore?

edit: when I say new, I mean things that will commonly be used

[NickZac]

Originally Posted by NickZac

This is not cool. I updated to it automatically. It looks so/so if you dont have a retina, it has no new useful features, and it serves no purpose for most users that 3 didn't. I'm really let down. What is the easiest way to get rid of it and back to 3? A Time Machine or CCC restore?

edit: when I say new, I mean things that will commonly be used

I was able to overwrite with version 3.27 from a Carbon Copy Cloner backup.

Here is the top reason I hate it. You can disable shadows in 3 but you cannot in 4. For people with vision problems like myself, it is not readable at all. Why would you remove this feature and add all sorts of marginally useful ones? Maybe the shadow looks good on a retina but it looks awful on my normal 15 inch hi-res.

[Bjango]

Originally Posted by parish

Oops, you only changed half of it

Noted. We'll get those other bits changed in the next update. Thanks for letting us know.

Originally Posted by jmille44

Mac Pro with Radeon HD 5770 shows 100% memory usage.
I contacted the company and they claim it's Apple's fault and Apple
needs to fix it. Version 2 worked. 3 and 4 do not.

iStat Menus 2 didn't show GPU memory usage.

Originally Posted by Concorde Rules

Network connections: Why does it show all of them now!? Please add the ability to disable/hide unused/unwanted connections.

Thanks for the feedback. We're look at a good way to implement this now. To be honest, we never liked how it was done in iStat Menus 3. We think we can do better.

Originally Posted by Concorde Rules

My 6870 shows 100% memory usage at the desktop. I think not with 1GB on board :P

Unfortunately, OS X 10.8 was the cause of that. Some graphics cards report 100% memory usage all the time now. We don't believe it's something we can fix at our end — it's a driver issue.

Originally Posted by Concorde Rules

Add the ability to show 1/7/14 days of iCal reminders?

Good suggestion. We definitely plan to keep on improving the Time dropdown.

Originally Posted by Concorde Rules

What is the menubar/background polling rate? 1 second for the menubar and 1 min for the graphs? Im assuming this new version hasn't increased the CPU usage over the old one?

CPU usage is generally lower in iStat Menus 4.

Originally Posted by Concorde Rules

I DO like the history graphs, so if you can fix the above then I will purchase the upgrade. I also like the time/date menu now too.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by curmudgeon32

I guess. I mean, it's still a part of Mountain Lion, right? Is it inherently more difficult to sell widgets vs. other kinds of apps, or are you guys just nervous that the Dashboard will go away in OS 10.9 or 11?

It's definitely harder to sell widgets, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if Dashboard is gone from the next version of OS X (or the one after). That seems likely.

Originally Posted by NickZac

This is not cool. I updated to it automatically.

Sorry you feel that way. We were cautious to make sure we informed people. Maybe we could have been even clearer? Here's some info and the update message you would have seen before installing: http://bjango.com/help/istatmenus4/update/

You can try iStat Menus 4 out for 14 days and decide if you'd like to keep it. If you don't want it, you can reinstall iStat Menus 3 easily (iStat Menus 3 is still available for download from our website).

Originally Posted by NickZac

Here is the top reason I hate it. You can disable shadows in 3 but you cannot in 4.

To remove the shadows, set the shadow colour opacity to 0%.

[TouchArchive]

Bjango great App ,but want to buy from Mac App Store,not from your site.
Any chance?I have credits on my Account from gift cards.

[Bjango]

Originally Posted by TouchArchive

Bjango great App, but want to buy from Mac App Store, not from your site. Any chance?

Thank you.

Unfortunately, there's zero chance of that happening. We require some private APIs and other things that simply aren't possible while abiding by Apple's App Store guidelines. It's unlikely iStat Menus will ever be available on the Mac App Store.

We do have another app, MiStat that doesn't show as much information as iStat Menus, but it is available on the Mac App Store. That may be a good alternative?

The good news is that not being on the Mac App Store means we were able to offer upgrade pricing on iStat Menus. We are also able to upgrade anyone who purchased after November 12 to iStat Menus 4. Both of those things would not have been possible if iStat Menus was on the Mac App Store.

So it's a good thing.

[NickZac]

Originally Posted by Bjango

Sorry you feel that way. We were cautious to make sure we informed people. Maybe we could have been even clearer? Here's some info and the update message you would have seen before installing: http://bjango.com/help/istatmenus4/update/

You can try iStat Menus 4 out for 14 days and decide if you'd like to keep it. If you don't want it, you can reinstall iStat Menus 3 easily (iStat Menus 3 is still available for download from our website).



To remove the shadows, set the shadow colour opacity to 0%.

Image

Okay...so I went back to the image and not seeing it is my fault. I apologize for my original comment regarding that. To be completely honest with you, I don't think a lot of people read the fine print. You have had quite a few revisions to version 3 and so when it tells me there is an upgrade I would simply click okay. So in that case I should have paid more attention. The upgrade message looks as attached. I honestly just saw 'upgrade' and 'install'.

As far as the shadows go, setting opacity to 0% on 4 does not create the same crisp look on my computer than on 3. It is still fuzzy. I've attached a picture of the option I would use on 3 and what they actual image looks like. I spent a good 30 minutes playing around with 4 and could not get the image to the same level of sharpness. For most, that probably is not an issue. For me, it is the difference in being able to read it and not. From what I have noticed, some retina-tuned programs seem to lose a bit of clarity on non-retina screens, but that could just be me.

[Concorde Rules]

Originally Posted by Bjango

*SNIP*

I'm at work at the moment, but I've just noticed that the network connection graph in the menubar has also disappeared. Is that me not enabling it or you have removed it?

Also, can you confirm you will be sorting out the sensors/wattage issue? I don't want to continuously think what 0.7 V x 28A is and see that CPU B is drawing 0V and 0A!!

Cheers!

[redshovel]

Just purchased iStats 4 - looks very nice however temperature reading on menu bar has went from an average of 35 to around 75.

Usually my machine would only report those high temperatures when gaming - and the fans would be on.

Am I missing some simple change to the readout?

[milo]

Originally Posted by redshovel

Just purchased iStats 4 - looks very nice however temperature reading on menu bar has went from an average of 35 to around 75.

Celsius verus Fahrenheit maybe?