iStat Menus 5 Brings Refreshed Look, OS X Yosemite Support, More Data

[Traverse]

Can this app mess up any of Apple's sensors or change any SMC rules?

 

[scott523]

iStat 4.22 works with Yosemite. You don't need to upgrade unless you want to, which it looks like you don't. (Well, I think it works. I haven't tried dark mode, but they added a dark mode option to the iStat menus themselves, so maybe they also took care to make it work with the icons.)

iStat 4.22 in dark mode is no good and editing fan rules are broken for my Mac. I'm not yet convinced to upgrade to iStat5.

Can this app mess up any of Apple's sensors or change any SMC rules?

AFAIK, it doesn't mess up any sensors or SMC rules but you can modify the fan rules.

 

[irnchriz]

Paying AGAIN!? These annually upgrade costs for iOS and OS X apps make me really sick.

I use the old stat widget, still works fine and was free.

 

[Unrealtechno]

Unfortunately it no longer recognizes Fusion Drives as two separate devices so there is no way of determining which device (SSD or HDD) is being accessed and what the utilization is.

Support ticket opened!

 

[talmy]

Yep, it works for the most part. I'm using the mini version of it on my Air and the full version on my Mac Mini. The only module that is broken is "processes". Other than that, it's great and I run it along with a handful of other useful things I want to see only occasionally.

If you are a bit handy you can patch the code (it's just a script) to get Processes working again. The how-to should be easy to find with a Google search.

I also use this and prefer it to more clutter in the menu bar. More power to Dashboard!

 

[Icy1007]

It never existed. We might get one now, though, that there are actual NC widgets in Yosemite which developers will be able to make.

There was a dashboard widget, but it hasn't been updated in ages and I'm not sure if it works anymore.

BTW, anyone using this noticing that "apps using significant energy" aren't reporting the same thing as the OS X battery menu?

The dashboard widget works fine for me on OS X yosemite dp4.

 

[larrylaffer]

MenuMeters is free.

 

[GIZBUG]

Paying AGAIN!? These annually upgrade costs for iOS and OS X apps make me really sick.

Agreed

 

[colourfastt]

MenuMeters is free.

I use both.

 

[Baklava]

Well, sorry, but that's unrealistic. Especially at the pennies iOS apps go for.

So ... you want people to do work for you, but pay nothing (or very little).

Sounds about right.

Heaven forbid we software developers try to make a living!!1

Then don't buy it if you don't want it? I use ATMonitor, a free application similar to iStat Menus but not as feature-rich, because I don't need iStat Menus.

I'm sorry if my comment seemed like a hate campaign to developers but that was not intended. Unfortunately you get me wrong... I am the last person who doesn't support useful commercial software. And I belong to the minority donating for useful free applications. Occupationally I have to have the latest OS and up-to-date versions of some of my installed applications. In some cases, I am forced to spend some extra bit of money for upgrades because of reasons for compatibility (Snow Leopard to Lion was the most expensive case for me so far). For the last couple of years I get more and more the feeling that I am not buying software anymore but rather subscribing to its licence. Every year I'm spending hundreds of dollars just for upgrades, both for OS X and iOS applications. And this makes me as a user unhappy.

At least this guy is getting me right:

This is almost a textbook example of a straw man.

He is not complaining about paying.
He doesn't think developers should work for free.
He is complaining about paying annually to upgrade.

Whether or not it is a valid complaint or not is another matter, but at least represent his views accurately.

<3 for developers.

 

[AZhappyjack]

...

 

[Bjango]

Just bought a copy. Love the new look. Well worth the price.

Thank you!

So don't upgrade, or skip a version.

We’re definitely happy for people to do that. We’ve even keep download links on our site for iStat Menus 3 and iStat Menus 4.

i had 3 or 4 running. it even made my mouse cursor laggy and jumpy and moving windows as well once i uninstalled it, it worked as before. guess ill try the tool again once yosemite is out of beta

Ok. That definitely doesn’t sound normal. Please do take a look at iStat Menus 5, if you get and chance and are interested.

It still works; it still resides on my dashboard (and yes, I'm a dinosaur .. I still use Dashboard).

If only Dashboard was a priority for Apple. Oh well. Notification Center does look good. Maybe that’ll take over?

At the end of the day, we are talking about a typical fast food lunch + coffee here, and I probably get more value out of iStat Menu than junk carb and caffeine, but I would like to see at least 50% off for loyal users.

Anyway, off to purchase the upgrade.

Thank you. We love building and maintaining iStat Menus, and we want to ensure it has a long and healthy future. To add support for sensors and features in new Mac models, we typically have to purchase at least one of each model, for each generation that is released. We can sell them later, but that gets expensive pretty quickly.

Except iStat4 doesn't work under Yosemite. I'm not looking for an upgrade, just hoping that they have bug fixes to ensure that ver4 continues to work with Yosemite.

iStat Menus 4 is compatible with Yosemite. What issues are you having? Are you running iStat Menus 4.22 (the latest version)?

 

[Traverse]

Thank you!
iStat Menus 4 is compatible with Yosemite. What issues are you having? Are you running iStat Menus 4.22 (the latest version)?

All the monitors do not interfere with you system's built in SMC controls correct? I dont want it to adjust fan controls or anything else, I just need a way to monitor temperatures.

 

[Bjango]

He is complaining about paying annually to upgrade.

iStat Menus 3 was released 22 April 2010.
iStat Menus 4 was released 28 November 2012.
iStat Menus 5 was released 5 August 2014.

Can this app mess up any of Apple's sensors or change any SMC rules?

iStat Menus sets the lowest speed fans will go, but the SMC still controls the fans. That effectively means iStat Menus can make your fans run faster, but it can’t make fans run *slower* than the SMC would want.

iStat 4.22 in dark mode is no good

iStat Menus 4 lets you change the colours of almost everything. We added support for white menu items a long time ago, for those running Obsidian Menu Bar. iStat Menus 4 should be totally fine with Yosemite’s dark mode.

You can change the colours by clicking on items, like this:

…editing fan rules are broken for my Mac. I'm not yet convinced to upgrade to iStat5.

Have you tried iStat Menus 4.22 and the latest Yosemite preview?

Unfortunately it no longer recognizes Fusion Drives as two separate devices so there is no way of determining which device (SSD or HDD) is being accessed and what the utilization is.

Support ticket opened!

Ok! This is a feature of iStat Menus 5 (previous versions displayed as two drives). I guess we may need to think about it a bit, to see if we can improve things.

In some cases, I am forced to spend some extra bit of money for upgrades because of reasons for compatibility (Snow Leopard to Lion was the most expensive case for me so far).

I hope you realise that when a developer’s app breaks on a new OS, that typically means they have to do a bit of work to get things up and running again. That can range from a quick fix, to a complete overhaul.

OS X is a living, breathing entity. It grows and changes quickly, as new APIs are introduced and old APIs are deprecated. If we don’t stay on top of maintenance, our software won’t run or won’t run well.

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All the monitors do not interfere with you system's built in SMC controls correct? I dont want it to adjust fan controls or anything else, I just need a way to monitor temperatures.

Yeah, that’s right. iStat Menus doesn’t need to touch the fan rules, and reading the sensors is definitely read-only. Our goal for iStat Menus is to observe and not touch. The fan rules are the only exception.

 

[Traverse]

Yeah, that’s right. iStat Menus doesn’t need to touch the fan rules, and reading the sensors is definitely read-only. Our goal for iStat Menus is to observe and not touch. The fan rules are the only exception.

Thank you! Between the direct reply and quality of the software itself, I have decided to purchase it.

 

[tgwaste]

No, I'm speaking as a user who had to upgrade a bunch of apps with almost every major iOS and OS X release. I don't mind if the price would be a bit higher for a lifetime free upgrade.

I completely agree. This is absurd, it was already pricy to begin with for a stats app now I gotta pay ten dollars to upgrade?

Screw this company.

 

[Bjango]

Thank you! Between the direct reply and quality of the software itself, I have decided to purchase it.

Thank you so much! I hope it serves you well.

I completely agree. This is absurd, it was already pricy to begin with for a stats app now I gotta pay ten dollars to upgrade?

Screw this company.

We're a very lean company (everyone works remotely).

Due to the specific nature of iStat Menus, we need to do testing on each model of hardware. This sometimes means we borrow friends' Macs, but often it means buying and reselling Macs.

Is ~$10 every two years (~$5 a year) a lot for something you might use every day? That decision is entirely up to you. We want to make sure iStat Menus is the best app of its kind, and that means constant maintenance. We really don't mind if you skip major versions (~$2.50 a year).

If we were on the Mac App Store, we couldn't offer update pricing at all. We also couldn't offer a trial. And we couldn't offer refunds. We're doing everything we can to make sure the only people who buy our software are those who like it.

I completely understand why you may be upset, but please understand it was a huge amount of work that went into this update. And please understand that the update is entirely your choice.

We're also offering free updates for anyone who purchased on or after 15 July 2014.

All we want is to ensure iStat Menus can continue to serve those who use it well. That means every couple of years, there may be a paid update available.

 

[cclloyd]

the font in the task bar needs to be updated. the words look squeezed and blurry, cant use it like that, my OCD doesnt allow it lol its all i see

edit: had to uninstall, it made my rMBP laggy (Yosemite DP5)

So probably not a good idea to install 5 and just stick with 4 for now?

 

[Baklava]

You do realize that in most cases you are NOT buying software. You are paying for a license to USE the software. There is a difference.

Yes, I do know the difference. Then let me reconstruct my sentence in your fashion: I get the feeling that I am not paying for a software license anymore but rather subscribing to it.

BTW: Somebody should contact Apple and correct their understanding of license acquisition. They use the phrase 'Buy apps' all the time.

 

[cjred]

Yes, I do know the difference. Then let me reconstruct my sentence in your fashion: I get the feeling that I am not paying for a software license anymore but rather subscribing to it.

BTW: Somebody should contact Apple and correct their understanding of license acquisition. They use the phrase 'Buy apps' all the time.

Don't want to buy huh? try Pulseway then....

 

[JohnsonK]

Paying AGAIN!? These annually upgrade costs for iOS and OS X apps make me really sick.

You are clueless

 

[OldMacUser]

I have been using iStat Menus since version 1 and am very happy to support Bjango as I frequently refer to the statistics on the menubar.

The ONE thing that I was wishing for (and I didn't know that v5 was coming) was for customisable battery alert levels and I see that this is now included in V5 ... huzzzahh!!

Upgraded to the Family Pack as iStat Menus is installed on a total of 4 Macs in the household and is the first 3rd-party app that is installed whenever we get a new Mac or do OS upgrades.

Here is a screenshot of my menu bar ... takes up almost half of the monitor width!!

 

[Bjango]

The ONE thing that I was wishing for (and I didn't know that v5 was coming) was for customisable battery alert levels and I see that this is now included in V5 ... huzzzahh!!

Yes! And with Notification Center alerts. Very happy we were able to do that.

Here is a screenshot of my menu bar ... takes up almost half of the monitor width!!

Thank you, and… that's a very serious menubar.

 

[Bjango]

If anyone's interested, we've just posted the painted wallpaper we created for iStat Menus 5:

iStat Menus painted wallpaper for desktop, iPhone and iPad.

 

[bushido]

I have been using iStat Menus since version 1 and am very happy to support Bjango as I frequently refer to the statistics on the menubar.

The ONE thing that I was wishing for (and I didn't know that v5 was coming) was for customisable battery alert levels and I see that this is now included in V5 ... huzzzahh!!

Upgraded to the Family Pack as iStat Menus is installed on a total of 4 Macs in the household and is the first 3rd-party app that is installed whenever we get a new Mac or do OS upgrades.

Here is a screenshot of my menu bar ... takes up almost half of the monitor width!!

and just how ugly, washed out and squeezed is the font of "cpu" etc. r those devs blind???