TouchControl Server for macOS Release Notes
Version 4.10
Usability enhancements and bug fixes.
Version 4.7 - 4.9
Easily integrate with IFTTT Webhooks service via HTTP Request buttons.
Easily generate IFTTT Webhooks service requests in TC via HTTP Request buttons using either the Webhooks 3-value method or using a JSON payload. See the IFTTT Webhooks documentation for information about those two Webhooks service features. To enable this feature in TouchControl, access TC Server Settings - Preferences, and check the "Enable IFTTT Webhooks in HTTP Request buttons" option, and enter/paste your personal Webhooks key (found in IFTTT) in the provided "Key" field. Then, when configuring HTTP Request buttons in TC Server, check the "IFTTT" option in the upper right to display the Webhooks trigger field, and select the Values or JSON payload type to display the appropriate fields. Note that when using the IFTTT Webhooks option, the button's selected host IP address (configured in TC Server Interface Manager) must contain "maker.ifttt.com", and the port must be 443 (Webhooks requests use the HTTPS protocol). Again, see the IFTTT web site for full documentation on the Webhooks service.
Bug fixes.
Version 4.5 - 4.6
New "Find buttons" feature.
You can now right-click on the "Buttons For Selected Device" or "Available devices" tables on the main server designer window and select "Find buttons...", which will open a dialog allowing you to type any part of a button's name, and any matching buttons found in your configuration will display in a selection list. Selecting a found button will navigate the designer to the selected device and button.
Bug fixes.
Version 4.3 - 4.4
Gesture Pad updates:
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Separate single/double tap actions.
Double-Tap has been added as an additional, distinct gesture available for Gesture Pads, so you can now add separate actions for single- and double-tap gestures, and both single- and double-tap gestures may be set as two-stage actions as well. Please note, if you currently use the Double-tap feature of the "Tap" gesture, please re-configure your gesture pad to use the new Double Tap gesture instead.
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New swipe "Hold To Repeat" feature
Up/down/left/right swipe gestures on a Gesture Pad can now optionally be configured for "Hold to repeat". This feature allows you to swipe in a given direction, and when you pause the swipe but leave your finger on the screen, the Gesture Pad will continue to send the commands for the current swipe direction without further swipe movement required. Lifting your finger off the screen, or continuing the swipe motion will cancel the repeating commands. Each distinct swipe direction may be independently configured as hold to repeat. Repeated commands are sent at the rate defined by the Gesture Pad's "Repeat interval" setting.
These features require TouchControl v12.3.
Bug fixes.
Version 4.2
Activity-level shadows and haptics.
Turning on Button Shadows option and/or the Sound & Vibration vibration/haptics option (for devices that support haptics) in Settings in TouchControl on your iOS device will enable those features for all activities in your configuration. If, however, you would like to enable shadows or haptics for specific activities, but not for all of them, you can now turn on shadows and haptics at the activity level in the Activity Configuration settings in TouchControl Server when designing your activities. Simply select the Shadows and/or Haptics settings on the server when designing your activities, and turn OFF the Button Shadows and Sound & Vibration Haptics options in TouchControl on your device. Leave those options ON in settings on your device if you wish to use them for all activities regardless of the setting in the server designer.
Support for server restart from device.
To force a restart of your TC Server app from TouchControl on your device, open Settings in TouchControl, tap on the "Server" entry under "Network Settings", then tap on the pencil (edit) icon in the upper right to open the "Edit Servers" screen. Tap the "Restart" button for any server listed that you would like to restart. This will ONLY restart the TouchControl Server APP on the Mac - it will not restart the Mac itself. Be aware that any unsaved data or changes in your TC Server will be lost if you proceed with the restart (you will receive a warning before the restart is actually triggered). This feature requires TouchControl for iOS version 12.2.
Bug fixes.
Version 4 - 4.1
Support for the "Colors" home screen theme.
Using the "Theme" option within settings in TouchControl for iOS, you can now change the home screen theme to "Colors". Colors are set at the Location level, and are selected on the TouchControl Server main screen after selecting a location from the drop-down list. First, turn on location colors by enabling the "Show location color selector" option in server settings/preferences. Then select a color for a selected location by clicking the color button to the right of the location drop down. This color will then be used for the location and all activity buttons for that location when using the "Colors" theme in the client app.
Bug fixes.
Version 3.9 - 3.12
Allow negative slider values.
You can now set negative values for a slider button's minimum value, maximum value, and starting value.
Bug fixes.
Version 3.7 - 3.8
Enables sending HTTP Request button commands direct from watch to destination device.
You can now configure HTTP Request buttons to send their commands directly from the TouchControl Apple Watch app to the destination/controlled device, rather than sending through TouchControl on the iOS device. To enable this feature, right-click on any HTTP Request button on an activity configured for Apple Watch in the TouchControl Server layout designer, and select/enable the "Watch HTTP Direct" option. Then refresh the config to your device.
Bug fixes.
Version 3.6
Drag & drop config export files onto the main app window to initiate the import process.
Drag and drop any config export .zip file onto the main app window to initiate the config import process. Dropping a .zip file that is not a config export will produce an error message alert. Attempting to drop a non .zip file onto the window will do nothing.
Bug fixes.
Version 3.5
Enables custom transitions for link buttons executed from macros or gesture pads.
When executing link buttons using custom transitions from macros or gesture pads, those custom transitions will execute properly (previously link button custom transitions were ignored when executed from those button types). Requires TouchControl iOS app version 11.2.
Bug fixes.
Version 3.3 - 3.4
Designer layout auto-expands to show all buttons when buttons are located outside the background image bounds.
When TouchControl Server opens an activity layout in the designer, if it finds buttons that fall outside the background image's bounds, it will auto-expand the layout designer window to show all buttons. Press the "e" key on the keyboard to toggle expanded mode if desired.
Bug fixes.
Version 3.0 - 3.2
New activity sharing feature.
TouchControl activities can now be shared among TouchControl users. Simply use the existing "Export configuration - Activities..." option on the server's Tools menu, and then select "Share this activity" when prompted after the export process has completed. Shared activities will be uploaded to the touchapptech.com web site where other users can download them and import into their configurations. Shared activity files can be imported info TouchControl Server using the "Import Configuration..." option on the Tools menu. Please see the Sharing page for more information.
New device sharing feature.
TouchControl device configurations can now be shared among TouchControl users. Simply right-click on any device in the "Available Devices" list in TouchControl Server and select "Share...". Shared devices will be uploaded to the touchapptech.com web site where other users can download them and import into their configurations. Shared device files can be imported info TouchControl Server using the "Import Configuration..." option on the Tools menu. Please see the Sharing page for more information.
Set custom button text and background colors.
You can now set a custom text color for any button, and a custom background color for any hot-spot button (button with no image), in addition to the built-in set of color choices already available.
Bug fixes.
Version 2.10
Support for HTTP Request buttons with password-only basic authentication
If you have a device or service that you control with HTTP Request buttons that requires only a password for authentication (no user ID), you can set only a password in the Authentication section of the HTTP Request interface host in TouchControl Server's Interface Manager, leaving the user ID blank. Or, if using the HTTPAuth button property, you can set only a password by setting the property value to ":mypassword" (that's a colon followed by the desired password - basically leaving the user ID blank which would normally precede the colon).
Use the TouchControl Server icon on the macOS status bar to hide/show (toggle) the app
Version 2.8 - 2.9
Automatically adjust activities for iPhone and iPad safe areas
You can now tell TouchControl to automatically adjust the top and bottom margins of your activities to layout within the "safe area" on full-screen iPhone and iPad devices, if desired. This allows you to design your activity layouts with buttons at the top and bottom edges, but when selecting the "Safe area" setting in the activity config options, Touch control will automatically adjust the layout so that the top is below the front-facing camera assembly (the "notch") and the bottom is above the "home bar". This will also help avoid the rounded corners of these devices. The activity background image will continue to extend to the screen's top and bottom edges for a finished look. If you'd rather take advantage of this space on the device screen, then leave the "Safe area" option unselected, which is the default. This feature requires TouchControl for iOS version 10.5.1.
Bug fixes
Version 2.7
Quickly find auto-exec buttons on layouts
Right-click on your layout background and select Find -> Auto exec -> On load/appear/resume/exit. If one of those buttons exists on the layout, it will highlight and flash.
Bug fixes
Version 2.5 - 2.6
Drag & drop buttons onto your layouts in the designer
You can now drag buttons from the buttons list in the server designer and drop onto your layouts. When you drop the button, you will be given the opportunity to clone from another button (if there are other buttons already on the layout), or add the button as normal. You can drop buttons in groups, and drop a button on another button to replace a button, just as you could using the "Add button to layout" button. The "Add button to layout' button is still available if you prefer.
Add a property to all buttons in a device
You can now right-click on a device in the "Available Devices" list and select "Property...". This will open a dialog that will allow you to add a property to, or remove a property from, all buttons in that device at once.
Bug fixes
Version 2.3 - 2.4
Bug fixes
Version 2 - 2.1
Support for Siri Shortcuts
TouchControl now integrates with Siri. See this page for more information.
Bug fixes
Version 1.7
New Gesture Pad Double-Tap feature
You can now set a gesture pad's Tap gesture to require a double-tap instead. This can be useful if you have a gesture pad that had multiple gestures defined, and you find that it registers a tap when attempting to swipe, or it registers random taps when just resting your finger on the screen.
Bug fixes & stability improvements
Version 1.6.8
Bug fixes and stability improvements
Version 1.6.8
New Auto-Exec on Appear Button Setting
You can now set a button to auto-execute whenever an activity appears. This includes immediately after the initial load (and after any auto-exec on load button executes), as well as any time you navigate away from an activity via a link button, and then return to the activity via normal back navigation or a [back] link button. This is useful if there is a command or script that you want to execute any time an activity appears. Prior to this feature, you would need to turn off the "retain history" setting on your link buttons and always use link buttons (vs. back navigation) whenever navigating from one activity to another to force the auto-exec on load to fire each time an activity appeared. You can now retain history (the default) on your link buttons and use normal forward and back navigation and always be ensured that your on-appear buttons will execute when the activity appears. If using this feature, make sure that you include in an auto-exec on load button only a command or code that you want to execute once in the lifetime of an activity, and put any command or code that is okay to run multiple times in your on-appear button. As previously, the same button can be set as on-load, on-resume, on-exit, and on-appear (or any combination of those) if you wish.
Note that an on-appear button will not execute when the app is resumed from the background and the activity is already the visible activity. Use the existing auto-exec on resume button for this purpose.
Bug fixes & stability improvements
Version 1.6.7
New "Zoom to Width" feature
In addition to the "Scale to fit" feature, you can now configure activities to "Zoom to Width" in the server designer, which causes activities to scale to the width of the device they are running on, and proportionately scales the height as well, which effectively "zooms" the activity to the size of the device (based on device width). Your activity background image will always fill the entire screen, and the activity may scroll vertically if the zoom process results in an activity that is taller than the device's screen. This is useful when using the same activities on multiple devices with different screen dimensions.
Bug fixes & stability improvements
Version 1.6.4 - 1.6.6
Bug fixes
Version 1.6.3
New button import feature
Generate new buttons in TouchControl from information contained an a text file. See the Button Import documentation in the Server Tools section of the instructions for more information.
Updates for macOS Mojave
Bug fixes
Version 1.6.2
Added support for TextFont and TextAlign properties for button types that display text
Use the new TextFont and TextAlign built-in properties for all button types that display text to set custom fonts, sizes, and control alignment of text displayed within the button. Any iOS font can be used (here's one site that lists them). See "Built-In Button Properties" in the instructions for more information.
Allow setting text size and text color for spinner buttons
Uses normal right-click text options in layout designer.
Bug fixes and stability improvements
Version 1.6
HTTP Request button authentication config
You can now specify basic authentication (ID & password) settings in Interface Manager for any HTTP Request interface. This allows you to specify authentication for all buttons that use a given interface in one place. Previously, authentication settings were required for each individual HTTP Request button by setting the HTTPAuth property separately on each button. That feature is still available for individual buttons, but the new Interface Manager feature streamlines the process when all buttons that use a given HTTP Request interface need the same authentication settings. You can also use the HTTPAuth property on any given button to override the authentication setting specified in that button's interface host.
In addition, the HTTP authentication settings (ID & password) are now obscured within the config XML files for security purposes. And when exporting your configuration, the ID & password both for buttons using the HTTPAuth property, and for interfaces that specify authentication settings, are replaced with "xxxx", so that you can safely share a config export with someone else without sharing your authentication settings.
Bug fixes
Version 1.5
Group Templates for Mac users
The Group Template feature is now available for Mac server users. See TouchControl instructions for more information.
Style spinner buttons (text color, background color/image)
Spinner buttons can now be styled (background color/image, text color) using the normal styling menu options after adding a spinner button to an activity layout.
New "Global Watcher" feature
“Global Watchers” allow buttons, labels, sliders and spinners to automatically update their displayed text, images or values based on the current value of _global variables set by any of your scripts. See TouchControl instructions for more information.
Bug fixes
Version 1.3.6
Support for new CornerRadius button property
When designing a layout, the button property dialog (right-click button and choose "Properties...") now contains a new "CornerRadius" property that will allow you to set the rounded corner radius (in pixels) of hot-spot buttons. If you enable the "Rounded corners" option for a hot-spot button, setting the "CornerRadius" property will round the button's corners to the value you specify (rather than the built-in 8px rounding that occurs without setting the "CornerRadius" property). When setting this property, simply enter a numeric value for the number of pixels you would like to use for the corner radius (do not include a decimal or "px"). Alternately, you may enter the value "round", which will automatically calculate the number of pixels needed to round the corners based on the smaller of the button's width or height (resulting in a perfectly round button for proportionally square buttons).
This feature is useful for hot-spot buttons that you have set a background color or translucency for. Rounding the corners of transparent hot-spot buttons is possible, but provides no added visual effect. Corner radius is not available for buttons that use a background image.
Version 1.3.3
Enable translucent buttons
When adding a hot-spot button to a layout, select Image -> Set Background Color -> Translucent -> Dark, Light, or ExtraLight. Requires TouchControl for iOS version 9.5 or higher.
Other bug fixes, updates and improvements
Version 1.3
Enable hotkeys in designer for save, copy, cut, paste, undo, redo & delete.
Use the following hotkeys in the layout designer:
⌘+s = save layout
⌘+c = copy (single or multi-selected buttons)
⌘+x = cut (single or multi-selected buttons)
⌘+v = paste
⌘+z = undo (size/position changes only)
⌘+shift+z = redo (size/position changes only)
delete = delete (single or multi-selected buttons)
Propagate visual button elements in designer.
Use the propagate option in the button right-click popup menu in the layout designer to copy the visual properties of one button to one or more other buttons. Simply right click on a button, select "Propagate" and then click on any other button to complete the propagate action.
Enhanced configuration management.
In the Settings tab of the server's main window, use the data directory drop-down list to re-select any previously selected directory to easily switch between configurations. Use the "X" button to remove a previously selected data directory from the list.
Stability and performance enhancements.
Ongoing.
Version 1.2.2
Designer updates for Apple Watch activities.
Adds some missing Apple Watch designer features, including WatchIndex, watch button background and watch activity background menu options. Also fixes some issues with creating watch activities.
Double-click to edit buttons on your activity layouts.
Double-clicking a button on your activity layout will open that button's configuration window.
Automatically detect and configure Global Caché adapters on your network.
A new "Discover network interfaces" option is now available on the "Tools" menu. Select "Start discovering..." to trigger TouchControl Server to detect Global Caché adapters available on your local network. When found, you will be prompted to automatically add the device as an interface host in your configuration. Currently this only supports Global Caché adapters, but is expected to expand to detect other devices in future updates. The "Reset discovered interfaces" option will re-discover any devices that you have explicitly ignored using this feature previously.
Other user interface updates, fixes and improvements.
Version 1.2
Press "P" key to see properties
While designing activities in the layout designer, press the "P" key while hovering over buttons on the layout to quickly view any properties that assigned to each button.
Improved activity, device and button sorting
Previously, sorting of elements used a case-sensitive sort, so upper cased words sorted before lower-case words. Sorting is now case-insensitive.
Other fixes, updates and improvements
Version 1.1
iRTrans button configuration
This update enables Mac users to create and configure iRTrans buttons. TouchControl version 9.3.1 for iOS, available in the iOS App Store, now allows obtaining the iRTrans in-app upgrade for Mac server users.
Proportional button resizing
Buttons can now be resized while maintaining the button's proportions by holding down the SHIFT key while dragging the edge or corner of the button on the designer layout.
Replacing buttons
You can now replace one button with another by clicking on an existing button on a layout that you wish to replace when adding a new button to the layout. The new button will assume the visual properties of the replaced button after it is added to the layout, including size, location, image, icon, etc. Clicking on the layout background or a group button background while adding a new button will add the button in the normal fashion, allowing you to select a background image, etc.
Hide server after launch
A new feature is now available in server settings to automatically hide the server window immediately after launch. The server icon will still be available in the dock to restore the server window.
Version 1.0
TouchControl Server is now available for mac0S, and can be found in the Mac App Store. The initial 1.0 release of the Mac server includes all of the most popular features of the Windows server version, with the exceptions noted below.
Windows-specific features/technologies not available on macOS:
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USB-UIRT dongle support (the "IR" button type for existing Windows users)
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AutoHotKey
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IRCommand2
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TouchControl Admin (not required on macOS)
No longer supported:
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Offline config
Documentation:
The "Instructions" page on this site has been updated to include information related to the macOS server. Please watch for the features in the document that are noted as "Windows server only", or that note a difference between the Windows server and the macOS server. The online documentation will be updated in an ongoing fashion as TouchControl Server for macOS continues to mature. The following features currently available in the Windows server but not in the macOS server are planned for future releases:
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Button "Size & Location" menu option
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Propagate buttons
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Designer hotkeys
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Arrange locations and activities
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Generate layout images (for TouchFlow feature)
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Find unused buttons
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Server configuration management
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Server configuration recovery
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Server JSON HTTP API
If you have any questions or issues with TouchControl Server for macOS, please contact support via the contact form on the home page, the Forums available from the menu above, or via email at support@touchapptech.com.