Tagamac

Yojimbo, the super-simple file library from Bare Bones Software that excels at synchronization, has been updated to version 1.5. The biggest addition to Yojimbo is support for images; you can now toss your photos and so forth into Yojimbo and tag away. (A note from Bare Bones: “Please do not try to replace iPhoto, Aperture, or Lightroom with Yojimbo: You’ll make us cry.”) Yojimbo’s tags are also now searchable via Spotlight, searching and filtering has been greatly improved, and numerous Leopard bugs have been squashed (including problems with the Drop Dock in Spaces).

In a day with a number of point releases and bug fixes to tagging software already, this one definitely stands out. Yojimbo 1.5 is a worthy update to one of the three best file libraries available, and well worth downloading (it’ll be the last version you have to download yourself, since it now has auto-updating available). If you’d like more details about the update, see the Yojimbo release notes. The update is free to all registered users, and a normal individual license for Yojimbo costs $39.

Pukka, the del.icio.us client for Mac OS X, has been updated to 1.6.5. This minor update includes many changes and optimizations to minimize the possibility of getting throttled by the del.icio.us API, along with better error reporting to keep the user in the loop. The update also fixes a number of other problems and potential problems, including improvements to Spotlight performance and fixes for a couple of small memory leaks.

For the full blow-by-blow, see the Pukka 1.6.5 announcement.

Code Collector Pro, a storage area for snippets of code that features tag-based organization, has been updated to version 1.1. This version includes menubar access to snippets (Leopard only), commands to add snippets from the Services menu and clipboard, significantly improved syntax highlighting, and the ability to grab language information from TextMate.

For more information, head over to the Code Collector Pro website and view the change log (no direct link).

Cha-Ching, that tag-a-rific personal finance manager, has been updated to version 1.2.1. This minor update brings an enhanced preferences panel, autofill to multi-edit title fields, and a number of minor bug fixes. Definitely a good update to install if you already use Cha-Ching, and not really anything to see otherwise.

There are sadly no release notes outside of the in-program auto-updating, so tough luck if you’re curious. In other news, both MacWorld and TUAW posted this update. Which makes sense, because there’s so many new…yeah, okay, I don’t understand the more mainline Mac press at all. Cha-Ching’s still a cool little app that deserves some love, though, so give it a whirl if you haven’t already. For those with simple needs in the finance-tracking department, it’s a great choice.

Yep, the PDF file library from Ironic Software, has been updated to version 1.7. This version brings full Leap integration (the two programs now recognize changes made in each other), along with numerous fixes and speed improvements. Additionally, German and Chinese localizations have been added to the program for our international friends.

There are no release notes available. Additionally, Yep is on sale as part of the MacUpdate Promo bundle that is running from December 3 – 11, 2007. The bundle potentially features 10 different apps (if the sales are high enough), so if you didn’t spend enough money on MacSanta and Give Good Food to Your Mac head over and check it out.

Shoebox, an iPhoto competitor that features tag-based organization and browsing through tag recipes, has been updated to 1.7.1. Although there are no release notes, MacUpdate notes that it has improved compatibility with Leopard along with an importer for iMatch and stability enhancements.

Shoebox is definitely an interesting app if you’re looking for something a little more tag-centric than iPhoto, and is available in “Express” and “Pro” flavors at $30 and $80 respectively. If I did much photo management, Shoebox is probably what I’d use (although the pricing scheme is extremely cheap; the only difference is that Express has a limits the number of catalogs and photos you can add, which means you’re paying Kavasoft an extra $50 to essentially toggle off a variable that’s artificially limiting the program).

Photonator, a photo manager with tagging capabilities, has been updated to 0.95. This update advances the expiration date (as Photonator is currently pre-release expiring software), and brings cropping/straightening, image enhancement controls, and bug-fixes with code optimizations. Although personally I find the interface to be too much of a hindrance to using Photonator, it may appeal to people who are looking for an alternative to iPhoto. This is one of the pieces of tagging software that I’m tracking because it features tagging, but that I don’t really recommend. Hopefully by release the interface will receive a little more love. (That said, I haven’t really used it much, so it’s quite possible there’s a lot of power underneath its unappealing facade.)

For details about the .95 release, see Photonator’s release notes.

Bookdog, a bookmarks manager for Mac, has been updated to version 5, an update that includes not only a simplified interface but also del.icio.us support and support for tags. The software has been released as beta software due to the extensive changes that have gone into it, but because it fixes several Leopard problems and is just generally more powerful, Sheep Systems recommends that all users upgrade. For more information, see the Bookdog release notes.

Bookdog is probably the most feature-rich bookmarks manager available, but its interface (while simplified and definitely better than version 4) is still very complex and not at all visually appealing. You have to make an effort to learn to use Bookdog, although you will be rewarded by being able to sync a lot more information across your browsers than other solutions provide. It’s pretty unfortunate, but despite its power Bookdog still feels somewhat like an OS 9 application.

Together, the newly revitalized file library (formerly KIT), has been updated to version 2.0.2. This minor update brings a number of bug fixes and performance optimizations, including fixes to tag autocompletion, better smart view performance for tags with “contains” or “does not contain”, and numerous fixes to file importing.

For more details, see the Together release notes.

Booxter, a tag-friendly Delicious Library competitor that I only recently made aware of, has been updated to 2.0.4. This minor update brings a German localization, fixes a UPC parsing bug and Booxter 1.x import bug, and resolves an issue under 10.5 where Booxter panels would overlap the Dock in some instances. Unfortunately, there are no release notes except through the program’s auto-updated.

Booxter is definitely an interesting product, and worth a second look if you’ve been disillusioned by Delicious Library’s lack of any reasonably powerful way to sort and browse your collection. Although its tag cloud style browsing is fairly useless if you have any middling to large collection, the inclusion of smart views is alone worth the price of admission, even if tagging (via “keywords”) is fairly well hidden within the interface.