EasyHomebrew
Changelog
Release notes for every version of EasyHomebrew. Now available as a one-time €10 purchase — download the latest build. See the product page for features and screenshots.
- Latest
v2.4.0
EasyHomebrew now runs on macOS 14 (Sonoma) and later, down from macOS 26 — and because Sonoma reaches Intel Macs, those are supported again, with the app and its menu-bar agent both shipping as universal binaries. Everything that doesn't depend on Apple Intelligence works exactly the same: browsing and searching the catalogue, installing and upgrading, categories, services, taps, Doctor, and vulnerability checks — and Discover's semantic search still ranks results on-device. The Apple Intelligence extras still need macOS 26 (Tahoe), but they now switch themselves off cleanly on earlier versions instead of being unavailable at all; Settings → Intelligence tells you which applies to your Mac. Discover also got three fixes: searching for an exact package name now recommends that package, unfamiliar names no longer come up empty, and packages named after everyday words like make and find finally surface.
- Runs on macOS 14 (Sonoma) and later — everything except the Apple Intelligence features works the same
- Intel Macs supported again — app and menu-bar agent both ship as universal binaries, Homebrew found at /opt/homebrew or /usr/local
- Apple Intelligence features still require macOS 26 (Tahoe) and now switch off cleanly on earlier versions — Settings → Intelligence shows which applies
- Searching Discover for an exact package name now puts that package first, with the "Best pick" badge
- Discover no longer comes up empty for unfamiliar names — it falls back to name and keyword matching
- Discover finds packages named after common words such as make and find
- Settings → Intelligence called macOS 26 "Sequoia"; it is Tahoe
v2.3.0
The sidebar's "Agent" row now tells you which version of the menu-bar agent is installed and offers a restart button while it's running — handy right after an update, since macOS keeps the previous agent alive until you log out. The bundled package catalogue was also refreshed: it now covers 16,196 formulae and casks, adding 393 packages Homebrew has shipped since the last refresh and dropping 173 that were retired, so fewer packages need on-device classification at launch. Some packages moved to more accurate categories, so a few may show up in a different section than before.
- Agent version and a restart button in the sidebar's Agent row
- Refreshed package categories — 16,196 formulae and casks, +393 new, −173 retired
- Fewer packages need on-device classification at launch
- Three icons that failed to render — Clean Up, the Services plist and log empty states, and Discover's "no semantic matches" message
v2.2.4
The menu-bar agent gets both a status readout and unattended upgrades. The stats panel now shows an "Agent" row with a colour-coded icon — running, enabled, off, or not installed — so the background agent's state is visible at a glance. And the agent can now upgrade your packages on its own, within a time-of-day window you pick and no more than once a day.
- Menu-bar agent status in the sidebar — running, enabled, off, or not installed
- Unattended auto-upgrade for the agent, with a configurable window (any time, morning, afternoon, evening, night) and a once-per-day cap
v2.2.3
Clearer guidance when macOS blocks an app update. When a cask upgrade trips over macOS's App Management privacy protection — the "Failed to release … from quarantine / Operation not permitted" error — EasyHomebrew now explains what happened and opens the right System Settings pane (Privacy & Security → App Management) so you can grant permission and retry, instead of surfacing a raw error blob. Plus some sidebar polish.
- App Management permission errors explained, with a direct link to the right System Settings pane
- Minor sidebar polish
v2.2.2
Stability fixes and internal telemetry accuracy improvements — the menu-bar agent now reports the correct app version, and app and agent events are tagged separately.
- Stability fixes
- Telemetry accuracy — correct agent version stamping and separate app/agent tagging
v2.0.0 → 2.2.1
EasyHomebrew leaves beta and goes on sale. 🎉 The 2.x series rolls up the public launch and everything since: a one-time €10 license (powered by Dodo Payments) that you activate once and the menu-bar agent honours too, and in-app auto-update — the app now checks for new versions at launch and once a day, and installs them in place, so you'll never download a DMG by hand again. Day-to-day package work got better everywhere: right-click any package row for quick actions, watch Upgrade All work through its queue with per-package status, and see outdated dependencies in the Updates list — not just the apps you installed yourself. Services gain a quick-info popover and a built-in configuration viewer, Brew Doctor turns its warnings into grouped one-click fixes (and no longer claims everything is healthy when it isn't), filtering the full catalog is instant, Discover picks a best match with Apple Intelligence, and the whole app is localized in six languages — topped off with a new brewing-tank app icon.
- One-time €10 license, powered by Dodo Payments — activate from the launch screen, honoured by the menu-bar agent, manage devices in Settings → About
- In-app auto-update — checks at launch and once a day, installs in place; "Check for Updates…" lives in the app menu and Settings → About
- Right-click context menu on every package row — Show Info, Install/Update/Uninstall/Reinstall, Open Homepage, Copy Name
- Upgrade All shows its full queue up front with per-package status, success/failure counts, and elapsed time
- Updates list now includes outdated dependencies with a DEPENDENCY badge — no more "All Up to Date" while brew upgrade still has work
- Service quick-info popover plus a built-in configuration and log viewer — no external editor needed
- Brew Doctor warnings become grouped, one-click fixes — and Doctor no longer shows a false "healthy"
- Instant Deprecated / Formulae / Casks filtering on the full catalog
- Smarter Discover with an Apple Intelligence "Best pick" and a quality gate that filters weak matches
- Full localization in French, German, Greek, Italian, and Spanish
- Per-provider analytics opt-out in Settings → Privacy, and a new brewing-tank app icon
v1.6.7
A polish release on top of v1.6.6. Package icons are sharper and more accurate thanks to a rebuilt icon pipeline, the categories database has been refreshed (12,402 → 15,976 rows) so more packages land in the right place out of the box, and deprecated packages are now visible by default — no more wondering where a familiar tool went. The license field on the package page also renders with better visual balance.
- Sharper, more accurate package icons through a rebuilt icon pipeline
- Categories database refreshed — 12,402 → 15,976 rows for better out-of-the-box classification
- Deprecated packages now visible by default, so familiar tools don't silently disappear from your lists
- Fixed: license field rendering on the package detail page — better visual balance with the rest of the strip
v1.6.6
A long-overdue makeover for the Updates page, plus friendlier admin installs. Updates now leads with a prominent Upgrade All, adds per-row Update buttons with a live Upgrading… indicator, and a clean Upgrade Selected action in batch mode. Apps that need administrator access install end-to-end through a friendly password prompt with a clear progress sheet — your password goes straight to the system, never through us. A live activity panel in Settings shows every background job in flight, font casks categorise correctly the first time, and the categories database was rebuilt against the live cask catalog.
- Cleaner Updates page — Upgrade All up front, per-row Update with an inline Upgrading… indicator, Upgrade Selected for batches
- Per-row update affordance extends across Installed, All Packages, Categories, and Search Results
- Friendly admin-privileges flow for cask installers that need root, with a dedicated progress sheet
- Live background-activity panel in Settings — package classification, Discover index build, and homepage enrichment
- New Homepage Enrichment cache in Settings → Storage, with a size readout and individual Clear button, plus Clear All Caches
- Font casks now categorise correctly the first time — anything starting with font- is recognised immediately
- Categories database rebuilt against the live Homebrew cask catalog — ~1,100 cask classifications recovered, bundled DB ~25% smaller
- Update badges and buttons restyled in calmer App Store blue with semibold weight
- Fixed: the menu-bar agent's "Last checked" line now shows the wall-clock time of the last poll instead of being frozen at "0 sec ago"
v1.6.5
The menu-bar app now contributes the same anonymous usage signals as the main app — launch, what each check finds, button clicks, and cadence changes — so we can see how the menu-bar experience is actually used. The existing privacy toggle (Settings → Privacy → Share anonymous usage data) silences both at once.
- Anonymous telemetry for the menu-bar agent — same signals as the main app, tagged surface: agent
- Covers agent launch, poll outcomes, Upgrade All / Check Now / Open EasyBrew clicks, and poll-cadence changes
- Cross-bundle privacy toggle — Settings → Privacy → Share anonymous usage data silences both processes
v1.6.4
A friendlier first run for the menu-bar app and much broader anonymous usage analytics. A new first-launch screen introduces the menu-bar app and offers a single Enable at Login button that registers and starts it on the spot — no trip to System Settings required. The analytics overhaul covers surfaces that were previously silent: services, Doctor runs, search, app updates, AI features, settings toggles, and failure paths for install/uninstall/upgrade. No package names, search queries, or version strings are ever sent.
- First-launch onboarding sheet for the menu-bar agent with a one-click Enable at Login
- Telemetry overhaul covering services, doctor runs, search, AI feature usage, settings toggles, and install/uninstall/upgrade failures
- Cohort dimensions on launch and update-check events — first-launch, Apple Intelligence availability, language, installed-package bucket
- No package names, search queries, or version strings are ever sent
- Fixed: Menu Bar settings tab recovers cleanly after an in-app update — a Setup Needed banner with a single Register Now button replaces the dead-end "Agent not bundled in this build" message
- Fixed: analytics integration was silently dropped in dev builds — consolidated AnalyticsService.swift to a single source of truth so signals reach the dashboard from any build path
v1.6.2
A new menu-bar companion lives quietly in your status bar and tells you, at a glance, how many of your installed packages are out of date — with a red marker the moment any of them picks up a known security issue. Click the mug glyph to upgrade everything, open the main app, change how often it checks (15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, or 3 hours), or quit. Set it up under Settings → Menu Bar with a Launch at login toggle and a one-click Launch / Stop control. The update count matches what you see in the main app — only the apps and tools you installed yourself, not their hidden dependencies.
- Menu-bar companion — a mug glyph in your status bar with a live count of available updates
- Red marker the moment any installed package matches a known CVE
- Configurable check cadence — 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, or 3 hours (default: 30 minutes)
- Menu actions: Upgrade All, Open EasyHomebrew, Check Now, Check Interval, Quit
- New Settings → Menu Bar tab with Launch at login, Launch / Stop controls, and a shortcut to System Settings → Login Items
- Friendly walkthrough when macOS asks you to approve the helper, with the status refreshing automatically once you return from System Settings
- Fixed: the menu update count now matches the main app — only the apps and tools you installed yourself, not their internal dependencies
v1.6.1
A major rework of the package detail page in the spirit of the App Store. The new page opens at 70% of the window and gathers everything you need to decide on a package in one place: a stats strip (version, install state, license, macOS minimum, category), an AI-written description from the package's website, a screenshot gallery with a native carousel, popularity numbers for the last 30/90/365 days, related versions, plus the existing dependencies, caveats, and vulnerabilities. Also new: a Games category with 117 reclassified packages, on-the-fly AI categorisation when you open something that hasn't been classified yet, and minimum-macOS reporting for apps.
- App Store-style package detail page — opens at 70% of the window, click outside or ✕ to close
- Statistics strip: Version · Installed · License · macOS · Category, all at a glance
- AI homepage enrichment — Apple Intelligence reads the package's homepage to write a 2–4-sentence description and pick screenshots; cached on disk for 7 days
- Three-layer image filtering (HTML candidate pruning, AI prompt with size hints, post-AI download validation via CGImageSource) eliminates logos, favicons, sprites, and skinny banners
- Native screenshot carousel — click any thumbnail for a fit-to-window preview with ←/→ keys, dot indicator
- Variants navigation — sibling versions and flavors (e.g. python@3.11 ↔ python@3.12, firefox ↔ firefox-developer-edition) shown as click-through mini-cards
- Brew install analytics for 30 / 90 / 365 days, sourced from formulae.brew.sh
- Minimum macOS version for casks now read from depends_on.macos
- New Games category — 117 packages reclassified (game launchers, emulators, open-source games, CLI games, game-dev engines)
- On-demand AI category classification when opening the detail page for an uncategorised package
- Action buttons moved into the header under the brew description; standalone Actions section and Close button removed (replaced by the top-right ✕)
- Stat strip slimmed: Type (Cask/Formula) cell removed; Category cell shows the SF symbol with label moved to hover tooltip
v1.6.0
A new list/grid toggle lets you browse every package list as cards instead of rows, and variants of the same app (e.g. firefox, firefox@esr, firefox-developer-edition) now collapse under a single entry with a +N expander. Grouping is smart enough not to merge unrelated tools just because they happen to share a host like GitHub or PyPI. Plus a definitive fix for the "Homebrew is busy" false positive — Homebrew's leftover lock files no longer block your upgrades.
- List/grid toggle in the toolbar — choice remembered across launches
- Variant grouping collapses flavors of the same app under a canonical entry with a +N expander (list: inline, grid: popover)
- Grouping is domain-aware — registered-domain match, ignoring multi-tenant hosts like GitHub, GitLab, and PyPI
- Enabled on All Packages and per-category views
- Formulae filter consistently labelled "Formulae" everywhere, matching toolbar stats and sidebar
- Discover's BETA badge now reads as a transparent badge next to the title instead of inside the Liquid Glass pill
- All Packages drops the "Group by Category" toolbar shortcut — category navigation lives in the sidebar
- Fixed: "Homebrew is busy" no longer cries wolf on leftover zero-byte Homebrew lock files — check now uses flock(2), matching Homebrew's own mechanism
v1.5.5
Same-day hotfix for a bug in v1.5.4: leftover Homebrew lock files were triggering a false "Homebrew is busy" dialog and blocking every upgrade. We now check the same way Homebrew does, so this no longer happens.
- Pre-flight lock check no longer mis-flags Homebrew's leftover zero-byte lock files
- Lock detection now uses flock(2) to probe whether another process actually holds the file, matching Homebrew's own mechanism
v1.5.4
Brew Doctor can actually fix things now — every warning becomes a card with a one-click "Run fix" button, and a top card surfaces missing dependencies with a batch install. Friendlier error messages across the app, and no more UI desyncs when you run brew in Terminal while the app is upgrading.
- Brew Doctor: each warning is a card with a one-click "Run fix" button — deprecated casks and formulae, unlinked kegs, missing dependencies, stray Ruby files, PATH ordering, and more
- Apple Intelligence optionally explains unrecognised Doctor warnings on macOS 26+
- "Install N missing dependencies" top card surfaces results from brew missing
- Friendlier error messages — short titles, readable bodies, raw brew output tucked behind a Details disclosure with Copy Details
- Tap any failed row in Upgrade All to see its specific error
- Lock-aware batches: if another brew process is running, EasyHomebrew stops cleanly with a "Homebrew is busy" dialog and Retry
- Package state auto-resyncs when the app returns to the foreground — no more stale UI after running brew elsewhere
v1.5.3
Adds opt-in anonymous usage analytics so we can see which features matter most and where to invest next. Aggregate events only — no package names, search queries, or anything that could identify you. Toggle it off in Settings → Privacy.
- Anonymous usage analytics — aggregate events like "a cask was installed" or "the Updates tab was opened"
- No package names, search queries, or personally identifiable data is ever sent
- Toggle off any time from Settings → Privacy
v1.5.2
New Reinstall action, an at-a-glance EasyHomebrew status panel, automatic vulnerability scanning during updates, and a cleaner Updates list that hides internal dependencies.
- Reinstall button on the package page — fresh copy without removing it from your list
- New EasyHomebrew status section (bottom-left): app version, packages scanned, packages affected, and disk space used by the app itself
- BETA label on Discover — semantic search is still experimental
- Vulnerability scanning now runs automatically when checking for updates, so outdated and unsafe packages surface together
- Updates list shows only the apps and tools you installed yourself — internal dependencies are no longer listed separately
- Cleaner bottom-left status layout: Cellar and Caskroom disk usage grouped with Homebrew stats; Quick Update and Clean Up always available
v1.5.1
Maintenance release with stability and performance improvements across package browsing, services, and the Discover view.
- Stability improvements in package browsing and search
- Faster refresh for installed packages and outdated list
- Polish for Discover semantic search results on macOS 26
- UI refinements for Brew Doctor diagnostics and services logs
- Bug fixes reported by early beta testers
- Public beta
v1.5
Initial public beta. All core features shipped — package and cask management, CVE scanning, services, Brew Doctor, batch operations, Discover, and full localisation.
- Browse, install, upgrade, and uninstall Homebrew formulae and casks
- CVE vulnerability scanning against the OSV database with NVD links
- Services management with real-time log tailing and plist inspection
- Brew Doctor with Apple Intelligence diagnostics on macOS 26+
- Batch operations for multi-package install and uninstall
- Discover — on-device semantic package search via NLEmbedding
- Localised in English, French, Greek, German, Italian, and Spanish