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Beamer Changelog

What's new in Beamer 3.5

Feb 15, 2021
  • Adds support for Apple Silicon Macs
  • Fixes layout issues on macOS Big Sur

New in Beamer 3.4 (Nov 12, 2019)

  • Added support for playback to tvOS 13

New in Beamer 3.3.4 (Apr 7, 2019)

  • Fixed support for tvOS 12.2.

New in Beamer 3.3.3 (Oct 25, 2018)

  • Removed Media Key support to fix a crash on macOS 10.14 Mojave.

New in Beamer 3.3.2 Build 33005 (Jul 4, 2017)

  • Support playback to tvOS 11.

New in Beamer 3.3.1 Build 33004 (Jul 3, 2017)

  • Fixed playback to Apple TV from macOS 10.13 High Sierra.

New in Beamer 3.3 Build 33003 (Jun 22, 2017)

  • Added support for Device Verification for compatibility with tvOS 10.2.
  • Default to streaming AAC audio for Chromecast for compatibility with latest firmware.
  • Fixed Xvid AVIs not playing.
  • Chromecast playback could have double subtitles when burning in by default.

New in Beamer 3.2 Build 32004 (Dec 24, 2016)

  • New:
  • Hardware accelerated encoding support. (On by default, can be switched off in the video preferences.)
  • Option to burn in all subtitles, including text based ones. (Off by default, can be switched on in the subtitles preferences.)
  • Improved:
  • Re-organized Preferences window with Video / Audio / Subtitles tabs.
  • Stability.
  • Fixed:
  • Chromecast playback.
  • Use ‘friendly name’ of Chromecast devices.
  • Playlist styling on MacOS Sierra.

New in Beamer 3.1.2 Build 31008 (Mar 18, 2016)

  • Fixed some types of subtitles (such as WebVTT) not showing.
  • Fixed aspect ratio issues with 3D movies on some TVs.
  • Prevent auto-selecting unsupported subtitle tracks.
  • Allow Beamer to be quit when a ‘Waiting for…’ sheet is visible.
  • Stability and performance improvements.

New in Beamer 3.1.1 Build 31004 (Feb 10, 2016)

  • Fixed crashes.

New in Beamer 3.1 Build 31003 (Feb 4, 2016)

  • Added full ASS/SSA support (rendered in video).
  • Added support for multiple subtitle tracks in .sub/.idx files.
  • Allow changing audio and subtitle tracks of multiple movies at once, via the context menu of the playlist.
  • Fixed remembering AirPlay passwords.
  • Fixed an issue where SRTs with certain encodings could cause some subtitle cues to not show.
  • Stability and performance improvements.

New in Beamer 3.0.4 Build 30020 (Jan 13, 2016)

  • Fixed sound issues happening with Chromecast (first generation) and Sony Android TVs.
  • Added preference to stream audio as AAC to Google Cast devices (enables surround sound, default off).
  • Fixed crashes.

New in Beamer 3.0.3 Build 30019 (Dec 26, 2015)

  • Improved automatic subtitle selection for external files.
  • Improved styling of subtitles on Chromecast.
  • Fixed audio language preference not reflecting the current setting.
  • Various performance and stability improvements.

New in Beamer 3.0.2 Build 30016 (Dec 8, 2015)

  • Improved reliability of making connections to Apple TV.
  • Improved Chromecast device discovery.
  • Fixed audio track of some files not playing.
  • Fixed embedded subtitles not showing for some files.
  • Fixed the full history showing when loading a file in an empty playlist.
  • Fixed a crash when starting playback of a file on a network volume after system sleep.

New in Beamer 3.0.1 Build 30015 (Dec 1, 2015)

  • Improved playback of movies with surround sound to Chromecast.
  • Detect if Apple TV hangs at the end of a movie.
  • Prevent discrete GPU from activating when running Beamer.
  • Fixed crashes.

New in Beamer 3.0.0 Build 30012 (Nov 20, 2015)

  • Supports More Devices:
  • Beamer now supports the Apple TV (2nd, 3rd and 4th generation) and Chromecast (1st and 2nd generation).
  • You can stream directly to Chromecast and other Google Cast devices, with subtitles and surround sound, just like Apple TV.
  • Easier To Use:
  • Beamer 3 has a modern new interface with more controls available from the playback window.
  • The playlist is now integrated in the window. You can set a playlist or a single movie to repeat.
  • Use the Apple TV Remote to go to the next movie on the playlist by double-clicking the play button. Just like skipping a track with the Apple headphones clicker!
  • Let Beamer Do The Work:
  • Configure Beamer as you like with the updated Preferences and make it do the boring work:
  • Clear watched movies from the playlist.
  • Select subtitles and audio tracks of your preferred language.
  • Select the audio track with surround sound (when available).
  • Subtitles Improvements:
  • External BluRay (.sup) and DVD (.sub/.idx) subtitle files are now supported.
  • Improved automatic subtitle selection will now also select single subtitle tracks in movies.
  • Scans VOB files more thorougly for subtitle tracks.
  • Under The Hood:
  • Improved color handling for videos using the bt709 color matrix (many files with TV content). Colors are now more accurately displayed on your TV.
  • Our transcoding backend has been updated to the latest version.
  • Many performance and stability improvements. Loading files is faster. Starting and quitting Beamer with large playlists is much faster.

New in Beamer 2.1.3 Build 21008 (Jul 24, 2015)

  • Fixed a bug that could prevent the playlist from continuing to the next movie.
  • Improved connecting to previously selected Apple TV.
  • Reduced memory usage while playing.
  • Beamer now shows errors when opening invalid license files.
  • Improved crash detection and reporting.
  • Fixed crashes

New in Beamer 2.1.2 Build 21003 (May 25, 2015)

  • Fixed a crash that could occur when changing the audio channel, adding subtitles or stopping playback while playing.
  • Fixed a bug where the device list would open unnecessarily.

New in Beamer 2.1.1 Build 21001 (May 18, 2015)

  • Beamer now asks before closing the window if a movie playing.
  • For some MKVs the subtitle/audio language was not detected.
  • Handle switching between the Dolby Digital and Stereo audio stream (controlled by Apple TV)
  • When opening a movie in an empty window, the ‘Connect and Play/Pause’ setting was not respected in some cases.
  • Show that Beamer is searching for devices when trying to play while not connected.
  • On startup, an automatically selected device would not be selected visually.
  • Fixed crashes.

New in Beamer 2.1 Build 21000 (Mar 11, 2015)

  • New features:
  • Scripting support using Apple’s Open Scripting Architecture.
  • Support for media keys on Apple keyboards (play/pause, previous, next).
  • Playback control items in the Dock icon menu (right click Beamer in the Dock).
  • Select audio, video and subtitle tracks from the playlist’s context menu.
  • Keyboard shortcuts for opening the playlist (Shift-Command (⌘)-P) and the device list (Shift-Command (⌘)-D).
  • Keyboard shortcuts for skipping back and forward:
  • Shift-Command (⌘)-Left Arrow : Skip back to beginning
  • Shift-Command (⌘)-Right Arrow : Skip forward to end
  • Option-Command (⌘)-Left Arrow : Skip back 30 seconds
  • Option-Command (⌘)-Right Arrow : Skip forward 30 seconds
  • Shift-Option-Command (⌘)-Left Arrow : Skip back 5 minutes
  • Shift-Option-Command (⌘)-Right Arrow : Skip forward 5 minutes
  • Improvements and fixes:
  • Improved audio quality of stereo output.
  • Starting and skipping is now significantly faster for some MKV files.
  • Some SRT files would show overlapping subtitles.
  • AirPlay password or pin were often not recognized at the first attempt.
  • A dialog sheet would sometimes not disappear, causing the app to hang.
  • Playlist selection changed when deleting items from the playlist.
  • The video snapshot would sometimes not update to the selected movie.

New in Beamer 2.0.7 Build 20026 (Dec 9, 2014)

  • Dragging movies onto the window now respects the ‘When opening movies’ setting. Option-drag to toggle between adding to the playlist and replacing the playlist.
  • Beamer no longer assumes remote disks will be available after sleep mode.
  • Improved duration calculation for EyeTV files.
  • Fixed accidental activation of the discrete graphics card.
  • Fixed various crashes.

New in Beamer 2.0.6 Build 20025 (Dec 5, 2014)

  • Improved handling of broken SRT subtitle files.
  • Added keyboard control of the playlist.
  • Automatically retry connecting to the Apple TV before showing an error.
  • Fixed text encoding issues of Persian subtitles.
  • Fixed an issue where the playback position would be ‘-0:01’ after playback finished.
  • Updated encoding backend.
  • Fixed various crashes.

New in Beamer 2.0.5 Build 20024 (Nov 5, 2014)

  • Improved AirPlay device discovery.
  • Improved UI indicating connection delays and failures.
  • Improved UI regarding Apple TV software compatibility check.
  • Fix immediate availability of keyboard shortcut for opening subtitle files.
  • Improved stability through many small changes.

New in Beamer 2.0.4 Build 20023 (Sep 26, 2014)

  • Added a friendly dialog to warn about out of date Apple TV software.
  • Improved stability and reliability.

New in Beamer 2.0.3 Build 20021 (Jul 12, 2014)

  • Added visual feedback for when Beamer is waiting for a connection from the Apple TV.
  • Fixed a security issue in the transcoding backend.
  • Fixed an issue causing the store not to load when using OS X Yosemite.
  • Fixed common crashes.

New in Beamer 2.0.2 Build 20019 (Jun 18, 2014)

  • Added support for DVB subtitle tracks.
  • Improved PGS subtitles support.
  • Improved connection to Apple TV robustness.
  • Fixed an issue where files could not be opened.
  • Fixed a bug where Beamer would pause playback when resuming with the Apple TV remote.
  • Fixed common crashes.

New in Beamer 2.0.1 Build 20018 (Apr 24, 2014)

  • Added the ability to enter a Beamer 1 license to receive an upgrade offer.
  • Added ‘Export License’ button to license preferences.
  • Fixed a few crashes.

New in Beamer 2.0 Build 20016 (Apr 17, 2014)

  • Completely redesigned user interface.
  • Use playlists to AirPlay many movie files in a row.
  • Start where you left off, because Beamer remembered playback position.
  • It works with even more movie files: supports DVD & BluRay subtitles, improved support for high bit-rate video.
  • Visual feedback while fast-forwarding and rewinding.
  • And much more

New in Beamer 1.7.7 Build 17020 (Dec 13, 2013)

  • Fixed an issue that caused Apple TV to show an incorrect movie duration under some circumstances.
  • Fixed a couple of issues that would cause Beamer to crash.

New in Beamer 1.7.6 Build 17019 (Nov 1, 2013)

  • Added workaround for an issue of the Apple TV causing ‘An error occured loading this content’ messages.
  • Further improved reliability in case of (temporary) network problems.
  • Fixed an issue causing the language code of external subtitles to not be read.
  • Added a preference to send anonymous usage data to us to help us improve Beamer.

New in Beamer 1.7.5 Build 17017 (Oct 21, 2013)

  • Improve reliability on less stable networks.
  • Fix an issue where the movie would not start again after stopping.

New in Beamer 1.7.4 Build 17013 (Oct 12, 2013)

  • Fixed “Failed to create an IPv4 connection” error on 10.9
  • Improved handling of movie loading timeout. If the Apple TV gives up when trying to play a movie, press play again and the loading will resume where it left off.

New in Beamer 1.7.3 Build 17011 (Oct 7, 2013)

  • Fixed high memory usage due to a bug in Apple TV 6.0 software.
  • Improved compatibility with movie files using unusual character encodings.

New in Beamer 1.7.2 Build 17008 (Sep 27, 2013)

  • Fixed an issue where subtitles would not show on Apple TV with 6.0 software.
  • Improved compatibility with third-party AirPlay receivers.
  • Fixed an issue where .ass subtitle files would not be associated with the movie automatically.
  • Support for videos with uneven height.

New in Beamer 1.7.1 Build 17006 (Sep 12, 2013)

  • Fixed issues causing some files to not open.

New in Beamer 1.7 Build 17003 (Aug 29, 2013)

  • Formats:
  • Added support for:
  • EyeTV recordings.
  • Apple Intermediate Codec (used by iMovie).
  • Movies with rotated video (e.g. iPhone camera movies).
  • Movies with video in a colorspace other than yuv420p.
  • Improved support for MPEGTS files.
  • Improved detection of subtitle text encoding.
  • Fixed display of punctuation in Arabic subtitles.
  • Playback:
  • Added Stop to the Controls menu (⌘.)
  • Fixed Play and Pause from the Controls menu.
  • Fixed repeating the final seconds of some movies.
  • Improved system sleep prevention: no longer allow sleep while loading during playback, but do allow sleep when paused longer than 10 minutes.
  • Compatible with Apple TV 6.0 pre-release software.
  • General:
  • Added a link in the ‘Help’ menu to the latest Release Notes.
  • Fixed various issues related to the AirPlay password prompt.
  • Fixed erroneous ‘Beamer.app was moved’ alerts.
  • Honey, I shrunk the app! (Size in bytes is reduced significantly.)

New in Beamer 1.6.6 Build 54 (Jul 11, 2013)

  • Fixed an issue where any text added to the problem report would not be sent

New in Beamer 1.6.6 Build 53 (Jun 28, 2013)

  • Fixed an issue causing an error when trying to send a problem report.
  • Fixed an issue causing the system to fall asleep during playback.
  • Fixed display of punctuation in Arabic subtitles.

New in Beamer 1.6.5 Build 52 (May 22, 2013)

  • Added preferences window with software update settings.
  • Added OS X firewall detection.
  • Made input validation in license window more forgiving.
  • Fixed various crashes.

New in Beamer 1.6.4 Build 51 (May 3, 2013)

  • Restored compatibility with outdated Apple TV software.
  • Keep progress when stopping playback because of system sleep.
  • Fixed several bugs causing crashes.

New in Beamer 1.6.3 Build 48 (Apr 25, 2013)

  • Fixed an issue where the app would crash when using OS X Lion.
  • Fixed an issue where movie controls would be unavailable on Apple TVs with outdated software.
  • Fixed compatibility with “Onscreen Code” AirPlay authentication.
  • Added support for DMF (.divx) movie files.
  • Added support for ASS subtitle files.
  • Various stability and cosmetic improvements.

New in Beamer 1.6.2 Build 44 (Mar 28, 2013)

  • Fixed an issue where audio would sometimes be muted for the remainder of the movie.
  • Fixed an issue where some subtitles would be parsed incorrectly.
  • Fixed an issue where some movie files would not open (since version 1.6).
  • Added the ability to report movie files that cannot be opened.
  • Added support for MPL2 subtitles.
  • Added support for audio-only movie files.
  • Various performance, stability and cosmetic improvements.

New in Beamer 1.6.1 Build 41 (Feb 25, 2013)

  • Fixed an issue where DTS surround sound was converted to stereo.
  • Fixed backwards compatibility with older Apple TV software.
  • Fixed crashes.

New in Beamer 1.6 (Feb 22, 2013)

  • New: Surround Sound Support:
  • Supports all common formats (e.g. Dolby Digital (AC3), Dolby Digital HD, DTS and DTS-HD).
  • Depending on your receiver hardware, you might need to set the option ‘Dolby Digital’ to ‘On’ (in ‘Settings’ > ‘Audio & Video’).
  • Please note that Beamer converts all surround sound audio to Dolby Digital 5.1.
  • Other New Features:
  • Select an Apple TV from the Application Menu.
  • Report problems directly from the app. Go to ‘Help’ > ‘Report a Problem’.
  • Improvements and Bug Fixes:
  • Improved the synchronization of subtitles.
  • Fixed an issue where the last few minutes of subtitles would not show.
  • Resolved issue where the video would crash the Apple TV player.
  • The number of channels of each audio stream are shown in the menu (5.1, stereo, etc.)
  • Updated transcoding backend.
  • Fixed an issue where the audio would play at double speed.
  • Optimized app icon for Retina screens.

New in Beamer 1.5.4 (Jan 30, 2013)

  • Fixed compatibility with Apple TV Software version 5.2.
  • Accept a movie and subtitle file to be dropped on the window together.
  • Fixed an issue where some subtitle lines would not show.
  • Improved encoding detection for subtitle files.
  • Added the .ts extension for movies and .txt for subtitles.
  • Detect known unsupported video formats (for example, DRM protected files).
  • Beamer will offer to install itself in the Applications folder.

New in Beamer 1.5.3 (Dec 28, 2012)

  • Fixed audio drift issue that occurred with certain movie files.

New in Beamer 1.5.2 (Dec 22, 2012)

  • Improved loading of embedded subtitles from large movie files.
  • Fixed audio/video desynchronization issues (introduced in 1.5.1).
  • Fixed punctuation layout errors that happened for some Hebrew subtitles.
  • Beamer tries harder to prevent computer sleep during playback on Mountain Lion.
  • The license key now fits in the license window.

New in Beamer 1.5.1 (Nov 23, 2012)

  • Improved compatibility for SubRip (.srt) files.
  • Compatibily for H.264 High 10 video.
  • Optimized fast forward and rewind.
  • Beamer will warn about out-of-date Apple TV software when using subtitles.
  • The list with Apple TV devices is now scrollable.
  • Numerous bug fixes and small improvements.

New in Beamer 1.5 (Nov 13, 2012)

  • Support for embedded subtitles and external subtitle files. Supported formats: SSA/ASS, SubRip, SubViewer and MicroDVD.
  • Automatic subtitles selection based on the Apple TV’s "Subtitle Language" setting.
  • The last selected Apple TV is remembered as the preferred Apple TV.
  • Fixed display of the language name of audio tracks.
  • Fixed layout issue on Snow Leopard.

New in Beamer 1.4.4 (Nov 8, 2012)

  • Improvements and Bug fixes:
  • Fixed an issue where other apps could cause Beamer to reject some movie files.
  • The interface is now more responsive regarding connections to Apple TVs.
  • The license entry window now ignores superfluous whitespace.
  • The audio track menu no longer displays ‘(null)’ if the language was not found.
  • Fixed various crashing bugs.

New in Beamer 1.4.3 (Jul 27, 2012)

  • Improved connectivity reliability.
  • Improved accuracy of fast-forward and rewind.
  • Fixed a crash when opening Beamer with a file.
  • Rewind playback position to 0:00 when the movie ends.
  • Always show the main window after a click on the dock icon or opening a movie.

New in Beamer 1.4.2 (Jul 23, 2012)

  • Fixed an issue that caused a crash after the AirPlay connection was interrupted.

New in Beamer 1.4.1 (Jul 21, 2012)

  • Full support for Mountain Lion, reduced loading time when rewinding and several small fixes.