If you have spent time in software development, you will know that Apple has become increasingly difficult and limited to customization over the past several decades. This has forced many to move over to Linux and other platforms. However, Apple has such a market share that those that want the functionality of macOS stick around and simply deal with the issues.

Over the last two decades, Cocoatech and several other independent development teams have quietly created solutions to these workflow problems and created stand-alone apps for certain workflow conundrums. Many times, this work is done in a vacuum and as a result, there are many solutions to the same problems. In rare cases, developers look around and seek solutions from their contemporaries. This is one of those rare cases! Cocoatech is excited to announce their collaboration with St. Clair Software’s Default Folder X (DFX) to create more customization to the macOS to help the end-users where Apple has fallen short.

Navigating Apple’s Road Blocks

Over the years, app developers have been forced to drop everything because Apple announces a new update that will effectively render their application useless unless they redesign it with the new Apple specs. This often takes hundreds of development hours just to integrate the updates. However, some applications like Cocoatech’s Path Finder have to lobby for the ability to even present their product to macOS users through the App store because they are attempting to improve upon the functionality.

To date, neither Path Finder, nor Default Folder X can be found in the Apple App store because they violate the terms of use as it improves upon macOS applications and allows customizations Apple simply will not. Improving functionality for the user means that it “hacks” some of the controls that Apple has put in place. A no no in Apple’s book. 

Cocoatech & St Clair Software Join Forces

Our developers got together to synchronize our code so they work together seamlessly to do things that macOS can not. It is a lofty goal to work on a smaller level with local developers to try and make macOS more user-friendly outside the confines of the support of Apple but Path Finder does not plan to stop with just one collaboration. We are seeking to work with other app developers who are not allowed in the app store to work together and improve the experience and functionality of the end-user.

In August of last year, the makers of Fortnite sued Apple and Google for allegedly monopolizing their app distribution stores and in-app payment processing markets after the tech giants for booting their game from the App store. They are still in litigation over this but it brought to light how Apple’s method of doing business does not allow for any deviance from what they have planned for their shareholder, no matter the cost to the end-user. 

A Call for Collaboration

Cocoatech and St Clair Software is the first of many collaborations. Cocoatech has no interest in suing Apple for not allowing it in the Apple app store so they will simply create code that makes their fellow techies more productive outside the usual channels.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

– Margaret Mead

In a world that seems divided on just about every issue these days, let’s find ways to work together. If you are a developer or have a favorite app that you would love to have functionality inside Path Finder reach out to us.

Contact our team at Cocoatech at sales@cocoatech.com

Hey flathub… Steve Gehrman here

Hello Path Finder fans! As 2020 comes to an end, it’s once again time for a brand new feature-filled update to Path Finder! 2020 has been one crazy year, but it hasn’t been all bad. 2020 was also the year of Path Finder 9! Path Finder 9 was a great release. It was one of our best. People from all over the world told us how they loved it, and how they relied on it throughout the pandemic to stay productive on their Macs. Despite the pandemic, Path Finder 9 worked tirelessly on thousands of computers all over the world. It managed your files, it popped open it’s dual pane awesomeness, it let you move your modules where ever you wanted, all without a single complaint. We thank you Path Finder 9 for all your hard work and to show our appreciation, today we are announcing your replacement, Path Finder 10!

INTRODUCING PATH FINDER 10

Path Finder 10 is chock full of Mac goodness. You asked for AirDrop support. It’s got AirDrop support. You wanted that cool new Sharing feature all the cool kids are using. Yeah, it’s got that too. You just bought a kick ass Apple Silicon Mac? No problem, Path Finder 10 is optimized to run native on Apple Silicon. You just updated to Big Sur? No problem, we redesigned Path Finder 10 to look amazing on Big Sur. You want to browse files on your iPhone? Path Finder now lets you browse files on your iOS devices. And as always, all the code has been reviewed, updated, polished and complied on the latest version of XCode. We don’t sell stale bits here, this app is fresh and hot off the press.

LICENSE SYSTEM

A quick remind on how our license system works. If you bought Path Finder 9 less than a year ago, you will be able to use that same license key on Path Finder 10 for a full year from your purchase date. After that, you will be prompted to buy Path Finder 10.

If you purchased Path Finder 9 within the last two months, the purchase system will offer you a free Path Finder 10 license. Fill out the form and we’ll manually email you a new license.

NEW FEATURES IN PATH FINDER 10:

• Airdrop Integration! For devices discoverable by “Everyone”
• Share to AirDrop, Messages, Mail, Notes, etc.
• Fully redesigned for macOS Big Sur.
• Native support for Apple Silicon.
• Improved Dark Mode.
• File Browsing on and file operations on USB connected iOS devices.
• Improved Drop Stack
• Improved Batch Renamer
• Brand new Big Sur style icon
• Lots of miscellaneous fixes, tweaks and improvements all over the app.

THANK YOU!

Can you believe that Path Finder has been in active development since 2000? That’s a long time! The amount of blood sweat and tears poured over that code could fill many football stadiums. But it’s been worth it. We are so happy that you love our app!

We hope you love Path Finder 10!

– Cocoatech

Since 2000, Path Finder has been in continual development and we have released a steady flow of free and paid updates. We have been releasing paid upgrades about once every 2-4 years and have released lots of free updates every few weeks. This upgrade cycle was much longer than what most companies use, but we usually found ourselves running way behind schedule, and we wanted to blow people away with a large number of new and exciting features.

We’ve realized that this release cycle isn’t the best for us, or our users. We always ran into the problem of having features ready, but we had to wait until the next major update to get them into the hands of our users. These large releases also took too much time to test and debug. And new releases sometimes had some minor issues the first few weeks after release.

ANNOUNCING A NEW RELEASE CYCLE

The reasons for the change is to get new features out to users as soon as possible. We no longer will hoard new features to be released in a later paid upgrade.

One solution is to use a software subscription, but most people myself included, dislike the idea of a subscription. I don’t want my credit card information stored on a remote server that could get hacked, and I don’t want to have to remember to cancel the subscription if I decide not to use the software in the future.

So we have designed a ‘best of both worlds‘ approach to selling Path Finder. We plan on releasing constant updates all year long, but we will have a paid upgrade once a year. The latest version will continue to get updates and the older versions will not unless a serious bug is found. This allows us to focus our energy on making the latest Path Finder rock solid on the latest versions of macOS. To be clear: this is not a subscription!

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:

• Let’s say you purchased Path Finder 8. You can continue to use Path Finder 8 forever without paying. You bought it, you own it. This holds true for every version you pay for. You will always be able to run the version you paid for forever.
• Now we release Path Finder 9 for an upgrade fee. You can continue to use Path Finder 8, or you can pay to upgrade to Path Finder 9. New releases of Path Finder will happen every year.

The key feature of our new license system is that if you bought Path Finder 8 say 7 months ago, your Path Finder 8 license will still work for Path Finder 9 for 5 months. Basically you get a minimum of a year (12 months) since your purchase Path Finder to use the latest version.

After those 5 month are over, you will be prompted to upgrade to Path Finder 9 (or 10 if that’s the latest release).

So, we have solved the problem of a user buying Path Finder a few months before the next release of Path Finder. You can install and run Path Finder 9 at no cost until your full year has expired, or you can stay on Path Finder 8 and continue using that forever.

We also are going to offer free upgrades to people who have purchased in the last two months just to make sure no one feels like they made a mistake by buying so close to the latest release. The purchase system will automatically prompt you if you qualify.

We also setup our purchase system so that if you buy Path Finder 9, you can at any time revert back to Path Finder 8 and your Path Finder 9 license will work for all older versions too.

We hope this makes sense and we hope you agree that this is fair. This new license system will make it possible to continually delivering cutting edge features and new updates to Path Finder without much delay.

If you are upgrading a volume license, the new purchase system will allow that. Just update the number of users you need when upgrading and there will be a discount applied automatically.

NEW FEATURES IN PATH FINDER 9:

• Path Finder 9 brings back collapsible module shelves. There are four shelves, on each side of the browser window. But now, each shelf is fully customizable and can accommodate for arbitrary number of freely arranged and customized modules.
• Path Finder 9 also brings many significant improvements in the way the application performs and behaves. It improves compatibility with macOS 10.15 Catalina, fixes many potential crashes, memory and CPU consumption issues, UI and other bugs and annoyances.
• Numerous small features are added and existing one improved and redesigned.
• Overall, the application is more robust and stable, providing a solid foundation for further development and improvements.

– Cocoatech

A Small Team In a Big World

Cocoatech was founded in San Francisco in 2001. We have grown up alongside Apple helping entrepreneurs, small to large companies, and creative professionals to make order of chaos. Our team reaches from the US to Europe but our clients are all over the world. We are really excited to share our creation Path Finder with you. May you have many happy and productive hours ahead with Path Finder on your team.

Our Founder Steve Gehrman, started Cocoatech like so many others in the Silicon Valley, in his home and out of necessity. The only exception was he started it in LA before moving up to SF where he currently resides. He needed a tool to support him while he developed programs but it didn’t exist, so he created it. That was 18 years ago at the time this was written and now Path Finder is installed all over the world. Many have imitated it but none have the depth of tools and development that Path Finder offers.

Visit our home page and download the current version today for free for 30 days and join our newsletter to be up to date on all our current offers and partner deals.

– Cocoatech team