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Latest Version: 5.0.9583.34420 @3/28/2026 7:07:46 PM

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System Requirements

  • Windows 10/11 (64-bit)

Changelog

 Version 5.0.* 🚀
  1. 🔍 Search Tips Window: Contextual help for new and returning users
    • Pops up automatically the first time photos are indexed — shows real example queries to get you started
    • Also opens when you click Search with an empty box — so you always get a useful nudge instead of a blank result
    • "Don't show again" checkbox lets you dismiss it permanently once you're comfortable
    • Includes a link to the full sample-searches page on GetPitara.com
  2. 📅 "Last Week" and "Last N Weeks" Search: Precise week-based temporal queries
    • "Last week" expands to all 7 day names plus the correct month(s) and year — cross-month weeks handled correctly
    • "Last 2 weeks", "last 3 weeks" etc. work the same way, scoped to the right months and year
    • Complements existing "last N months" and "last N years" queries for complete temporal coverage
  3. 🗓️ Year-Scoped Month Expressions: More precise "last N months" results
    • "Last 3 months" now includes the correct year — finds only photos from the actual recent months, not any year
    • Cross-year spans (e.g., last 4 months spanning December and January) emit separate year-scoped clauses
    • Eliminates false matches from the same month in an earlier year
  4. ⌨️ Temporal Keywords in Autocomplete: Smarter search suggestions
    • Autocomplete now suggests "Last", "week", "weeks", "month", "months", "year", "years" as you type
    • These appear alongside location and tag suggestions to help build time-based queries faster
    • Temporal keywords no longer trigger false "not found in index" warnings
  5. 🏔️ Simplified Week-of-Month Tagging: Cleaner photo index
    • Week tags simplified to five fixed labels: FirstWeek, SecondWeek, ThirdWeek, FourthWeek, FifthWeek
    • Removed the ambiguous "LastWeek" tag (last 7 days of month) — it overlapped with FifthWeek and caused confusion
    • Queries for specific weeks of a month are now unambiguous and consistent
  6. 📅 "This Day" Tab — Memories Over the Years: New tab showing your photo history for today across past years
    • This Day: Albums for each year you had photos on today's date, going back to 2000
    • This Week: Albums for the same calendar week in each past year — uses exact date-range matching for precision
    • This Month: Monthly albums across past years for the current month
    • This Season: Seasonal albums (spring / summer / fall / winter) across past years
    • Each row shows a left overview card and individual year columns, click any to search those photos
    • Tab appears right after Search for quick access
  7. 🗓️ Smart Date Range Search: Natural-language date ranges now understood by the search engine
    • Queries like "march 16th to march 22nd" expand to all matching day-of-month tokens
    • Cross-month ranges (e.g., "march 29th to april 4th") are fully supported
    • Day ordinals (4th, 5th, 21st, 22nd…) matched correctly — consistent with how photos are indexed
  8. 🗂️ Tab Order Redesigned: Tabs reordered for a more intuitive flow
    • New order: Search → This Day → Places → Times → Cameras → My Tags → Hikes → Holidays → Folders → My Bookmarks
    • Folders moved to after Holidays so browsing flows from discovery to organization
  9. 💬 Tab Hint Texts Updated: Each tab now has a clear, friendly description
    • Places: "Places you have been."
    • Times: "Different times you have clicked."
    • Cameras: "Different cameras you have used."
    • My Tags: "Custom tags that you have added to your photos."
    • Hikes: "Higher elevation you have been to"
    • Folders: "Keywords from folder names from your hard drive."
  10. 🖼️ Album Cards Across All Tabs: Every discovery tab now shows rich photo album cards
    • Places, Times, Cameras, My Tags, Hikes, Holidays, and Folders all show stacked photo thumbnail cards
    • Each card previews real photos from that album with a layered polaroid-style design
    • Click any card to instantly search photos from that album
    • Consistent album card style across the entire app for a unified look
  11. 🔖 Bookmarks Tab Redesigned: Full bookmark management with edit, delete, export and import
    • Edit bookmark names directly in the tab
    • Delete individual bookmarks with confirmation
    • Export all bookmarks to a file for backup
    • Import bookmarks from a file to restore or share
    • Bookmark menu improvements with cleaner export/import options
  12. 🔎 Live Filter Search on All Tabs: Instantly narrow down any tab as you type
    • Every discovery tab (Places, Times, Cameras, My Tags, Hikes, Folders, Holidays) has a live filter box
    • Results filter in real-time with no need to press Enter
  13. 🖼️ Faster & Sharper Photo Preview: Preview panel now loads higher quality images
    • Preview decodes photos asynchronously at 500px for sharper display
    • No UI freezing while loading large photos — preview loads in the background
  14. 📸 Improved Photo Export Stamp: Cleaner watermark on exported photos
    • Export stamp redesigned for better readability and positioning
    • Consistent stamp appearance across all export formats
  15. 🏔️ Hike Tab Redesigned — Altitude-Band Albums: Completely rebuilt the Hike/Height tab
    • Photos now grouped by altitude band (1kfeet, 2kfeet, … 14kfeet+)
    • Each altitude row expands to show city albums at that elevation
    • Clicking a city under "9kfeet" shows only 9kfeet photos from that city — no cross-band bleed
    • Mirrors the Time tab's Year → Months layout for consistency
    • Fixed bug where clicking 9kfeet incorrectly showed 10kfeet photos
  16. 🔍 Hike Tab Filter: Search within the Hike tab
    • Filter box with hint "Filter by feet, e.g. 5kfeet" to guide users
    • Filters altitude rows in real-time as you type
  17. 📤 Export Menu Fixed: Export options now enabled when results exist
    • Export Selected, Top 50, Top 100 activate automatically when search results are showing
    • Previously these menu items were permanently disabled
  18. 🖱️ Properties Context Menu: Smarter right-click behavior
    • Properties menu item enabled only when exactly one photo is selected
    • Prevents ambiguous operations on multi-selections
  19. 👋 Improved Welcome Message: Friendlier first-launch experience
    • Clearer, warmer greeting explaining privacy-first, fully on-device search
    • Settings dialog now opens centered over the main window on first launch
  20. ⚡ Performance & Memory Fixes: Under-the-hood stability improvements
    • Fixed timer handlers accumulating across app restarts (memory leak)
    • Added proper Shutdown() path — all 7 timers are stopped, unsubscribed, and disposed on close
    • Fixed Win32 OS handle (ManualResetEvent) never being released
    • Fixed UI collection assignments running on background threads, eliminating random cross-thread crashes
    • Enabled VirtualizingPanel recycling mode on the photo grid — significantly lower memory usage for large libraries
  21. 🎨 Left Panel UI Consistency: Polished sidebar sections
    • All section titles (Quick Links, Discover, Auto Generated Keywords, Custom Tags) now use consistent bold 14pt font
    • "Current Tags" label renamed to "Custom Tags" for clarity
    • Custom Tags and Auto Generated Keywords text boxes show text top-left aligned
    • Both text boxes show a vertical scrollbar when content overflows
    • Hover tooltip on Auto Generated Keywords shows all keywords plus custom tags in one view
    • All read-only text boxes support right-click → Select All / Copy and Ctrl+A / Ctrl+C
  22. ⭐ Favorite Star Button: Toolbar refinement
    • Star button now has a red background matching the search button style
    • Vertically aligned with the Search button for a balanced toolbar
Version 4.0.* 🚀
  1. 🎨 Chrome-Style Navigation: Modern browsing experience
    • Back/Forward navigation buttons with history tracking
    • Navigate through search results like a web browser
    • Hover effects and visual feedback
    • Disabled state when no history available
  2. 🏷️ Advanced Tag Management Dialog: Professional tagging workflow
    • Modern dialog with existing tags display
    • Real-time tag count and validation
    • Add/Remove tags with confirmation dialogs
    • "Don't ask again" option for power users
    • Accessible from File menu, context menu, and sidebar
    • Ctrl+T keyboard shortcut for quick access
  3. 🗺️ Geospatial Clustering: Intelligent location grouping
    • Automatically clusters nearby locations (50m radius)
    • Reduces duplicate location names
    • Smarter "Most Common" location selection
    • Performance-optimized with efficient spatial indexing
    • Better location tab organization
  4. 🖼️ Thumbnail Indexing System: Lightning-fast photo browsing
    • Pre-generated thumbnails stored in index
    • Instant photo grid loading
    • No more waiting for thumbnail generation
    • Dramatically improved scroll performance
    • Reduced memory footprint
  5. 💾 External Drive Support: Portable photo libraries
    • Full support for photos on external/removable drives
    • Automatic drive letter remapping
    • Preserves index when drive reconnects
    • Seamless experience across multiple computers
  6. 📁 Menu Reorganization: Streamlined interface
    • Simplified File menu with essential actions
    • Add/Remove Tags accessible from multiple locations
    • Cleaner menu structure
    • Better keyboard shortcut discoverability
  7. ⚡ Performance Optimizations: Faster everywhere
    • Optimized tab switching (2x faster)
    • Async counting for all catalogs
    • Background property calculations
    • Reduced UI blocking operations
    • Smoother experience with large libraries
  8. 🎯 Tab Icons: Visual navigation improvements
    • Icons for all tabs: 🔍 Search, 🏖️ Places, ⏰ Times, ⭐ Bookmarks
    • Sidebar tabs with icons: 🏷️ My TAGs, 📁 Folders, 📷 Cameras, 🥾 Hikes, 🎉 Holidays
    • Better visual identification
    • Professional modern look
  9. 📸 Photo Export Branding: Preserve memories and credits
    • Optional watermark on exported photos
    • Copyright and branding information
    • Maintains photo quality while adding attribution
  10. 🔍 Enhanced Natural Language Search: More powerful queries
    • Date range support: "From 2020 to 2023"
    • Day range wrapping: "From Friday to Monday"
    • Altitude ranges: "From 5000feet to 10000feet"
    • Temporal context handling (year, month, day)
    • Better query translation and logging
    • Comprehensive test coverage
  11. 🧪 Test Version System: Safe beta testing
    • Separate test builds with "[TEST BUILD]" label
    • Different update URLs for test vs production
    • Easy toggle between test and production modes
    • Automated build scripts
  12. 🎭 Demo Mode: Privacy-friendly presentations
    • Blur photo content for demonstrations
    • Toggle on/off from Options
    • Perfect for public presentations and screenshots
  13. 📊 Bulk Tag Operations: Efficient tag management
    • Consolidated tags display from multiple photos
    • Smart tag presence detection
    • Batch processing with progress indicators
    • Skip unsupported file types automatically
  14. 🏗️ Build System Improvements: Better development workflow
    • Separate Test and Production build folders
    • Automated build scripts
    • Clean build processes
    • Network share deployment automation
  15. 🎨 Modern UI Polish: Enhanced visual design
    • Larger star icons for favorites
    • Card-based photo thumbnails with hover effects
    • Better button styling and feedback
    • Consistent spacing and alignment
  16. 🐛 Critical Bug Fixes:
    • Fixed file locking issues during export
    • Fixed festival date calculations
    • Improved error handling for missing files
    • Better handling of drive disconnections
    • Fixed double field prefix in integration queries
  17. 📝 Logging Enhancements: Better debugging
    • Search translation logging
    • ASCII log format for better readability
    • Detailed geospatial clustering logs
    • Performance timing information
Version 3.0.* 🎉
  1. 🆕 HEIC/HEIF Support: Full support for Apple HEIC/HEIF image formats (iPhone photos)
    • Read metadata from HEIC files
    • Generate thumbnails for HEIC images
    • Search and discover your iPhone photos
    • Powered by Magick.NET library
  2. 📱 iPhone Model Detection: Improved camera model extraction for iPhones
    • Automatically detects "iPhone 13", "iPhone 14", "iPhone 15" etc.
    • Constructs full model names from partial metadata
    • Search by camera model (e.g., "iPhone 13 Pro")
  3. 🔒 Custom Tag Validation: Smart validation for file type compatibility
    • Warns when attempting to add tags to unsupported formats (HEIC/HEIF)
    • Detailed logging of unsupported files
    • "Don't show again" option for experienced users
    • Prevents file corruption from incompatible operations
  4. ℹ️ Enhanced About Dialog: Modern, informative About window
    • Clickable hyperlinks for easy navigation
    • Third-party library attributions (Magick.NET, Lucene.NET, MetadataExtractor)
    • Download link to www.GetPitara.com
    • Professional layout with proper licensing information
  5. 🔧 Code Quality Improvements:
    • Centralized URL management via StringConstants
    • Refactored file extension handling
    • Single source of truth for supported formats
    • Improved maintainability and consistency
  6. ✨ Tag Capitalization: Professional tag formatting
    • Automatically capitalizes first letter of each word
    • Consistent tag appearance across all photos
    • Better search results presentation
  7. 📦 Installer Updates:
    • Bundled Magick.NET DLLs for HEIC support
    • Apache 2.0 license compliance
    • Updated InnoSetup configuration
  8. 🔄 Version & Copyright:
    • Updated to version 3.0.* (major version bump)
    • Copyright updated to 2026
Version 2.0.* 🔍
  1. 📏 Height-Based Search: Search photos by altitude
    • Search by height range (e.g., "10kfeetPlus" for photos above 10,000 feet)
    • Perfect for finding mountain, aerial, and hiking photos
    • Uses GPS altitude metadata from your photos
    • New height-based catalog view for easy browsing
  2. 🗣️ Natural Language Search: Advanced query capabilities
    • Example: "From 2002 in January on Weekend at 9am"
    • Combine multiple criteria: date, time, day of week, location
    • Intuitive search syntax - no complex operators needed
    • Intelligent parsing of your search intent
  3. 🎉 Holiday Tab Performance: Faster festival photo browsing
    • Optimized loading of holiday and festival albums
    • Improved responsiveness when switching between festivals
    • Reduced memory usage for large photo collections
  4. 🐛 Bug Fixes & Polish:
    • Fixed multiple GUI glitches and visual inconsistencies
    • Improved window resizing behavior
    • Better error handling and stability improvements
Version 1.7.* ⚡
  1. 🎨 Major UI Overhaul: Modern, polished interface
    • Redesigned main window with cleaner layout
    • Improved color scheme and visual consistency
    • Better spacing and typography throughout the app
    • Enhanced photo grid with smooth scrolling
  2. 🔤 Word Selector: Smart search assistance
    • Click to add keywords from suggestions
    • Build complex searches without typing
    • Shows available tags from your photo collection
    • Reduces typos and speeds up searching
  3. 🔤 Alphabetical Sorting: Organized keyword views
    • Keywords now sorted alphabetically in all views
    • Easy to find specific tags in large collections
    • Consistent sorting across Location, Camera, and Custom tag tabs
  4. 💧 Fluid Views: Responsive layout system
    • Views adapt to different screen sizes and resolutions
    • Smooth transitions between tabs
    • Better support for high-DPI displays
  5. 📏 Height Catalog: New browsing dimension
    • Browse photos by altitude/elevation
    • Discover your highest and lowest altitude photos
    • Great for reviewing travel and outdoor photography
  6. ⚡ Blazing Fast Loading: Performance improvements
    • Dramatically reduced startup time
    • Instant thumbnail loading
    • Optimized memory usage for large photo libraries
    • Background indexing doesn't slow down the UI
  7. 🔄 Smart Re-indexing: Efficient updates
    • On relaunch, quickly checks which files are already indexed
    • Only indexes new or modified photos
    • Significant time savings for large libraries
    • Preserves bandwidth and system resources
Version 1.6.* 📅
  1. ⏰ Time Range Keywords: Flexible date searching
    • Search by time periods: "last10years", "last20years"
    • Easy to find recent vs older photos
    • Supports various time range formats
    • Perfect for anniversary and milestone searches
  2. 🚀 Performance Optimization: Major speed improvements
    • Faster search execution across all query types
    • Reduced memory footprint
    • Improved indexing speed for initial setup
    • More responsive UI during heavy operations
  3. 📄 Paginated Results: Better handling of large result sets
    • First page limited to 200 photos for instant display
    • Load remaining results on demand
    • Prevents UI freezing with thousands of results
    • Smoother scrolling and browsing experience
  4. 🎊 Festival Albums: Cultural celebrations recognition
    • Automatically detects common festivals from India and US
    • Pre-built albums for: Diwali, Holi, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.
    • Smart date matching based on festival calendars
    • Easy browsing of special occasion photos
Version 1.5.1.* 📦
  1. 💼 Portable Mode Enhancement: True portability
    • Portable setup now completely self-contained
    • All settings stored in local folder (not registry)
    • Index database stored alongside the application
    • Perfect for USB drives or network shares
    • No traces left on host computer
    • Easy to move between machines
Version 1.5.0.* 🔍
  1. ⌨️ Type-Ahead Search: Intelligent autocomplete
    • Search box provides real-time suggestions
    • Suggestions from all potential keywords in your library
    • Includes locations, camera models, custom tags, dates
    • Press Enter or click to search instantly
    • Reduces typing and helps discover forgotten tags
  2. 🖼️ Faster Image Comparison: Duplicate detection improvements
    • Much faster perceptual hashing algorithm
    • Better accuracy in finding similar images
    • Reduced false positives
    • More efficient memory usage during comparison
  3. ❤️ Favorite Queries: Save your searches
    • Save any search query by clicking the Heart button
    • Access saved searches from Favorites tab
    • Add descriptions to your favorite queries
    • Perfect for frequently used searches
    • Manage and organize your favorite queries
  4. 🔧 Robustness Improvements: Better error handling
    • Fixed bug where one failing view would break all views
    • Each view now loads independently
    • Better recovery from corrupted metadata
    • Improved logging for troubleshooting
  5. 🎨 Visual Enhancements: Beautified interface
    • New color theme for search results
    • Better contrast and readability
    • Improved thumbnail presentation
    • More polished overall look and feel
  6. 🐛 Minor Improvements:
    • Various UI glitch fixes
    • Improved tooltip consistency
    • Better window state persistence
    • Enhanced keyboard navigation