Release Notes

Thanks to everybody who tested the new software update! The results look promising and we continue with business as usual, releasing improvements and bug fixes.

Improvements

• Detecting connections made by apps on behalf of Password AutoFill and attributing them to the corresponding helper process instead of the app itself.
• When an XPC helper process is used by an App Extension, connections made by the XPC are now attributed to the App Extension.
• Showing an informative message text when the list of active rules is currently empty because the network filter is turned off.
• Improved selecting an app from the “Recent Network Activity” list in the status menu to show connections of that app only in Network Monitor (previously connections of other processes with a similar name could also appear in the result).
• The inspector in Network Monitor and in the configuration app now preferably show the path of the app bundle instead of the executable path.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a false geographic attribution of Private Relay connections to Åland.
• Showing the correct icon and localized app name for iOS/iPadOS apps running natively on macOS.
• When clicking an already selected connection in an inactive Network Monitor window that connection is no longer deselected.
• Fixed a bug where changing the scope of a search string had no effect while focusing on a set of rules.
• Fixed a bug where the highlight color of the Notes text field in the rules window updated incorrectly when the system’s light/dark appearance was changed while the app was currently running.

Testing New Software Update, Part 2

Last week we released a nightly build of Little Snitch that contained major changes in the automatic software update engine. With this release, we now want to test whether last week’s version correctly performs the update. If you have installed build number 7155 last week, please upgrade now.

But before you click the “Upgrade” button, please check the release notes window, which you are currently viewing. Is the Little Snitch icon in the same position and size as usual? Is the text scrollable (if the window is small enough to require scrolling) and is it formatted correctly? If anything is wrong, please take a screenshot and send it to us at support.

Then please perform the upgrade. The responsibility of the new software update engine ends when the new version of the app is started and performs an upgrade of the network extension and other components. Failures during this secondary upgrade are not related to the new software update mechanism, as nothing has been changed in that area.

Testing New Software Update

This nightly build includes a new implementation of the automatic software update mechanism. It will be used for future updates of Little Snitch.

The software update is a critical component of our software, as we painfully realized recently: if it fails to report an available update, users may miss important patches. We therefore want to thoroughly test this new mechanism before wide distribution.

What to Test

After installing this nightly build, there’s nothing special to test immediately. We will publish another nightly build within a week, specifically to test the update functionality. When it is available, please check the following:

• The availability of the update should be reported automatically. You should see an update notification during the next week. If not, please let us know via our support channel at https://obdev.at/support/contact/littlesnitch!
• Do not run a manual check before you see an update notification, as it delays the automatic check for one day.
• The release notes window should appear as usual.
• The release notes should cover only versions newer than your current version.
• Release notes should be rendered correctly.
• Clicking on “Install Update” should install the new version as usual (the installer engine has not been changed).
• We don’t require you to test the “Skip This Version” and “Remind Me Later” buttons, but if you do, please be aware that “Remind Me Later” should defer update notifications for a day and “Skip This Version” should silence them until the next version is available. A manual check should still show the update.