SnappyRef

Features

• Added exact duplicate cleanup for the Library, so repeated copies of the same asset no longer flood Search results while existing Board placements are preserved.
• Added arrow-key arrange commands that settle selected placements toward an edge while respecting your Placement gap.
• Added Guide Snapping while resizing placements and while Scale Dragging groups.
• Semantic Search now searches the whole Library by default, with a simpler results experience.

Fixes

• Fixed multi-result Search dragging so the preview group stays centered under the pointer instead of drifting before drop.

Improvements

• Imports, drops, and Search additions now land more predictably: visible loading items can be selected, moved, snapped, ordered, and removed like normal placements.
• Improved gap snapping so non-zero Placement gaps align by actual spacing instead of padded edges.
• Compact arrange can now make small proportional size adjustments when that creates a cleaner packed layout.
• Canvas zoom feels quicker and smoother, with a better default zoom for new Boards.
• Double-clicking a placement now focuses it, matching the existing Space focus behavior.
• Settings now use clearer “Placement gap” wording for the spacing used by imports, duplication, arrange, and snapping.

This release fixes Windows auto-update discovery and simplifies the update flow.

• Fixed Windows update discovery so older builds can correctly find newer releases.
• Simplified Windows updates to use a single snappyref.exe package, without a separate updater helper.
• Improved the Settings update card:
  • Check for updates
  • Download and stage updates
  • Restart when an update is ready
• Fixed a case where a staged update could show as “Finishing update” without being restartable.
• Made the Windows update swap more resilient if the app is still exiting when the updater tries to replace the executable.
• Updated release packaging so Windows release zips contain only snappyref.exe.

New

• Added document-level Undo/Redo for imports, paste/duplicate, deletes, transforms, arrange, stack order, crop/relink, annotations, and board edits.
• Added native image clipboard copy for a single selected placement, so pasted images work better in apps like Photoshop while SnappyRef paste still works.
• Added Always on Top in Settings.
  • Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+T on Windows/Linux, Shift+Cmd+T on macOS.
• Added Scale Drag for placements.
  • Windows/Linux: Ctrl+Alt+Drag
  • macOS: Cmd+Option+Drag
  • Works on one placement or the selected group.

Improved

• Mouse wheel zoom is faster in Mouse Mode.
• Paste from context menu now uses the same path as keyboard paste.
• URL paste placement now preserves the intended paste location better after async imports finish.
• Undo applies changes in place instead of flashing/reloading the whole board.
• Update verification is stronger across macOS and Windows.

This release fixes in-app update checks on Windows.

What's Fixed

• Fixed an issue where SnappyRef could find an update in the background but not refresh the UI to show it.
• Fixed the Check for updates now button appearing to do nothing.
• Improved update progress handling so the app keeps checking for completed update work while an update check or download is running.

This release focuses on smoother board interactions and more reliable Windows imports.

What's Improved

• Smoother zooming, panning, and dragging on boards.
• Board changes now avoid doing persistence work during active interaction frames, reducing visible stutters while moving around the canvas.
• Board summaries and save work are handled more carefully so the UI can stay responsive during normal editing.

Fixed

• Fixed Windows mouse-wheel zoom direction in Mouse Mode.

  • Scrolling up now zooms in.
  • Scrolling down now zooms out.

• Fixed Windows drag-and-drop placement for imported images.

  • Imported images should now follow the mouse while hovering over the canvas.
  • Placeholder placements should appear under the cursor before drop.
  • Single-image and multi-image drags should land where the preview indicated.

SnappyRef 0.1.4

Critical Fixes

• Fixed image import on Windows.

• Dragging image files from Explorer into SnappyRef should work again.

• This fixes a regression introduced after 0.1.1.

• Fixed Semantic Search installation on macOS in protected install locations.

• SnappyRef now falls back to a writable per-user data folder when the app folder cannot be written to.

• Improved data storage reliability for protected installs.

• If SnappyRef is installed somewhere like /Applications or Program Files, app data can now be stored in the user’s app-data location instead of failing silently.

Windows

• Restored reliable file drag-and-drop behavior.
• Fixed the native Windows drop handling used for import placement.
• Preserved normal file drop behavior when Windows already has a registered drop handler.

macOS

• Fixed Semantic Search install failures caused by unwritable app folders.
• Local model files are now installed into a writable data location when needed.

SnappyRef 0.1.3 is a small hotfix release focused on making imports, updates, and first-run defaults more reliable.

What’s Fixed

More Reliable File Imports

• Fixed importing files by dragging them from Finder on macOS.
• Fixed pasting copied files from Finder on macOS.
• Added support for pasting copied files on Windows.
• Improved handling for pasted and dropped files so they behave more consistently.

Better Update Experience

• Fixed version metadata so SnappyRef correctly identifies this release as 0.1.3.
• Fixed update packaging issues that could prevent update files from being prepared correctly.

Semantic Search Install Improvements

• Improved the install flow for Semantic Search.
• Added clearer error messages if Semantic Search assets cannot be installed.

Settings Cleanup

• Cleaned up the Settings panel layout.
• Fixed button overflow in the About/Update area.
• New workspaces now default to no image gap, so imported references sit flush by default.

Highlights

Smaller app downloads

• Semantic Search assets are no longer bundled into the app download.
• Reason: the search model is large and rarely changes, so separating it makes normal app updates much smaller.

Opt-in Semantic Search install

• Fresh installs now ask whether to enable Semantic Search after the app is usable.
• Semantic Search can also be installed or retried from the search palette or Settings.
• Search assets download in the background, show progress, verify integrity, and can be canceled.
• Reason: users can start using SnappyRef immediately instead of waiting on a large model download.

Automatic updates groundwork

• SnappyRef now checks for available updates in the background after startup settles.
• Available updates appear as a sidebar pill.
• Updates can download, verify, stage, restart, and preserve the user library and session.
• Settings now includes an About / Updates section with manual update check and rollback where available.
• Reason: future releases should be much lower-friction than manual zip replacement.

Canvas & Interaction

Figma-style guide snapping

• Dragged placements now snap to nearby edges, centers, corners, and configured layout gaps.
• Works for single placements, multi-selection drags, import previews, and search-result drops.
• Cmd / Ctrl temporarily disables snapping while dragging.
• Reason: manual arrangement should feel local and predictable, not like the app is trying to auto-layout the board.

Better import and search-result placement previews

• Multi-image imports and library search drops now preview their final placement before async loading finishes.
• Final placements should land where the preview promised, even if files finish loading out of order.
• Newly added batches stay selected after placement.
• Reason: adding several references should feel direct and editable immediately.

Improved compact arrange

• Compact arrange now prioritizes dense packing with fewer visible holes.
• It respects layout gap, preserves scale and rotation, and handles rotated placements by their visual footprint.
• Reason: compacting should make references tighter, not just force a square-ish block.

New Q/W/E arrange shortcuts

• Q = compact arrange.
• W = arrange in row.
• E = arrange in column.
• Reason: arrangement commands are core canvas actions and should be faster than modifier-heavy shortcuts.

Improved image transforms

• Rotation and resizing are more predictable, including multi-image selections and rotated images.
• Added R + Drag rotation affordance.
• Reason: transform controls should match what users see on the canvas.

Pointer Mode setting

• Added Mouse and Trackpad modes.
• Mouse mode uses wheel zoom around pointer and supports Alt / Option + LMB pan.
• Trackpad mode keeps pinch zoom and two-finger pan behavior.
• Reason: mouse-first users and trackpad users expect different navigation defaults.

Window restore

• SnappyRef now remembers and restores window size and position.
• Reason: repeated launches should return users to their working setup.

Performance & Responsiveness

Lower idle CPU

• Animated images no longer continuously animate just because they are visible.
• They animate when hovered or selected.
• Reason: a quiet board should stay quiet, even with animated references.

Lower memory after search/indexing work

• Semantic Search embedding work now uses shorter-lived helper processes and backs off when work is done.
• Reason: model memory should return after background work settles.

Smarter background indexing

• Embedding backfill waits until the active board is usable.
• Active board assets are prioritized before the wider library.
• Repeated failures are bounded so broken or unsupported assets do not keep burning idle work.
• Reason: search readiness should improve progressively without hurting normal canvas use.

Faster mixed imports

• Smaller assets in a mixed import batch are prioritized so they appear sooner.
• Large JPEGs are decoded more efficiently for canvas-sized use.
• Reason: one large image should not block several quick references from appearing.

Install / Update Reliability

Semantic Search migration

• Existing bundled files can be migrated into the new local store.
• Reason: upgrades should not require users to manually move search assets.

Safer update packaging

• Release zips now use a consistent top-level SnappyRef/ folder layout.
• Update downloads are verified before install.
• Reason: fewer broken update/install states.

Long-lived Semantic Search asset for SnappyRef.