After many long conversations, we have decided to retire Usher, our media management app: Effective March 1st, 2017, Usher will no longer be available for purchase. We will update it to fix issues that arise, but no further development will occur.

There will come times in this life where doubt settles into our daily walk as a Christians. These times can often come with a sense of panic and urgency especially when we are faced with a matter that has to be resolved in a certain amount of time. Okay, good to see everybody in this afternoon. Again, for those of you joining us on television, we would just like to invite you to an informal Bible study. That’s why we’ve got coffee cups and what have you. We just want to be like a home Bible study where we can just fellowship together and learn to search the Scriptures.

If you’ve always wanted to own Usher, you’ve got about two weeks left to make the purchase. (It’s not being abandoned, we’re just retiring it from active development, so you will be supported. However, please read the Q&A before you decide to purchase Usher.)

So what does this mean for you as an Usher user? We figure you might have questions, so we’re going to do our best to answer them here. Anything we don’t address, please feel free to bring it up in the comments, or by emailing us directly.

Why are you retiring Usher?

Usher does its video magic through QuickTime. Not the newer-and-current QuickTime X, but the original QuickTime. This lets Usher do all sorts of neat stuff, but also means it can break due to an event that crashes QuickTime—most Usher crashes are actually QuickTime crashes which then take Usher out, too.

QuickTime is very old, and obviously no longer updated. (It’s so old that it’s not even 64-bit code.) Newer video formats may cause issues, and we can’t resolve those issues in Usher because they’re actually in QuickTime. Given these age-related issues with QuickTime, we’re no longer comfortable selling and supporting Usher to new buyers, so we’ve decided it’s retirement time.

Why not make Usher work with QuickTime X?

As much as we’d love to work on integrating QuickTime X into Usher, the unfortunate reality is that we can’t presently justify the time investment it would require. Even when new, Usher served a niche audience of people who obsessed about their video collections and found iTunes/iPhoto weren’t sufficient for their needs. Unfortunately, this niche started small and has only gotten smaller over the years, and the move to streaming media instead of physical or electronic-but-owned media files has only made it worse.

Beyond the market size, we can’t just delete “old QuickTime” and insert “QuickTime X” and be done with it. The two are very different, so much so that we’d need to totally rewrite the engine that drives Usher. And that’s a huge job…and one that wouldn’t ever be paid back in sales, due to the limited market size.

The double whammy of a lack of potential customers and huge time investment to rewrite Usher mean we can’t presently justify the work required to make Usher use the newer QuickTime X.

What happens to my copy of Usher?

Nothing at all. Like all our apps, Usher is a standalone program, so it will continue to run just fine in macOS Sierra (or whatever release you’re using it in).

Going forward, we’ll work to fix any bugs that crop up, and do our best to keep Usher working with new releases of macOS. We can’t make any promises, of course, but both of us use Usher, and we’d like to keep it working for as long as possible without investing a huge amount of time in the project. (Of course, if Apple breaks “old QuickTime” at some point, that will be the end for Usher. Let’s hope they never do that.)

I bought from the Mac App Store, what happens to my version?

All Mac App Store buyers are encouraged to crossgrade to our direct version—it’s free, and you get a permanent Usher license so you never need use the App Store version again. The App Store version should get any bug fixes we release, but we’ve never tried updating a removed-from-sale app before; migrating to the direct version will ensure you always get these bug fixes. By migrating, you’ll also be able to reinstall at any time by downloading the app again from our server and applying your license file.

Can I get a refund?

If you bought directly from us, you can get a refund within 60 days of purchase. If you bought from the App Store, Apple’s official policy is no refunds, but they’ve been known to offer them if you ask nicely (and rarely).

But again, the app will continue to work fine, so there’s no need for a refund on the basis of non-functionality. But if you’d like your money back and you’re within the 60-day window, just ask.

Why aren’t you open sourcing Usher, instead of retiring it?

We can’t open source Usher because it contains code that we share between many of our apps, and we’re not willing to make that code public at this time.

Why not give it away for free?

In short because we wouldn’t be able to support the users. Yes, we could say “no support included,” but if someone has a problem with Usher and they lose their library, neither of us would be comfortable saying “Sorry, no support, it was free.” That’s not how we work. So we’d wind up with a crush of free support requests for one of our largest, most complex apps. That’s not a sustainable model.

It’s never easy to say goodbye to an application, and Usher is no different. Unfortunately, between the old QuickTime technology and small (but very enthusiastic) audience, we cannot currently justify the work required to make the program into what we know it could be.

Usher 2.0 Beta 4520 - Mar 9 2020

Heads up! Usher 2 is a fundamental change for Usher, both in terms of functionality and underlying technology. The change is necessary to facilitate compatibility with macOS 10.15 Catalina, but it may be jarring depending on which Usher features you rely on the most. To avoid disappointment, please read the following carefully, starting with the list of changes in Usher 2.0 Beta 4485. There's some bad news, but even more good news, if we say so ourselves — the best news, of course, being that Usher won't actually die this fall, as it's now a 64-bit application.

For those who update to the Usher 2 Beta now, but decide they'd rather revert to Usher 1.1.17 later, Usher 1.1.17 will remain available for download from our museum. Please keep the following caveat in mind, though:

Staying on Usher 1.1.17, or any version older than that, is only an option if you don't plan on upgrading to macOS 10.15 Catalina. Those older Ushers are 32-bit apps, and they will not run on macOS 10.15 Catalina.

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Fixed a bug where smart playlist subdivisions could show duplicate files under rare conditions.
• Fixed a thumbnail drawing glitch.
• Added some blurry eye candy, some of which also happens to improve legibility.

Usher 2.0 Beta 4516 - Mar 1 2020

New Features

• External viewer monitoring now also works with QuickTime Player.
• There are now additional preview layout options, such as a Waterfall layout, available in the new View > Layout submenu.
• Smart playlists can now override the general 'Continue with next file' preference.
• Timestamps (e.g., 0:07) mentioned in a given movie's Notes are now reflected as 'Play from'/'Go to' menu items in the movie's context menu.

Bug Fixes and Improvements

Usher 1.1.15 Tour

• Smart playlist subdivision rules (e.g., regarding the treatment of 'Other' files) are now applied more consistently.
• Improved smart playlist editor layout.

Usher 2.0 Beta 4505 - Jan 29 2020

New Features

• When batch-renaming via the Metadata/Names dialog, clicking the list of files now scrolls to files that will actually have their names changed. Click repeatedly to cycle through all such files.

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Improved thumbnail layout.
• Dragging the thumbnail size slider will now always give you exact width matches. Hold the option key while dragging for more direct control over thumbnail sizes.
• Enabled 'Automatically Scale Thumbnails to Fit' by default. You can still disable this via the View menu, though, and you can still do so for Cover and Preview mode separately.
• Improved list layout.
• Improved list formatting: Numeric properties are now displayed right-aligned to match the Index and Counter columns.
• Improved number formatting.
• Fixed a bug in the aspect ratio logic for image files.
• Other cosmetic changes.

Usher 2.0 Beta 4501 - Dec 19 2019

New Features

• Hovering the mouse pointer over the thumbnail for a compatible movie file now triggers a frame image slideshow after a delay (General preferences), giving you an idea of what's in the movie. From there, you can move your mouse left or right over the thumbnail to scrub through frames manually. Or you can right-click and use the 'Current Frame' context menu submenu for further interaction, such as using the frame as the file's preview or playing the movie from the frame's timestamp.
• Right-clicking an individual frame in the Index Image window now gives you ways to interact with that frame, such as using the frame as the file's preview or playing the movie from the frame's timestamp.
• You can now use Quick Look within Usher via context menu or by pressing the space bar after selecting a file. Note that Quick Look will always show what's on disk and thus ignore any edits you may have applied in Usher.
• Added a back button to assist with navigating your folders and playlists. Long- or right-click the back button for a history menu.
• Added a 'Crop Previews' item to the View menu. Uncheck to make thumbnails show previews entirely, rather than cropped versions of them.

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Tool tips for thumbnails are now displayed outside of the thumbnail, solving a problem where thumbnails could get occluded by lengthy tool tips.
• Reorganized some menus, plus other cosmetic changes.

Usher 2.0 Beta 4489 - Nov 13 2019

Resuscitated Features

• Movie playback can once again resume from where the user left off. In addition to movie duration, the point in time when the movie was last open is now also an optional criterion (General preferences).
• Preview images can once again be based on frame images at a percentage of a movie's duration (Appearance preferences).

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Some cosmetic adjustments.

Usher 2.0 Beta 4485 - Sep 13 2019

The Bad News

• Switched from QuickTime to AVFoundation (a.k.a. 'QuickTime' X) for movie playback, because the real QuickTime, which Usher was built upon, will not work on macOS 10.15 Catalina. As a direct consequence of this, movie conversion and exporting, along with some movie editing functionality, have been removed, at least for now.
• AVFoundation-based Usher also supports fewer file formats, if only because it can't use plugins like Perian and Flip4Mac anymore, but read on for ways to ease the file format pain.
• Removed auto-properties, which haven't worked in quite some time anyway, because the underlying database went away.
• Table columns will reset to the default once, because of an overdue internal change.

New Features

• If Usher cannot open a file, it now falls back to opening it in the file's assigned default app — i.e., the same app you'd end up with if you double-clicked the file in Finder. For each app, Usher requests your confirmation at least once, so you have a chance to correct weird default apps in Finder as you go.
• You can now specify JSON default viewer rules in Usher's Advanced preferences. Match URLs via regular expression or an 'Extensions' value that consists of whitespace-separated filename extensions. Alternatively, you can still assign apps to individual files via context menu or Info dialog.
• After opening a file in VLC, Usher can now monitor VLC and continue with the next file in a given Usher playlist once VLC playback of the first file has concluded. This is disabled by default, but for those who have VLC installed, there's a checkbox in Usher's General preferences.
• By default, full screen mode now uses a separate Space, making it more similar to modern macOS's standard full screen mode.
• You can now check/uncheck tags and property values for a single file or multiple files directly from within the context menu. This is the most convenient thing ever.
• Smart playlists that are subdivided by defined properties (or tag/property value subdivision's new default, 'all') now automatically add a second subdivision step for each property's respective values.
• Smart playlists can now be subdivided by property values along the lines of 'Cast + Director' (either as the only specified value, or in addition to others), resulting in a subdivision hierarchy that's similar to subdividing by defined properties, but restricted to the '+'-separated properties. Yeah, subdivision is a geeky feature.
• Smart playlists with active relative-date-based criteria (e.g., 'date added is within the last 3 days') now display +/- toolbar buttons that let you quickly change between days, weeks, months, and years for the date criteria, thereby giving you a convenient way to look a little further into the past, then switch back.
• In addition to single-value matches, the Similar context submenu now lists files that match all values for a given tag/property. And if an item has multiple tags/properties, Similar lists other items that match all values for all of those tags/properties below the tag/property-specific submenus.
• Choosing the parent menu item of a tag/property-specific submenu in Similar, or choosing Similar itself, now triggers a filter search that will reveal all similar files at that level, including the reference file.
• Movie and image files can now be mirrored.
• Usher can now play movies in reverse and/or at double speed. Option-click the fast forward/backward buttons or choose the corresponding menu items to switch between those playback modes.
• You can now drag cover and preview images out of the Info dialog to export them.
• Usher now supports dark mode.

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Improved drag & drop reliability.
• Improved preview loading efficiency.
• Improved the index image editor's efficiency and responsiveness.
• Reorganized the preferences window.
• Various other user interface improvements.

Usher 1.1.17 - Oct 3 2018

New Features

• Can now search for 'or more' star ratings, e.g. '***+' for three or more stars.
• Save Poster Image can save images to the desktop by holding down the Control key while selecting the menu item.
• If you have multiple subdivisions of a Smart Playlist, and select more than one subdivision, the search bar will show two new buttons: Union (all of the movies in all selected subdivisions) and Intersection (only those movies that appear in each selected subdivision).

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Improved CSV output now includes date/time fields and UUID.
• Fixed a preview-related crash when previewing many mvoies. (Hat tip to Dominik R. for finding this one.)

Usher 1.1.16 - Mar 14 2017

New Features

• Added an option to have thumbnails automatically adjust in size (i.e., scale up), depending on how much room there is. You can control this separately for preview mode and cover mode.
• Added metadata CSV export — see Usher Help for details.

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Fixed thumbnail preview playback.
• Improved compatibility with the Photos database.

Usher 1.1.15 - Dec 22 2016

New Features

Usher 1.1.15 Songs

• Metadata searches now include names of external movie players, as defined in the Info dialog.
• Search terms can now be excluded by prefixing them with a minus sign, i.e. Bert -Ernie would exclude Ernie.

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Compatible with Photos 2.0 in macOS Sierra.
• Improved memory usage and speed of the movie crawler.
• New in-app icons and other visual improvements.

Note

We've changed how Usher calculates some date values. This behind-the-scenes change means that if you downgrade to 1.1.14 in the future, you'll lose some date-related metadata. As always, you should back up your files before updating Usher (or any app).

Usher 1.1.14 - May 3 2016

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Updated help manager with improved search and navigation, plus more info on using Usher.
• Drag and drop now works properly when trying to organize video files from search results.
• Fixed some bugs related to working with the Photos database.
• Fixed a bug related to closing the Properties window with an active edit field.
• Growl support has been removed.

Usher 1.1.13 - Jan 31 2016

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• General interface improvements for OS X 10.10 and newer.
• Improved support for Photos.
• Updated the Sparkle in-app update mechanism to use a secure connection (HTTPS).
• Fixed 'Next Movie' keyboard shortcut issue.
• Fixed an issue that would cause Usher to scroll back to the top of the window after playing a video.

Note

Help is out of date with this release; we'll update it to match the changes in this update shortly.

Usher 1.1.12 - Oct 1 2015

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Fixed a problem that prevented Usher from properly working for users who keep its main library file on an external volume.

Usher 1.1.11 - Sep 28 2015

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Fixed an issue with OS X 10.11 El Capitan's Gatekeeper.

Usher 1.1.10 - Jan 13 2015

Usher 1.1.15 2017

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Fixed a search field drawing glitch in Yosemite.

Usher 1.1.9 - Aug 6 2014

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Prepared for upcoming Gatekeeper changes.

Usher 1.1.8 - Jan 23 2014

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Fixed an issue with excessive CPU consumption in expired trial mode.
• No longer treat AVHCHD bundles as bundles by default.
• YouTube and Vimeo URLs cannot be put into the Download URLs box (they didn't work anyway).

Usher 1.1.7 - Dec 2 2013

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• For now, at least, Usher is available only directly from us—the App Store version is no longer for sale. Here's why.
• YouTube and Vimeo downloading have been removed. Here's why.
• In Mavericks, clicking at a position on the playhead now jumps to that position, as it did pre-Mavericks.
• Changed the 'Show File' menu item to 'Reveal in Finder,' to make its purpose more clear.
• Animated GIFs now work as expected. (Hat tip to Arndt L. for finding this one.)
• Fixed a problem that occurred when rotating full-screen videos. (Hat tip to Jan for finding this one.)
• We now prevent iTunes podcasts from automatically downloading into Usher.
• Fixed a fuzzy date description issue.
• Fixed a broken Growl framework reference.

Usher 1.1.6 - Sep 17 2012

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Restores YouTube download capability. (Hat tip to Tim L. for reporting this one.)
• Resolved issues related to working with videos in external libraries (iPhoto, iTunes, Aperture). (Hat tip to Mike L. for reporting this one.)
• The 'Remove from Library' menu item now reads 'Add to Blacklist' when looking at external libraries, to more accurately reflect its functionality.

Usher 1.1.5 - Jul 25 2012

New Features

• Auto-detect .dvdmedia files added to Usher's library folders.
• Automatically play .dvdmedia files in DVD Player.
• Hover controls are now only shown when the mouse moves on the screen containing the video.

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Fixed some display glitches in Mountain Lion.
• Hover controls no longer show when Usher is in full-screen playback in the background.
• Fixed a rare bug that would cause the Movies folder not to show in certain situations. (Hat tip to Jan for finding this one.)
• Movie trailers on Apple's new movie trailers site are once again downloadable. (These trailers are downloadable on the web site, but the new page design broke Usher's download abilities.)

Note

This update is for direct customers only; the latest Mac App Store version is still 1.1.3. Here's why.

Usher 1.1.4 - Nov 23 2011

New Features

• Added a new Batch Rename entry to the Usher menu, for use when renaming multiple videos.

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Converting videos that reside on read-only media now works properly. (Hat tip to Kevin H. for reporting this one.)
• Batch processing now works properly in Lion when Usher is in the background. (Hat tip to Kevin H. for reporting this one.)
• Usher can now delete videos that reside on networked volumes.
• Fixed higher-resolution YouTube downloads. (Hat tip to Garrison B. for reporting this one.)
• Fixed media key support.
• Fixed an issue where subdividing Smart Playlists could cause Usher to crash under certain conditions.

Note

This update is for direct customers only; the latest Mac App Store version is still 1.1.3. Here's why.

Usher 1.1.3 - Apr 19 2011

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Fixed a problem that would cause false 'no nested library folders allowed' error messages. (Hat tip to Thomas for reporting this one.)
• Usher no longer allows users to Move/Merge movies that aren't directly in its own library (i.e. iTunes, iPhoto, Aperture movies).
• Usher now behaves properly if it's launched with its main library on an external unmounted drive.

Usher 1.1.2 - Jan 20 2011

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Entries in the Notes field are no longer lost when doing certain operations on multiple movies.
• Changes in the Tags field are now recorded as soon as each change is made, instead of when exiting the Tags field.

Usher 1.1.1 - Jan 11 2011

New Features

• Usher can manage Elgato recordings—playback will be handled by Elgato's EyeTV player, as QuickTime can't handle these recordings.
• You can now save a selected group of movies in native format (no conversion) to a location you specify; see the Save To contextual menu item. (Hat tip to Webb P. for the suggestion.)

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Further reductions in memory usage during various Usher operations.
• Fixed a keyboard shortcut conflict between Set Selection End and No Rating on certain (including US) keyboard layouts.

Usher 1.1 - Dec 30 2010

New Features

• A new free-form Notes field allows entry of ridiculous amounts of text; it will auto-size and add scroll bars as needed, so Notes can be as lengthy as you like.

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Reduced memory usage during movie 'crawling' (when Usher is scanning newly-imported movies).
• Renamed Tags and Properties to Metadata throughout the app, to reflect the change in status of the Notes field to a third 'information type.'
• Made changes to improve slow response of the Library and Help menus.
• Fixed a problem related to auto-imports and restricted file types. (Hat tip to Kristian for reporting this one.)
• Fixed an issue where the movie size menu was grayed out if a movie was playing with the main window closed. (Hat tip to Daniel B. for reporting this one.)
• iTunes movies that have a custom preview image now have a small lock icon, instead of the large overlaying lock icon.
• Added a hidden preference to disable the fade-to-black animation when entering full screen mode. In Terminal (Usher not running), paste this command: defaults write com.manytricks.Usher 'Disable Presentation Fading' -bool YES — note that you may see some visual oddities during the transition to full screen mode if the fade is disabled. (Hat tip to John T. for the suggestion.)
• Fixed a small naming error in the license panel. (Hat tip to Eric P. for reporting this one.)

Usher 1.0.4 - Nov 2 2010

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Usher's movie processor no longer pauses when the Info window is displayed.
• Users with serial numbers (instead of license files) will no longer have upgrade-related licensing issues.
• Downloading YouTube videos with embedded advertisements now works as expected. (Hat tip to Jonathan C. for reporting this one.)
• Item counts won't overlap a source item's name any more; this could happen on rare occasions.

Usher 1.0.3 - Oct 26 2010

New Features

• Added a new 'Mark as watched/unwatched' entry to the contextual menu, to easily mark groups of movies as watched or unwatched. (Hat tip to 'glebd' for the suggestion.)
• Added File > Add to Library menu item to allow users to add folders or movie(s) directly to the library. By default, the File > Open menu item stores things in temporary (not permanent) storage, and this was confusing some users. (Hat tip to Keene H. for the suggestion.)
• Added Date Created as a new column in List View. (Hat tip to Brett K. for the suggestion.)
• Added Date Added to the Info panel.

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Better logging tools are available for us to use when debugging users' problem reports.
• Fixed incorrect links in Help Files' sidebar entries. (Hat tip to Edgard K. for spotting this one.)
• Fixed a problem related to Usher and caching certain Aperture libraries. (Hat tip to 'glebd' for finding this one.)
• Fixed a UI glitch related to the license window and demo users. (Hat tip to Don P. for reporting this one.)

Usher 1.0.2 - Oct 21 2010

New Features

• Usher now works with videos saved in Aperture, much like it does for videos in iTunes and iPhoto. (The only limitation is that we're unable to import Aperture's keywords, as we can do for iPhoto videos.)
• Many Usher file dialogs now have New Folder buttons, at least where it makes sense (e.g. when moving your library). (Hat tip to Kirk M. for asking for this feature.)
• Added new section to in-app help to cover supplementary folders, an Usher feature that allows you to spread your collection across many volumes, yet treat it as one large virtual folder.

Usher 1.1.15 Concert

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Referenced (i.e. aliased) movies in iPhoto now work as expected. This fix also improves alias handling in general. (Hat tip to Keen H. for reporting this one.)
• The selected highlight used for selected movies now wraps around the entire preview image, making it much easier to see.
• Improved the algorithm used to locate the iTunes library file.
• When pausing playback of a still-downloading movie, the progress indicator no longer stops. (Hat tip to Kirk M. for reporting this one.)
• Fixed a bug that would cause Auto-Properties to fail when it encountered apostrophes. (Hat tip to 'burgerga' for reporting this one.)

Usher 1.0.1 - Oct 17 2010

New Features

Usher 1.1.15 Album

• Usher will now recognize .dvdmedia files (and other video distributed as Mac OS X package files). You'll need to manually set the Open With value for such movies (using the contextual menu).

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• Usher couldn't find the iTunes library for certain users in certain situations; this has been resolved.
• The Usher browser integration bookmarklet will open in the default browser, even for users who have set .html files to open in a text editor.
• Importing non-native QuickTime movies, such as those in the mkv format, should now be faster and more reliable.

Usher 1.0 - Oct 14 2010

Takeoff

Usher 1.0 is essentially a brand-new program (though based on its predecessor, yFlicks). It contains a slew of new and/or greatly improved features; here are some of the more interesting newly-added features:

• New Tags and Properties editor makes it super easy to add metadata to your video and movie collection.
• Integrated iPhoto movies access, similar to existing iTunes movie support.
• Integrated YouTube/Vimeo search and download tool.
• Dedicated iTunes U sub-category in Library/iTunes.
• Play movies in a separate window (enabled by default).
• When hovering playback controls over the movie, the separate player windows hides its window controls whenever those are not needed.
• Basic editing (copy, cut, paste, revert to original, save later) for videos.
• Non-smart playlists, as in iTunes.
• Rearrange previews/covers via drag-and-drop.
• Rearrange Smart Playlist contents (if sorted by index).
• Context-aware 'Last Watched' sub-menu in File menu.
• Contextual menu 'Other contexts' browser.
• Contextual menu 'Similar movies' browser.
• Drag-and-tag: Drag movies to a sub-divided Smart Playlist's sub-groups (those with the grayscale folder icons) to set Tags and Properties according to the sub-group's properties. (This works for Property value sub-division only, and should be considered experimental.)
• Whitelist and blacklist allow fine-grained control over what Usher sees and does not see.
• Automatic app updates via Sparkle.