UI Browser to Be Retired
UI Browser will reach its end of life and be retired on October 17, 2022. The current release of UI Browser, version 3.0.2, will not be updated. On the end-of-life retirement date, the PFiddlesoft website will be closed. Thereafter, it will no longer be possible to download or purchase UI Browser, and product support will no longer be available. UI Browser has been a labor of love for me, its sole developer for almost twenty years. Now that I am 79 years old, it is time to bring this good work to a conclusion.
Thanks to Bill for his many contributions to the Mac community over the years, particularly in the areas of AppleScript and automation.
See also: UI Browser 3.0.0.
Previously:
Update (2022-04-26): John C. Welch:
It is impossible to list or even really comprehend all the ways Bill Cheeseman contributed to AppleScript and scripting/automation on the mac in general.
He is a mostly unsung giant in those communities & everyone in those communities owes him all the gratitude we can muster. Bill was one of the few people whose advice/input I trusted implicitly.
The Mac scripting/automation world will be a lesser place w/o him, but he has earned his retirement in every way possible. I hope he enjoys the hell out of it.
Update (2022-04-28): John Gruber:
The only downside: scripting the user interface this way is tedious (very verbose) at best, and inscrutable at worst. Cheeseman’s UI Browser makes it easy.
[…]
UI Browser seems like a tool Apple should have purchased long ago. It’s like Apple only did the infrastructure of making UI scripting happen, but Bill Cheeseman did the work of making it usable. If UI scripting is worth keeping in MacOS, UI Browser is worth Apple buying. It’s not merely useful but essential.
See also: Late Night Software Forum.
Update (2022-05-09): Federico Viticci:
I think it’s more realistic to hope another indie developer or studio picks up UI Browser and continues developing for as long as possible. There’s nothing else like it on the market, and I’d like to thank Bill Cheeseman for his amazing work on this application over the years. It’ll be missed.
I am currently making arrangements for a permanent download site for the version 3.0.2 disk image for licensed users and for public access to the source code.
Update (2022-10-17): Late Night Software:
Bill has graciously agreed to allow Late Night Software to continue making UI Browser available to those that purchased it before it was withdrawn.
[…]
UI Browser is no longer available for purchase. UI Browser’s source code will not be released as open-source. Late Night Software will continue making UI Browser available and supporting it on a best-effort basis for as long as there is a demand for the software.
3 Comments RSS · Twitter
Event Taps Testbench and Accessibility Testbench, as well as the frameworks, will also be retired at end of life on October 17, 2022.
Bill, would you be willing to open source your work once you retire?
I’m sure there are many who would value it, even without support :)
I use Event Taps Testbench on a near regular basis! I wonder what its future is too.