Already a Fetch 5 user? See the Fetch 5.3 Release Notes to see what's new in the latest update.

Considering upgrading from Fetch 4 to Fetch 5.3? See the Fetch 5 Release Notes, Fetch 5.1 Release Notes, Fetch 5.2 Release Notes, and Fetch 5.3 Release Notes for lists of the major new features in Fetch 5.3.

Or just jump to the notes for any release:

Fetch 5.3

The major new features in Fetch 5.3 are:

• Improved compatibility with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
• Improved transfer window appearance on Mac OS X 10.5
• Redesigned toolbar and button icons with updated look for Mac OS X 10.5
• Added preference to turn off automatic decoding for all file types
• Digitally signed Fetch application, to reduce unnecessary keychain alerts
• Added support for Mac OS X 10.5's application-specific firewall
• Added support for uploading files using Copy and Paste
• Added support for copying files on servers using Copy and Paste

Other fixes and improvements in Fetch 5.3 are:

• Changed default download location to be the Downloads folder on Mac OS X 10.5
• Improved WebView's Get from Safari button to list all open tabs when used with Safari 3
• Improved recognition of URLs and paths entered in the Hostname field
• Fixed "Cannot convert from CFNumber to CFBoolean" errors when .Mac Preferences syncing is enabled on Mac OS X 10.5
• Specified that the Fetch Automator actions should be listed under the Internet category on Mac OS X 10.5
• Specified that the Fetch Cache file should not be backed up by Time Machine on Mac OS X 10.5
• Marked passwords saved in the keychain by Fetch as "Fetch passwords"
• Disabled FTP with KClient connections on Mac OS X 10.5, because KClient (Kerberos v4) is no longer supported on 10.5
• Fixed a problem that caused certain QuickTime movies to be stuffed on upload
• Fixed problems saving shortcut list documents to SMB volumes and Windows-based Apple File Protocol (AFP) servers
• Added large (512 x 512) application and document icons for better appearance in Finder's CoverFlow view
• Added alternate row shading to various windows for Mac OS X 10.5
• Added everyday language error messages for new Mac OS X 10.5 network error codes
• Updated transcript window to display information about new firewall settings in Mac OS X 10.5
• Fixed problems saving changes to Automator actions on Mac OS X 10.5
• Fixed error when adding Generate Fetch Item Report action to workflows on Mac OS X 10.5
• Fixed error when dismissing Delete Fetch Items action confirmation dialog on Mac OS X 10.5
• Fixed Set Fetch Item Permissions Automator action to allow you to set permissions to "000"
• Fixed incorrect icons of downloaded files in Downloads stack on Mac OS X 10.5
• Improved compatibility of FTPS uploads with CrushFTP servers
• Changed icon displayed for aliases (symlinks) on servers to a combination folder/file icon
• Fixed a problem where the file list contextual menu did nothing when Fetch was in the background
• Fixed crash when trying to update a corrupted widget
• Fixed problems parsing pasted URLs containing scheme names in all capitals
• Fixed rare assertion errors when opening Preferences window
• Improved behavior of URLs for VM servers
• Improved reliability of software update checks when the current version is up-to-date
• Updated "Rebuild Launch Services database" script to work on Mac OS X 10.5

Fetch 5.2.1

• Fixed slow transfers when Fetch is in the foreground on some Macintosh models
• Improved the speed of the Shortcuts and Go menus when they contain many items
• Fixed droplet shortcuts so they can be used with accounts limited by parental controls (managed accounts)
• Added information about a droplet shortcut's destination to the Finder Get Info window
• Fixed problems with WebView and usernames that contain underscores
• Fixed errors when creating a WebView entry and a "View Source" window is open in Safari
• Improved compatibility with user-assigned keyboard shortcuts
• Fixed -981 and -982 errors when opening shortcut list windows and transcript windows with certain font setups
• Fixed a problem where Dashboard would sometimes be displayed without the user's permission when updating the Fetch widget
• Fixed a problem where some SFTP errors would not be reported
• Fixed empty file lists on some servers that don't support the LIST -al command
• Fixed a problem that caused some PageSpinner files to be stuffed on upload
• Fixed a problem where dates could be displayed as coming from the future on certain servers
• Fixed errors when checking for software updates through a proxy server
• Fixed incompatibility with Default Folder X and the path pop-up menu in the Put dialog
• Changed WebView to remove filenames from web addresses selected using the "Get from Safari" button
• Added Comcast FTP with TLS/SSL connections to the list of automatically created WebView entries
• Fixed a problem where Command-S was occasionally ignored the first time it was typed
• Fixed a problem where clicking on transfer window scroll bar would not make the window active
• Fixed problems entering multiple domains in the "Do not use proxy for" preference
• Fixed assertions when connecting after "Add filename extension when uploading" preferences had been changed
• Fixed rare -25308 error when connecting (caused by keychain problems)
• Fixed rare crashes when connecting to certain servers
• Fixed a crash caused by corrupt Fetch Cache file
• Changed Back command keyboard shortcut to Command-( in French translation
• Changed Command-double-clicking a folder to open the new transfer window in front of, not behind, the existing window
• Improved compatibility with CrushFTP Bonjour servers
• Improved some error messages
• Removed space from default name of new StuffIt archives to improve compatibility
• Disabled minimizing of Find window

Fetch 5.2

The major new features in Fetch 5.2 are:

• Added WebView — easily view files in your web browser and copy web addresses while in Fetch
• Added support for FTP with TLS/SSL (FTPS) connections (requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later)
• Added droplet shortcuts — drag files to a droplet shortcut's icon to upload them to your server
• Overhauled FTP networking for improved compatibility and performance
• Moved Refresh button from an optional toolbar button to a permanent button on transfer window info bar
• Added Get As command that prompts you to choose a folder in which to save downloads

Other fixes and improvements in Fetch 5.2 are:

• Fixed stalls when downloading large files from certain servers
• Fixed crash when using Get Specified Fetch Items action in an Automator workflow saved as an application
• Made Fetch the default FTP with TLS/SSL application when it is the default FTP application
• Fixed connections using SOCKS4 on Intel-based Macintosh computers
• Improved support for passive mode connections to servers through NATs with port-mapping
• Fixed problems with line endings when pasting transcripts into Eudora
• Fixed problem where a shortcut would be deselected after it was edited
• Removed need to activate a transfer window before dragging files from it
• Fixed a problem saving files with long file names when editing with TextMate
• Added keyboard shortcut (Option-Command-Down arrow) to open New Connection dialog filled out with information from the selected shortcut
• Fixed incorrect display of some filenames when the names contained dates
• Fixed problems printing some graphics on Intel-based Macintosh computers
• Changed text windows to use preferred encoding preference when displaying text
• Changed file list to automatically select new folder after creating it
• Changed default retry between connections delay to 5 seconds
• Improved compatibility with DiskXtender/UniTree servers
• Improved compatibility with Tops-20 servers
• Improved compatibility with Windows CE servers
• Improved compatibility with StuffIt 11
• Improved handling of usernames, shortcuts, and URLs that contain non-ASCII characters
• Removed multi-part BinHex decoding support, fixing potentially incorrect error messages when downloading corrupt BinHex files
• Fixed editing of shortcut paths in shortcut list windows
• Fixed a problem that prevented the Window menu from listing the Mirror window when it was opened via a mirror document
• Fixed keyboard shortcuts for rotating through shortcuts in non-English languages
• Fixed error when clearing "new name" field in Rename Fetch Items Automator action
• Improved error handling in Set Fetch Item Permissions Automator action
• Improved feedback in Automator actions when there are no recent connections or shortcuts to choose
• Fixed confirmation dialog of Delete Fetch Items action so that Escape key is equivalent to Cancel button
• Improved handling of URLs for remote folders, fixing some unnecessary file lists redraws
• Fixed a problem that could cause duplicate entries in the file list when "Save downloaded files to" was set to "Ask every time"
• Fixed Edit Other to not save files in incorrect folder in certain circumstances
• Fixed a problem where the Edit New File dialog was sometimes incorrectly displayed instead of the Edit Other dialog
• Fixed potential crash when sending AppleScript commands to multiple transfer windows simultaneously
• Prevented certain rare files from being incorrectly decoded as MacBinary
• Fixed a problem with AppleScript recording of "default text font size"
• Enabled "hide extension" checkbox when saving transcript and other text windows
• Fixed Path pop-up menu and transfer window title bar so they display Home icon again
• Fixed problems mirroring between Kerberos servers and non-Kerberos servers

Fetch 5.1.1

• Added support for SOCKS 5 password authentication
• Fixed a bug that prevented Fetch from opening on case-sensitive file systems
• Fixed a bug that prevented Fetch from opening on Mac OS X 10.3.9 when the BSD subsystem wasn't installed
• Fixed problems importing shortcut files that include broken shortcuts
• Fixed recent connections so they won't remember passwords that are not stored in the keychain
• Fixed widget crash on some Intel-based Macintosh computers (including Mac Pros and iMac Core 2 Duos)
• Fixed crash in Get Specified Fetch Items action on some Intel-based Macintosh computers (including Mac Pros and iMac Core 2 Duos)
• Some Mac Pros shipped with Mac OS X 10.4.7 Build 8K1079, which includes a bug that causes Fetch 5.1 to crash when you open a connection; affected Mac Pros need to be upgraded to Mac OS X 10.4.8 in order to run Fetch 5.1.1 or later
• Fixed inaccurate display of size of newly uploaded files when using SFTP
• Fixed problems with the Upload Files action in Swedish
• Fixed layout problems with the Rename Fetch Items action in Spanish
• Fixed tab navigation in Set Fetch Item Permissions action
• Fixed widget problems on Mac OS X Leopard Developer Preview
• Fixed potential crash when editing hostnames in shortcut list windows
• Fixed potential crash when setting URLs of shortcuts via AppleScript
• Fixed crash when typing in a blank shortcut list window
• Fixed inaccurate font size display for new shortcut list windows
• Changed new shortcuts created with Make Shortcut to default to kind Folder, instead of kind Unknown
• Added skEdit as a supported text editor
• Fixed a problem that caused some GoLive files to be stuffed on upload
• Fixed drawing problems with some toolbar buttons when reducing transfer window width
• Fixed a problem where a Mirror document was saved with incorrect information after switching between local and remote tabs
• Fixed a problem where the incorrect folder could be mirrored after switching between local and remote tabs
• Fixed problems duplicating shortcut list windows with AppleScript

Fetch 5.1

The major new features in Fetch 5.1 are:

• Added support for Intel-based Macintosh computers — Fetch is now a Universal binary
• Added Fetch Dashboard widget, for easy uploading and checking on the progress of your transfer (the widget is installed automatically when you start Fetch)
• Added Automator actions for Fetch, including Upload Files, Download Files, Set Fetch Item Permissions, Rename Fetch Items, Move Fetch Items, and more
• Made the New Connection dialog modeless — you can now use other Fetch windows while the New Connection dialog is open
• Included StuffIt Engine with Fetch application — separate installation or updating of StuffIt is no longer required to use StuffIt support in Fetch
• Changed Zip Archive format to preserve Macintosh information (Fetch creates .zip files compatible with the Finder's Create Archive feature)
• Changed shortcuts to always store passwords in the keychain (passwords stored in shortcuts will be moved to the keychain when you first run Fetch 5.1)

Other fixes and improvements in Fetch 5.1 are:

• Added "Clear menu" item to the Recent Connections menu in the New Connection dialog
• Changed "Do not upload dot files in folders" preference to apply to both files and folders whose names begin with periods
• Added Shortcuts and Recent Connections submenus to Fetch Dock icon's menu
• Fixed potential crashes when errors occur while Fetch is in the background
• Fixed high CPU usage when errors occur while Fetch is in the background
• Fixed problems launching Fetch due to bad fonts
• Improved compatibility with ProFTPD servers
• Improved compatibility with SnapOS servers
• Added AppleScript support for reading transfer time remaining, transfer rate, and transfer percent done
• Expanded AppleScript support for URLs and remote item properties
• Fixed a problem with AppleScript access when Fetch is hidden
• Fixed potential -30006 error when using "interarchy edit" AppleScript command
• Added .cfm (ColdFusion) files to the list of recognized text files
• Fixed a problem that caused some PageSpinner files to be stuffed on upload
• Fixed a problem that caused some files containing Suitcase resources to be stuffed on upload
• Fixed a problem where some shortcut files for home folders opened to the root folder instead
• Fixed a crash caused by corrupt Fetch Cache file
• Fixed a problem importing Interarchy 8 bookmarks
• Fixed a problem where newly moved items were sometimes not shown in the file list
• Fixed unnecessary file list updates
• Changed upload behavior to refresh file lists before uploads begin, instead of afterwards
• Fixed a problem with the Set Upload Permissions command
• Fixed incorrect status message when a server-to-server transfer is interrupted
• Fixed mirror transfer failures caused by folders with quotes in their name
• Fixed missing characters when displaying long messages from servers
• Added support for specifying KClient and GSSAPI connections in FTP URLs
• Improved handling of URLs with empty passwords
• Fixed potential error when doing server-to-server mirror transfers from AppleScript
• Fixed problems with Copy URL and Enable/Disable Encryption keyboard shortcuts
• Improved tab order in Password prompt dialog
• Changed "Welcome to Fetch" dialog to display price of Fetch
• Changed file list to automatically select child folder after moving to parent
• Stopped scroll wheel from scrolling the active window when pointer is outside the window
• Made heart icon in New Connection dialog darker

Fetch 5.0.5

• Fixed incorrect icons of downloaded files on Mac OS X 10.4.3
• Fixed incorrect display of file size for downloaded files on Mac OS X 10.4.3
• Fixed incorrect icons of Microsoft Word (.doc) and Excel (.xls) files after downloading
• Stopped adding resource forks to downloaded files unnecessarily, which was causing some downloaded files to be larger than they were on the server
• Improved compatibility with Windows VanDyke VShell SFTP servers
• Fixed quit on launch caused by some Bonjour (Rendezvous) setups
• Fixed a problem that caused some ClarisWorks files to be stuffed on upload
• Fixed a problem where cleared Recent Connections did not stay cleared unless you made another connection
• Improved detection of helper applications
• Fixed errors caused by removing a helper application while Fetch is running
• Improved error message when a helper application cannot be found
• Improved wording of French error messages
• Made it easier to troubleshoot firewall conflicts
• Fixed SFTP connections under Rosetta
• Improved Unicode compatibility in shortcuts
• Made disk image background display even when default is column view
• Fixed a problem where the name of the read me file was sometimes displayed as "ReadMe"
• Stopped displaying "delete stray items at destination" warning when opening mirror documents
• Removed automatic decoding of Unix compress (.Z) files
• Fixed "Add filename extension when uploading text files" and "Add filename extension when uploading other files" preferences
• Fixed error -666 reading corrupt Internet Config settings
• Fixed a problem where files with unknown extensions would try to open in Fetch after downloading
• Fixed a problem parsing certain file names that look like dates
• Fixed a problem that sometimes prevented URLs copied from transfer windows from being pasted into shortcuts windows
• Fixed error -30200 when using GSSAPI to connect to some servers
• Improved compatibility with ProFTPD's mod_gss security
• Improved compatibility with OnMyCommand

Fetch 5.0.4 Release Notes

• Fixed problem with purchasing licenses
• Fixed automatic decoding of BinHex files
• Made adding filename extensions when uploading BinHex and MacBinary files the default again

Fetch 5.0.3 Release Notes

The major enhancements in Fetch 5.0.3 are:

• Added Dutch, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Swedish localizations
• Made Fetch Help available as a downloadable PDF
• Added support for many more language encodings for displaying file lists, including Arabic and Simplified Chinese
• Fixed dog cursor so that it runs again during transfers
• Improved compatibility with VMS FTP servers
• Fixed delays going to sleep when Fetch was running

Other fixes and improvements in Fetch 5.0.3 are:

• Changed file list to not display VMS version numbers
• Increased precision of file size and amount transferred displays for files larger than 1 GB
• Fixed a problem where long file names could be scrambled on upload to Rumpus servers
• Fixed a problem with resuming downloads after a crash
• Fixed the "Use case-sensitive sorting" preference
• Fixed error -108 when choosing a Classic application as a helper application
• Fixed a problem that caused some EPS files to be stuffed on upload
• Fixed Put dialog so that it is no longer dismissed when the "Put As" field is clicked on Mac OS X 10.2
• Fixed folder navigation on UNIX servers that do not have a / root folder
• Fixed a problem that caused the Fetch Cache file to grow too large
• Fixed problems reading corrupt Fetch Cache files
• Fixed problems reading corrupt Internet Config settings
• Fixed problems launching Fetch on non-English systems after changing default text window font
• Fixed problems using local paths that contain non-ASCII characters in mirror documents
• Fixed problems opening shortcut and mirror documents after changing encodings
• Fixed a problem with disappearing shortcuts after changing encodings
• Fixed problems reading recent connections after changing encodings
• Fixed an error when quitting from AppleScript
• Fixed inconsistent display of port number in Proxy preferences pane
• Fixed a problem where the Mirror window would not remember its position after opening a mirror document
• Eliminated unnecessary password prompting when mirroring
• Fixed a problem where BBEdit was sometimes not selected as the default text editor
• Improved handling of StuffIt decoding errors
• Prevented pasting of carriage returns into filenames
• Fixed invalid hostname errors when importing certain Transmit favorites
• Fixed error -32768 on long downloads
• Fixed rare error -4960 messages when opening Fetch Shortcuts
• Fixed rare "port number is invalid" errors on launch
• Fixed rare "username is invalid" error on launch
• Fixed slow typing in Mirror connection dialog on Mac OS X 10.2
• Improved compatibility with OS/2 FTP servers
• Improved compatibility with Chyron character generators

Fetch 5.0.2 Release Notes

• Fixed delays when finding helper applications
• Fixed a conflict with Ittec that caused the New Connection dialog to be dismissed at startup
• Fixed a rare problem where SFTP passwords were displayed while being typed
• Fixed a problem with blank file lists from WebSTAR servers
• Added support for wide-area Bonjour
• Added script for fixing problems with locating helper applications

Fetch 5.0.1 Release Notes

• Improved reliability of uploads on Mac OS X 10.4
• Improved behavior of "Open files like this with" on Mac OS X 10.4
• Improved detection of helper applications
• Fixed problems when upgrading from certain Fetch 4 configurations
• Fixed crash caused by certain StuffIt configurations
• Fixed a problem launching Fetch when Courier or Monaco font is disabled
• Fixed a problem with incorrect dates on Windows servers
• Fixed a problem mirroring between two accounts on the same server
• Improved compatibility with MultiNet VMS SFTP servers
• Made behavior of Mirror window direction buttons less confusing
• Added .css to the list of recognized text files

Fetch 5 Release Notes

The major new features in Fetch 5 are:

• Added support for transferring files using SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol)
• Redesigned the file transfer interface to include:
  • New toolbar for easy access to common Fetch functions
  • Back and Recent folders buttons for easier navigation
  • File list that works more like the Finder list view
  • Compact status pane at the bottom of transfer window
• Improved the Fetch user experience on Mac OS X
• Reworded error messages to use plain English
• Reorganized menus for clarity
• Added context-sensitive help, including help tags and extensive Apple Help book
• Added Automatic Passive Mode — automatic detection of proper connection mode for more reliable transfers through firewalls and NAT devices
• Added support for uploading files as StuffIt X Archives, Zip Archives, Gzip, or Gzipped Tar Archives
• Added support for automatically decoding StuffIt X, Zip, Gzip, Gzipped Tar, and many more formats when downloading
• Added support for resuming uploads of binary file transfers
• Added Bonjour (Rendezvous) support — Fetch will automatically detect and list FTP or SFTP servers available via Bonjour (formerly called Rendezvous)
• Made file transfers faster
• Added a file transfer progress indicator to the Dock icon
• Added a recent connections pop-up menu to the New Connection dialog
• Added automatic checks for updates to Fetch, with easy update downloading
• Added an easier, more powerful interface for setting file types, formats, and transfer options
• Added support for in-place renaming of files and editing shortcut information
• Added support for importing Transmit favorites and Interarchy bookmarks
• Improved compatibility with non-English servers
• Improved support for non-ASCII and Unicode filenames
• Improved compatibility with Windows, VMS, VM/CMS, VSFTPD, FileZilla, and WFTPD servers

Other fixes and improvements in Fetch 5 are:

• Enhanced the View command to automatically determine if a file is text or media
• Enhanced the Edit command to automatically determine if a file is text or an image
• Improved the Edit New File command so that it will not replace existing files
• Improved PDF viewing and printing
• Improved reliability when working with long file names and paths
• Improved Windows server compatibility
• Added support for automatically importing Transmit favorites and Interarchy bookmarks if no Fetch Shortcuts exist
• Enhanced the Recent Connections menu to remember and display last folder visited
• Added support for Command-double-click to open a folder in a new window
• Added support for Command-clicking on transfer window titles to display a path pop-up menu
• Added support for Command-clicking on info window titles to display a path pop-up menu
• Added support for creating shortcuts by dragging transfer window or info window proxy icons
• Streamlined the interface for putting (uploading) files
• Changed upload order so that items upload alphabetically
• Improved performance when using drag-and-drop with a large number of items
• Added support for automatically scrolling file lists when dragging items
• Improved Energy Saver compatibility
• Added a bigger, smoother, colorful running dog cursor
• Improved drag-and drop-feedback — Fetch now shows standard drag-and-drop cursors
• Added support for setting UNIX permissions in numeric, ls, or symbolic format
• Improved AppleScript support
• Improved AppleScript recording
• Improved Kerberos and GSSAPI compatibility and reliability
• Improved compatibility with intrusion detection firewalls
• Improved reliability of long-duration transfers
• Made mirror transfers more robust
• Improved accuracy of transfer statistics
• Improved reliability of BinHex decoding
• Improved reliability of viewing QuickTime VR panoramas
• Reorganized preferences