anchorcastapp Files

AnchorCast v1.7.0 — Theme Editor, Registration & Feature Access Fixes

🖼️ Theme Editor Fix + 🔐 Registration Improvements + 🐞 Reliability Fixes

This release fixes missing Theme Editor backgrounds, makes registration optional for access to the basic app, and consistently enforces registration for AI Transcription, Remote Control, and External Output (NDI). It also improves registration email error handling and prevents startup failures from leaving the main window hidden.

🖼️ Theme Editor

• Theme Editor background image/video not displaying — background files are served through AnchorCast's media:// protocol, which only allows files that live inside AnchorCast's own data folder. A picture or video picked from anywhere else (Downloads, Desktop, external drives, etc.) was silently rejected, so the background never rendered — not even in the Theme Editor's own preview, which made this look like a deeper bug than it was. Background files picked via the file dialog or dragged and dropped are now automatically copied into AnchorCast's data folder first, so any file from any location works correctly.

🔐 Registration & First-Launch Improvements

• Continue without registering — a persistent button now lets you open the basic app before submitting the form, while an email request is in progress, after a failure, or after the email has been accepted. Skipping does not activate the device or unlock registration-required features. You can register later from Help → Registration.
• Closing the form no longer quits AnchorCast — dismissing the registration window opens the main application instead of trapping you at first launch. Deliberate Quit / Cmd+Q still exits normally; cancelling the existing unsaved-transcript quit prompt no longer stops the application's servers prematurely.
• Main window appears correctly after activation — activation, skipping registration, and normal startup now share the same per-window reveal logic. The main window no longer remains invisible after successful activation, startup completion is sent only once, and late callbacks cannot affect a replacement window or duplicate update initialization.
• Registration email failures are handled clearly — the form supports retries and shows an actionable error when an email request fails. The existing 20-second socket inactivity timeout is retained, TLS connections now have their own inactivity timeout, unexpected disconnects are handled immediately, and a separate 45-second total request deadline prevents indefinite waits. Duplicate send requests are blocked while another request is running.
• No false failure after email acceptance — a message accepted by the SMTP server is now treated as accepted without waiting for the final connection-closing response. Server acceptance does not guarantee inbox delivery; an unavailable or misconfigured SMTP service can still prevent sending, but users can continue with the basic app.
• Register later works from Help and Settings — Help → Registration → Open registration form now opens the form rather than only closing the status window. Registration prompts in the trusted Settings window can also open the form without removing sender validation.

Registration is optional for basic features. Additional Bible translations, NDI, Remote Control, and AI Transcription still require registration. Complete activation to unlock them; sending the registration email alone does not activate the device.

🎙️ AI Transcription Registration Check

• Start Transcript now checks registration before recording — unregistered users see a Registration required message with Register now and Not now. The microphone is not opened and transcription does not start until registration has been activated.
• Consistent checks across transcription sources — the restriction covers Local Whisper, Deepgram Live, cloud transcription, audio-file transcription, and legacy/manual start paths. Main-process audio submission and processing also verify registration, so a running model or configured API key does not grant access on its own.
• Repeated and cancelled starts behave correctly — concurrent Start clicks share a pending registration check. Stopping while microphone permission or a Deepgram connection is pending prevents recording from starting later. When registration status cannot be verified, transcription remains blocked with a clear message. Existing transcript contents are not cleared.

📡 Remote Control & NDI Registration Locks

• Both controls are greyed out while unregistered — Remote Control and External Output (NDI) remain visibly locked and off. Clicking or keyboard-activating a locked control shows Registration required, with Register now and Not now, instead of silently toggling or doing nothing. This behavior covers the toolbar, Remote popover, Settings, and External Output panel.
• Remote Control no longer shows a false ON state — the interface waits for successful remote-server startup and checks registration-denied and error responses before showing ON. Failed or repeated requests no longer make the server appear active when it is not.
• Startup and saved settings cannot bypass registration — registration checks are enforced inside the desktop Remote Control and NDI service-start functions, including startup, saved-settings, and network-adapter restart paths. Saving settings while unregistered cannot persist enabled flags; an unavailable registration status blocks access. Remote URLs, role links, and NDI stream URLs are withheld while locked.
• Controls unlock after activation without restarting — registration is rechecked before enabling a feature, and successful activation refreshes the controls. Neither service starts automatically; you choose when to enable it.
• Accessible registration prompts — the shared prompt supports mouse and keyboard operation, Escape dismissal, and returning focus to the control that opened it.

🛠️ Developer Checks

• Registration regression tests and patch verification — added reproducible checks for startup and dismissal, transcription restrictions, and Remote Control/NDI registration locks, alongside a script for verifying the cumulative patch files.

📦 Downloads

Upgrading from v1.6.0? Your data, settings, Whisper models, songs, transcripts, presets, and installed Bible translations are fully preserved — no extra steps needed. If you had trouble setting a Theme background image or video, this release fixes it.

Upgrading from v1.5.0 or earlier? See the v1.6.0 release notes for the Bible import fix, transcript autosave, and projection display fix first.