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Astra Monitor Changelog

What's new in Astra Monitor v25 Beta

May 8, 2024
  • NEW FEATURES:
  • Astra Monitor now gains a Profiles feature. This new feature is designed to allow you to save and load different configurations of the extension. You can create as many profiles as you want and switch between them very easily. Right-clicking on an header, including the compact mode arrow, you can open the profiles menu and switch to another profile. You can also click on Profiles in the context menu to open the Profiles Settings page to create a new profile, clone the current one, rename it or delete it. We hope you enjoy this new feature and we are looking forward to your feedback.
  • BUG FIXES:
  • Fix edge case of multiline font size calculation for headers on HIDPI displays [#109][#112][#114]
  • Icon was missing for sensors header in the default settings
  • Missing file in hwmon monitoring could result in sensor listing returning an empty list.
  • Fixed an exception where no network interface is available

New in Astra Monitor v24 Beta (Apr 25, 2024)

  • NEW FEATURES:
  • Compact Mode: Astra Monitor now gains a Compact Mode. This new mode is designed to have a minimalistic footprint on your GNOME panel, until you decide to interact with it. If enabled you will see only an arrow icon on the panel. Hovering over it will reveal the full array of monitors you setup up. They will disappear when you move your mouse away. You can toggle to "permanently" show the monitors by clicking on the arrow. Once you are done, you can click on the arrow again to hide them. Like the other features this is very customizable and you can choose a full array of options to make it fit your needs.

New in Astra Monitor v23 Beta (Apr 25, 2024)

  • NEW FEATURES:
  • New Preferences Panel: In response to the need for more space to accommodate additional sections in our preferences panel, and the burgeoning size of the prefs.js file, which had grown to over 3,500 lines, we have taken the opportunity to reorganize both the code and the user interface of our settings. The new preferences panel now mirrors the layout of the system settings panel, enhancing usability and scalability. It is designed to easily integrate numerous additional sections, paving the way for the swift incorporation of future features

New in Astra Monitor v22 Beta (Apr 23, 2024)

  • BREAKING CHANGES:
  • Headers Height functionality has been changed. Prior to this release, the default height was 28px and you could change it to fit your needs. Now it will defaults to disabled and the extension will try to accomodate the height of the panel. You still can override the value to be whatever you want in the settings. Upon update we automatically move your previous value to the new setting and disable it if it was set to 28px. We still suggest you to check the value and eventually reset it to 0 it's not already to check if the new behavior fits your needs. [#114]
  • BUG FIXES:
  • Fixed gpu monitoring not working on some AMD gpus [#116]
  • Arrow colors in Storage Top Processes popup wasn't following menu's color settings [#115]
  • Now Headers Font Size override apply to multiple lines values too

New in Astra Monitor v21 Beta (Apr 21, 2024)

  • Bug fixes:
  • Fixed visual bug for system with scale-monitor-framebuffer feature disabled [#110]
  • Fixed GPU monitoring starting even when the GPU menu is disabled

New in Astra Monitor v20 Beta (Apr 21, 2024)

  • ADVANCED GPU MONITORING:
  • As per our Roadmap, in this release we are focusing on improving the GPU monitoring capabilities of Astra Monitor.
  • The new GPU monitoring is experimental right now and may cause some issues. You can disable it setting the Main GPU to None in the Preferences window.
  • Both AMD and NVIDIA GPUs are supported, but AMD support might be more accurate and complete because it's been tested more extensively. Intel GPUs are not supported yet for a lack of hardware to test on, but they will be in the future.
  • Here's a list of the new features and improvements:
  • GPU Headers: also GPUs can now have their dedicated headers and be visible in the top bar with a lot options to customize them. By default this is disabled and you can see the GPU info in the CPU Menu. However, you can enable it from the Preferences window. Beware that enabling this feature can lead to a slight increase of CPU usage because GPU data will be queried continuously.
  • GPU Info: hovering the GPU name in the menu will show more info about it.
  • GPU Activities: when you move your mouse over the GPU bar in the menu you are able to monitor a lot of GPU usage details.
  • GPU VRAM: also VRAM usage have its dedicated popup menu with a in-depth view of the VRAM usage.
  • GPU Top Processes: there is a list of the top processes using the GPU in the GPU Section (3 elements in the CPU menu, 5 in the GPU menu). As before, the popup menu will show more details about the processes.
  • GPU Sensors: a dedicated sensor section is available in the GPU section (1 element in the CPU menu, 3 in the GPU menu). To see all the sensors you can open the popup menu. Soon these sensors will be available in the sensors menu too.
  • Since this is a major change, we recommend you to test and report any issues you may encounter.
  • NEW FEATURES:
  • Improved UI performance at the expense of data responsiveness: you might see outdated or empty data for a few milliseconds when opening menus. Soon this will become a choice in preferences. [#102]
  • BUG FIXES:
  • Improved IPs refreshing in Network Menu: now it refreshes on menu open if it's not been queried recently and you can trigger a refresh by clicking on it [#108]
  • Fixed title label not being centered in storage info popup [#107]
  • Allow bars to be empty when the value is zero
  • Fixed graph clipping not properly clipping rounded corners
  • Fixed Cpu Cores Bars occasionally exceeding borders on popup open
  • Importing settings saved from a future version to a past version caused the settings to be just reset, now all settings are properly imported from V20 onwards

New in Astra Monitor v19 Beta (Apr 8, 2024)

  • Bug fixes:
  • Fixed a graphical bug with multiline font size calculation [#97]

New in Astra Monitor v18 Beta (Apr 8, 2024)

  • Advanced Storage Monitoring:
  • As per our Roadmap, in this release we are focusing on improving the Storage monitoring capabilities of Astra Monitor. Here's a list of the new features and improvements:
  • Storage Devices Info: now you can see a lot more information about your storage devices in the Storage Menu.
  • Cumulative Read/Write Bytes: now you can see the total read/write bytes since the last boot in the Storage Menu for each storage device and globally.
  • Top Processes Details: now you can see more details about the top processes in the Storage Menu.
  • New features:
  • Added layout settings for all multiline headers like Storage IO Speed, Network IO Speed and Sensors: now you can choose either to show them in a single line or in multiple lines [#82]
  • Added a setting to hint Astra Monitor on the position of the topbar/dash/panel to improve menu anchor points [#96]
  • Added an option to replace '-' with 0 [#85]
  • Bug fixes:
  • Greatly improved multiline text rendering in the Top Bar Headers [#30] [#93]
  • Improved topbar header rendering: as a result of that Header Margin is now deprecated and not needed anymore, the header should always be perfectly aligned with the topbar
  • Fixed long device name in the Storage Menu leading to a misalignment of other elements
  • Reset button in dropdown menus of settings was reloading last saved value, now works as intended resetting to default value

New in Astra Monitor v17 Beta (Mar 28, 2024)

  • Bug fixes:
  • Fixed an important bug that prevented the extension to start with a GPU selected before v10 [#94]
  • Improved Popup Menu opening side: now they should always properly open on the right side when the extension is on the left side of the top bar (Requires the extension to be restarted if the panel box position has been changed in the current sesssion) [#92]

New in Astra Monitor v16 Beta (Mar 28, 2024)

  • Advanced Network Monitoring:
  • As per our Roadmap, in this release we are focusing on improving the Network monitoring capabilities of Astra Monitor. Here's a list of the new features and improvements:
  • Public IP Address: now you can see your public IPv4/IPv6 address in the Network Menu. This feature requires a remote API call to get the public IP address. We are using ipify as the default provider, which is a free and open source service. You can choose a different provider from the settings panel or disable this feature if you don't want to use it. We support every possible provider, included API created by yourself: the ip address will be matched with a regex to extract it from the response.
  • Default Routes: you can see default routing informations in the Network Menu.
  • Device Info: hovering a network interface will show you a lot more information about it.
  • Wireless Networks: the SSID of the connected wireless network is now visible in the Network Menu along with other useful information.
  • Cumulative Upload/Download Bytes: now you can see the total upload/download bytes since the last boot in the Network Menu for each network interface and globally.
  • Packet Upload/Download: now you can see the total packets uploaded/downloaded since the last boot in the Network Menu for each network interface and globally.
  • Errors/Dropped Packets: now you can see the total error/dropped packets since the last boot in the Network Menu for each network interface and globally.
  • Bridged Network Interfaces: bridged network interfaces are now visible in the Network Menu.
  • VPN Network Interfaces: VPN network interfaces are now marked with a specific icon in the Network Menu.
  • Bug fixes:
  • Overall performance improvements: Astra Monitor is now faster and more efficient than all system monitor extension I could test it against.
  • (benchmarks and comparative tests with other popular monitoring extensions can be found here!)
  • Fixed CPU Cores Usage Info user bar invisible when Cores Bar Breakdown is enabled [#86]
  • Improved Memory Secondary Color for better readability and value understanding

New in Astra Monitor v15 Beta (Mar 15, 2024)

  • First Beta Release:
  • This marks the first beta release of Astra Monitor. After extensive testing, the extension is nearing stability, but we are open to feedback from the community to address any unresolved issues. Explore our Roadmap to see what's coming next.
  • BUG FIXES:
  • Overall performance improvements
  • (benchmarks and comparative tests with other popular monitoring extensions will be published at a later date)
  • Resolved an issue where updates to hwmon incorrectly triggered lm-sensors queries
  • Addressed a bug causing sensor updates to fail intermittently when lm-sensors was not installed [#81]
  • Adjusted the width of the Select Box in Preferences for improved usability [#80]
  • Fixed CPU Cores Usage Info not being updated when Cores Bar Breakdown is disabled [#83]
  • Improved sensors list with more info and better layout [#84]
  • Refined the Export/Import settings feature with a default name, file extension filter and alphabetically ordered exported keys [#79]

New in Astra Monitor v14 Alpha (Mar 13, 2024)

  • Hwmon:Hwmon is a kernel-based subsystem that provides an interface to monitor various hardware sensors and it's the new default source for sensors. This will benefit the extension on many levels: performance, efficiency, reliability, and compatibility.
  • lm-sensors is not a required dependency anymore, but it will remain as an option if you have it installed, even though it's not recommended.
  • We strongly encourage you to manually move all your sensors to Hwmon from the Astra Monitor Settings panel. The sensors list in the menu is already on Hwmon by default, but you can still switch to lm-sensors if you want to from the settings panel.
  • Since this is a major change, we recommend you to test all your sensors and report any issues you may encounter.
  • New features:
  • Added a shortcut to set all main and secondary colors all at once [#74]
  • You can now export, import and reset settings [#71]
  • Added load average to the CPU menu [#73]
  • Improved UI performance and some async/await calls to increase parallelization of some tasks
  • New icon for frequency sensor
  • Bug fixes:
  • Fixed a bug where a task could stop updating when a cancel was requested
  • Fixed discrete GPU used as display controller with an iGFX not being detected [#76]

New in Astra Monitor v13 Alpha (Mar 6, 2024)

  • New features:
  • Add memory data unit customization (default is kB as kibibyte as standard) [#67]
  • All colors for bars, graphs and other elements are now fully customizable [#58]
  • Tooltip Customization: now you can choose what to show in the tooltip for each header [#60]
  • Sensors Tooltip: now you can choose up to 5 sensors to show in the sensor tooltip with an optional custom name each
  • Bug fixes:
  • Fixed bytes being incorrectly calculated in some cases
  • Fixed prefs indentation and alignment [#68]

New in Astra Monitor v12 Alpha (Feb 20, 2024)

  • NEW FEATURES:
  • 'Default' option for data source removal: now all data sources are set at 'Auto' by default. We reccomend to leave them at 'Auto' unless you have a specific need: the best source will automatically be chosen based on the availability of dependencies, performance and reliability
  • In source selection now you better understand what /proc source is used: ie. /proc/stat instead of just /proc
  • GTop source has been added to the list of sources for Memory Usage, Storage Usage and Network IO (GTop is the default option for all of them if available)
  • New indicator for Memory Header: Free Value in Bytes + Icon Alert [#61]
  • New indicator for Storage Header: Main Disk Usage and Free Value in Bytes + Icon Alert [#61]
  • Add setting to adjust the startup delay in case of formatting glitches at boot [#30]
  • BUG FIXES:
  • Light Theme readability improvements [#53]
  • Fixed GTop detection label not updating in extension settings
  • Preference panel proper indentation and alignment and '⁝' removal [#56]
  • Graph rendering has been improved fixing a potential misaligned baseline

New in Astra Monitor v11 Alpha (Feb 12, 2024)

  • Bug fixes:
  • Fixed Graphs not updating [#54]

New in Astra Monitor v10 Alpha (Feb 9, 2024)

  • TYPESCRIPT:
  • The extension has been ported to Typescript. This transition enables the writing of better code and fosters a more stable codebase. It also lowers the barrier for new contributors to join the project. This is a major change, so, although thorough testing has been conducted, there are likely still some bugs to address. This significant update marks a milestone, and the assistance in identifying any bugs is greatly appreciated. Reporting discovered issues will be invaluable in enhancing the project. Thank you in advance for your valuable contributions and support.
  • NEW FEATURES:
  • Initial AMD GPU monitoring support through amdgpu_top
  • Initial NVIDIA GPU monitoring support through nvidia-smi
  • Storage Devices can be ignored selectively or with a regex (just like Network Interfaces) [#45]
  • New experimental feature to add a left/right margin to the headers panel [#49]
  • New source selection for Cpu Usage and Cores Usage: now you can choose between GTop and /proc (GTop is the default if available)
  • BUG FIXES:
  • Fixed a bug where an header bar could be rendered heigher than expected when a fullscreen app is opened [#50]

New in Astra Monitor v9 Alpha (Jan 29, 2024)

  • NEW FEATURES:
  • Optionally choose the number of digits for sensors header values [#41]
  • BUG FIXES:
  • Fixed graph and layout rendering in Gnome 46 alpha [#40]
  • Fixed labels rendering for Dash To Panel and narrow panels [#30] [#42]
  • Fixed sensors list column split when the list is too long [#43]

New in Astra Monitor v8 Alpha (Jan 25, 2024)

  • Top Processes for Storage Menu is now available (only for GTop data source)
  • GTop support as data source for Top Processes is now available in Memory Menu
  • Indicators ordering on the header is now customizable [#37]
  • Support for custom icon Name and Color for each header
  • Support for Icon Alerts: choose what Color the icon should be when an alert is triggered
  • Initial alert support for CPU, Memory and Storage on usage percentage [#34]
  • New Indicator for Memory Header: Usage Value in Bytes [#16] [#34]
  • Initial Gnome 46 support [#38]

New in Astra Monitor v7 Alpha (Jan 23, 2024)

  • NEW FEATURES:
  • GTop support as data source for Top Processes is now available in CPU Menu [#33]
  • Auto option for data source (enabled by default) will automatically choose the best source based on the availability of dependencies
  • New option to show cpu percentage on Top Processes list as per-core value [#33]
  • Regex Ignore Network Interfaces: now, in addition to manual selection, you can use regex to ignore network interfaces [#29]
  • New languages: German and Russian [#26] [#27]
  • BUG FIXES:
  • Top Processes list in Processors Menu is now even more responsive and should be filled faster for both 'GTop' and '/proc' based sources
  • Fixed Memory Header History Graph breakdown [#32]

New in Astra Monitor v6 Alpha (Jan 21, 2024)

  • New features:
  • Initial implementation of Tooltips for Header's buttons [#25]
  • Bug fixes:
  • Fixed processor settings menu button going to general settings instead of processor settings [#23]
  • Improved GPU detection [#24]
  • Menu Realtime Bars Breakdown setting now works as intended
  • Introduced a new setting to set Realtime Core Bars Breakdown
  • Vertical Topbar (ie: Dash to Panel) UI improvements but still experimental (no graph/bars support)
  • Fixed regression for Storage Usage bar in the header

New in Astra Monitor v5 Alpha (Jan 17, 2024)

  • New features:
  • New threshold option for Network and Storage IO Speed: now you can choose a threshold to avoid showing the IO Speed when it's under a certain value [#19]
  • New option to ignore network interfaces: now you can choose to selectively ignore specific network interfaces to avoid showing them in the Network Menu and to exclude them from IO Speed calculation [#20]
  • Now clicking on the Extension Settings in a specific menu will open the Preferences window with the corresponding tab selected [#12]
  • Debug Mode: now you can enable debug mode to see more logs in the console (for future debugging features)
  • Now you can override Header's Font Family and Font Size to suit your personal preferences [#3]
  • Bug fixes:
  • Fixed a bug where the icon and the unit were missing in energy sensor value [#17]
  • Top Processes list in Processors Menu is now more responsive and should be filled faster
  • Cpu Info popup now squeeze to fit shorter screens [#18]
  • Set a minimum size for the Preferences window to avoid UI elements to be cut off [#21]