News and updates

Today Apple released the new Magic Keyboards with (and without) Touch ID to the public. You can buy them now individually in the Apple store (in silver only). There is also a newer version of the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad (now named without the 2).

The new Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad are technically the same as the previous models, so they are already supported by the Magic Utilities.

The new Magic Keyboards will require some changes. We already have implemented support for all new Magic Keyboards but could test it only with the small Magic Keyboard with Touch ID. The other two models should arrive for testing next week. Once tested we'll release version 3.1.1.2 of the Magic Utilities.

Don't expect that the Touch ID sensor will work on Windows, that's almost impossible since there is no documentation and the fingerprint data is encrypted. Only the newer M1 Mac computers on macOS will be able to decrypt and use that fingerprint data.

However, the key press (or better button press) that comes within the Touch ID sensor will be supported.

Today is the date: As we announced back in October 2020, our cross-signing kernel-mode certificate from DigiCert expired, which means we are unable to provide any new drivers for Windows 7 and Windows 8.

This kernel-mode signing certificate will not be renewed but it doesn't even matter:
From 1st July 2021 it is according to Microsoft "illegal" to cross-sign any kernel drivers.

All Magic Utilities versions until today will keep working but we are unable to release any new versions for Windows 7+8.

Version 3.1.0.4 is the very last Windows 7+8 version.

Sorry to all Windows 7+8 users: From now on we'll release only versions for Windows 10+11.

Official details here. More details here. More discussion here, continues here.

Final conclusion here.

Version 3.1.0.7 is the very last Windows 7+8 version.

 

The Magic Keyboard Layouts - Version 1.14 have been released.
Added missing ₽ character to right alt + 8 on Russian layout.

Click here for downloads and release notes.

We had some luck and could acquire the domain magicutilities.com.

Our plan is to migrate magicutilities.net and all belonging email addresses to this new domain, but this takes some time.

Version 3.1.0.4 is running quite smooth, so it has been released to the auto-update STABLE channel..

Click here for downloads and release notes.

Again another year is almost complete. What an unexpected year in many years it was! We hope you are all safe and well.

The Magic Utilities have been grown and are now more stable than ever.

A big "Thank you" on all of YOU out there who report bugs and make suggestions, so lots of little bugs and edge cases have been fixed and various new features have been added.

Finally with version 3.1.0.4 we rewrote the Driver ↔ Application communication which should solve any re-connection issues after computer wake up from sleep or after Bluetooth dropouts.

For the new year we plan to focus on more user customization for touch gestures and keyboard shortcuts.

Have a lovely Christmas and a wonderful new year 2021.

Stay safe!

Same as with Windows 10 version 2004 (May 2020 update), the latest Windows 10 20H2 (October 2020 update) still has the same bug. On some older Apple MacBooks (up to model year 2017) Bluetooth doesn't work.

Version 3.0.9.6 works around this Windows bug, more here...

October 2021 update: We noticed in Windows 10 20H2, Build 19042.1288, the issue has been solved by Microsoft. The Keep Bluetooth connection alive setting is not required any more.

This means we are unable to provide new signed drivers for Windows 7+8.x after 14th April 2021.

All Magic Utilities version until then will keep working but we can not release any new versions for Windows 7+8.

Official details here. More details here. More discussion here.

We already announced a Feature freeze for Windows 7+8 a while ago.

This is normal release which adds some new features and works around a Windows 10 - 2004 Bluetooth bug.

It also introduces Update channels: Stable, Beta and Development.

Click here for downloads and release notes.

2019 has been another great year for the Magic Utilities. New features have been added and lots of little things got fine tuned.

For 2020 we plan to change the way the app communicates with the driver because on a few computers are still occasionally hiccups. More important, we'll focus on Windows 10 only and start using the new APIs for smoother scrolling, pinch zoom and improved keyboard functions.

We hope you had Magic Christmas and wish you all the very best for 2020.

THANK YOU for your ongoing support.