Release Notes
What's new in every version of Stella
Improvements
- Image, audio, and video searches now show up to 50 results sorted by most recent — instead of being capped at 5
- Spotlight starts fresh every time you open it: the query, filter, and date selection reset, matching Apple Spotlight
Bug Fixes
- Arrow keys and Space work immediately when Spotlight opens — no need to press Down first
- Reopening Spotlight no longer pulls you to a different desktop on macOS Spaces
New Features
- Stella now replaces macOS Spotlight — press ⌘Space to search (you can change this from the shortcut pill in the footer)
- Choose your own keyboard shortcut for Stella search during onboarding or in the footer settings
- Recently modified files are indexed first so your newest files are searchable sooner
- Desktop notifications when your recent files are ready and when indexing is complete
- Time estimate shown in the search bar while indexing is in progress
- Apps in nested folders (like Cisco AnyConnect, Canon Utilities) now appear in search results
Improvements
- Files that can't be fully read are still searchable by name instead of being silently skipped
- Search results refresh automatically when you reopen the search bar
- Drag the search bar to reposition it on screen
- Search window auto-dismisses after dragging a file to another app
- Opening search over a fullscreen app no longer causes a space-switch animation
- Spreadsheet previews no longer freeze the app on problematic files
- Click the version number in the footer to view release notes
Bug Fixes
- Fixed search hanging indefinitely when the search engine crashed in the background
- Fixed the app running out of file handles during large indexing sessions
- Fixed auto-update prompting for unnecessary macOS permissions
- Fixed Word documents showing "unsaved changes" dialog when opened from Stella
- Files that repeatedly fail to index are no longer retried endlessly
- Fixed onboarding progress showing "All done 0/0" before indexing starts
New Features
- Search and launch applications directly from Stella
- Quick Look preview (Space) and Reveal in Finder (⌘R) for search results
- Arrow key navigation between search results
- Native file drag from Stella into other apps like Notes, Gmail, etc.
- Files you open through Stella appear at the top of your results next time you search
- In-app Send Feedback form
- Collapsed to a single-page layout
Improvements
- Auto-rescan when FSEvents drops are detected
Bug Fixes
- Fixed Stella main window not opening on startup
- Fixed crashes during large indexing sessions
New Features
- Spotlight search now shows section headers and filename-only hints for media files
- Stella now respects
.gitignore files during file discovery — ignored files are excluded from indexing - Anonymous retention tracking via PostHog to help us understand if the product is useful
Improvements
- Cleaner large-folder warning and removed confusing folder tree badges during onboarding
- Reduced disk usage — index storage no longer bloats with thousands of files
Bug Fixes
- Fixed onboarding window disappearing after folder selection
- Fixed memory leak that could slow down indexing over time
- Fixed folder tree row click not responding
- Removing a folder while indexing is active now cleans up properly
Bug Fixes
- Fixed auto-update failure
New Features
- In-app notification when a new update is available
- Indexing progress bar in the spotlight search overlay
Bug Fixes
- Fixed onboarding menu bar icon rendering as a white blob in production
- Fixed app entering a broken state when opened multiple times
New Features
- Media files (images, audio, video) now indexed as metadata-only entries
- Large folder warnings before indexing begins
- Expanded onboarding to 5 steps with menu bar visual, shortcut try-it, and privacy messaging
- Search queries now prioritized over indexing in the embedding worker
Improvements
- Unified app color theme to the Stella brand palette
- Better handling of large text files
Bug Fixes
- Fixed spotlight search bar rendering too small in fullscreen mode