Serial Studio 4.2.1 ڈاؤن لوڈ

⚠️ Important Notices
- Intel Macs: Every 4.x release before this one aborted at launch on Intel Macs (#392). The Intel half of the universal binary shipped still pointing at the build machine's Qt, while the Apple Silicon half, the signature and the notarization were all fine. 4.2.1 is the first 4.x build that runs on Intel; if you are on an Intel Mac, upgrade to this version. Thanks @nsby494 for the crash log, which pointed straight at the cause.
- Windows Smart App Control: On newer Windows machines, Smart App Control may prevent Serial Studio from running because the binaries are not code-signed yet. Either install from the Microsoft Store, or turn off Smart App Control (Windows Security → App & browser control → Smart App Control settings).
- macOS: The minimum supported version is macOS 14.0 (Sonoma).
- Linux: AppImage/.deb/.rpm builds contain bundled glibc dependencies, which makes them available for older distributions too (RHEL 8 / Debian 10 era).
- No more first-run trial wall: The app always starts in the free tier. The 14-day Pro trial starts the first time you use a Pro feature, and when it ends the app falls back to the free tier instead of blocking you.
- API consent: API clients (TCP, gRPC, MCP) need your consent before they install script code, load a project with scripts, write to a device, start a program or, new in this release, click and type in the window. Consent lasts for the current session only and the prompt names the command asking for it. For headless or CI runs, start the app with SERIAL_STUDIO_API_AUTO_CONSENT=1 to grant every prompt.
- Sounds are off by default: Aural alerts and UI sounds start disabled. Turn them on in Preferences → Sounds.
🚀 New Features
- UI automation API: Six commands under ui.automation.* let an API client observe and operate the real window: listWindows, listElements, click, key, screenshot and setReduceMotion. Controls are addressed by stable names that 93 QML files now carry, so a test or an assistant can find a button, press it, type into a field and see what the window shows. click and key sit behind a separate "drive the user interface" consent that no other consent unlocks, and sealed deployment packages classify all six. Documented in the API Reference and AI Assistant pages of the manual.
🐛 Bug Fixes
- macOS: Fixed the Intel launch abort described above. The offscreen platform plugin bundled for headless use now resolves its Qt frameworks inside the app, and SQL driver plugins the app never loads (one of them linked a library that exists on no machine) are no longer shipped.
- Linux audio: The audio input driver and the alarm sounds now open PulseAudio first, which reaches PipeWire through pipewire-pulse, and fall back to ALSA only on hosts without a sound server. On PipeWire desktops the AppImage's own ALSA could not open the default device and fell back to raw hardware devices that bypass the system mixer. The format, sample-rate and channel pickers now list what the sound server offers instead of a single entry each, and the AppImage bundles libpulse.
- Release pipeline: The universal macOS bundle is now verified slice by slice before it is signed, so a half-deployed binary can no longer pass the build, the signature, the notarization and the Apple Silicon tests unnoticed.
📚 Documentation
- The API Reference and AI Assistant pages cover the automation commands and the new consent.
- The Audio driver page describes the Linux backend order.
- The assistant's CAN/Modbus and PLC skills gained per-protocol "configuration order" sections.
💡 Serial Studio Pro
Unlock advanced features with a license key via About → License Management. The 14-day trial unlocks everything below and starts the first time you use a Pro feature.
Pro features include:
- 3D Plot, Waterfall, Image View, and Canvas widgets
- Output widgets, operator shortcuts, runtime mode, and sealed deployment packages
- Variables (data tables), dataset transforms, and custom workspaces
- Full MQTT support with Sparkplug B
- Modbus, CAN Bus, OPC UA, Siemens S7, EtherNet/IP, and IEC 104
- Audio input, raw USB & HID, and Process I/O drivers
- Multiple devices in one project
- MDF4 import/export, the Historian, and the notification log
- File-transfer protocols (X/Y/ZMODEM)
- Modbus register-map and CAN DBC importers
👉 Get Serial Studio Pro: https://store.serial-studio.com/buy/ba46c099-0d51-4d98-9154-6be5c35bc1ec
No Budget?
You can still unlock Serial Studio Pro by contributing:
- Share tutorials, videos, or forum posts.
- Promote on social media or dev communities.
- Translate the UI or improve documentation.
- Send logs, protocol data, or donate development hardware.
👉 VALUE-FOR-LICENSE.md
Full changelog: v4.2.0 → v4.2.1