CursorClip changelog

What's new

• Sharper editor preview: The preview now shows your recording's full detail. The new View menu adds 100% view (⌘0), Play Full Screen (⇧⌘F) and a Better Quality / Better Performance choice, and Space plays and pauses.
• Smarter layouts: Layouts are drawn as small pictures, and a split between screen and camera follows your video's shape: side by side for wide videos, stacked for square and tall ones.

Improvements

• True-to-screen color: New recordings keep your screen's exact colors, in the preview and in exports. Since 2.0, recordings could look slightly lighter and less saturated than your screen.
• Exports without a camera: Recordings made without a camera no longer get stuck with a "Camera media is needed" message when you export.
• No interruptions while you work: Update notices wait until you finish recording or exporting, and until you're back in CursorClip.
• Smoother recording starts: If a recording fails to start, the next attempt starts cleanly.

What's new

• Smart microphone: CursorClip now records from your Mac's default microphone and remembers the one you choose. If that microphone is unplugged, it uses your default until it's back. Pick System Default in the microphone menu to always follow your Mac.
• Microphone check: If your microphone isn't picking up any sound while you record, a heads-up appears, so you can fix it before the take is over (macOS 15 and later).
• Audio check on export: If an export comes out quiet or silent, CursorClip suggests a quick listen before you share it.

Improvements

• Crisper exports: Recordings with a shadow now export sharper.
• Better GIFs: GIF exports are more reliable, and the cursor keeps moving smoothly on still screens.
• Faster export start: Export starts right away, without the short pause some Macs had.
• Editor preview: The cursor now shows in the preview for recordings made with a separate microphone.
• And more: Other small fixes and improvements.

Bug fixes and improvements

• Window recording: Fixed window recordings that could fail when you pressed Stop.
• Interrupted recordings: If a recording gets cut off, you keep what was recorded up to that point.
• macOS 27: Fewer freezes while recording.
• Audio interfaces: Interfaces with three or more channels no longer crash a recording.
• Pausing: Audio and the cursor stay in sync after pausing more than once.
• Camera: The camera stays in the editor preview after you export.
• First launch: Smoother permission setup. When opened from the disk image, CursorClip offers to move itself to Applications.
• And more: Other small fixes and improvements.

Fixes and diagnostics

• Discarding recordings: Fixed an editor error that could appear after discarding a recording.
• More useful support diagnostics: Improved playback, export, and support diagnostics to make failures easier to investigate.
• Audio diagnostics: Better distinguish intentional silence from potential audio problems using comparable sampled evidence.

New ways to record and edit

• Notes teleprompter: Write and rehearse before recording, then read from floating Notes with saved drafts, paragraph navigation, optional auto-scroll, and adjustable text and background.
• Linked output formats: Create landscape, portrait, and square versions from one recording. Cuts and timing stay shared while each format keeps its own framing and layouts.
• Layouts and Smart Camera: Add screen, camera, picture-in-picture, side-by-side, or stacked sections, with Cut, Fade, and Morph transitions. Smart Camera adjusts the camera overlay around recorded activity.
• Crop after recording: Crop the recorded screen with freeform or fixed ratios and exact pixel controls. Your background, padding, rounded corners, and shadow stay applied.
• Saved Looks: Save your canvas, cursor, motion, and camera appearance as a Look. Reuse it across projects or choose a default for new recordings.
• Cursor styles and click feedback: Choose bundled cursor packs, Touch Dot, or a hidden cursor. Customize cursor size, press feedback, and click ripples.
• Keyboard-shortcut overlays: Show recorded shortcuts with configurable keycaps, position, appearance, and linger time. Capture is opt-in; ordinary typed text requires separate consent.
• Custom zoom frames: Choose a specific zoom area with a visual selection overlay and adjust zoom sections and levels in the timeline.
• Camera and cursor motion blur: Add Subtle or Strong camera blur during zooms and pans, with a separate cursor-blur setting. Either can be turned off.
• Color-managed export: Choose Automatic, Standard Color (Rec. 709), or Wide Color (Display P3) for video export. GIFs use sRGB.
• Added Report an Issue flow: Send a report with diagnostic details directly from CursorClip and get a reference number. Save a diagnostics copy when you need to share it manually.

Meaningful improvements

• Better zoom framing and panning: Refined Auto Zoom cursor following and center-zone framing. Choose Responsive, Balanced, or Steady camera follow to control how quickly the view catches up with the pointer.
• More faithful GIF exports: GIF export preserves cuts and speed changes, corrects 12 fps timing, and rejects incomplete frame extraction rather than finishing a partial GIF.
• Recording and audio safeguards: The recording timer starts after capture succeeds. Stop handling is improved when audio stalls, and export asks for confirmation when intended audio is unavailable.
• Improved issue reporting: Reports carry more useful recording, editor, save, and export context. Retrying after a lost confirmation returns the existing receipt without uploading the same diagnostics again.

Before you upgrade

• Project compatibility: Projects saved with newer features may not open in older CursorClip versions. Keep a copy if you need to return to an older version.

✨ Reliability and polish

• More reliable audio recording: Audio recording now handles wireless and Bluetooth microphones more smoothly, keeping your voiceover in sync from start to finish.
• Smoother pause and resume: Voice, screen, and camera stay tightly aligned across pauses, so your recordings come out seamless.
• Better microphone handling: Whichever microphone your Mac uses during a recording, its audio carries through to the editor preview and your exported video.
• Faster camera preview: The camera preview appears right away as your camera starts up.
• Smarter exports: CursorClip now checks available disk space before exporting, giving you a heads-up early instead of partway through a long export.
• Stronger project protection: Opening and saving projects is more resilient, keeping your existing work protected in every situation.
• Improved editor preview: Projects now open with the full preview ready to go.
• Better multi-display support: Window selection works precisely across all display arrangements, including stacked setups.
• Smoother license experience: License checks now run quietly in the background, and your activation carries over reliably between launches.
• Easier support, private by design: You can now export a diagnostic report to share with support — it never includes your recordings, projects, or license details.

🛠️ Fixes

• Cursor position accuracy: Fixed cursor positioning so the pointer stays aligned with the interaction you recorded.
• Zoom style polish: Improved zoom styling so focus transitions look cleaner and more natural.

🚀 Improvements

• Bulk zoom toggle: Enable or disable every zoom segment in a project with a single action.
• Bulk zoom cleanup: Delete all zoom segments at once when you want to reset the timeline quickly.

🛠️ Fixes

• Cursor Position Accuracy: Fixed a cursor positioning bug so the pointer now lines up properly with your recorded actions instead of drifting off target.
• Cursor Lag Smoothing: Reduced cursor lag to make mouse movement feel snappier and more natural in both previews and exported videos.

✨ New Features

• Project saving: Save and resume your work anytime.
• Undo / redo: Use undo and redo options for easier editing.
• 2:3 camera ratios: Added 2:3 vertical and horizontal camera ratio options.

🚀 Improvements

• System audio detection: System audio now auto-disables when no audio device is present.
• Mic audio handling: Fixed mic audio reduction when no system audio is present.
• Cursor drift on export: Fixed cursor drift at starting position during export.

✨ New Features

• Custom export quality + FPS: Export with custom quality settings and frame rate controls.
• Cut / Trim: Cut and trim your recordings directly in the editor.
• Playback speed: Change playback speed for the whole video or section-by-section.
• Camera layout shapes + ratios: Pick camera layout shapes and ratios like 16:9, 9:16, or square.

🚀 Improvements

• Timeline navigation: Smoother timeline navigation while editing.
• Export memory usage: Lower memory usage during export.

🛠️ Fixes

• Camera squeeze bug: Fixed the annoying camera squeeze issue.

✨ New Features

• GIF Export: You can now export your recordings as GIFs with customizable settings for the perfect balance of file size and quality.
• Video Quality Control: Adjust compression settings for video exports to dial in the exact balance between file size and fidelity.
• Timeline Improvements: Navigating the timeline is smoother with a unified scroll structure across tracks and the ruler.

🚀 Improvements

• Export Settings UI: The export settings interface has been refreshed for better usability.

🚀 Improvements

• Enhanced Activation: Streamlined the activation process with a combined email and OTP flow plus clearer error messages.
• License Revamp: Improved license code handling and validation logic for a smoother experience.

🛠️ Fixes

• Documentation & Stability: General cleanup plus stability improvements following the license system updates.

🚀 Improvements

• Settings Redesign: The Preferences menu received a full redesign for a cleaner, easier-to-use experience.
• Interactive Area Selection: Selecting a recording area is more intuitive with the new interactive overlay.

🛠️ Fixes

• Camera Recording: Fixed a crash that could occur when discarding a recording while the camera writer was active.
• Area Selection: Refactored the highlight overlay code for better performance and reliability.

🛠️ Fixes & Polish

• 720p Export: Resolved encoding issues affecting 720p video exports.
• Wallpaper Visibility: Fixed a visual bug where the desktop wallpaper could hide or show incorrectly during zoom effects.
• Cursor Dead Zone: Reverted a cursor movement dead-zone change to restore expected mouse behavior.

🛠️ Fixes

• Cursor Positioning: Fixed an offset between the rendered cursor position and actual click location.
• Area Export: Resolved bugs preventing exports made in Area mode.
• Window Recording: Fixed geometry issues when recording specific windows.
• Control Bar: Improved button sizing and layout in the control bar for better usability.

🎥 Recording & Editing

• Export Reliability: Fixed critical issues that could cause crashes during export.
• Software Encoding Fallback: Added a safety fallback to software encoding if hardware acceleration fails so exports always finish.
• Sparkle Improvements: Enhanced the update mechanism reliability.

🚀 Improvements

• App Updater: Added a built-in Sparkle updater so you always have the latest features without manual downloads.
• Cursor Size: Fixed discrepancies in cursor size rendering to better match system settings.

🛠️ Fixes

• Zoom Polish: Added a safe margin for zooms at the end of videos to prevent abrupt cutoffs or glitches.
• Audio Reliability: Enhanced audio writer session handling to prevent gaps at the start of recordings.

✨ New Features

• Multi-Screen Support: Added proper support for capturing cursors moving across multiple displays.
• Discard Recording: New Discard button to quickly scrap recordings you don’t need.
• Motion Settings: Project-scoped motion settings let you fine-tune cursor smoothing per recording.

🚀 Improvements

• Window Management: Control and preview windows now use NSPanel for better behavior across macOS Spaces.
• Notifications: Added native notifications to alert you if a recording fails to start or save.
• Camera Preview: Enhanced the camera preview window with better resizing and UI controls.

🚀 Performance & Compatibility

• Hardware Acceleration: Enabled hardware-accelerated video encoding for better performance and lower CPU usage.
• Software Export Support: Added software-based export as a compatibility option for older devices.
• Device Discovery: Improved detection and handling of external cameras and microphones.

🛠️ Fixes

• Licensing Flow: Refined the licensing and activation UI for better responsiveness.
• Video Editor: Optimized the default window size and layout for the video editor.

🎉 Initial Release

• Launch: The first public release of CursorClip Recorder!
• Core Features: High-quality screen recording, intelligent cursor highlighting, audio ducking, and permission management.