Release v4.3: speak status line (Tolk) + Logging tab with housekeeping

- New screen-reader hotkey "Speak the RemSound status information" (issue #13):
  reads the status line aloud through the active screen reader via Tolk, fires from
  anywhere (system-wide), unset by default. Built behind an IScreenReaderOutput seam
  so a future build can swap Tolk for Prism on Windows 10+ without touching callers.
  Tolk DLLs vendored under tolk/ and shipped next to the exe.
- New Logging tab in Preferences: Enable logs + Write logs now moved there, plus
  opt-in startup "warn if logs folder exceeds N MB" and "delete logs older than N days",
  and a "Delete all logs" button (Yes/No confirm). New LogMaintenance helper + AppConfig
  settings drive it.
- Manual (readme.html + regenerated MANUAL.md), About changelog and RELEASE_NOTES
  updated in plain English; csproj <Version> bumped to 4.3.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Ednunp
2026-06-19 13:09:06 +01:00
co-authored by Claude Opus 4.8
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# RemSound v4.2
# RemSound v4.3
Three fixes — a freeze when connecting, a new-profile glitch that looked like a crash, and smoother audio on WASAPI.
Two additions for screen-reader users — hear the status line on demand — and a tidier home for logging.
## Connecting no longer risks a freeze
## Hear the RemSound status line on demand
If you had a peer saved by **name** (rather than a numeric address) and that name couldn't be looked up quickly — an offline peer, or a VPN name while the VPN was down — RemSound used to stall for a few seconds while it waited on the lookup. Because a screen reader waits on the program it's reading, that stall could feel like the whole computer locking up: speech going quiet, keys not responding, then everything coming back a moment later. The name lookup now runs in the background, so connecting — and reconnecting — stays responsive no matter what's in your saved-peers list.
RemSound's main window has a status line that updates every second: how long you've been connected, how many peers you have, whether sound is flowing, and how healthy the link is. Usually your screen reader reads it like any other text — but every so often, for reasons that have nothing to do with RemSound, it loses track of it and says there's nothing there.
## Creating a new profile no longer hides the window
There's now a hotkey for it. In the Keyboard shortcuts dialog (Ctrl+K), set a key for **Speak the RemSound status information**, and pressing it reads the whole status line aloud through your screen reader, from anywhere — even with RemSound hidden in the tray or another program in front. It's unset to begin with, so you pick the key, and it's there purely for screen-reader users.
Creating a new profile (**Ctrl+N**), or switching profiles, while you had **Start minimised** turned on would drop the freshly-loaded window straight to the tray — so the new profile looked like it had crashed. "Start minimised" is meant for when RemSound first launches, not for something you did on purpose. Now a new profile (or a switch) comes up the normal way, or stays in the tray only if that's where you already were.
It speaks through whichever screen reader you're running — NVDA, JAWS, Window-Eyes, System Access, SuperNova or ZoomText — and falls back to Windows' own built-in speech if none of those is on.
## Smoother audio on WASAPI
## A Logging tab, with folder housekeeping
RemSound now keeps Windows' timing fine while it's streaming. Without that, Windows can be lazy about waking the audio engine on time, so audio gets delivered in lumpy bursts instead of even steps — which on some machines showed up as breakup, or as latency that crept up over a long session. This fine timing was previously only switched on by **Priority mode**; now the audio path asks for it on its own whenever you're streaming, so you get the smoother delivery without needing that toggle on. (Priority mode's other, heavier options are unchanged and still optional.)
The logging controls now have their own **Logging** tab in Preferences, and there are three new ways to keep the logs folder from growing without limit — all off unless you turn them on:
- **Warn at startup if the logs folder is larger than a size you choose** (starts at 100 MB) — a friendly notice, nothing deleted.
- **Delete logs older than a number of days you set** (1 to 30, starts at 14) — tidied automatically when RemSound starts; today's log is always kept.
- **Delete all logs** — one button, with a Yes/No confirm, that clears every log except the one in use.
## Compatibility
**v4.2 talks to v3.3 through v4.1 with no trouble** — the over-the-network format is unchanged, so you don't have to update both ends at once. (Everyone still needs **v3.3 or newer**, where end-to-end encryption came in.)
**v4.3 talks to v3.3 through v4.2 with no trouble** — the over-the-network format is unchanged, so you don't have to update both ends at once. (Everyone still needs **v3.3 or newer**, where end-to-end encryption came in.)
## Install
1. Download `RemSound-v4.2.zip` from this release.
1. Download `RemSound-v4.3.zip` from this release.
2. Close RemSound.
3. Extract the zip **over your existing RemSound folder**, overwriting program files when prompted. The zip is program files only — it won't touch your settings, profiles, logs or recordings.
4. Run `RemSound.exe`.
## Upgrading
**From v3.6 or newer:** Help → Check for updates installs v4.2 with the in-app updater — and if it can't finish, it puts your old version back exactly as it was.
**From v3.6 or newer:** Help → Check for updates installs v4.3 with the in-app updater — and if it can't finish, it puts your old version back exactly as it was.
**From v1.9v3.5:** Check for updates works, but uses your current version's older updater for this one hop. If auto-update has been failing on your machine, install by hand using the steps above.