Outbound 1.2.0 release notes: what’s new

New

Outbound’s interface is now available in German, French and Japanese, including settings, alerts, widgets and Shortcuts.
An Activity graph in Analytics shows the last 12 months as a grid of days, with connection counts, active days and the busiest day. Select a day to see its figures.
Analytics now shows the split between allowed, blocked and asked connections, with a previous-period comparison when enough history is available. Top Rules shows all-time match counts and opens the selected rule.
A sealed audit log records connections and changes to protection. Administrators can verify its integrity and export the sealed records.
Organizations can deliver audit records to SIEM services over encrypted syslog or HTTPS, or to the Mac’s unified log, with controls for hiding destination details.
Managed (MDM) settings let organizations require administrator approval, lock settings and restrict pausing, network rescue and removal through Outbound.
Command-line changes have Off, Ask and Allow controls, with previews, request status and cancellation. Changes that loosen protection still need approval in Outbound, and connected AI apps always ask.
Save Analytics and the Tracking Report as a PDF, or print them.

Improved

VoiceOver can operate the Desktop Globe and dismiss messages. Charts and widgets announce traffic amounts, directions and blocked apps more clearly.
Reduce Motion now keeps the inspector, alert queue, lists and floating globe from sliding or resizing with animation. Assistant answer sections appear closer together.
Reduce Transparency now gives the setup sidebar and more floating surfaces opaque backgrounds.
More decorative animations pause when their window is inactive or hidden. Assistant text appears in full when its reveal animation pauses.
Refresh All for blocklists shows a percentage as lists finish, then shows the result on the button. If it stops partway, it tells you how many lists finished and why it stopped.
Headline counters roll as their values change, use a fade with Reduce Motion and let VoiceOver read the whole value.
Connection alerts, the inspector, the menu bar and strict-mode notifications warn when a host name uses look-alike characters or resembles a well-known site, before you allow it.
Answering connection alerts and reloading large rule lists keeps more of the work away from the interface, reducing pauses while rules are saved.
Command-line tools and connected AI apps can read more app activity, Analytics summaries, tracker details and the Review queue. Host names stay hidden from connected AI apps unless you allow them.

Fixed

Removing Outbound from System Settings, or with Move to Trash and Quit, no longer leaves the app stuck while quitting. Removal now shows when it is waiting for your approval in System Settings and when a restart is needed to finish.
Quitting while Outbound is busy, including Relaunch App, no longer skips saving recent history and Review items.
Analytics reports and the Sent and Received figures show “Not measured” instead of zero when traffic amounts are not recorded for the current filter.
Settings and rule changes could be lost when several saves started at once. Those saves now keep their changes.
A settings file that cannot be read no longer makes Outbound fall back to the defaults for a new installation. It keeps the previous settings and shows the error.
Widgets show “Status unavailable” when they cannot read current data. The tour only says you are protected when protection is confirmed, and explains when an AI agent answers instead of Apple Intelligence on this Mac.
The tour scrolls while Continue stays visible. Longer German, French and Japanese instructions and Assistant suggestions wrap more clearly.
The Activity graph keeps days aligned through clock changes and distinguishes days before recording began from recorded days with no connections.
Tracking Report refreshes no longer replace a choice you just saved. Failed reads can be tried again, and traffic used to assess likely telemetry stays with the hour it was recorded.
Removing a blocklist from the command line removes its rules before removing the subscription, so an interrupted removal does not leave its rules behind.
Administrator approval prompts keep changes that allow more connections visible, including in large batches, instead of hiding them in an omitted-items count.
Audit logging handles simultaneous first writes, damaged final records and reconnects more reliably. Following the audit log catches up through bursts of records in order.
If a location database update fails or is interrupted, Outbound retains or recovers the previous verified copy.
Fixed a security issue where running Outbound’s command-line tool as an administrator could change files, or their ownership or permissions, outside Outbound’s own folder.
When an organization requires administrator approval, location database updates for country rules now need that approval too. An update sent before a switch to another user account is discarded.
If an organization changes its approval policy while you are approving Turn Off or Remove, Outbound applies the new policy.
Removing old audit records stops on damaged or incomplete records instead of signing over them. Verification succeeds after retention has removed every record, and an export of hidden destinations can no longer be mistaken for a full export.

Requires macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon or Intel. Signed with Developer ID and notarised by Apple. You’ll need a licence key. See pricing.