Unison — our excellent OS X app for accessing Usenet Newsgroups and the many wonders and mysteries contained within — has reached the end of its road after years of faithful service.
First, a brand-new Unison 2.2.
Unison’s end is bittersweet. The market for a Usenet client in 2014 isn’t exactly huge. But if you know Panic, you know we do our very best to never drop things awkwardly — we like to leave our apps in a good place for our (very) valued users.
So we’re excited to release a nice, final update to Unison.
Unison 2.2 adds the #1 feature request for Unison: multi-connection downloads for much faster transfers. It also adds a lot more Retina assets for more beautiful browsing on newer machines, and fixes many little bugs and quirks.
It’s a great update for all Unison fans.
Now free, and unsupported.
While we can no longer work on Unison or offer support for it, the good news is it’s also free. This version of the app will be automatically unlocked for all users, no serial needed.
Just download it right there:
What about Unison Access?
For now, Unison Access will continue to work just as it does today for all current subscribers. That said, we’re no longer accepting new signups. We figure we’ll migrate people to another service at some point in the future. If that happens, we’ll contact you by e-mail.
Thank you sincerely.
Our deepest thanks to each and every one of you who used, bought, or enjoyed Unison. We really enjoyed making this app and providing it to you. We hope it serves you well into the future!
Cabel
11/6/2014 11:07 AMOh, and to answer a possible incoming question: it’s not practical for us to open source Unison. But if major problems arise in the future, we will definitely check them out — some of us still use Unison too!
Jamie
11/6/2014 11:42 AMThanks for making Unison. It was a great run.
Bill
11/6/2014 12:04 PMThis is disappointing news. Unison is hands down, the best usenet client out there… Also Panic’s usenet access has been fast, broad in scope and fantastic as well. I really is sad to see that there is not enough of a market for these apps/services.
Now I must go cry.
chief
11/6/2014 12:16 PMWhat about the possibility of open-sourcing it so it can live on?
chief
11/6/2014 12:17 PMSigh, sorry, I should read.
Steve Jordi
11/6/2014 12:25 PMToo bad,
I was hoping a basic way to store messages (archive them) into personal folders. Now what? After waiting for two years, I’m left with installing a VM with Windows just to run Forte Agent??? Yeah… Windows, ouch :-)
Very disappointed… Especially after being told that it was still under development.
David
11/6/2014 12:38 PMBut it *was* still under development, Steve – the new version, just released today, is proof of that. And now it’s not any more. All good things…
Waldo
11/6/2014 3:06 PMDoh, I’ve already got it to crash. Loaded headers for a group, did a search by “from”, preview more than one image…. rainbow spinner
Billy Y..
11/6/2014 4:25 PMThanks for keeping the Unison Access service. It can easily saturate a 1Gb path to Phoenix from the east coast. Can’t ask for more than that, heh.
WTF
11/6/2014 6:06 PMResets all subscribed newsgroups to unread.
Steve
11/6/2014 11:32 PMWell,
installed the new version and also redownloaded all headers form the main server but not from the other ones (embarcadero and corel), they all remain grey. Looks like I’ll revert back to the previous version.
Jan
11/7/2014 6:44 AMToo bad, but totally understood. Could you elaborate a little on *why* it is not possible to open source Unison?
Mark R Friedman
11/7/2014 6:50 AMIt was great while it lasted. I miss CandyBar, too.
Jim
11/7/2014 7:00 AMVery sad to hear this. I’ve been using Unison on a daily basis since it first came out about 10 years ago. To play it safe I renamed my old version “Unison 2.1.10.app” and the new version “Unison 2.2.app”. The new version runs great on my 2013 iMac and Yosemite. I hope it will be many years before Unison starts coughing up blood. God, this sucks!
Hey Panic: thanks for 10 great years with Unison. I’ve loved using it for the past decade as my single favorite app. And thanks for all the other great apps you make.
Craig
11/7/2014 8:15 AMSad about this but glad the app exists, and has for so long. Was using Thoth before Unison *shudder*! Would have been nice to see it get a Yosemite-style icon in its last update.
Colin
11/7/2014 8:29 AMSad to see Unison go but it would be great to see a 2.2.1 version with a glossless Yosemite-like icon and a UI shave and haircut to fit with the new OS as it moves into retirement. Think of it as a new pair of comfy slippers to impress the existing care home residents.
Lee
11/7/2014 8:45 AMI’d vote for a 2.2.1 as well, just to fix the crashes. Version 2.2 crashed on me three times this morning alone and I’ve sent the crash data back to Panic. I tried reinstalling the previous version, but it says I only have 6 days left to use it, so I guess the 2.2 install removed my license. If you can’t fix the crashes in 2.2, how about re-releasing 2.1.7 for free too so I can safely back-track? Thanks for a great product, hate to see it go.
Mark Surloff
11/7/2014 9:16 AMUnison is great! So sorry to see it go.
Sebehk
11/7/2014 9:41 AMThis is a real bummer. I, too, have been a long time Unison user. Sad to see it go. If not open source, how about having another developer pick it up? I would if I had the time and knowledge.
RIP Unison. You left before your time.
Leonidas Sarros
11/7/2014 9:48 AMThanks for all these years with Unison!It was and will be the best newsreader for mac users.
I will continue to use it as will be compatible with Mac OS X at the next years .
Thanks!!!
Ted Goranson
11/7/2014 10:41 AMThanks. I stopped using it years ago, but appreciated it when I did. How you are handling this really has class.
Tim LaMadrid
11/7/2014 9:26 PMWell, crap. I guess this means you won’t be working on an iOS version then?
Shawn Levasseur
11/8/2014 4:43 AMThanks for a graceful landing. And for supporting Unison for as long as you have.
Brad
11/9/2014 2:39 AMThanks for providing us with such a great Usenet experience for all these years!
Jan
11/9/2014 2:53 AMII think it would be a good idea to liberate Unison v1.8.1 as well.
It is the work horse of the family, and the only bug free one.
Jan
Reda Lemeden
11/9/2014 3:50 AMI’d be happy to contribute to Unison if it gets open-sourced.
Yû
11/9/2014 4:12 AMWill it come to Mac AppStore? I don’t see the update there yet…
Harry
11/9/2014 11:35 AMHow do I cancel usenet access…don’t use it and want to save the $9/month
Robert
11/10/2014 4:02 AMSad to hear this… I never understood why people are not using newsgroups much more but cumbersome web forums… Seems I’m getting old, like the tools I use.
Cabel
11/10/2014 11:05 AM1. As a reminder, you can always use the previous versions of Unison if this version doesn’t work well for you.
Download older Unison builds here.
2. We can’t work on Unison anymore, especially now that it’s free, but if you have a reproducible crash please e-mail our support team — don’t comment here as we won’t see it — so we can take a look at it.
Marcel
11/10/2014 2:18 PMSad news for users, but probably great for Panic Inc.
When you gotta move on, you gotta move on…
Thank you for the best Usenet app while it lasted!!
(and for as long as it will last….)
Mitch
11/11/2014 6:41 AMCabel, are you receiving the crash reports from the app itself? I was assuming that if I tell it to send the report to you when it reopens after the crash, that you’d be getting it and that there wouldn’t be a need to send an email.
Yû
11/11/2014 10:39 PMStill waiting for an answer for the Mac AppStore…
There no update yet there, but APple can be slow at times, so I am waiting for nothing?
Jerry
11/12/2014 6:42 AMSad news indeed: Unison has been part of my daily workflow since 2004, one of my first stops every morning. I’ll continue to use Unison as long as I can; in the meantime, thanks for ten great years.
KEM
11/12/2014 9:27 AMThis is a great disappointment. I only recently discovered Unison and was so happy to finally find a good Mac NNTP client. It’s nice that you are offering the refund for recent purchasers but I’d much rather have ongoing development and support for the product. (sigh) I guess it’s back to using my Windows based software for this.
Jeff
11/13/2014 1:01 PMSad to see Unison go, but I understand.
Are you going to make the MAS version free as well?
LW
11/14/2014 6:35 AMIs v2.2 supposed to work with Mac OS 10.10 Yosemite? It fails for me every time with Authentication Error – I don’t use any passwords, and confirmed with my on-line service provider that all setup entries are correct.
Brad
11/14/2014 9:00 PMI’ve really like it since the v1 days. Sad to see it go especially with 2.2 being bit buggy. Wish there was a little bit more dev time to get the couple issues it has with multi connection downloads fixed and the crashes. Cabel, let me know if you do decide to fix anything and need a hand.
David
11/17/2014 5:40 PMWow, pretty good. Almost 2015 and something finally broke my Unison 2.1.10 for Mac — Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite! Unison 2.1.10’s downloads won’t start automatically in Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite. They go to the queue and must be manually started part by part. Version 2.2 doesn’t work at all in Yosemite, by the way.
Steve
11/17/2014 6:43 PMThanks for your work on this over the years – happy user since 2005. Sorry to see it go, but I understand the reason totally. And if you ever feel the need to change your mind, I’ll understand that totally also!
David
11/19/2014 12:00 PMGuess what, the problem of the Unison 2.1.10 queue needing to be started manually part by part is gone again, after installing the Mac OS X 10.10.1 update! This unsupported software is fully functional again!
Janey
11/22/2014 8:17 AM“Version 2.2 doesn’t work at all in Yosemite, by the way.”
Yes, it does. It works just fine. I’ve been using it since this news came out.
I’m sad about Unison reaching EOL. Best client I’ve ever used. But thanks Cabel and company for bringing it to us in the first place. :)
Charles
11/22/2014 12:17 PMSorry, I just went to Panic because I can’t get the latest version to work or 2.1.10 either. I’ve really enjoyed Unison and am sorry to see it go. Can anyone recommend a replacement ? OK to email me direct.
edward
11/22/2014 12:22 PMI just paid for a few month ago. Would have been nice to know this then.
Steve
11/23/2014 12:50 AMSo long, Unison, and thanks for all the Gifs.
philby
11/23/2014 2:56 AMReally sorry to see Unison go, I really love that app. What makes the goodbye bitterer yet: every time I open Unison 2.2, it somehow automatically opens Safari and re-downloads itself. I guess it’s becoming a bit cranky with old age.
Mark R Friedman
11/24/2014 2:26 PMI downgraded to 2.1 and my history (groups, rules, servers) were deleted.
Sigh
But it’s not crashing.
Nils
11/24/2014 4:38 PMThe new multi-connection download results in a much lower throughput if you download small files (100 MB) with many connections (30) over a fast connection (250 Mbit/s). Is there a way to somehow switch back to the old download method?
Stephan
11/28/2014 12:29 PMThx for this milestone of Usenet software. I used Unison since 2012 and it found its place in my virtual machine with OS 10.9.
Anthony Maw
11/29/2014 10:13 PMBest NNTP news browser and downloader ever written! There is no competition from either the Windows or Linux space that is as user-friendly as Unison. Unison belongs up there in computer science history like the Mac computer and the invention of the mouse!
appleguy
12/1/2014 5:34 AMI would like to say “thanks for a great product”. I am sorry to see it go. I will update mine and enjoy it until the cows come home. Thanks…
reflex
12/5/2014 7:35 PMA wonderful app! Thank you!
and thanks for the continued support thru to Yosemite.
Hope Unison will stay around for a long time.
Thanks…
Geoffrey
11/30/2015 2:53 PMI’ve been using Unison for years and love it. Upgraded to 2.2 when it was announced, but also find far too many problems running it on Mac OS 10.11. It crashes regularly, downloads hang all the time. Good think I’ve kept the last version installed to roll back to. Anyway, thanks for this app. I’m sorry to see it go!
Matthew Trager
12/25/2015 5:18 AMHave new 5k mac running el capitan
Know unsupported now but fyi seems if i change header downloads limit in preferences unison will no
longer download additional or new headers in groups
Wiping and reloading drive reinstall fixed problem so just don’t change header number and seems to be holding barring a few random quits normally when running multiple internet apps
Kate Turner
1/29/2016 2:02 PMI’ve loved Unison, and so when I installed new system software on my Mac, I downloaded new copies of both Unison 2.1.10 and Unison 2.2. I set them up exactly the same way they’d been set up before, and even checked it against the copy of Unison on my old laptop. Neither of the new copies will work. What is going on?? And what can I do? I can’t find any tech support link anymore. But it doesn’t make sense – why should it work fine on my one computer, and not at all on this one? Any tips would be appreciated.
Rich Schonthal
2/3/2016 9:21 PMWhy not make this open source? I’ll work on it.
Rudy
2/6/2016 2:24 PM@Frank DeStefano,
Unison is no longer supported by Panic. Version 2.2 is free of charge. For questions I think you’ll be better of sending an email to support@panic.com.
Roger
2/15/2016 5:18 PMdoes anyone know where unison stores the list of currently downloading file. which it reloads when you start up unison? I have one which I keep deleting, but when I restart unison it reappears.
Kate
3/17/2016 11:49 AMUnison, which I’ve used for years, suddenly stopped working (as in none of the newsgroups will open) a few weeks ago. Should I go back to an earlier version? Is there anything I can do?
Kate
3/17/2016 11:51 AMDespite current problems, it’s been great and I’m very sorry you’re not continuing.
oberon
3/26/2016 5:20 AMRoger:
~/Library/Containers/com.panic.Unison2/Data/Library
Hope this helps.
John
4/6/2016 6:21 AMThanks for all the years. Luckily there are plenty of alternatives.
Dave
4/12/2016 4:14 PMApril 2016…. and still the best Usenet download client in my opinion (from a long time user!!).
Making it open source is a fantastic suggestion though. Give the fans something to get their teeth in to and continue this great piece of software.
some1
5/31/2016 11:44 AMExcellent as ever, all that 2.2 needs for seamless downloads is to restrict the number of connections allowed (Preferences/Servers) to half the ones one’s server does. For likewise seamless other internet traffic, cap it there at about 80% of one’s available bandwidth.
Which, after months of trial & error, effectively refutes all of my previous criticism.
caveat: never bothered to upgrade OS X 10.9.5
Rod
6/8/2016 11:32 PMStill works fine for me under El Capitan 10.11.5 & later