The Denframe beta
The first Denframe release for households beyond the maintainer’s own. The Mac download is a signed beta; the Windows download is still the unsigned pilot.
A signed Windows beta is on the way
A signed Windows beta is on the way; until then the Windows download is the unsigned pilot. Its unsigned installer comes with its own warning and installation guide on Downloads.
What the beta is
The beta invites households outside the maintainer’s own home. Beta installers are signed, and notarized by Apple on a Mac, so your operating system names the publisher. Windows SmartScreen may still warn while the new signing identity builds reputation.
From the beta on, an update carries your data forward. The first time a beta build starts on older data, it keeps a copy of the database in the data folder’s pre-upgrade folder, then upgrades it. On a Mac, data from pilot.14 or later is carried forward; data from an older Mac pilot is refused, so set up again or keep the older build with its data. On Windows, data from pilot.14 or later is carried forward; data from an older Windows pilot is refused, so set up again or keep the older build with its data.
What a beta household gets
- Free and full-featured through the pilot and the beta that follows it.
- Early households — everyone who joins during the pilot or the beta — get 40% off the 1.0 household licence.
- A pilot or beta copy has no expiry and keeps working. Nothing in the pilot or the beta is split out later into a subscription or a paid add-on.
- Planned 1.0: a one-time household licence, price to be announced. The price and the exact update terms are announced before 1.0 ships.
What the beta claims, and what it does not
Each path’s claim follows its tests on real hardware, and moves only when one passes. A desktop build is called beta only once a signed beta of it is published; What works today shows each one, and the status page what each still waits for.
Claimed for the beta
These are part of the beta: a problem with one is a bug to report.
- Mac · Apple Silicon
- Windows · x64
- TV or tablet web browser
Experimental
These work, but a test on real hardware is still open, so they are not claimed yet:
- Mac · Intel. No Intel Mac build is in the release catalog yet.
- Home Assistant app. Supervised install and registry publication are unverified.
- Chromecast and Google TV. Casting is one-way through DashCast until Denframe's own receiver is registered.
- Nest Hub and Nest displays. Touch and sound are unverified until a real Nest Hub passes their tests.
- Android panel app. The seven-day soak on a real panel has not run yet.
- Samsung and other DIAL/UPnP TVs. Evidence beyond one Samsung set, overnight running included, is still open.
- Samsung TV bridge and Art Mode. Sensing is capability-gated and rests on one Samsung set's evidence.
- Home controls through Home Assistant. Not yet tried on a real lamp and switch.
- Apple Home through Home Assistant. Not yet tried from the Home app and Siri through Home Assistant's HomeKit Bridge.
Off
These are built but turned off in beta builds, have no switch in Denframe, and are not offered:
- Denframe Cloud. Not running yet: the platform spike, the key ceremony and the pilot are open.
- Apple TV app. No Apple TV has run it yet, and the host's cost on a Raspberry Pi is unmeasured.
- Direct HomeKit accessories. Tested on scripted doubles only; a real accessory and Apple's terms are open.
- Denframe's own HomeKit bridge. Tested on scripted doubles only; pairing it in Apple Home is open.
- Home controls on touch panels. Not yet tried on an approved touch panel.
- Ticking Google Tasks from screens. Whether ticking a repeating Google task keeps its series is untried on an account.
Updates
Updates are manual: nothing is downloaded or installed for you. To hear when a new build is out, turn on Tell me when a beta update is out in Studio → Screens & rotation → Keep displays up to date. Once a day the desktop app then reads the public list of desktop releases on denframe.com and, when a newer build is out, says so on Home. It is off by default, and the request carries nothing about your home; the privacy page says exactly what it sends. Each build’s changes are in the changelog. The Windows pilot does not have it.
Back up before upgrading
The automatic copy is a safety net, not a backup. Before installing a new build, quit Denframe and make a backup with its maintenance backup command, then install and open the new version. Keep each backup with the installer version that made it: restoring needs that build. The installation guides for macOS and Windows give the commands.
Report a problem
In Denframe, open Studio → Screens & rotation → Local diagnostics and choose Report a problem. It lists everything the file it makes holds: versions, the operating system, how Denframe is installed, the state of each screen and source, and the types of problem logged since it started. Never included: passwords, keys or tokens, network addresses, names of people, screens or sources, dashboard names or content, calendar events, file paths, or the text of any error. The Windows pilot does not have Report a problem.
Choose Save file, then email it to support@nannertech.com with what happened (Email support starts the message). Denframe never sends the file itself, and there is no analytics. The diagnostics reference explains the file.