Author: houdah

Photos Workbench 1.6: Faster Photo Curation for Apple Photos

We’re happy to announce Photos Workbench 1.6, a performance-focused update that makes organizing and curating your photo library faster and more reliable.

If you use Photos Workbench alongside Apple Photos, this update improves the everyday workflows that matter most: browsing large libraries, comparing similar shots, and quickly identifying your best photos.

This release also follows closely on the heels of another major update: HoudahGeo 7.1, which introduced viewing direction and map improvements. Together, these updates continue our mission of making photo management on the Mac faster, clearer, and more enjoyable.

Photos Workbench for Apple Photos: Compare Photos Side by side
Compare photos, cull, and curate your Apple Photos library

Let’s look at what’s new.

Continue reading Photos Workbench 1.6: Faster Photo Curation for Apple Photos

HoudahGeo 7.1: Viewing Direction Comes to the Built-In Map

We are pleased to announce the release of HoudahGeo 7.1, a focused update that delivers one of the most requested features: visualization of viewing direction on the built-in map.

This release also:

  • improves map behavior with an off-screen target indicator
  • adds location coordinates copy & paste support from Apple Photos
  • introduces a French localization
  • and significantly reduces memory usage for photo previews.

Viewing direction indicator

    HoudahGeo 7.1 – viewing direction visualized on built-in map

Continue reading HoudahGeo 7.1: Viewing Direction Comes to the Built-In Map

HoudahGeo 7.0 Video Tutorial

Todd Oltoff over at ScreenCastsOnline just published a full walkthrough of HoudahGeo 7, and it’s one of the more thorough tutorials we’ve seen of the app.

ScreenCastsOnline has been around for over 17 years and has built a solid reputation as a go-to resource for Apple software tutorials.

Their video goes through the entire HoudahGeo workflow from start to finish — loading photos from a camera or SD card, syncing a GPX track log to place images on a map, reverse geocoding coordinates into actual place names, and writing everything back to your files (or XMP sidecars, if you prefer).

Continue reading HoudahGeo 7.0 Video Tutorial

HoudahSpot 6.7: Faster File Search, Now in Polish

You know that file is somewhere on your Mac. You’re pretty sure about the name. Maybe. Or at least part of it. Spotlight shows you a bunch of results that definitely aren’t it.

This happens to me more than I’d like to admit, which is why we keep working on HoudahSpot. Version 6.7 is out now.

What’s new in 6.7

Polish localization. Big thanks to Lukasz Preihs for translating the entire interface. If you work in Polish, HoudahSpot now speaks your language.

The Text Preview got faster. When you’re searching through documents or code, Text Preview shows you where your search terms appear, highlighted in context. I use this constantly—it saves you from opening a dozen files just to find the right one. In 6.7, we optimized how it loads and renders, especially for larger files. You’ll notice the difference if you search through a lot of text documents.

macOS 26 Tahoe compatibility. If you’re running the latest version of macOS, HoudahSpot just works. We still support back to macOS Mojave.

Continue reading HoudahSpot 6.7: Faster File Search, Now in Polish

Iteratively Refining Searches in HoudahSpot

When you don’t quite remember where your files are—or what exactly they were called—your best strategy is often to begin broad and narrow as you go. HoudahSpot excels at this workflow. It gives you powerful tools to incrementally refine a search based on what you see in the results.

This post walks through a highly effective technique: start with a flood of matches, then prune and shape your search using what you learn from those results. Along the way, we’ll use drag-and-drop shortcuts, location pruning, and Find by Example to quickly zero in on the files you want.

Start Broad: Let the Results Flow In

Begin by typing a few words into the main search field.
These might be:

  • Terms you expect in file names

  • Words likely to appear in text content

  • Keywords that “should” narrow things down—but maybe not enough


HoudahSpot search window showing a broad search with thousands of results

Hit Return and watch the results roll in. HoudahSpot will typically return thousands of matches. That’s fine—we want this. The next steps are all about sculpting this mass of information into something manageable.

As the results come in, use:

  • Metadata columns to sort and surface patterns

  • Quick Look preview to confirm visual relevance

  • Text preview to check keyword context

You’re not trying to find the right file yet. You’re scanning for clues.

Continue reading Iteratively Refining Searches in HoudahSpot

Supercharge Your DEVONthink 4 Search with HoudahSpot

If you manage a large collection of documents—research notes, reference material, project files—you already know that search matters just as much as storage. DEVONthink 4 is excellent at organizing and connecting
information, while HoudahSpot offers one of the most flexible search interfaces on macOS. Used together, they turn searching into something both faster and more precise.

What Each Tool Does Best

DEVONthink 4 is built for serious document management and knowledge work. It helps you:

  • Organize large document collections with intelligent filing
  • Create meaningful links between related items
  • Store PDFs, web archives, emails, bookmarks, and more
  • Surface relevant content using AI-assisted features
  • Build a long-term personal knowledge base

HoudahSpot takes macOS Spotlight and makes it far more powerful. It gives you:

  • A visual, criteria-based query builder
  • The ability to combine many file attributes in a single search
  • Reusable search templates for recurring tasks
  • Flexible rules for searching across locations and file types
  • A focused interface that avoids Finder’s clutter

The Gap: Searching Across Everything

DEVONthink’s built-in search is strong, but there are times when you want more control. For example, you might want to:

  • Search multiple DEVONthink databases alongside regular files
  • Combine criteria that aren’t easy to express in DEVONthink’s UI
  • Use the same search interface for all your data
  • Reuse carefully tuned searches for common tasks
  • Filter quickly by attributes like date, size, or document type

That’s where HoudahSpot comes in. Continue reading Supercharge Your DEVONthink 4 Search with HoudahSpot

Find by Example — How to locate files fast when Finder fails

If you’ve ever searched for a file on your Mac using Finder (or even the Spotlight window) but come up empty — or you got tens of thousands of hits and still couldn’t find what you meant — you need a better approach. That’s where Find by Example in HoudahSpot comes in: you tell HoudahSpot “show me files like this one,” and it instantly narrows the search to mirror the example file’s properties.

I want files like this one.

HoudahSpot find by example interface: Mac file search results using example file
Continue reading Find by Example — How to locate files fast when Finder fails

No GPS Track? Create a Visual Journey from Geotagged Photos with HoudahGeo

HoudahGeo geocodes and geotags your photos and videos, embedding location information directly into the EXIF or XMP metadata—just like a GPS-enabled camera. If you’ve recorded a GPS track using a dedicated device or a smartphone app, HoudahGeo can precisely match your photos to locations along your route.

This makes it easy to see where each photo was taken and even export a Google Earth (KML) file to view your images placed along the recorded track.

But what if you didn’t record a GPS track?

These days, most of us rely on smartphones for photography. Fortunately, most modern phones automatically geotag your photos with location data. Even without a separate GPS track log, this metadata allows HoudahGeo to reconstruct a visual path of your journey.

Turn Geotagged Photos Into a Track Log

HoudahGeo can generate a track log from geotagged photos, linking them in the order they were taken. This creates a path that approximates your travels and places each photo at its location—perfect for viewing in Google Earth or mapping your trip retrospectively.

Create a GPS track log from photos
Create a GPS track log from photos

Continue reading No GPS Track? Create a Visual Journey from Geotagged Photos with HoudahGeo

Master Quick Metadata Editing in HoudahGeo

HoudahGeo and Photos Workbench share a smart little feature that often goes unnoticed—until it magically saves you dozens of clicks and a lot of time.

If you manage large collections of geotagged photos, you know that adding titles, descriptions, and keywords can quickly become a tedious chore:
Click on a photo. Click on the field. Type. Click the next photo. Click the field again… repeat hundreds of times.

But what if you could cut that process in half—and dramatically speed up your workflow?

HoudahGeo’s streamlined quick editing feature transforms this repetitive task into a smooth, efficient process that could save you hours of work.

Streamlined quick title editing with consistent naming
Streamlined quick title editing with consistent naming

Continue reading Master Quick Metadata Editing in HoudahGeo

Introducing HoudahGeo 7.0: Geotagging Photos and Videos Has Never Been Easier

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of HoudahGeo 7.0 — the biggest update ever to our flagship geotagging solution for Mac.

Since its debut in 2007, HoudahGeo has helped photographers and travelers document their journeys by adding precise GPS location data to their photos. With version 7.0, HoudahGeo steps into a new era: it’s now also your go-to tool for video geotagging.

Whether you’re a photographer, filmmaker, or digital storyteller, HoudahGeo 7.0 gives you powerful tools to build a location-aware media library that goes beyond still images.

🎥 Geotag Videos Alongside Photos

This is the #1 feature request we’ve received — and it’s finally here: video geotagging.

You can now tag your travel videos with GPS coordinates just as easily as photos. Whether you’re working with drone footage, action cams, or smartphone videos, HoudahGeo 7.0 helps you enrich your entire collection with meaningful location data.

HoudahGeo 7 main window
Documenting a Kilimanjaro trek with HoudahGeo 7

Continue reading Introducing HoudahGeo 7.0: Geotagging Photos and Videos Has Never Been Easier