Apple Silicon · Current Stable release
Your next experiment, in Hooke.
A microscopy workspace for the Mac: open microscope images and recordings, outline and measure what is in them with tools that run on your Mac, correct the results and export them with the settings that made them. Your images stay on your Mac; cloud models are optional and use your own key.
Get started
- Use an Apple Silicon Mac. The app targets macOS 14 or later; this candidate’s native verification is on macOS 26.
- On the release page, choose the HookeUI disk image under Assets (Safari may first ask whether to allow downloads from hookeui.org: choose Allow). Open it and drag HookeUI into Applications. Quit another Hooke copy before opening this one. Keep your existing installer and back up your Projects first.
- Open HookeUI from Applications. macOS asks once whether to open an app downloaded from the Internet: choose Open. First launch prepares its Python runtime and packages (about 350 MB; about 2 to 3 minutes in our clean-Mac tests) and needs internet access; the window shows each step. It needs no terminal, developer tools or paid API account. Known issue in 0.1.2: during first launch macOS may offer to install “command line developer tools”; choose Cancel. Hooke does not need them.
- Choose Open microscope example under Inputs to begin with the bundled image (if nothing happens, click it once more: a known issue in 0.1.2). Find bright objects finds 271 bright regions on this Mac; See measurements lists their sizes and brightness, and Show on the view displays their outlines. Uncalibrated measurements use pixels.
- For scientific tools, import a companion package in Models → Add your own → Add model/tool, review its declared requirements, then prepare it.
Updates on your terms
Available updates appear beside Settings. You can also choose Settings → Check for updates… or HookeUI → Check for Updates… in the Mac menu bar. Review the release and choose when to install. The restart prompt defaults to Keep Working; pending or conflicted Project notes and arrangements block restart. Saved Projects stay in your data folder. Restart stops analyses, downloads, recordings and tool sessions. Save tool edits and finish or stop work first: unsaved tool state, console variables and unsent messages may be lost, and jobs do not automatically resume. These safeguards apply after installing 0.1.2.
Already using HookeUI? Check for Updates offers the latest published Stable version. Original October 19 beta installations may first receive the retained 0.1.2 compatibility update, then check again for the current release. The app is signed and notarized for direct download; no App Store installation is required.
Scientific companion packages
These optional candidate integrations use Hooke’s public interfaces. They are separately prepared, and their requirements and limits apply. Cellpose model weights are restricted to noncommercial use by their declared license.
Current companion packages, example inputs and workflow
Use the files attached to the same release as your app. The release record lists their exact identities, walkthrough and limitations.
Know what is saved
Use the supported Save controls to retain scientific changes. Closing a control dock does not stop analysis. Private plugin variables and unsaved edits are not promised to survive quitting. Native data export and rendered movie export are separate actions.
Component checks and developer-VM demonstrations support this release. They do not establish complete napari parity, independent contributor qualification, large-data qualification or Windows/Linux support. Comparison and recipe UI replay remain incompletely demonstrated. Recipe steps require explicit execution and review; reopening does not run analysis.
A first native tool opening timed out in the development VM; one in-app retry succeeded. If opening fails, preserve the saved revision and retry once. Do not repeatedly run expensive analysis to recover a display.
Historical 0.2.1 verification: the real 0.2.0 → 0.2.1 update was offered, deferred with Keep Working, installed at an explicit restart and reopened saved microscopy work. All 51 non-journal files checked stayed byte-identical; the journal kept its original bytes and appended lifecycle events. The installed app and running backend matched the signed candidate. Local simulation passed all 37 scenarios; actual capability checks found 21 working paths, four not installed and none broken. A later hosted test run found two midnight fixture failures, reproduced and corrected in tests without changing the released app.
The current release record is the source for version, changes, owner acceptance and remaining limitations. Historical checks above retain their original build and scope; they do not qualify a newer release or establish full scientific parity.
Keep the previous installer. Downgrading a newly saved Project format is not qualified; restore a backup made before updating instead.
Help shape the next milestone
Send the app version, your macOS version, the action you tried and what remained saved to the person who invited you. Include a screenshot if useful. Do not send private scientific data, credentials or unredacted logs.