SwitchCast v1.3.0 — Release Notes

Release Date: October 16, 2026

Target Platform: Windows 10 (version 1809+) & Windows 11 (x64)

Binary Package: SwitchCast-v1.3.0-win-x64.zip

Creator: John Christopher King Zamora

Website: https://switchcast.wasmer.app/

Repository: https://github.com/jczamora-git/SwitchCast

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🚀 Overview

SwitchCast v1.3.0 is a landmark feature and stability release. It expands SwitchCast's source capabilities to a unified 6-source presentation engine—adding PowerPoint Slide Decks (.pptx), Live PowerPoint Slideshows, and USB Webcams / Cameras alongside existing Window, Display, Image, and Video sources.

Furthermore, v1.3.0 delivers Smart External Display Automation, a production-grade Local Diagnostics & Error Reporting Subsystem, a dedicated centered Presenter Dock Confirmation Window, and resolves critical native lifecycle and AccessViolation crash scenarios upon presentation stops and floating dock dismissals.

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✨ What's New & Enhanced in v1.3.0

📊 PowerPoint Integration (Static Decks & Live Slideshows)

• Static .pptx Presentation Support: Import PowerPoint presentation files directly into the source library. High-resolution slides are extracted into an isolated local MD5-hashed cache for instantaneous rendering without COM latency.
• Persistent Slide Decks: Imported presentations are remembered persistently across sessions in UserSettings. Non-existent files are safely flagged as unavailable without destructive deletion.
• Slide State Continuity: SwitchCast tracks CurrentSlideIndex so switching away to video or camera and returning to PowerPoint resumes on the exact same slide.
• Attended Live PowerPoint Automation: Seamless integration with Microsoft PowerPoint COM automation (IPowerPointLiveService) in windowed slideshow mode (ppShowTypeWindow = 2), preventing slide decks from hijacking external displays.
• Adaptive Dock Slide Controls: The Floating Presenter Dock dynamically presents secondary slide navigation buttons (Previous Slide, Next Slide) and a live slide progress indicator (Slide X of Y).

📷 Camera & Webcam Integration

• Webcam Discovery & Hotplug Support: Automatic hardware enumeration via Windows Device Information Watchers for integrated webcams, USB capture cards, and virtual cameras.
• Native Video Frame Acquisition: Captures live frames via Windows.Media.Capture.MediaCapture and MediaFrameReader, rendering directly to the presentation output with automatic BGRA8 color space conversion and CPU/GPU fallback pipelines.
• Hardware Backpressure & Task Observation: Eliminates frame drops and UI freezes via bounded latest-frame-wins rendering and deterministic frame disposal.
• Privacy First: Cameras are only activated when taken live On-Air, cleanly releasing hardware handles upon source switching or presentation stops.

🖥️ Smart External Display Mode & Multi-Monitor Automation

• Automatic Display Detection: Discovers extended monitors, TVs, and conference room projectors using physical Win32 desktop geometry.
• HWND Preservation: Moves the existing PresentationWindow directly to the external display's work area without tearing down or recreating native HWNDs.
• Configurable Fullscreen: Optionally enters borderless fullscreen automatically on connected external displays (AutoFullscreenOnExternalDisplay), with automatic safe windowed recovery to primary workspace if disconnected.
• Presenter Workspace Isolation: Control Dashboard and Floating Presenter Dock strictly remain on the primary presenter screen.

🛠️ Production Local Diagnostics & Privacy-First Error Reporting

• Local Telemetry & Crash Watchdog: Captures structured diagnostic incidents (SC-YYYYMMDD-XXXXXXXX) with hex HRESULTS, thread IDs, stack traces, and OS environments into %LOCALAPPDATA%\SwitchCast\Logs.
• UI Hang Watchdog: Proactive background watchdog monitors UI thread message loop latency, identifying UI delays or freezes.
• Privacy Sanitization: Automatically scrubs Windows usernames ([USER]), user profiles, email addresses, and secrets before reporting.
• Startup Crash Banner & Error Dialog: Alerts presenters on startup if a prior session encountered a fault, providing a rich, non-intrusive diagnostic viewer dialog with one-click clipboard copying. Presentation output is never blocked.
• Zero Remote Telemetry: Strict local-only operation; zero cloud tracking, zero network telemetry, zero data egress.

🛡️ Critical Dock Lifecycle & Crash Recovery Hotfixes

• AccessViolationException on Dock Close Resolved: Decoupled PresenterDockConfirmationWindow from native Win32 GWLP_HWNDPARENT ownership tearing. Implemented clean asynchronous dialog dismantling before stopping presentations or destroying docks.
• Presentation Teardown Isolation: Fully detached DirectX composition textures, MediaPlayer, and compiled bindings before closing presentation windows, eliminating native DComp access violations.
• Centered Floating Dock Modal: Built a standalone, top-most modal window centered on the active display work area, eliminating focus traps and clipping.
• Responsive Settings & Dashboard Layout: Standardized layout containers with locked navigation columns, preventing horizontal shifts on maximized ultra-wide displays.
• Official Website Integration: Added direct website access to https://switchcast.wasmer.app/ in Settings.

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📥 Download & Installation

Windows x64 Standalone Package

• Package Archive: SwitchCast-v1.3.0-win-x64.zip
• SHA-256 Checksum: SwitchCast-v1.3.0-win-x64.sha256

How to Run:

1. Download SwitchCast-v1.3.0-win-x64.zip.

2. Extract the archive to any folder on your computer.

3. Launch SwitchCast.exe.

4. Zero external .NET runtimes or Visual Studio installations required (Self-Contained Windows App SDK package).

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🧪 Quality & Verification Summary

• Unit & Contract Tests: 379 passing automated tests (100% pass rate, 0 skipped, 0 failures).
• Target Platform Alignment: .NET 8 (net8.0-windows10.0.19041.0) on Windows App SDK 1.5.
• Compiler Health: 0 compiler errors, 0 compiler warnings on both Debug and Release configurations.
• Privacy & Telemetry: 100% offline, zero network telemetry, zero frame persistence.