DropIn Slideshow - Release Notes for Version 3

2026 January 7

Overview

This version adds features that users have requested, implements a platform change, and fixes some bugs.

One big change (for us) is that DropIn Slideshow version 3 is now implemented on the WinUI 3 platform. You will notice a few differences in the user interface presented, but for the most part, things look the same.

The WinUI 3 platform is currently favored by Microsoft for new applications, and DropIn Slideshow version 3 will be the only version available on the Microsoft store. If you upgrade to version 3 and then decide you really want your old version back, contact support@dcs works.com

New Features

Random Mode

You can now have the images in your slideshow displayed in pseudo-random order. To accomplish that, you need to use the Edit Page (formerly called the Edit Window). First, set up your slideshow as usual, by dropping images or loading from a .dsi file. Then, open the Edit page and click the checkbox "Show slides in random order." When you return to the slideshow, the slides will be shown in a random order.

In this random mode, your deck of slides will be "shuffled" then displayed. Each time your slide deck is exhausted, the deck will be shuffled into a new random order, and then displayed again. There is no danger of seeing a particular slide many times in a row, or not seeing a particular slide for a long time.

Note that internally, the slides are still saved in the same order you entered them, they will be just be presented on the screen in "shuffled" order. So, you can go back to Edit Page, uncheck the checkbox, and the slideshow will go back to normal.

Multiple instances of DropIn Slideshow

You can now have multiple instances of DropIn Slideshow running at once. This could be useful if you want to have two different slideshows in two different windows. Of course, if you set one of the instances to display in "full screen mode" you’ll only see one slide show.

If you use two different windows to show the same slideshow, you might find it confusing, so be careful. For example, if you use Window 2 to change your slideshow parameters, you won’t see any effect in Window 1. If you then use Window 2 to save the slideshow to a .dsi file, Window 1 still will not be affected. When you load a new slideshow from that .dsi file into Window 1, Window will reflect the changes. So, I’d suggest that you make changes only when you have one instance running.

Don’t Ask Again

The Rating Reminder Dialog Box has been changed. This dialog box pops up to remind you to rate the DropIn Slideshow app after you have displayed slides for 20 minutes -- and the again after 1 hour, 4 hours, and 16 hours – unless you click the new "Don’t Ask Again" button. Click it if you get tired of seeing that reminder.

Features that operate differently

The Edit Window Becomes the Edit Page

In prior versions of DropIn Slideshow, the Edit window was a separate window from the slideshow window. And, both windows could be visible at the same time. Now, there will be only one window per instance of DropIn Slideshow.

When you want to edit the slideshow, get the menu by right clicking or by whatever method you use on your machine. Then, click the Edit button (the icon with the pencil) and an Edit Page will appear. You can think of the Edit Page as overlaying the slideshow window. All the same controls appear that used to appear on the Edit Window now appear on the Edit Page, and they perform the same functions as before.

When you are done editing, click the left arrow at the top of the Edit page, or click the red button at the bottom of the Edit page. Either action will return to the Main Page – the slideshow.

Loading of Candidate images has changed

In prior versions of DropIn Slideshow, the location of the Candidates folder was automatically set to be the folder that contained the last image you dropped into the Main Page. And, then as soon as you opened the Edit Page, the Candidate images were automatically loaded and displayed. Now, the Candidate images will NOT be automatically loaded. The loading of unnecessary Candidate images slowed down the opening of the Edit Page, especially for users that had a lot of images in the slideshow (say more than 100) or a lot of large images (say more than 10 MB per image).

You can still use the Candidate images in the Edit page but now you must manually select the Candidates folder using the folder picker. Once you have specified the Candidates folder, the Candidates will be displayed in the Candidates “filmstrip” on the Edit Page. You can then drag and drop candidates from the Candidate filmstrip into the Slideshow filmstrip, as before.

Recording Your Slideshow

Unfortunately, recording your slideshow has become more of a "Do it yourself" project in this version of DropIn Slideshow. Before WinUI 3, I was able to get programmatic access to the Xbox Screen Recorder that is included in Windows. Now I can’t.

You can still use the Record the Slideshow button. Clicking that button will give you instructions about how to use the Xbox screen recorder. It provides Detailed instructions, and a simplified summary of instructions, The Record Dialog box also includes and a delay feature that can help you sync the beginning of your slide show to the start of recording.

Bug Fixes

There were some bugs that occurred intermittently when closing the Edit Window. The Main Window could get merged with the Edit Window or the entire app might hang. These problems have been addressed by the new Edit Page architecture used with WinUI 3.

Tips

Launching a saved slideshow via a .dsi file

As in previous versions of DropIn Slideshow, you can double click on a saved .dsi file to launch the app and have it start showing the saved slideshow.

Best location for Images and .dsi files

The best location for your saved slideshow image files, and for your saved .dsi files, is in a subfolder under the Pictures folder. Earlier versions of DropIn Slideshow (before version 3) may not have permission to open image files that are not located in the Pictures folder hierarchy.

DropIn Slideshow always has permission to open files located in the Pictures folder hierarchy.