Punakea

Just a warning that the download is for an uncompiled folder. To get it to work you will need to use Xcode to create the app.

I've used Punakea for a couple of years now – and it's an important part of my workflow. What Punakea does good and does right – it's simple & fast. Say you have a file on your desktop – just drag it to the Punakea panel and Punakea store your file with the tags you add and remove it from the desktop. Even if you have your Punakea folder on an external hard disk. It doesn't get much easier to store a file... or find it again. No need to dive down an endless hitachi of files and folders – search through the MacOS Sportlight or Punakea.

I paid $12.95 on 2.2.2011 as a MacUpdate Promo. Now for a simple update from version 1.1.6 I must pay $14.99 at the Mac App Store. This is a rip off! I will never do business with this software company again! There are better options.

I don't think it is such a bad thing that the developer is charging again for this product at the MAS. The product was priced quite low to begin with and was even almost being given away in several bundle deals. I do however take huge issue with the fact that the software has turned into vaporware. HoudahSpot is continually been adding welcome new features while Punakea has just been sitting there. Getting a powerful app is a much bigger deal to me then how much I pay for it.

I agree with the people who commented on the switch to the App Store. That's a pretty shitty move by the developers, especially since the app hadn't seen any updates in a long time. No wonder they are lowering the price to $10. I would look at other OpenMeta taggers. Somebody said that they could have called it version 2 and be done with it. Sure, if they had added any significant features. Only minor work has been done to get it to comply with the App Store rules, not more. The 1.2.1 version of the app is essentially the same as the 1.1.6 one, hence the similarity in version numbers. I paid for the app, but will not "upgrade", not even for $10. I'd rather spend extra cash on a new tagger.

Beware of people who treat their customers and early adopters badly — not a good sign for the future.

Wow, paid for it this past August; now I have to pay for it again...with no upgrade path?!

AVOID AT ALL COSTS, AFTER RECENTLY WASTING $25 NOW THEY WANT $10 MORE FOR A SIMPLE UPDATE (BY MOVING TO APP STORE AS THEY ONLY WAY TO UPDATE). AWFUL CUSTOMER SERVICE. I'M DELETING THIS APP AND WRITING OFF MY $25. TRY TAGS INSTEAD, A MUCH BETTER MORE EFFICIENT APP WHICH DOES THE SAME THING.

When you go to update Punakea, the updater simply gives you this sole option: VERSION 1.2.1 (BUILD 1786) - FEB 10, 2012 Punakea is now exclusively available on the Mac App Store. Follow this link to proceed to the App Store. The update mechanism you are currently using is no longer supported. Future Punakea versions are now MAS only, including v1.2.1.

I bought Punakea early after it came out of beta and was available for purchase. I'd used Leap and wanted a tool with similar functionality and wanted to support a startup company. Punakea was lightweight and I thought good initially. That said, I found quickly that it can't (for me) handle more then 2 or 3 tags attached to too many files and/or too many files of one tag (I would have it crash when trying to tag 40 or so PDFs or when I was removing tags, it would often crash). I did email the developers who were as helpful as was possible; but my issues continued. I have removed Punakea, all related files and re-installed it, no change. Also, there were numerous times where I would remove a tag, then quit the application and go back a week or two later to find the tag back. This and the fact that for my usage pattern, Punakea isn't want I wanted, has lead me to remove Punakea and continue to search for a potential replacement. Sofar, the best I have found, it the Finder's SmartSearchs; they aren't perfect and not as nuanced, though the Finder doesn't crash on me and I can find files faster then I could with Punakea (also, having to maintain the org structure of the tags was a pain). It wasn't right for me; but might be for another.

This app is currently crashing right away when launching, when it says "updating tags folder" or somethingsomething. I sent an eMail to support yesterday. Lets hope this bug is getting fixed soon.

While a nice idea, in practice it has flaws and limitations. Notice that it includes a "Rebuild Database" command in a pull down menu by itself. That is because Punakea does not play well with other taggers nor metadata in spotlight. Also notice the punakea folder it places within the Documents folder, it is filled with hundreds of aliases used to image the tag browser, not a good practice and depends too much on spotlight's indexing to update, and gives misleading results (like indicating tags that don't' work, not updating tag name changes and so on). It is quite primitive in my opinion with an elegant interface which does not update very well. Too many deficiences for $25!!

Punakea- tagging was never easier!

Nice idea and will probably prove very useful, but I wish I could get the developers to recognize my serial number (purchased through the latest MUPromo). Still tells me the serial number is invalid! So I'm stuck in Trial Mode ...

To Punakea's developers, hoping that they are reading this during the Mac Promo: - Lion compatibility? - Future upgrade plans (seeing that there have been some unhappy MacUpdate customers recently who bought software on Mac Promo, only to be hit by a paid upgrade a few weeks later) ? Thanks for taking the time to reply!

I purchased this great app a few years ago and am still using it today. I love the way it allows you to drag a file directly into the sidebar (which stays hidden until you need it) and then tag it with one or more tags. Makes tagging fast and convenient.

Great app for tagging your files!!

still using punakea since it came out, still love it! another thumbs up!!

This is a fantastic application, it makes finding and managing files so so easy, I really love the linked cloud style of working through the tags to narrow down the file you want. The only downside is that it doesn't work for files which are stored on a network drive (such as an Airdisk), if this functionality was added It would be 100% perfect.

No more PowerPC support? :( Does Punakea rely on Snow Leopard features now?