@@ -41,6 +41,22 @@
 
 ## Changelog
 
+### v1.4.4 — 2026-05-02
+
+- **Auto-update toggle.** New "Updates" section in **Settings** lets the user enable or disable automatic update downloads, and exposes a **Check for updates now** button. The preference persists to `<userData>/auto-update.json`. When enabled, the existing `electron-updater` flow runs on launch and prompts for restart when an update is ready; when disabled, the app stays on the installed version until the user manually checks. (`main.js`, `preload.js`, `renderer/inventory.js`)
+- **Settings panel rebuilt.** The old card-in-card layout was replaced by a single flat panel with hairline-separated sections — **Updates / Data / Tools / About** — and inline collapsibles for Data and Tools. The "Export" button became "Settings" (gear icon) and the API URL is now exposed as a read-only field with a one-click **Copy** button.
+- **macOS app name fix.** `app.setName('Tiger Studio Manager')` is set before `whenReady` so the About menu, Cmd+Q, and the dock all read the proper product name instead of `tigertag-inventory`. (`main.js`)
+- **Top header KPI stats.** The 4 stat tiles (Spools / Stock / TigerTag / TigerTag+) moved from the sidebar to the top of the main pane, replacing the old title block. They now greet the user with at-a-glance numbers immediately on load.
+- **Status icons always pinned to the right.** TD1S / Scale / Cloud (and the optional RFID pill) now always sit at the far-right of the top header via `margin-left: auto`, regardless of whether the stats wrap is visible. They no longer drift to the left when stats are hidden during initial load.
+- **Storage — `EMPTY` stat for depleted spools.** A new tile counts spools whose remaining weight is 0 g. The two existing labels were renamed to remove a confusion users were running into: slot **"Empty"** → **"Free"** (a free spot in a rack), and spool **"Depleted"** → **"Empty"** (a spool with no filament left). German/French/Spanish/Italian/Polish/Portuguese/Chinese updated in the same edit.
+- **Spool detail — Storage location row.** A new section in the spool side panel shows `Rack name · A3` for spools that are placed, and a single **Auto-assign** button for spools that are not. Clicking the location row closes the side panel, switches to the Storage view, and pre-fills the search field with the spool's UID so the slot is found instantly. The auto-assign button places the spool into the next available slot in one click.
+- **Auto Storage + Auto Unstorage** toggles in the "Spools not stored" sidecard. When auto storage is on, every newly-detected spool that has no rack assignment is placed automatically; when auto unstorage is on, any spool whose weight drops to 0 g is removed from its slot automatically. Both run snapshot-driven with an `_inFlight` flag so they can't loop.
+- **Depleted spools now visible in racks.** Spools at 0 g previously showed `height: 0%` and looked invisible. They now display a 6 px coloured strip plus a "0 g" tag inside their slot, so the user can still see the spool occupies that position. Search hits also get a positive orange ring + animated glow on the matching slot, instead of relying solely on dimming the non-matches.
+- **Sidebar — friends quick-access list.** Friends now appear under the **Friends** button in the sidebar as flat rows (avatar + display name), and as avatar-only circles when the sidebar is collapsed. Click switches the inventory view to that friend's read-only inventory; click again to go back to your own view. The list shows a body-appended floating tooltip on hover in collapsed mode (escapes the sidebar's `overflow: hidden`).
+- **Sidebar — user header redesign.** The user avatar moved from a centered column to a horizontal row: avatar on the left, "Welcome back" + display name stacked to its right. Reads cleaner and matches the friend chip layout below.
+- **Readable initials on light avatar colours.** Initials previously rendered white-on-white when a user picked a near-white custom colour. A new `readableTextOn(bg)` helper computes WCAG relative luminance via a 1×1 canvas and switches the text to `#1a1a1a` on light backgrounds. Applied across all 10 avatar render sites (sidebar, dropdowns, friend chips, profile modal, friends panel, blocklist, friend-request preview, friend-view banner, edit-account modal). Cached per colour for negligible cost.
+- **Display name prompt — race condition fix.** On first login, the prompt sometimes fired even when Firestore already had a display name, because `syncUserDoc` was reading from cache. Now uses `{ source: "server" }` plus a 1-second grace period that re-fetches from Firestore before prompting, so users with an existing pseudo are no longer asked again.
+
 ### v1.4.3 — 2026-05-02
 
 - **Storage view — major UX overhaul.** The rack management screen has been restructured around a dense, scannable toolbar and tighter spatial logic so users with a dozen+ racks can navigate at a glance.
@@ -171,8 +187,8 @@ Built installers are placed in the `dist/` folder (ignored by git).
 Pushing a version tag automatically triggers a parallel build on **macOS, Windows, and Linux** and publishes a GitHub Release with the installers attached.
 
 ```bash
-git tag v1.4.2
-git push origin v1.4.2
+git tag v1.4.4
+git push origin v1.4.4
 ```
 
 | Platform | Output | Signed? |
 
@@ -6,6 +6,15 @@ const http = require('http');
 const crypto = require('crypto');
 const db = require('./services/tigertagDbService');
 
+// ── App display name (macOS menu bar, About dialog, Dock, etc.)
+// package.json `name` is "tigertag-inventory" (npm-friendly slug). Force the
+// human-readable product name so macOS shows "Tiger Studio Manager" in:
+//   - app menu (Apple menu → "About Tiger Studio Manager", "Quit Tiger Studio Manager")
+//   - Dock tooltip
+//   - Window menu items
+// Must be called BEFORE app.whenReady() / before any window is created.
+app.setName('Tiger Studio Manager');
+
 // ── Single-instance lock ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 // Prevent multiple Electron processes from sharing the same userData directory
 // (which would deadlock IndexedDB / LevelDB — Firebase Auth, image cache, etc.).
@@ -429,24 +438,86 @@ function initTD1S() {
   td1sConnect();
 }
 
-// ── Auto-updater
-function initUpdater() {
-  autoUpdater.checkForUpdatesAndNotify();
+// ── Auto-updater preference ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+// Persisted in <userData>/auto-update.json so it survives across launches
+// and is read at startup BEFORE the renderer has had a chance to send its
+// localStorage value. Renderer can override at runtime via 'update:set-auto'.
+const _autoUpdatePrefsPath = () => path.join(app.getPath('userData'), 'auto-update.json');
+function readAutoUpdatePref() {
+  try {
+    const raw = fs.readFileSync(_autoUpdatePrefsPath(), 'utf8');
+    const obj = JSON.parse(raw);
+    return obj.enabled !== false;     // default ON if file missing or malformed
+  } catch (_) {
+    return true;
+  }
+}
+function writeAutoUpdatePref(enabled) {
+  try {
+    fs.writeFileSync(_autoUpdatePrefsPath(),
+      JSON.stringify({ enabled: !!enabled }, null, 2));
+  } catch (e) {
+    console.warn('[updater] failed to write pref:', e.message);
+  }
+}
 
-  autoUpdater.on('update-available', () => {
-    mainWindow?.webContents.send('update-status', { status: 'available' });
+// ── Auto-updater
+// Lifecycle events are wired ONCE here; the actual check is gated by the
+// stored preference and can be re-triggered manually via 'update:check-now'.
+let _updaterEventsWired = false;
+function wireUpdaterEvents() {
+  if (_updaterEventsWired) return;
+  _updaterEventsWired = true;
+  autoUpdater.on('checking-for-update', () => {
+    mainWindow?.webContents.send('update-status', { status: 'checking' });
   });
-
-  autoUpdater.on('update-downloaded', () => {
-    mainWindow?.webContents.send('update-status', { status: 'ready' });
+  autoUpdater.on('update-available', (info) => {
+    mainWindow?.webContents.send('update-status', { status: 'available', version: info?.version });
+  });
+  autoUpdater.on('update-not-available', () => {
+    mainWindow?.webContents.send('update-status', { status: 'up-to-date' });
+  });
+  autoUpdater.on('update-downloaded', (info) => {
+    mainWindow?.webContents.send('update-status', { status: 'ready', version: info?.version });
   });
+  autoUpdater.on('error', (err) => {
+    mainWindow?.webContents.send('update-status', { status: 'error', error: err?.message || String(err) });
+  });
+}
+
+function initUpdater() {
+  wireUpdaterEvents();
+  if (!readAutoUpdatePref()) {
+    console.log('[updater] auto-update disabled by user preference — skipping startup check');
+    return;
+  }
+  autoUpdater.checkForUpdatesAndNotify();
 }
 
 // IPC: renderer asks to install downloaded update
 ipcMain.on('install-update', () => {
   autoUpdater.quitAndInstall();
 });
 
+// IPC: renderer flips the auto-update preference (persisted to disk)
+ipcMain.on('update:set-auto', (_evt, enabled) => {
+  writeAutoUpdatePref(enabled);
+  console.log(`[updater] auto-update preference set to ${!!enabled}`);
+});
+
+// IPC: renderer triggers a manual update check (regardless of the
+// auto-update preference — explicit user action). Resolves with the
+// outcome so the UI can show "Checking…" / "Up to date" / etc.
+ipcMain.handle('update:check-now', async () => {
+  wireUpdaterEvents();
+  try {
+    await autoUpdater.checkForUpdates();
+    return { ok: true };
+  } catch (e) {
+    return { ok: false, error: e?.message || String(e) };
+  }
+});
+
 // ── Image cache IPC handler ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
 ipcMain.handle('img:get', async (_, url) => {
   if (!url || url === '--') return null;
 
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "tigertag-inventory",
-  "version": "1.4.3",
+  "version": "1.4.4",
   "description": "Tiger Studio Manager — desktop app",
   "main": "main.js",
   "engines": {
 
@@ -30,6 +30,15 @@ contextBridge.exposeInMainWorld('electronAPI', {
   // Ask main process to install the downloaded update and restart
   installUpdate: () => ipcRenderer.send('install-update'),
 
+  // ── Auto-update preference (ON by default) ─────────────────────────────
+  // Renderer toggles auto-update at runtime. Main process honours it on
+  // startup and on subsequent manual checks.
+  setAutoUpdate: (enabled) => ipcRenderer.send('update:set-auto', !!enabled),
+
+  // Manually trigger an update check (used by "Check for updates" button).
+  // Resolves with { ok: true } or { ok: false, error: "…" }.
+  checkForUpdates: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('update:check-now'),
+
   // ── App info (version / platform — used by the diagnostic report) ──────
   getAppInfo: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('app:info'),
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
`@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@`
`1`	`1`	`{`
`2`	`2`	`"name": "tigertag-inventory",`
`3`		`- "version": "1.4.3",`
	`3`	`+ "version": "1.4.4",`
`4`	`4`	`"description": "Tiger Studio Manager — desktop app",`
`5`	`5`	`"main": "main.js",`
`6`	`6`	`"engines": {`