Archiver (formerly Rucksack)

Archiver (originally known as Rucksack) is a highly-rated, utility application designed exclusively for macOS to simplify and enhance the process of file compression, decompression, and security. It serves as a comprehensive archive manager that goes well beyond the basic built-in macOS compression tools, offering extensive format compatibility, advanced security features, and a seamless drag-and-drop workflow.

The application’s central goal is to make working with compressed files effortless, whether the user is trying to free up disk space, send large attachments, or protect sensitive data.

Core Functionality and Format Mastery

Archiver is defined by its versatile ability to handle nearly every major archive format, supporting both creation and extraction:

• Compression and Creation: Users can compress files and folders into popular formats such as $\text{Zip}$ and ¹⁴$\text{7zip}$. While $\text{RAR}$ file creation is supported, it often requires a separate plugin and is restricted in the Mac App Store version due to Apple’s sandbox rules, necessitating the direct download version for full functionality.¹⁷

• Drag & Drop Workflow: The interface is streamlined around a simple Drag & Drop action. Users can simply drag files onto the application window or icon to initiate compression or drag archive files onto it for extraction.

Advanced Features for Security and Workflow

Archiver includes several advanced features that cater to the needs of professional and privacy-conscious users:

• Security and Encryption: A major benefit is the ability to secure sensitive data by creating encrypted, password-protected archives. Archiver uses strong standards like $\text{AES-256}$ encryption for $\text{7zip}$ archives, ensuring privacy and peace of mind when sharing confidential files.

• Quick Preview and Selective Extraction: Users can leverage a built-in quick preview (similar to macOS's QuickLook) to examine the contents of an archive without having to extract the entire file. This saves significant time and disk space by allowing the user to select and unzip only the specific files they need.

• Splitting and Combining: For managing extremely large files that exceed email attachment limits or disk capacity, Archiver features tools to split archives into smaller, manageable chunks of a desired size.²⁵ Conversely, it can also combine split archives back into the original file.²⁶

• Customization: The application allows customization of compression levels (trading smaller file size for longer processing time), setting default output folders, and choosing options like automatically deleting the original archive file after a successful extraction.