chore(release): prep 7.18.1 - a quiet consumer that is still playing is not a backpressure wedge

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Mf4MXgM9bqugHoe5TW4BYf

Author: Vincent Herbst

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@ the public-API contract.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+_Nothing yet._
+
+## [7.18.1] - 2026-09-26
+
 ### Fixed
 
 - **A VOD consumer that goes quiet while it keeps playing no longer trips the #65 wedge breaker.**

Examples/README.md

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ Three samples covering different audiences:
    ```
    https://github.com/superuser404notfound/AetherEngine
    ```
-   Dependency Rule: Up to Next Major Version, starting from `7.18.0`. Add the `AetherEngine` library product to your app target.
+   Dependency Rule: Up to Next Major Version, starting from `7.18.1`. Add the `AetherEngine` library product to your app target.
 
 3. **Drop the file in.** Replace the Xcode template's default `App.swift` (or whatever the generated `@main` file is called) with the contents of [`MinimalPlayerApp.swift`](MinimalPlayer/MinimalPlayerApp.swift). The file is self-contained: it defines both the `@main App` struct and the `ContentView`.
 

README.md

@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@ Subtitle cues land in raw source PTS; render the overlay against `player.sourceT
 Install via Swift Package Manager:
 
 ```swift
-.package(url: "https://github.com/superuser404notfound/AetherEngine", from: "7.18.0")
+.package(url: "https://github.com/superuser404notfound/AetherEngine", from: "7.18.1")
 ```
 
 Three samples ship in `Examples/`:
@@ -631,10 +631,10 @@ Browse all of this as a searchable site at **[aetherengine.superuser404.de](http
 AetherEngine uses [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org). The public API surface, every `public` declaration in `Sources/AetherEngine/`, is the stability contract. **Major** removes / renames public symbols or breaks adopters; **Minor** adds public API or codec / format support; **Patch** fixes bugs with no public API change. `internal` types are not part of the contract.
 
 ```swift
-.package(url: "https://github.com/superuser404notfound/AetherEngine", from: "7.18.0")
+.package(url: "https://github.com/superuser404notfound/AetherEngine", from: "7.18.1")
 ```
 
-Pin to `.upToNextMinor(from: "7.18.0")` for stricter teams that prefer to opt into minor bumps explicitly.
+Pin to `.upToNextMinor(from: "7.18.1")` for stricter teams that prefer to opt into minor bumps explicitly.
 
 ## Requirements
 

Sources/AetherEngine/AetherEngine+Version.swift

@@ -11,5 +11,5 @@ extension AetherEngine {
     ///
     /// Between releases, and in a consumer that pins an unreleased commit for a device test, this
     /// names the last PUBLISHED version the checkout descends from, not every patch in it.
-    public nonisolated static let version = "7.18.0"
+    public nonisolated static let version = "7.18.1"
 }