Third beta of Bare 2.0 for Android, based on Chromium 156.0.8078.73. It is a pre-release. The series is now 217 patches. Beta.2 was on 156.0.8078.25, so this build also moves to the newer Chromium.
Which APK to download
For most phones, download Bare-2.0.0-beta.3-arm64-v8a.apk. Use Bare-2.0.0-beta.3-armeabi-v7a.apk only on 32-bit ARM devices. Bare runs on Android 10 or later. There is no x86 build.
Installing and updating
Install over Bare 2.0.0-beta.2 or beta.1 and do not uninstall first. This build has the same package name and signing key and a higher version number, so Android should treat it as an update that keeps your data. I have not tested moving between the Google Play build and this one. If you want to be safe, export your bookmarks first.
The GitHub build checks for updates. The Google Play build does not. After you update, Bare shows a short Updated screen once, with a link to what changed.
What's new since 2.0.0-beta.2
Toolbar
- Settings has a Toolbar page. It has a layout preview, the Minimal address bar switch, and Keep toolbar visible, which keeps the toolbar on screen while you scroll in both layouts. Below that are the button shortcuts: tap a button in the preview to choose what it does.
- Menu on the left swaps the menu and the first button. The tabs sidebar then opens from the right edge, and the menu opens from the left. It applies to the full layout; the minimal one-row layout is unchanged.
- Scrolling right after a page loads now folds the bars, and so does scrolling soon after the keyboard or a tab change. Before, they stayed up for a few seconds.
- The extensions icon no longer overlaps the address bar text.
Tabs and new tabs
- A new tab opened from the button, the menu or the keyboard starts with the address bar focused and the keyboard up.
- Dragging the tabs sidebar closed follows your finger more closely, with a small tick when it folds.
- Touch and hold the address bar on the new tab page for its menu. Copy link is not offered there.
- With the bottom address bar, the suggestion list keeps a gap above the bottom bar when the keyboard is down.
Updates
- The Updated screen after an install lists what changed and the Chromium version.
Beta limits
This is a beta and has not been tested across a wide range of phones. The toolbar changes touch every layout, so tell me if a button or the bars behave strangely. The README network section still describes 1.0.0 and has not been captured again for 2.0.
Verifying the download
SHA256SUMS.txt has the SHA-256 of each APK. They are signed with Bare's release key, the same one as 1.0.1. apksigner verify --print-certs should show the certificate SHA-256 ae2a0e7fb7a132ec517d26a8e7c83d275e83747b0a777d4a42225b1d343271a0.
Contact
Problems and questions: support@barebrowser.org. Please include your device, Android version and what you were doing.