This alpha focuses on a more adaptable interface, better keyboard and mouse support, safer app links, and improved reliability across different screen sizes.
Highlights
- A new responsive layout for phones, tablets, desktop windows, split-screen mode, and foldable devices.
- Customizable keyboard shortcuts for common browser actions.
- More powerful gesture controls with additional actions and easier customization.
- Safer and clearer links that open in other apps.
- Resizable side tab panels for larger screens.
- More reliable tab switching, suggestions, thumbnails, and page state.
Adaptive Layout
- The tab bar can now automatically move to a side panel on larger screens while remaining at the bottom on phones.
- Side panels can be resized, collapsed into a compact icon rail, or automatically hidden while using a mouse or trackpad.
- Wide side panels show tab titles, close buttons, browser controls, and multiple tab groups more naturally.
- Dialogs, menus, and settings pages are now sized more comfortably on tablets and desktop windows.
- Foldable devices place dialogs and sheets on the most useful side of the screen.
- Tab grids now adapt to the available space instead of using a fixed layout.
- Settings and other content no longer stretch excessively across very wide screens.
Tabs and Organization
- Tab group headers can now be expanded or collapsed without switching away from the current tab.
- Multiple tab groups can remain open at the same time on wide screens.
- Tabs can be reordered within a group or moved between containers by dragging.
- Reordering now explains when it is unavailable because a tab list is filtered or being searched.
- Wide side panels provide a more desktop-like tab list with readable titles.
- Tab selection and group expansion are more reliable when switching tabs quickly or moving tabs between containers.
Keyboard Shortcuts
- Added a new Settings > Keyboard Shortcuts screen.
- Common browser shortcuts are available for actions such as:
- Opening and closing tabs
- Switching between tabs
- Reloading pages
- Moving tabs
- Opening history, bookmarks, downloads, and settings
- Finding text on a page
- Adjusting text size
- Bookmarking pages
- Opening private tabs
- Shortcuts continue to work while a web page has focus.
- Shortcuts can be added, changed, removed, reassigned, or restored to their defaults.
- Browser menus can show shortcut hints when using a hardware keyboard or mouse.
Gestures
- Gestures and keyboard shortcuts now use the same browser actions.
- More browser actions can be assigned to gestures, including tab management, navigation, page tools, container switching, and opening browser screens.
- Gesture bindings can be added, edited, removed, or restored to their defaults.
- Gesture feedback and timing controls remain customizable.
- Gesture and keyboard shortcut settings are included in WebLibre settings snapshots.
App Links
- Links that can open in another app now provide clearer prompts showing the destination and the link being opened.
- Links from protected, private, or wallet-related contexts require explicit confirmation and cannot silently open another app.
- App-link prompts are less likely to become stuck, disappear unexpectedly, or act on a tab that has already been closed.
- When several apps can handle a link, the chooser avoids sending the link back to WebLibre or another browser.
- Remembered choices remain tied to the app you originally selected. If that app is removed or the available apps change, WebLibre asks again instead of silently choosing a different app.
- App-link choices for isolated containers are now easier to find and review.
- Missing apps and failed launches fall back more safely without repeatedly reloading or prompting.
- Sign-in and app callback links are handled more reliably.
Mouse and Trackpad Support
- Scrolling now affects the open menu or panel instead of the page underneath it.
- Side panels can be resized with the mouse.
- Cursor shapes and pointer handling are more consistent over web content and browser controls.
- Hardware keyboard input reaches web pages correctly when it is not a browser shortcut.
Reliability Improvements
- Fast typing in the address bar is less likely to display outdated suggestions.
- Tab titles, icons, and thumbnails are less likely to show stale information after rapid changes or session restoration.
- Resizing or temporarily minimizing a window is less likely to cause unnecessary page reloads.
- Closing and reopening tabs is more reliable.
- Desktop-mode navigation avoids unnecessary reloads when moving between pages.
- Extension icons and browser events are less likely to arrive out of order.
Upgrade Notes
- This is an alpha release and may contain unfinished behavior.
- If you customized gesture bindings in an earlier version, review them under Settings > Gestures > Gesture bindings. Existing custom assignments may need to be recreated in this alpha.
- On larger screens, the new Automatic tab-bar setting may place tabs in a side panel. You can select a fixed position under Settings > Toolbar & Layout if preferred.