NovaBird 2.0 – Release Candidate 1. First release candidate of 2.0, after a full code review and security test. Please back up your Thunderbird profile first and report what you find (issues). Installs over Beta 1 to 4; settings and index are kept.
New since Beta 4
- Security: the attachment preview no longer loads addresses from a mail. A crafted mail could make Thunderbird load a web address while the mouse moved over it – also with remote content blocked, so the sender could see that and when the mail was read. The preview now only shows real attachments (and local files), never web addresses or network shares.
- Safer pairing with the Helper (Helper 0.5.2). Pairing without typing the code now uses a second protocol version: a third party in the network can no longer steer the 6-digit number, and Thunderbird only connects after you click "Number matches" there as well. Update the Helper to 0.5.2 and all NovaBird add-ons together – the new Helper refuses the old pairing (and NovaBird Mail for Android needs its next version for pairing; entering address and code by hand works with every version). Already connected PCs and phones stay connected.
- Conversation view (0.15.9): new "Collapse" button in the pinned newest message – more room for reading older mails of the thread. Plus fixes: a crafted mail could freeze the view, the reading pane stayed empty after deleting in a two-mail conversation, previews could show CSS text.
- Search: a search for only a time hint ("damals", "back then") showed all mail; "constructor" in a search broke the bar; the tab of the hit list now has a translated title (issue #7).
- Settings: the Add-ons Manager header is no longer see-through when scrolling (issue #8); long drop-down lists no longer stick out of their box in narrow windows (Send 1.0.5).
- Tested on Thunderbird 153 ESR and 160: all settings pages (German on both, on 160 also dark and in English, French and Spanish), 323 crafted mails through the conversation view, Helper security test (89 attacks plus 22 checks on pairing, all repelled). Details: security test.
Everything new in 2.0 is on the start page of the 2.0 branch, the full list in the changelog. Android: download (APK) · repository
Files
| File | |
|---|---|
novabird-search-2.0.0.xpi
| Search bar, index, search by meaning (replaces the old NovaBird-Search and NovaBird-DB) |
novabird-extension-2.0.0.xpi
| Message list, right pane, themes, Nova-Contact, AI assistant, settings |
novabird-conversation-0.15.9.xpi
| Whole threads in the reading pane |
novabird-send-1.0.5.xpi
| Undo send |
NovaBird-Helper-0.5.2-win-x64.exe
| Optional Windows program, one file, no .NET needed |
NovaBird-2.0.0-rc1-all.zip
| Everything above in one file |
SHA256SUMS.txt
| Checksums |
Install
- Betterbird or Thunderbird ESR 128 or newer (the add-ons use experiment APIs, which do not run in the monthly release).
- Add-ons manager → gear → Install Add-on From File…, select the
.xpifiles, restart. - Coming from 1.x: install over the old packages. The old NovaBird-Search and the theme add-ons are taken over and removed on the first start; settings, search history, index and theme are kept.
- The setup assistant opens on the first start. Every step can be skipped. For the Helper see the quick guide; to update it, double-click the new
nbhelper.exe→ "replace?" → Yes.
Unsigned builds. Unofficial, experimental, use at your own risk – see the disclaimer. Online updates do not offer this release candidate; it is installed from file only.