An Encrypted Picture is Worth A Thousand Notes 🖼️

We're excited to announce the release of White Noise v0.2.0! This update brings a host of new features, improvements, and bug fixes to enhance your experience. Here's a comprehensive summary of the changes since the latest tagged release v0.1.4 (released on September 22, 2025):

🚀 Major New Features

Media Support & File Sharing

• Complete media upload system: Added ability to upload and send images through chat messages.
• Blossom server integration: Implemented optimistic media uploads to Blossom servers for decentralized file storage.
• Media preview & thumbnails: Added image previews, thumbnails, and media galleries within chat messages.
• Media reply functionality: Users can now reply to messages containing media with preview support.
• Image modal viewer: Full-screen image viewing with scroll support.
• Media file management: Complete media file upload model with upload states (uploading, uploaded, failed).

Background Sync & Notifications

• Background sync service: Added WorkManager-based background synchronization for messages and invites.
• Foreground task service: Implemented foreground service for real-time message syncing (currently 1-second polling).
• Push notifications: Added notification system for new messages and group invites when the app is in the background.
• Notification permissions: Added proper notification permission requests on the contact list screen.
• Android notification icons: Added proper notification icons for different screen densities.

Internationalization (i18n)

• Multi-language support: Added comprehensive localization system supporting 8 languages:
  • English (en)
  • German (de)
  • Spanish (es)
  • French (fr)
  • Italian (it)
  • Portuguese (pt)
  • Russian (ru)
  • Turkish (tr)
• Language selection: Added language picker in settings with system default option.

Group Management Enhancements

• Add members to existing groups: Users can now add new members to existing group chats.
• Group image management: Added ability to upload and update group profile images from group settings.
• Group avatars in messages: Added user avatars display in group chat messages for better identification.

🔧 Improvements & Fixes

UI/UX Enhancements

• Chat input improvements: Enhanced message draft logic and chat input functionality.
• Message positioning fixes: Fixed message bubble jumping and positioning issues in reaction context menus.
• Haptic feedback: Improved haptic feedback for chat context menus.
• Keyboard handling: Fixed keyboard covering text fields and improved keyboard-aware scrolling.
• Header pinning: Pinned navigation headers in auth flow screens when the keyboard is open.
• Bottom sheet improvements: Fixed start chat button cut-off and other bottom sheet UI issues.
• Status bar visibility: Fixed status bar icons invisibility on auth screens (iOS and Android).

Performance & Stability

• Chat loading optimizations: Improved chat loading performance and reduced delays.
• Group image path optimization: Optimized group image path loading and DM header rendering.
• Message sync improvements: Enhanced message synchronization and reduced duplicate processing.
• Draft message system: Improved message draft saving and restoration logic.

Bug Fixes

• Group updates: Fixed group name and description updates not reflecting in real-time for other group members.
• DM creation: Fixed 2-user group creation when DM already exists.
• Profile image upload: Fixed broken profile image upload functionality.
• Double rendering: Fixed double rendering issue for some messages.
• Notification polling: Optimized notification polling intervals for better battery life.

Code Quality & Architecture

• Metadata cache removal: Removed metadata cache provider for simplified architecture.
• Contact → User Profile: Renamed "contact" terminology to "user profile" throughout the app.
• Rust crate updates: Updated whitenoise and mdk crates with latest improvements.
• Edition 2024: Updated Rust code to use Rust Edition 2024.
• Test improvements: Enhanced test coverage for draft message service and other components.

🛠️ Development & Build System

• Android build improvements: Added justfile commands for building test APKs for android-arm64.
• Kotlin plugin update: Updated Kotlin Android plugin from 1.8.22 to 2.2.20.
• Zapstore configuration: Updated zapstore publishing configuration.

📊 Statistics

• 60+ commits since v0.1.4.
• Major contributors: @codeswot, @josefinalliende, @untreu2, @Quwaysim, @jgmontoya, @erskingardner, @vladimir-krstic
• Timeframe: September 22, 2025 to November 5, 2025 (approximately 6 weeks of development).