DPX AppDock v1.0.0

DPX AppDock 1.0.0

Release date: 2026-05-31

First public release of DPX AppDock - a lightweight Windows dock for apps, folders, files, and web shortcuts.

Highlights

• Matte dark dock with accent edge, auto-hide, per-monitor placement, and rounded corner styling
• Right-click dock surface for shortcuts, groups, lock, theme, and settings (centered menu separator)
• Expandable group dock bar beside the main dock (centered on the group icon) with drag-and-drop into/out of groups
• Group folder badge on collapsed group icons
• Default shortcuts on first run: AppDock Settings, website, and Discord (all removable)
• 5-page welcome guide on first launch (reopen from Settings → General)
• In-app updates with SHA-256 verification, mandatory-update support, and bundled updater
• Full settings + layout backup export/import

Dock & shortcuts

• Application, folder, file, and URL shortcuts with optional global hotkeys
• Dock groups with inline expand bar; click outside the dock to collapse
• Drag to reorder; drag outside the dock to remove
• Drag from Explorer onto the dock to add items
• Drag shortcuts into, out of, and within expanded groups
• Right-click: launch, edit, duplicate, remove (edit actions disabled when dock is locked)
• Custom icon per shortcut (any common image format, or extract from an app/shortcut)
• URL shortcuts attempt site favicons when no custom icon is set
• Running indicators for application shortcuts
• Along-edge placement (0-100% slider) plus top/bottom/left/right screen edge
• Auto orientation (vertical on left/right edges, horizontal on top/bottom) with manual override
• Auto-hide with fade animation on the dock’s edge and monitor only
• Save & add another when adding shortcuts

Settings & onboarding

• Settings: General, Position, Interaction, Appearance, Backup, About
• Settings, edit-group, and confirm dialogs open beside the dock (not over it)
• Live preview while editing dock appearance
• Multi-page welcome guide (centered on first launch)
• Copy diagnostic info in About for support

Security

• Updates require a valid SHA-256 hash in the manifest (downloads fail without it)
• Update packages must download over HTTPS from trusted GitHub hosts
• URL shortcuts limited to http/https (plus recognized dpx-appdock://settings)
• Unknown internal URLs are blocked at launch
• Layout/backup import: confirmation, file size cap, item count cap, nesting depth limit
• Global hotkeys must include a modifier (Ctrl, Alt, Shift, or Win)
• Custom icon paths validated (no UNC paths; local files only)

Performance

• Running-app polling moved off the UI thread
• Dock chrome refresh no longer rebuilds the entire item list
• Settings live preview debounced; icon tint cache clears only when tint settings change
• Icon cache reload fixes (icons update immediately after edit, no restart needed)

In-app updates

• SHA-256 verification before install; HTTPS-only download URLs
• Responsive update progress (close, drag, and cancel work during download)
• Clear error dialogs after the progress window closes
• Retries when the update package is locked by antivirus
• Re-prompt to install a version you previously skipped
• Install now in Settings > About when an update is available

Reliability & infrastructure

• Single-instance guard (second launch focuses existing dock)
• Daily file logging in %AppData%\DPX.AppDock\logs\
• Hotkey registration failure → tray notification
• CI: build + unit tests on PR/main; release workflow on version tags
• Unit tests for hotkeys, orientation, auto-hide, display names, group positioning, URL security, and more

Undo remove

When Confirm before remove is off, removing a shortcut (including drag-out delete) offers an Undo Remove prompt.

Install & update

• Setup: DPX.AppDock-1.0.0-setup.exe (Inno Setup; installs .NET 8 Desktop Runtime when needed)
• In-app update package: DPX.AppDock-1.0.0-win-x64.zip
• Publish instructions: RELEASE.md

Known limitations

• Favicon fetch is best-effort (many sites still show the generic web icon)
• Code signing not included in this release (SmartScreen may warn on first install)
• Auto-update requires the public releases repo (0xDPX/dpx-appdock-releases)