NH Desktop v0.4.0

NH Desktop v0.4.0

Release date: 2026-09-30

✨ Highlights

NH Desktop v0.4.0 introduces a dedicated uninstaller executable (uninstall.exe on Windows) that eliminates file-locking issues during uninstallation, aligns publisher attribution to HELIX Origin in system settings, and debuts a streamlined 100% drop-in hand-rolled localization architecture. This release also resolves gallery download failures with a direct in-app archive pipeline and fixes favorite button state synchronization so gallery detail views update immediately.

🚀 Key Improvements & Features

• Dedicated uninstaller executable — Deploys an independent uninstall.exe (Windows) and uninstall (Linux) alongside NH Desktop.exe. When launched, the uninstaller relocates to a temporary directory before execution so neither binary holds a file lock on the installation directory, allowing remove_dir_all to cleanly remove all application files without permission or sharing errors.
• Reliable in-app gallery downloads — Replaced the external API-key download requirement with a direct in-app pipeline that streams gallery pages and packages them locally into clean .zip or .cbz archives with live per-page progress reporting.
• Instant favorites synchronization — Fixed the favorites button on gallery detail pages to reactively reflect and update its state ("Favorite" vs "Saved") immediately upon clicking.
• Publisher attribution to HELIX Origin — Windows Add/Remove Programs (installed apps) now displays the correct publisher, HELIX Origin, matching the GitHub organization owning the repository.
• 100% drop-in localization architecture — Replaced the fluent dependency tree with a zero-dependency, high-performance LocaleCatalog class using Vite dynamic glob imports. Hand-rolled English (en.json) is the default source of truth, with automatic fallback to your operating system locale.
• Effortless community translations — Adding a language requires no code modifications or registry edits. Simply drop <locale>.json into src/lib/i18n/ and validate with npm run i18n:check.
• Comprehensive translation contribution guide — Added full documentation and complete 78-key JSON schema reference with field explanations in CONTRIBUTING.md.
• Hardened SQLite concurrency — Added mutex poison recovery to database connection handling in db.rs (lock_conn()), preventing application panics if a mutex lock is poisoned.

✅ Changed

• Bumped project version to 0.4.0 across package.json, Cargo.toml, tauri.conf.json, Cargo.lock, and sidebar UI.
• Updated Windows registry uninstaller registration to point UninstallString directly to uninstall.exe with publisher HELIX Origin.
• Aligned documentation across README.md, CONTRIBUTING.md, ROADMAP.md, TODO.md, and all wiki/ pages.

🐛 Fixed

• Uninstaller file locking on Windows — Previously, running the uninstaller from NH Desktop.exe --installer --maintenance caused Windows to lock the running executable, preventing std::fs::remove_dir_all from deleting program files. The new dedicated uninstall.exe executes from temp and cleanly removes the install directory.
• Gallery download failures — Fixed background download failures by fetching pages directly from image hosts and compiling .zip/.cbz archives locally without requiring an API key.
• Favorites button state desync — Fixed the favorite button so toggling immediately updates its visual state and label between "Favorite" and "Saved".

📦 Install & Upgrading

Download the installer for your platform from the Assets section below:

• Windows: NH Desktop-Setup-0.4.0-win-x64.exe
• macOS: NH Desktop-Setup-0.4.0-macos-arm64 (or macos-x64 if available)
• Linux: NH Desktop-Setup-0.4.0-linux-x64

Upgrade in place: run the new installer over your existing installation. The unified installer will replace files, place the dedicated uninstall.exe, and update shortcuts and registry entries.

Verification

• cargo check + cargo test (src-tauri) — passed (10/10)
• npm run check (svelte-check) — 0 errors, 0 warnings
• npm run build — adapter-static site generated successfully
• npm run i18n:check — 78/78 keys validated
• node scripts/check-agents.mjs --all — whole tree compliant (61 source files)
• npm run build:installer — produces NH Desktop-Setup-0.4.0-win-x64.exe and uninstall.exe

📄 Changes & Commits

• chore(release): bump version to 0.3.0 and prepare release notes
• feat(i18n): add localization, language packs, and system-locale default (M9)
• fix(installer): defer launch until Finish click; feat(ui): context-aware titlebar search
• docs: remove Status column from CHANGELOG.md summary table
• docs: expand CHANGELOG.md with detailed sub-bullets
• docs: update CHANGELOG.md bullet format to match template
• docs: update CHANGELOG.md to latest template format
• docs: update CHANGELOG.md commit-link format to match template
• docs(templates): update changelog template to match actual CHANGELOG.md format
• docs: add CHANGELOG.md following project template
• docs(templates): fix changelog template to custom format

Full commit history: git log --oneline v0.2.1..v0.3.0