Aph 0.5.0

Aph 0.5.0

Unsigned builds; full upgrades stay manual re-downloads.
Windows installs self-update the Aph payload on launch
(branding only, verified — opt out with APH_NO_UPDATE=1);
new Firefox bases still ship as installers.

• Aph version: 0.5.0
• Firefox base: 157.0.1 (recorded from application.ini at build time)
• Profiles: Linux ~/.config/aph/profile (daily install) ·
  Windows %APPDATA%\Aph\profile (seed-once user.js + userChrome.css + userContent.css)

What's new in 0.5.0

Payload channel (Windows self-updates)

• Releases now publish aph-payload-0.5.0.zip +
  version.json next to the full installers: exactly the
  Aph-owned delta (omni.ja entries diffed against pristine,
  plus the profile seeds).
• Windows installs self-apply the payload on launch when the
  installed Firefox matches the channel's build base —
  branding updates without re-downloading the base. Silent,
  at most once a day, and every failure path yields to
  launch (opt out with APH_NO_UPDATE=1).
• A base mismatch stages the full installer for the user
  instead; it is never auto-run from under a live session.

Chrome

• v2 shell: floating pill bar, load-storm rings, cross-window
  theme presets, and a reworked dock, indicators, and focus mode.
• The dock is a plain bottom toolbar now (1px hairline divider,
  depth stays on the pills) with an in-place New Tab in its
  menu; its mark is the real Inter A, one mark with the app icon.
• Focus mode's exit pill fades after 4s idle and returns on
  activity — focus chrome never becomes the furniture it hides.
• Vertical tabs pack tighter: zero inter-tab air, 28px rows.
• Theme tokens overhauled (scale, five preset rooms, spring
  motion with reduced-motion mirrors); home wears brand purple
  as the default first hue.

Logo

• Plain Inter Bold A in flat brand purple on a hairline tile,
  with a subtractive flat-cut apex — still plainly an A at 16px.

Launch & seeds

• Rebrand refuses under a running browser (quit-first, same
  contract as nuke/sync); a running daily driver warns instead
  of vetoing, and launch refuses stale forwards.
• Seed-once chrome CSS is version-stamped now: a newer bundled
  copy backs the profile copy up to .bak and migrates it,
  while user edits at the same version are never overwritten.

Stash

• Workspace snapshots grow container + workspace restore,
  staleness tracking, and workspace-agnostic auto sweeps.

Upstream robustness

• Drift detector pins every stock selector/token/pref Aph
  depends on against the packaged Firefox (fails loud on
  upstream removal).
• Firefox base moves to 157.0.1 (current at release time,
  recorded from application.ini during the build).

Heads-up upgrading from 0.4.x

• Drop-in re-download: no profile move, no shortcut
  changes. Stash migration is automatic.
• Windows installs from this release on self-update the Aph
  payload on launch; new Firefox bases still ship as installers.
• For the 0.3.x notes (stash rename, split view, focus mode),
  see the 0.4.0 release; for the 0.2.x notes, see the 0.3.0
  release.

Install

• Linux AppImage: chmod +x aph-x86_64.AppImage && ./aph-x86_64.AppImage
• Linux Flatpak: flatpak install aph-x86_64.flatpak
• Windows: run Aph-Setup-*.exe (per-user, no admin needed), or
  extract aph-win64-portable.zip anywhere and run aph.bat

Verify

sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS

Known limitations

• Unsigned binaries: Windows SmartScreen warns on first launch (expected).
• Payload auto-update covers Windows only so far (Linux/macOS formats stay manual).
• See README for details and SECURITY.md to report vulnerabilities.