v0.3.0

What's Changed

• iOS 1.0 went to App Review, and its screenshots upload with an API key by @dpfaffenbauer in #24
• All nine features together: DRM, keychain, import, onboarding, themes, calls, sidebar, release quality, short titles by @dpfaffenbauer in #34
• Short tab titles on the Mac with Apple Intelligence by @dpfaffenbauer in #25
• Sidebar details: multi-select, folder preview, unread dots, profile indicator, Spaces verwalten, Peek on ⇧-click by @dpfaffenbauer in #26
• Update channels, crash reports, feature switches and a daily backup by @dpfaffenbauer in #27
• Passwords and cookies use OpenArch's own key in the login keychain by @dpfaffenbauer in #28
• A first launch sets OpenArch up: Arc's sidebar and logins without a restart, accounts, colors, default browser by @dpfaffenbauer in #29
• Import from other browsers, bookmark/password files, and Arc backup by @dpfaffenbauer in #30
• Calls in picture-in-picture, and chat and mail tabs that stay awake by @dpfaffenbauer in #31
• Arc's themes per space, exact Arc theme import, and the sidebar on the right by @dpfaffenbauer in #32
• Spotify, Netflix and other streaming services play with Safari's engine in the same tab by @dpfaffenbauer in #33

Full Changelog: v0.2.0...v0.3.0

CEF 156.0.28 with proprietary codecs

CEF 156.0.28+g57389f0+chromium-156.0.8078.88, minimal distribution for macOS arm64, built from source with the proprietary codecs (H.264, AAC, HEVC) that the official builds leave out.

GN_DEFINES: is_official_build=true proprietary_codecs=true ffmpeg_branding=Chrome symbol_level=0 treat_warnings_as_errors=false

Built by https://github.com/dpfaffenbauer/OpenArch/actions/runs/43161464211

v0.2.0

What's Changed

• Add dark mode, high contrast, and accessibility improvements by @dpfaffenbauer in #1
• Agents like the Claude app: one-line list, search, and an info panel beside each chat by @dpfaffenbauer in #2
• Glass: the whole window is one sheet of Liquid Glass by @dpfaffenbauer in #3
• iOS: pages to the edges on iPhone Duo, controls beside the status bar by @dpfaffenbauer in #5
• Updates only from OpenArch's Developer ID; release tokens off build jobs by @dpfaffenbauer in #6
• Closing a tab ends its page, also one that asks before leaving by @dpfaffenbauer in #7
• A tab dragged out of the sidebar gets a window with tabs, without bookmarks by @dpfaffenbauer in #8
• chrome://help opens Über OpenArch by @dpfaffenbauer in #9
• The narrowest sidebar keeps its top bar beside the window buttons by @dpfaffenbauer in #10
• Chromium updates land through a pull request that merges itself by @dpfaffenbauer in #11
• Resting on the library button shows the newest downloads, as in Arc by @dpfaffenbauer in #12
• What plays in another tab gets a small player in the sidebar by @dpfaffenbauer in #13
• The downloads come up with a click and drag out like files from Finder by @dpfaffenbauer in #14
• Spaces on the default profile keep their logins after another profile was used by @dpfaffenbauer in #15
• Spotify on the Mac shows in the sidebar's player too by @dpfaffenbauer in #16
• Dia's AI features on your own Claude Code: page chat, skills, Morning Brief and tidying tabs by @dpfaffenbauer in #18
• docs.openarch.app explains every feature, and how the AI features reach Claude by @dpfaffenbauer in #19
• Eight things from Dia: meetings, checks, new docs, tab previews, grain, closed windows, own shortcuts and screen sharing by @dpfaffenbauer in #17
• Fixes for bugs found while documenting OpenArch by @dpfaffenbauer in #20
• openarch.app and docs.openarch.app are Cloudflare Workers, deployed like the relay by @dpfaffenbauer in #21
• The website links the docs: in the header, from the agents and in the footer by @dpfaffenbauer in #22
• ⌘E acts in the browser with OpenArch's own tools, and a chat's tool rows open to the whole command by @dpfaffenbauer in #23

New Contributors

• @dpfaffenbauer made their first contribution in #1

Full Changelog: v0.1.0...v0.2.0

CEF 156.0.15 with proprietary codecs

CEF 156.0.15+gcf671c0+chromium-156.0.8078.80, minimal distribution for macOS arm64, built from source with the proprietary codecs (H.264, AAC, HEVC) that the official builds leave out.

GN_DEFINES: is_official_build=true proprietary_codecs=true ffmpeg_branding=Chrome symbol_level=0 treat_warnings_as_errors=false

Built by https://github.com/dpfaffenbauer/OpenArch/actions/runs/41276958241

OpenArch 0.1.0

The first release of OpenArch: the sidebar browser you know from Arc, open source and built on Chromium 156. Arc stops working on December 22, 2026; OpenArch is meant to be ready before that.

What's in it

• Sidebar: favorites, pinned tabs in folders and subfolders, today tabs that archive themselves after 12 hours.
• Spaces with their own color, icon and profile, so logins, cookies and extensions stay apart. Swipe over the sidebar to change spaces.
• Import from Arc: spaces, favorites, pinned folders, open tabs and split views, and if you like, logins and cookies, saved passwords, history and extensions too. Arc's own data stays untouched.
• Command bar (⌘T, ⌘L) for addresses, searches, open tabs, history and commands, with site search (yt, gh, w … then Tab).
• Split view with up to four tabs, Little OpenArch (⌥⌘N) for links from other apps, and the library for media, downloads, spaces and archived tabs.
• Peek for links from pinned tabs and favorites, Boosts (⌃⌘B) to restyle a site, and link rules that send links from other apps to the right space.
• Media controls in the sidebar and picture-in-picture when you leave a tab with a video playing.
• Windows: ⌘N for another window on the same spaces, ⌘⇧N for a private window that keeps nothing.
• Arc's keyboard shortcuts, which win over the page like in Arc.
• Real Chrome tabs: Chrome Web Store extensions with popups and side panels, DevTools, the password manager and printing.
• AI control: Claude Code, Playwright or Puppeteer can drive the browser over Chrome's DevTools protocol once you turn it on in Settings › KI.
• Updates by themselves from the nightly builds, verified by checksum and installed when you quit.

Install

Requires a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 15 or later.

1. Download OpenArch.zip below, unzip it and move OpenArch to Applications.
2. The build is not signed or notarized yet, so macOS blocks it at first. Run this once in Terminal:

   xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/OpenArch.app
   

3. Open OpenArch. If Arc is installed, it offers to bring your sidebar over.

From then on, OpenArch updates itself.

Known limitations

• The interface is in German for now.
• Unsigned builds use Chromium's mock keychain: saved cookies and passwords are not protected by the login keychain.
• No Widevine, so Netflix and other DRM video do not play. Google sync is not available for Chromium-based browsers.
• Easels and Notes are not there yet. Full screen video is new.

OpenArch is an independent project and is not affiliated with The Browser Company of New York or Atlassian.

CEF 156.0.14 with proprietary codecs

CEF 156.0.14+g4fa4ab5+chromium-156.0.8078.48, minimal distribution for macOS arm64, built from source with the proprietary codecs (H.264, AAC, HEVC) that the official builds leave out.

GN_DEFINES: is_official_build=true proprietary_codecs=true ffmpeg_branding=Chrome symbol_level=0 treat_warnings_as_errors=false

Built by https://github.com/dpfaffenbauer/OpenArch/actions/runs/40568266663

OpenArch Nightly

Build of 6fd698b with CEF 156.0.15+gcf671c0+chromium-156.0.8078.80 codecs. Signed with a Developer ID and notarized.