Yomikiru is moving off Electron 22

[mienaiyami]

Yomikiru is upgrading its desktop engine from Electron 22 to Electron 44.

Electron 22 is the last Electron version that still runs on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1, and it is the version we have been shipping so those systems, and 32-bit Windows, could keep using the app. That Electron line is years out of support. It is stuck on Chromium 108, which no longer gets security fixes. Staying there also blocks us from building the app with current tools.

Electron 44 is a current supported Electron release. Chromium dropped Windows 7/8/8.1 and the 32-bit Windows builds, so Electron dropped them too. We cannot ship a newer, safer app and still install it on those systems.

Yomikiru does not collect usage metrics, so there is no count of how many people are still on Windows 7/8/8.1 or on 32-bit. The guess is that it is under 1%. If that is you, the last builds that still work are listed below.

Last versions that still support the old systems

These are the last tagged Yomikiru releases built with Electron 22. They still run on Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and 32-bit Windows.

• Stable: 2.24.0
• Beta (64-bit only): 2.25.0-beta.7

Anything after those tags needs 64-bit Windows 10 or later (or current 64-bit Linux).

What stops working

• 32-bit Windows. We no longer build a real 32-bit setup or a real 32-bit portable zip. If About says 32-bit and the PC itself is 32-bit, stay on 2.24.0 or 2.25.0-beta.7. A 64-bit app cannot run there.
• Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1. Electron 44 requires Windows 10 or later. Stay on 2.24.0 (stable) or 2.25.0-beta.7 (beta).
• Old macOS. Electron 44 requires macOS 13 (Ventura) or later. Current Yomikiru release builds are Windows and Linux. This only matters if you run an older macOS build.

32-bit installs on 64-bit Windows

If you installed the 32-bit app on a 64-bit PC, the updater will still find an update. It looks up the old 32-bit filenames. Those files are uploaded so that lookup succeeds, but the bytes inside are the 64-bit portable zip or the 64-bit setup. After the update, Yomikiru is the 64-bit app.

That only works on 64-bit Windows. On a 32-bit PC the downloaded file will not run. Stay on 2.24.0 or 2.25.0-beta.7.

The release page download list will not offer those old filenames as 32-bit downloads. The Windows downloads we list are the 64-bit portable zip and the 64-bit setup.

What stays

• 64-bit portable zip and 64-bit setup on Windows. The portable zip is still a normal download.
• 64-bit Linux downloads (Debian/Ubuntu package and Arch). 32-bit Linux was already not a Yomikiru download.

What you get

Four years of browser-engine work in one jump (Chromium 108 to 152). Day to day that shows up as:

• Faster and smoother reading. Newer JavaScript and graphics engines, so big libraries, long chapter lists, and continuous scroll hitch less and images settle faster.
• Sharper rendering. Text, manga pages, and EPUB layout use a much newer renderer, with better scaling, color, and GPU-backed drawing on Windows and Linux.
• Better image and video decode. More formats and fewer broken frames, including library covers from high-bitdepth AVIF that the old engine could not turn into thumbnails.
• Current security fixes. Electron 22 has been frozen for years. New Chromium and Electron updates can reach the app again.
• Better fit on current desktops. Windows 10/11 and modern Linux (including Wayland) behave more like a current browser: fonts, scrolling, and window drawing included.
• Room to keep building. We can stay on current tools instead of holding the whole app back for an engine that cannot be updated.

Your library, reading progress, and bookmarks stay in the app data folder. This is an app update, not a library reset.