Skip to content

Beacon v0.2.0

Latest

Choose a tag to compare

@quizuncle quizuncle released this 11 Aug 08:06

An editor that finally works offline, a way to tell us what you think, and a
long list of accessibility and security repairs. Beacon also starts reporting
anonymous usage data — see the last section, and Settings → Privacy.

The editor no longer needs the internet

  • Beacon used to download about five megabytes of the Monaco editor from a
    public CDN
    the first time you opened any editor. Without a network — on a
    plane, or behind a proxy that blocked it — there was no editor at all, in an
    app that's meant to be local-first. The editor now ships inside Beacon.
  • The updater now validates what it downloads before offering it to you.

Feedback

  • You can now send feedback from inside Beacon — a rating, a note, and
    optionally an email if you want a reply. Find it in the command palette
    (> then "Send Feedback"), the account menu, or Settings → Privacy.
  • It works offline. Feedback is queued on your machine and sent when you're
    next connected, so writing it on a plane doesn't lose it.

Accessibility

  • Every control has a usable name, and the sidebar works without a mouse.
  • Closing and pinning a tab now work from the keyboard. Both were plain
    text with no role and no focus, so neither was reachable at all.
  • Screen readers can now see the tab controls, which were nested inside another
    button and hidden as a result.

Security

  • A response body can no longer navigate a subframe anywhere it likes.
    Frame navigation is now checked against an allowlist, and redirects are
    checked on the main window too, not just direct navigations.
  • Cookie clearing for a host and for its parent domain are now separate
    actions, so clearing one no longer quietly signs you out of the others.

Fixes

  • One malformed row in a bundle no longer discards the whole import.
  • A flow editor left open in the background can no longer overwrite someone
    else's newer version of that flow.
  • Tooltips no longer rename controls that already have their own visible text.
  • Nested lists render at any depth in Markdown, and a blank line no longer
    splits one list into two.

Usage data

  • Beacon now reports anonymous usage — which features get used, app version,
    platform, rough location, and scrubbed error reports — tied to a random ID
    generated for this install, never to your name unless you sign in.
  • It never includes your requests, responses, secrets, scripts, or the names of
    anything you've created.
  • It's on by default; one switch in Settings → Privacy turns it off, and that
    page has the full detail.