ROS 1.1.0

ROS 1.1.0 adds a Downloads page that keeps track of every file, private tabs that keep their choices to themselves, Now Playing credited to ROS, a short tour of what's new after each update, and a round of security improvements. The Extension Store is now open, with all ten of ROS's own extensions.

Downloads

• A new Downloads page lists every file you download, kept after ROS quits and grouped by day. Open it with ⇧⌘J, View › Downloads, or Show All in the toolbar's downloads list.
• Search by file name or by the site it came from, and filter to images, documents, archives, video or apps.
• Press Space to preview a file. A zip shows what's inside without being unpacked.
• Move or rename a file in Finder and ROS still finds it and opens it. Files that are gone fold into one quiet line for each day, with Download Again.
• Drag a file from the list straight into another app. Remove a file from the list, or clear the whole list, and undo it if you change your mind. Your files stay where they are.
• Free Up Space finds large downloads you haven't opened in a month and moves the ones you choose to the Trash.
• Apps you download show whether they're signed and notarized.
• The list is sealed on your Mac like your history, is cleared along with your history, and never includes downloads from private tabs.

Private tabs

• Choices you make for a site in a private tab, such as letting its ads through, page zoom, Reading Mode or camera access, apply to that tab alone and are gone when it closes. Nothing about the site is saved.
• A private tab asks before using your camera or microphone, even on sites you've allowed. Sites you've blocked stay blocked.

Highlights

• After an update, ROS opens a short tour of what's new, with a button to try each feature. Find it any time in Help › ROS Highlights, or turn it off in Settings › General.
• A card on the new tab page leads to it until you've seen it.

Now Playing

• Music and video playing in ROS show in Now Playing, on your keyboard's media keys and on AirPods, with the song, the artist and the artwork, credited to ROS.
• Pages without song details show their title and site, and artwork that won't load shows the ROS mark.

Extensions

• The Extension Store is open. All ten of ROS's own extensions are in it, so one you've removed is a click away, and their fixes can reach you between ROS updates.

Security and privacy

• The fill menu no longer shows verification codes. ROS makes a fresh code only when you choose an account, and fills it straight in.
• Tabs ROS reopens, such as those from your last session, now have their certificates checked too.
• Addresses ending in .test are now checked like any other site. Apps on your Mac at localhost still open without warnings.
• Settings for an app on its own port, such as localhost:3000, now stay with that port.
• Camera and microphone access you allow for a site applies to the site's own page, never to a frame from another site inside it.
• Website icons are fetched without cookies, so they can't be used to follow you, and icons from private tabs are never kept.
• Saved passwords are offered only to the site that owns them, including sites whose names are in other scripts.
• Importing a Safari export now asks before bringing in any passwords it holds.
• A web page opened from your Mac can't read the files beside it.

Tabs

• Tab icons change as soon as a site changes its own, even for an app you're building.

Requirements: macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.

Install: open ROS.dmg and drag ROS into Applications.

Update: ROS updates itself, or choose ROS › Check for Updates… to update now.

ROS 1.0.2

ROS 1.0.2 shows you who was tracking you on every page, adds five new extensions made by ROS, warns you clearly when a site can't prove who it is, and makes your passwords and saved data safer.

Shield

• Click the shield in the toolbar to see how many ads and trackers were blocked on the page, which companies they came from and how much was never downloaded.
• Turn blocking off for a site with the switch inside the panel, and back on just as easily.
• The shield shows the page's count at a glance, and the panel links to your Privacy Report.

Site security

• Site info: click the padlock before a site's name to see who its certificate was issued to, who vouched for it and until when, or to open the full certificate. The padlock turns amber when a secure page loads anything insecure.
• Certificate warnings: a site that can't prove who it is now shows a clear warning with the reason, such as an expired certificate. You can still visit it, and ROS remembers your choice until you quit. Banks and other sites that only allow secure connections can't be bypassed.
• Apps on your Mac: sites you build and run on your Mac, such as localhost and .test addresses, open without certificate warnings or "Not Secure".
• Secure first: ROS tries a secure connection first. If a site has no secure version, ROS switches within seconds and tells you, instead of waiting or switching silently.
• Site sign-in: routers, printers and company sites that ask for a name and password get a sign-in sheet that fills from your passwords. Work and school sites that ask for a certificate let you choose one from your Mac.

Extensions

• New from ROS: Translate translates pages into your language right on your Mac. Reader Notes keeps highlights and notes on any page. Price Watch tells you when a price drops. Redirect Guard takes you straight past tracking link wrappers. Focus hides feeds, recommendations and comments.
• Snapshot, Banner Sweep and Reader Notes are on from the start. The others wait under Available in the Extensions menu and in Settings › Extensions, ready to add with one click.
• Extensions can show a badge on their button, and a dot tells you when one has news.
• Every extension has a new icon in ROS's own style.
• Settings › Extensions shows how much each extension keeps on your Mac, with Clear Data for any of them.
• An extension update that asks for more access waits for your approval. If an update fails to start, the previous version comes back with your data.

Passwords

• Seeing or exporting passwords now always asks for Touch ID or your password.
• Verification codes fill only after you unlock, like passwords.
• When a saved password changes, the previous one is kept, in case the change didn't go through on the site.
• Importing passwords never replaces ones you already have.
• Turning iCloud Keychain sync on or off moves each password safely, so none can be lost along the way.

Privacy and protection

• Extensions never see private tabs.
• ROS asks before a page opens another app, such as Zoom, and names the app.
• A page that keeps showing alerts can be stopped, and alerts from background tabs wait until you open the tab instead of interrupting you.
• A page that keeps crashing stops reloading itself.
• If saved bookmarks, tab groups or windows can't be opened, ROS sets them aside and tells you, rather than replacing them.

Bookmarks and history

• Export your bookmarks as a standard Bookmarks.html file from the File or Bookmarks menu, ready for another Mac or any other browser.
• The History window opens and searches faster, however long your history.

Fixes

• PDFs now save from the download button in ROS's PDF viewer.
• A link that opens a new tab shows its address straight away.
• Pages update the sidebar and toolbar more efficiently while they load.

Requirements: macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.

Install: open ROS.dmg and drag ROS into Applications.

Update: ROS updates itself, or choose ROS › Check for Updates… to update now.

ROS 1.0.1

ROS 1.0.1 adds a smarter address bar, Fire for clearing a site in one step, Picture in Picture for any video, tabs that move between windows, and a battery saver.

Address bar

• Suggestions appear as you type, from your history, bookmarks and open tabs, ranked by how often and how recently you visit each page.
• The site you most likely want fills in as you type. Choose the same page for the same letters twice, and ROS remembers.
• Find a page you visit often by typing the first words of its name.
• A small typo in a site's name still finds it.
• Recent Searches shows the searches you made before.
• Remove a page or search from your history right from the list, with ⇧⌫ or its ✕ button.
• Suggestions are worked out entirely on your Mac. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, and nothing from private tabs is used.

Privacy

• Fire: click the flame in the toolbar, press ⌥⌘⌫ or choose History › Burn This Site… to clear the current site's history, cookies and website data in one step. The site then reloads fresh.
• Fireproof: stay signed in to the sites you trust, even when you use Fire, clear your history or clear website data on quit. Choose Fireproof This Site from a tab's menu, or manage your list in Settings › Privacy.
• Fire treats each port of a local development server, such as localhost:3000, as its own site.
• macOS no longer keeps pictures of ROS windows on disk.

Tabs and windows

• Drag a tab out of the sidebar to open it in a new window, or into another window's sidebar to move it there. The page keeps playing and never reloads.
• Reordering tabs is smoother, with tabs gliding aside to make room.
• Keep Site Awake: choose it from a tab's menu to keep that site's tabs from going to sleep, or manage your list in Settings › Tabs.
• Tabs showing Picture in Picture or sharing your screen now stay awake, and when a sleeping tab wakes, its video returns to where you left it.

Picture in Picture

• Float any video in Picture in Picture by choosing View › Enter Picture in Picture or pressing ⌥⌘P, including videos embedded from other sites.
• A badge marks the tab whose video is floating, and returning the video brings its tab to the front.

Battery and performance

• Battery saver: on battery power or in Low Power Mode, pages in ROS windows pause 30 seconds after you switch to another app and resume the moment you return. Video, music, calls and Picture in Picture keep playing. You can turn it off in Settings › Tabs.
• Background tabs use less energy, as their timers slow down the longer they stay hidden.
• History takes about 70 percent less space on disk and is saved as you browse, so it holds up even if your Mac shuts down unexpectedly.
• Tab previews use a fraction of the memory they did.
• Website icons you no longer need are cleared away automatically.

Accessibility

• VoiceOver, the Mac's screen reader, reads address bar suggestions as you move through them.
• When the sidebar shows tabs as icons, VoiceOver names each tab and says which ones are private.
• VoiceOver announces when a site has been burned or a tab opens in a new window.
• The suggestions list follows Increase Contrast and Reduce Transparency.

Fixes

• Picture in Picture buttons on websites now work.
• ⌘W now closes the History window.
• Dragging a tab onto another window's sidebar no longer moves the wrong tab.

Requirements: macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.

Install: open ROS.dmg and drag ROS into Applications.

Update: ROS updates itself, or choose ROS › Check for Updates… to update now.

ROS 1.0.0

The first release of ROS for Mac: a fast, private browser. Trackers are blocked from the start, your history stays on your Mac, and ROS keeps itself up to date.

Requirements: macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.

Install: open ROS.dmg and drag ROS into Applications.