SLH v0.2.1

✨ SLH v0.2.1 — Better modpacks, a personal home and smoother updates

This pre-release includes the complete current launcher: improved CurseForge installation, expanded customization, Java discovery, lower background activity and signed in-app updates.

⚠️ Automated tests and builds cover all four desktop targets. Linux and macOS have not been manually tested; a physical MacBook Pro with macOS Monterey 12.7.6 was not available for verification. Please report any remaining issue with launcher logs and your Minecraft version.

🧩 CurseForge and catalogs

• Install CurseForge modpacks with version selection, world archives, batching, caching and retry handling.
• Continue the same instance after an interrupted install, cancel downloads and keep downloaded files for retry.
• Open exact download pages for files whose authors disallow automatic downloads; pick up manually downloaded files with hash verification.
• Watch a chosen downloads folder for CurseForge ZIP archives and import them automatically. Optional source cleanup runs only after successful installation.
• Browse categories, images, tables and links in full Modrinth and CurseForge descriptions. Restricted downloads still need a browser click.

🎨 Interface and personalization

• Use grouped library icons alongside grid and list views; drag instances between groups and save their order.
• Switch the home character between animated 3D, a locally cached portrait and off; update its pose, lighting and three-position control.
• Search modpacks from the home screen, adjust title fitting and use the expanded appearance palette and compact layouts.
• Reload custom translations without restarting. Existing language values stay intact, and missing new labels use embedded fallbacks.
• Improve settings controls, narrow layouts, account menus and silent Windows notifications with the launcher logo.

☕ Java and performance

• Find installed Java quickly, remove duplicate entries and keep full disk scanning as a separate action.
• Select a compatible Java version automatically and download a managed runtime when needed and enabled.
• Show progress indicators for background operations and always finish Java progress on success or failure.
• Reduce repeated 3D work, retained caches and hidden-window timers; preserve the current WebView2 interface.
• Earlier experimental Slint builds and removed manual resource limits are not part of this release.

🍎 macOS fixes

• Fixed a Markdown dependency that used JavaScript syntax unsupported by Monterey WebKit, causing a blank catalog screen.
• Find Java inside macOS bundles and preserve the complete runtime bundle during installation.
• Allow slow Java downloads to finish and report stalled transfers.
• Open context menus with Control-click, a secondary trackpad click, or a 550 ms hold on empty space. Moving the pointer cancels the hold.

🔄 Launcher updates

• Offer an Update now button inside SLH with download progress and mandatory signature verification.
• Restart after installation; instances, accounts, settings and custom language files stay outside the updated application.
• Existing 0.2.0 installations need one manual upgrade because that version does not contain the new updater.

🛠️ Settings and repository cleanup

• Restore all settings sections when the 0.2.0 migration left only Bedrock visible. Preserve other customized section lists.
• Remove the unused Slint prototype from the release source tree; it remains available in Git history.
• Exclude third-party vendor code from GitHub language statistics.
• Preserve settings from local builds and support their existing semantic-color migration.
• Keep custom language files intact and supply missing new strings in memory.
• Preserve the existing local fix for navigation to a deleted instance.

🚧 Bedrock Edition — W.I.P.

Bedrock remains experimental and Windows-only. Downloading conflicting Preview packages is disabled; an existing Store Preview installation remains usable.

📦 Downloads

Platform	Installer / package	Portable / app archive
🪟 Windows 10 / 11 · x64	EXE · MSI	Portable ZIP
🍎 macOS · Intel	DMG	App ZIP
🍎 macOS · Apple Silicon	DMG	App ZIP
🐧 Linux · x64	DEB · RPM	AppImage

📝 Before testing

• Back up important worlds before trying a pre-release.
• Windows portable: extract the entire ZIP to a writable folder and run SLH.exe.
• Windows and Linux packages are unsigned. macOS packages are ad-hoc signed and not notarized. Updater signatures separately verify update integrity.
• Linux auto-update is supported for AppImage installations.
• The extra macOS .app.tar.gz files and latest.json serve the automatic updater. Their signatures are embedded in latest.json; you do not need these files for manual installation.
• Verify downloads with SHA256SUMS.txt.

💬 Feedback and source

Report a bug · Source code

Built from commit e4f3052e2cfa1e1285bf640920380af23b8ee02c.

SLH update feed

Signed update metadata for the in-app updater. Download launcher packages from versioned releases.

SLH v0.2.0

✨ SLH v0.2.0 — A new home for your Minecraft

This pre-release adds instance adaptation, a redesigned home screen and launcher optimizations. The full source code is available under GPL-3.0-only.

⚠️ Linux and macOS builds have not been manually tested. All four desktop targets were built and passed automated unit tests, but launching the app and Minecraft on Linux and macOS has not been verified. Please report problems with your OS version and CPU architecture.

🧩 Adapt an instance to another Minecraft version

• Create a copy of a Java instance for a different Minecraft release while keeping the original instance.
• Choose which folders and individual files to transfer, and leave out anything you do not need.
• Enable or disable compatible updates for mods, resource packs and shader packs, with choices per folder or file.
• Check recognized content against available compatible versions. If an update is unavailable or compatibility is unknown, choose to keep the file as-is, transfer it disabled (.off), or skip it.

Compatibility checks depend on the content source and available releases; adaptation does not guarantee that every mod or world will work on the selected Minecraft version.

🎮 A redesigned home screen

• Your player character takes center stage, with skin previews, interactive animations and rotation.
• Account controls, launcher status and the last played instance are available from the home screen.
• Switch between the new and classic home screens in appearance settings.
• Improved navigation highlighting, account-menu positioning and Play/Stop button consistency.

⚡ Launcher optimizations

• Reduced unnecessary 3D rendering and background work when the launcher is hidden or minimized.
• Improved scene cleanup and Windows WebView2 suspension and recovery.
• Cached skins and catalog results to avoid repeated loading when switching pages.

🚧 Bedrock Edition — W.I.P.

Bedrock support is still a work in progress. The Windows packages include the native helper, but the integration is experimental. Do not expect complete Bedrock support or feature parity across operating systems.

🛠️ Fixes and packaging

• Corrected data storage for installed and portable builds.
• Improved discovery of the bundled Bedrock helper.
• Fixed version comparison for launcher updates, including pre-release versions.
• Fixed platform-specific build and path-handling issues.
• Included third-party licenses in release packages.

📦 Downloads

Platform	Installer / package	Portable / app archive
🪟 Windows 10 / 11 · x64	EXE · MSI	Portable ZIP
🍎 macOS · Intel · manually untested	DMG	App ZIP
🍎 macOS · Apple Silicon · manually untested	DMG	App ZIP
🐧 Linux · x64 · manually untested	DEB · RPM	AppImage

📝 Before testing

• Back up important worlds and instances before trying this pre-release or adapting an instance.
• Windows portable: extract the entire ZIP into a writable folder and launch SLH.exe; keep the folder together when moving it.
• Linux packages were built on Ubuntu 22.04; compatibility with every distribution is not guaranteed.
• Windows and Linux packages are unsigned. macOS packages are ad-hoc signed and not notarized.
• Verify downloaded files with SHA256SUMS.txt.

💬 Feedback and source

Report a bug · Discord · Website · Source code

Built from commit 8c7805309c9ab9dc1d86a1c741dbf6b4f078bdcd. Build and automated test results.

SLH v0.1.2

SLH v0.1.2 — What's changed

Maintenance and visual update for Smile LauncHer.

What's changed

• Unified launcher colors through the active appearance theme.
• Fixed missing translations in Russian, German and English interface messages.
• Localized playtime formatting for hours and minutes.
• Improved notifications and error messages across the main screens.
• Updated Windows x64 portable and NSIS installer packages.

Additional improvements

• Improved performance: downloads now use configurable parallel transfers (16 by default, up to 32), while the launch path uses cached Java detection instead of scanning every drive.
• Added a draggable custom title bar with minimize, maximize, and close controls. Window size, position, and maximized state are restored after restarting the launcher.
• Added configurable docking for the main navigation, Settings navigation, instance details panel, and instance tab strip. Holding Ctrl while dragging shows a phantom preview and a clear drop direction.
• Added tab visibility and ordering controls, consistent context menus with icons, and clearer insertion indicators.
• Made the built-in Ungrouped section work like a regular protected group: it can be collapsed, hidden, reordered, and used as a drop target.
• Improved screenshot handling: clicking opens a screenshot, while Ctrl-click enables multi-selection for bulk deletion.
• Added appearance presets, custom interface fonts, keyboard zoom, and theme-aware status colors.
• Expanded account management with account ordering/removal, avatars, skin and cape controls, and an offline launch fallback when online authentication is unavailable.
• Expanded content workflows with filtered Modrinth/CurseForge search, project details, modpack installation/import, installed-content reconciliation, and enable/disable/delete controls for local content.
• Added faster, cancellable Java discovery, verified managed Java downloads, persistent Java paths, and improved launch-process tracking.
• Added portable-safe migrations, path validation, backups, and refreshed English, Russian, and German locale files.

Packages

• Windows x64 portable build.
• NSIS installer (*-setup.exe).

Release packages are empty and contain no personal launcher data.

SLH v0.1.1

SLH v0.1.1 — Pre-release

Maintenance and usability update for Smile LauncHer.

What's changed

• Improved library groups, drag-and-drop organization and context menus.
• Added instance action customization and ordering.
• Improved Light Orange and Graphite Orange themes.
• Updated English, Russian and German localization.
• Improved Java detection, managed Java downloads and saved Java paths.
• Added better offline fallback handling for Microsoft and Ely.by accounts.
• Improved Minecraft launching and installation reliability.
• Added resource management for mods, resource packs, shaders and worlds.
• Added sorting, multi-selection and enable/disable controls for local content.
• Fixed various UI, notification and launcher state issues.
• Updated Windows portable and installer packages.

Packages

• Windows 10 x86
• Windows 10 x64
• Windows 11 x64
• Portable, NSIS installer and MSI installer

Portable builds include the required WebView2 runtime. Release packages are empty and contain no personal accounts, worlds or launcher data.

This is still an early development release. Bugs may remain. Please report problems through GitHub Issues.

SLH v0.1.0

SLH v0.1.0

The first public test release of Smile LauncHer (SLH) — a local-first, open-source Minecraft: Java Edition launcher for Windows.

SLH focuses on a modern customizable interface, isolated Minecraft instances, local account management and straightforward content installation.

Highlights

• Separate Minecraft instances with their own game folders and settings
• Instance groups, grid/list layouts, logs, worlds and screenshots
• Vanilla, Fabric, Forge, NeoForge and Quilt support
• Microsoft, Ely.by and offline accounts
• Account switching and local account storage
• Skin preview and customization
• Modrinth browsing and compatible content installation
• CurseForge support when access is configured
• Managed Eclipse Temurin Java 8, 17, 21 and 25
• Automatic Java download when a required compatible runtime is missing
• Detection of locally installed Java runtimes
• Custom Java download location
• English, Russian and German included by default
• Interface appearance and color customization
• Optional local synchronization of selected files between instances
• No analytics or advertising

Packages

This release contains builds for:

• Windows 10 x64
• Windows 10 x86 (32-bit)
• Windows 11 x64

Available package types:

• *-setup.exe — guided installer
• *.msi — MSI installer
• portable — self-contained launcher folder

Portable packages include the required WebView2 runtime, so players do not need to download or install it separately.

Installation

Portable version

1. Download the archive for your Windows architecture.
2. Extract the entire folder to any writable local directory.
3. Run SLH.exe.

Installer version

1. Download either *-setup.exe or the .msi file.
2. Run it and follow the installation steps.
3. Launch SLH from the Start menu or installed shortcut.

Important

This is an early development release. Some features may be incomplete and bugs are expected.

Release packages are intentionally empty: they do not contain accounts, Minecraft instances, Java installations, worlds, logs or cached data.

Please back up important Minecraft worlds before testing a new build.

If you find a problem, please report it through GitHub Issues or in our Discord server.