Sol 0.6.0

Little Sol: a quick look at any link in a small window of its own, from Sol or from any app.

• Little Sol: a compact window for a single page, like Arc's Little Arc.
  Links from chats and email open in it instead of piling up as tabs, and so
  does Ctrl+Alt+click on a link or Open link in Little Sol in the link menu.
  To keep the page, click Open in Space: it moves to that Space as it is,
  without reloading. Otherwise just close the window.
• Ctrl+Alt+N from any app: a command bar opens right away wherever you
  are. Type an address or a search, with Google's suggestions as in Sol's own
  command bar, and it opens in Little Sol.
• Sol in the notification area: while Ctrl+Alt+N is on, Sol keeps its icon
  in the notification area after you close its windows and starts there when
  you sign in to Windows. Only a small helper runs, using about 3 MB of memory,
  until you open Sol. Click the icon to open Sol, or right-click it for New
  Little Sol and Quit Sol.
• Settings > Links: turn Ctrl+Alt+N, Ctrl+Alt+click and Little Sol for
  links from other apps on or off.
• New installs start with integrations off: turn on the ones you want in
  Settings > Integrations. Your current settings stay as they are.

Fixes

• Shortcuts and websites: a website now gets the keys it uses itself, as
  in Chrome. Ctrl+D duplicates in Figma again, and a key you moved to another
  shortcut in Settings is no longer taken by Sol. New tab, close tab, new
  window, reopen closed tab and switching tabs stay Sol's on every site.
• Extension popups: a popup that kept getting narrower, such as
  Bitwarden's, now opens at a readable width.
• Sign in with Google: Chrome's own sign-in prompt no longer appears. It
  could hold the mouse, so nothing on the screen could be clicked until it was
  closed.

Full changelog

Installing

Sol updates automatically. For a new installation, use Sol-Web-Installer.exe or the full offline Sol-Setup-0.6.0.exe.

Sol 0.5.0

Your Arc comes with you: a full import from Arc, the Tab Switcher, Split View
for up to four tabs and screenshots.

• Import from Arc: Sol brings over your Arc Spaces with their Favorites,
  pinned tabs and folders, Today tabs, Split Views and archived tabs, together
  with each site's icon. Spaces keep their own Arc profiles. It works from the
  welcome screen and from Settings, where you can also choose an Arc backup
  folder or sidebar file.
• Tab Switcher: Ctrl+Tab goes back to the tab you used before. Hold Ctrl to
  see your five most recent tabs as cards with previews: Tab moves between
  them, Ctrl+W closes one, and letting go of Ctrl switches. The order is kept
  after a restart.
• Split View for up to four tabs: put two, three or four tabs side by side
  in any arrangement and drag the dividers to resize them. Drag a tab to the
  edge of a page to add it, move a pane by its header, or drag it onto the
  sidebar to take it out. Ctrl+Alt+arrows move between panes.
• Screenshots: press Ctrl+Shift+5 or the camera in the site controls, point
  at a part of the page or drag an area, adjust it, then copy or download it.
  You can also save the visible part or the whole page. Screenshots are saved
  to your download folder and show up in Downloads.
• Super Copy: Ctrl+Shift+C copies the page address without tracking
  parameters. Right-click the copy-link button for the same.
• Check for Updates: the menu checks right away and shows the download in
  its own window.

Fixes

• Add Extension: the + in the site controls and Add Extension in the menu
  open the Chrome Web Store again instead of Outlook.
• Command bar: a suggestion picked with the arrow keys shows in the field,
  so you can edit it. An email address is searched instead of opened as a site
  and is not sent for search suggestions. Local network addresses such as
  192.168.1.1 open over HTTP, like localhost.
• F1: no longer opens Chrome's help page.

Full changelog

Installing

Sol updates automatically. For a new installation, use Sol-Web-Installer.exe or the full offline Sol-Setup-0.5.0.exe.

Sol 0.4.0

What's new

A big clean-up: lots of fixes, a lighter and faster Sol, and a Chromium update.

• One Archive: the Archive now holds the closed tabs of all your Spaces, newest first. A tab closed in another Space shows that Space's name, and restoring it opens it in the Space you are in.
• Back to the pinned page: when a pinned tab has moved away from its saved address, hover its icon and click "Back to pinned url" to return.
• Unread mail only: mail cards show unread mail from the last week and refresh when you hover them or read mail in the tab.
• Chromium update: Sol's engine moves to Chromium 156.0.8078.88 with the security fixes Google released for Chrome 156 since the previous version.

Plus a long list of fixes: a faster sidebar, lighter integrations, a narrower sidebar, DevTools in their own window, volume in picture in picture, duplicate tabs after a restart, updates, links that open a new tab and more.

Full changelog: https://sol-browser.app/changelog/#v0-4-0

Installing

Sol updates automatically. For a new installation, use Sol-Web-Installer.exe or the full offline Sol-Setup-0.4.0.exe.

Sol 0.3.0

What's new

• Integrations: hover a pinned Gmail, Outlook Mail, Google Calendar or Figma tab to see unread mail, today's agenda or your recent files, and start a new message or design right from the card.
• Unread badges: pinned WhatsApp and X tabs show a badge for unread messages from the moment Sol starts.
• New documents: create a Google Doc, Word document or Figma design from the command bar.
• Site Search: type yt, wiki, gh or your own shortcut in the command bar, press Tab and search that site directly.
• Command bar actions: press Tab in an empty command bar to find Sol's actions and their shortcuts.
• What's new after updates: Sol shows the changelog once after it updates.

Plus fixes: sign-in buttons like "Continue with Google" open a small window over Sol, and History keeps the real titles of web apps like Figma and Gmail.

Full changelog: https://sol-browser.app/changelog/#v0-3-0

Installing

Sol updates automatically. For a new installation, use Sol-Web-Installer.exe or the full offline Sol-Setup-0.3.0.exe.

Sol 0.2.0

What's new

• Browsing Profiles are here! Keep your logins, history, passwords, and extensions separate across Spaces.
• More Space options: Switch profiles, customize themes, create folders, and export Spaces.
• Password Manager: Save, autofill, and update passwords with ease.
• Update notifications: Restart to update right from the sidebar.
• Smoother experience: Better window handling, focus, and password prompts.

Plus, a bunch of small fixes and improvements!

Installing

Sol updates automatically. For a new installation, use Sol-Web-Installer.exe or the full offline Sol-Setup-0.2.0.exe.

Sol 0.1.5

What's new

• Cold tabs switch immediately and show the space's background until the
  page paints, reducing white flashes during tab switches.
• Tabs cascade out of folders on open and tuck back in quickly on close.
  Unloading the active tab under a collapsed folder no longer opens another
  tab from that folder.
• Website icons update per tab. For example a GitHub Actions status change updates its
  own tab without changing the icons on other GitHub tabs.
• Pinned tabs restore the title of their saved address after unloading or
  restarting. Manual names are preserved.
• Docked DevTools receive clicks and hover again after resizing the browser
  window or restoring it from the taskbar.
• Removed hover tooltips from the top bar and device preview resize handles.

Installing

Sol updates automatically. For a new installation, use Sol-Web-Installer.exe or the full offline Sol-Setup-0.1.5.exe.

Sol 0.1.4

What's new

Tabs and navigation

• Tabs switch on mouse press. The previous page stays visible while the next tab prepares its first frame, reducing flashes.
• Drag a tab into the page area to open Split View with the previously selected tab. Separate tabs now immediately expands the focused page.
• Right-click Back or Forward to see the tab’s history. Middle-click either arrow to open that page in a new tab.
• The address bar shows the current zoom level. Click it to reset to 100%. Page zoom now leaves the History and Downloads layouts intact.
• Copy and zoom notifications are more compact and replay their animation on each action.

Windows and profile fixes

• New profiles use your Windows language preferences for websites and extensions. Existing website language choices are preserved.
• Updates preserve Sol’s taskbar identity to prevent duplicate pins.
• Opening an external link on first launch takes you directly to the requested page.
• Profile recovery moves the interface profile aside and preserves its files, even when the History database is missing.
• Settings and import screens now consistently use the Sol name.

Installing

Sol updates automatically after this release is published. For a new install, use the small Sol-Web-Installer.exe or the full offline Sol-Setup-0.1.4.exe.

Sol 0.1.3

A welcome for new profiles, a space constructor, a better History, and an important security fix.

Download: Sol-Web-Installer.exe (recommended, ~400 KB) · Sol-Setup-0.1.3.exe (full offline setup)

Security fix

After the floating sidebar was used, the next start could open websites, logins and extensions in Sol's protected interface profile instead of your browser profile. Sites now always open in your browser profile. If yours were affected, Sol moves everything back on the first start, so your logins, passwords and extensions stay where they were. Your previous profile folder is kept, nothing is deleted.

If an extension ever lands in the interface profile, Sol now cleans it up and restarts instead of closing on every start.

What's new

• Welcome. New profiles start with a short intro, then bring tabs, passwords and more from Chrome, Edge, Arc or Zen, make Sol the default browser and pick a search engine.
• Space constructor. A new space is set up before it exists: name, icon and theme, then Create space. It works from the floating sidebar too.
• Smooth space switching. Switching spaces fades the theme instead of jumping.
• History by day. The day list shows every day, and a click goes straight to any of them, even ones far down the list.
• Your clock. Times in History and Downloads follow your Windows time format, or choose 12- or 24-hour in Settings → General.
• Short addresses. History and Downloads open at sol://history and sol://downloads; you can also type them into the address bar.
• Updates while open. Sol checks for updates every 4 hours, not only at start, so Restart to update appears without closing the browser.

Installing

New to Sol? Run Sol-Web-Installer.exe. Sol keeps itself up to date after that.

Sol isn't code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen asks once: More info → Run anyway.

Tested on Windows 11 x64.

Files

• Sol-Web-Installer.exe: the small installer (recommended)
• Sol-Setup-0.1.3.exe: the full offline setup
• SolBrowser-0.1.3-full.nupkg, SolBrowser-0.1.3-delta.nupkg, releases.win.json: the update feed Sol reads (you don't need to download these)
• Sol-0.1.3.sha256: SHA-256 checksums

Sol 0.1.2

Meet the Sol Web Installer.

What's new

• Sol Web Installer. Sol-Web-Installer.exe is a small (~400 KB) download that fetches the latest Sol, checks its integrity and installs it, while the Sol logo fills up like water. The full offline setup, Sol-Setup-0.1.2.exe, is still here if you prefer it.
• Your first automatic update. If you have Sol 0.1.1, you don't need to download anything: Sol finds this version on its own, and Restart to update appears at the bottom of the sidebar.

Installing

New to Sol? Download Sol-Web-Installer.exe below and run it. Sol keeps itself up to date after that.

Sol isn't code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen asks once: More info → Run anyway.

Tested on Windows 11 x64.

Files

• Sol-Web-Installer.exe: the small installer (recommended)
• Sol-Setup-0.1.2.exe: the full offline setup
• SolBrowser-0.1.2-full.nupkg, SolBrowser-0.1.2-delta.nupkg, releases.win.json: the update feed Sol reads (you don't need to download these)
• Sol-0.1.2.sha256: SHA-256 checksums

Sol 0.1.1

Sol now updates itself.

What's new

• Automatic updates. Sol checks for new versions in the background and downloads them while you browse. When one is ready, Restart to update appears at the bottom of the sidebar. Click it, or just keep going: the update applies the next time Sol starts.
• New setup. Sol-Setup-0.1.1.exe replaces the 0.1.0 installer. If Sol 0.1.0 is installed, the setup removes it and keeps your profile: tabs, spaces, passwords and settings stay where they are.

Installing

Download Sol-Setup-0.1.1.exe below and run it. This is the last time you need to install by hand; later versions arrive on their own.

Sol isn't code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen asks once: More info → Run anyway.

Tested on Windows 11 x64.