Highlights

• Uploaded Gecko to v140 LTS branch
• New Voice Search offline engine based on Vosk ASR models
• Remember browser state in between upgrades
• Google Earth support
• Several UI fixes, time picker min/max support, steps in date/time picker...
• New 3D environments

Gecko

• Uploaded Gecko to v140.8.0 from the v140 LTS branch

New Features

• New Custom Search Engine feature
  • Allow users to set up new search engines
  • Supports both search results and search suggestions
• Added support for Google Earth
  • Actually part of a bigger effort to properly support web pages that offer users to install a native app. Instead of failing with an error Wolvic is now able to gracefuly navigate to a fallback URL.

Notable Fixes

• New Open Source Voice Input Search engine based on Vosk ARS models
  • Completelly offline, language models are downloaded on demand (tiny size <50Mb)
  • No info transmitted to external servers
  • Supports one language at a time
  • Supported Languages: English, Spanish, Deutsch, Italian, Chinese, French and Russian
• Remember browser state in between upgrades
  • Fixed a bug that was corrupting the browser state
  • Tabs are no longer lost after upgrading the browser to a new version
• Fixed a bug preventing users from typing on text entries caused by the last HorizonOS update

New Devices

• Lynx-R1
  • Not strictly a new device, but we're releasing packages for it again
  • Wolvic icon is now shown in the app launcher instead of a generic Android icon
  • Added several required permissions to the manifest required by the latest OS updates

Multimedia

• Restored support for Paramount+, desktop mode is no longer needed to play content.
• Added support for additional VR video sites

Security

• Removed the FxR crash reporting service. Not working since the FxR transition and causing crashes in the background
• Secured several string manipulation methods that could cause crashes

UI enhancements

• Added min/max support for the time picker widget
• Support step and list attributes in date time picker widget
• New X 3D environments

Development

• Align LOAD segments of native libraries to 16kb boundaries
  • Currently enforced by Google Play. We don't currently distribute Wolvic via Google Play but we're ready just in case.

See changes in the Gecko based Wolvic v1.0 release notes

Highlights

• Restored support for several VR video sites that started blocking Wolvic (non-Meta browsers in general)
• High fidelity positioning and rotation of controllers
• Fixed a few crashes in bookmarks pane and refresh rate selection code
• Tons of little UI adjustments and enhancements
• Find in page in Chromium version
• New environments

Web Content

• Make VR videos available in some sites. They recently started to filter out Wolvic so we had to spoof the user agent to pretend to be another VR browser.

UI Improvements

• Set the pressed status for the Settings button in the tray when clicked
• Added a delay when switching windows in hover-to-focus mode to avoid glitches
• Use the orientation of the focused controller to move windows
• Show a warning when disabling hand tracking to notify users that it will be reset on next launch
• Keyboard layout update, larger buttons for voice and close actions and theming improvements
• Horizontal scrolling behaviour now matches vertical's
• Do not show "Find in Page" option for the start page
• Added 4 new environments
• Updated translations: gl, ru, fr, es, uk, pt...

Usability

• Drastically improved the accuracy of controllers position, they almost completely match their real world position
• Revamped the controllers orientation code, they properly rotate now around their rotation axis (whatever it is) instead of always rotating around the bottom

Privacy & Security

• Show the Enhanced Tracking Protection widget when clicking on the Advanced button
• Harness the refresh rate selection code to prevent crashes with some runtimes

Voice Search

• Improved stability of voice recognition by adding extra status checks
• Simplified VoiceSearchWidget implementation. Also improved responses to state changes

Stability

• Fixed a crash in bookmarks view caused by bookmarks with no title

Pico

• Fixed WebXR gamma (content too bright) in Pico devices by adding a specific shader for the blitter

Other

• Moved Openxr layer support detection to the backend avoiding hardcoding it in the app
• Improvements and fixes for the build system
• Added new manifest permission strings for hand tracking for Meta's HorizonOS

New version 1.2.3 of Wolvic with the Chromium Web engine.

This new version comes with all the updates in the Gecko version 1.8.3 plus a new feature:

• Added support for Find in Page. That was one of the leftovers of the Gecko to Chromium migration and it should work now

Release Notes

Highlights

• Fix authentication issues with Firefox Accounts.
• Fix Cloudflare challenges.
• New Tab native UI.
• Hover-to-focus windows.

UI

• New Tab: a native UI which provides access to announcements, top sites, and suggested experiences from all over the Web. The new New Tab page can be enabled in Settings/Display.
• Hover-to-focus windows: in multiwindow mode, windows now gain focus on hover instead of requiring a click. Configurable in Settings/Controller.
• Adjusted the pitch and volume of audio effects.
• Added Ukrainian language support.
• Lots of polish and bug fixing all over the UI.

Content

• Fix authentication issues with Firefox Accounts.
• Fix Cloudflare challenges.
• Desktop mode override for nowtv.com .
• Fixed YouTube compatibility issues.
• Prevent the WebRTC protocol from leaking local IP addresses.

Huawei Vision Glass

• Redesigned Phone UI, with a new tray widget with quick access buttons.
• Buttons now disable appropriately during immersive and fullscreen experiences.
• Improved stability.

Other

• Initial OpenTelemetry integration.
• Migrated build system to version catalogs.
• Removed deprecated WaveVR backend.

Version 1.2.2 of Wolvic with the Chromium Web engine.

This new version comes with all the updates in the Gecko version 1.8.2 plus a few additional things:

• Initial support for the Web Payments standard, which aims to provide frictionless payment experience on the web.
• Keyboard typing sounds: added audio feedback for keyboard input.
• MagicLeap: device-specific UI dimensions and colors for better visibility.

Quick bug fixing release after v1.2 solving some outstanding issues that were very important for our users. For a more detailed list of changes see the v1.8.1 announcement for the Gecko version.

Apart from those we've fixed a crash in web pages using the WebAuthn APIs.

Release Notes

Tabs

• Open tabs in background by default.
• Add an option in Settings / Display to open new tabs in the background or in the foreground.
• Preserve the order of tabs when reopening Wolvic.

Content

• Disable headlock when in VR videos.

Gecko

• Fix an endless redirection loop in sites protected by Cloudflare.
• Update our User Agent to reflect our current Firefox/Gecko version.

PICO

• Download environments in the PICO 4 Ultra.
• Use the correct input profile for the PICO 4 Ultra.
• Disable and hide the controller when positioning information is unavailable.

Huawei Vision Glass

• Keep the screen on while the glasses are connected.

Release Notes

Highlights

• A new move bar under the window allows it to be easily repositioned.
• The new tabs bar presents the list of open tabs either horizontally at the top of the window or vertically on the side.
• Multiple improvements to the Settings.
• Bookmarks and Downloads now have dedicated buttons in the tray for direct access.
• The browser engine has been updated to Gecko ESR 128.5.1.
• In general, a lot of effort has been devoted to polish the UI and improve the reliability of Wolvic.

Window management

• A new move bar under the window allows it to be easily repositioned.
• It is now possible to choose from four preset window sizes in Settings/Display.
• The window resizer has been redesigned for improved appearance and usability.

Tabs

• The new tabs bar presents the list open tabs either horizontally at the top of the window or vertically on the side.
• The location of tabs can be configured in Settings/Display.
• A new Sync button in the tabs bar allows to receive tabs from Firefox Sync.
• The options in the Display settings have been sorted by relevance for the user.

Content

• The browser engine has been updated to Gecko ESR 128.5.1.

Settings and Sync

• The Settings window now links to our regular feedback page and provides direct access to Add-ons management.
• The "What's New" button has been relocated near the version details, and the UI in the Language settings dialog has been adjusted.
• Sound feedback settings have been moved to the Controllers section.
• On Chromium-based builds, the Add-ons button has been removed until that functionality is available.

Other UI Changes

• Bookmarks and Downloads now have dedicated buttons in the tray for direct access.
• We have done quite a bit of work under the hood to ensure that the state of the UI always remains consistent.
• The size and spacing of the elements in the navigation bar have been adjusted for better usability.
• Built-in extensions are now hidden from the hamburger menu since they are not user-configurable.
• We have lowered the sensitivity required by the controller buttons to trigger a click.

Meta

• This release includes support for the new Meta Quest 3S (already released in the Meta store with the previous version).
• Unfortunately, Meta has removed support for the OpenXR extension that Wolvic uses to display external keyboards in the 3D environment.
• Allow installing add-ons from locally downloaded files.

PICO

• Hand tracking is more accurate.
• Restored pass-through support for PICO OS version 5.9 and above.
• Disabling hand tracking no longer disables controllers.

Huawei Vision Glass

• Improved the accuracy and flexibility of the UI.
• A new widget in the phone UI allows the user to change the window distance.
• Improved pointer accuracy, reducing shift.

Others

• Bugfixing and improvements to stability, performance, and build infrastructure.

Introducing the second release in the 1.x series of Wolvic powered by Chromium. The new v1.2 comes with all the changes from the Gecko's v1.8 release and a few additional things:

• Added support for progressive web apps (PWAs)
• Remove Gecko specific options from the settings like the Enhanced Tracking Protection
• Do not show Addons icon in Settings as there is no support yet
• Other stability fixes