Version 3 is a big milestone for the Kiwix Progressive Web App (PWA) and Electron apps.
PWAs are built using web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript), making them compatible with various platforms and devices, including desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. This ensures a consistent experience for users across different platforms. PWAs are designed to be responsive, adapting to different screen sizes and resolutions. This responsiveness enhances the user experience, whether accessed on a large desktop monitor or a small smartphone screen.
Highlights of this release include:
- Preliminary support for Zimit v2.0 archive types
- New, simplified Web Installer for Windows that auto-selects the correct package
- Ability to use built-in DarkReader with all Zimit-style ZIMs
For the PWA, simply visit https://pwa.kiwix.org, and wait for it to offer v3.0.1. For portable and installable Electron and NWJS packages, which can be installed fully offline (other than the Web installer), go to https://github.com/kiwix/kiwix-js-pwa/releases/tag/v3.0.1-E.
IMPORTANT: If the Electron app is updating from a previous version, then you will need to restart it TWICE after the update is offered for the app to update fully to the latest code. Search for “KNOWN ISSUES” in the release info for further issues you may encounter, or check the full issue tracker.
New or updated features since v2.0 was released:
- Support for all known ZIM types from Wikipedia 0.5 to Zimit v2
- Huge range of supported browsers and frameworks
- Full-text searching of ZIM contents using javascript-libzim
- Cutting-edge Origin Private File System support with best-available fallbacks
- Built-in DarkReader support for nearly all ZIM types (SW mode)
- Use multiple ZIM archives simultaneously with File Handling API
- ZIM content is loaded in a secure sandbox for safety
- Download ZIM archives in-app and display download progress
- Read all Zimit archives (see youzim.it to make your own)
- Open a new browsable tab or window
- In-page searching and highlighting
- Title and URL search with wildcards .* or regexes
- Alphabetical index of all articles in archive (type space in search field)
- Find assets by prefixing namespace (or type space + / in search)
- Printing articles (with optional filtering for Wikipedia articles)
- Transform Wikipedia layout from mobile to desktop style and vice versa
- Download and save content and assets from ZIM
- Support full-screen and orientation lock in most browsers and frameworks
…and more. See ful Changelog for the list!