October 7, 2026

• Video calls on the Mac

  Video calling is available on the Mac without a developer switch. Camera selection and higher picture quality, including 1080p when the connection permits, are part of the call controls.

• Share a screen or window

  Mac calls can share a screen or window chosen with the system picker, and participants can watch it in the call. Capture follows the current selection and stops safely when that selection is no longer valid.

• Screen sharing adapts separately

  Shared screens now have their own picture quality and connection handling, including a sharper refresh after movement stops. This is the first screen encoding implementation; further work on fine text and difficult connections remains.

• A compact window for audio calls

  Audio calls have a compact floating strip with call status and controls, making it easier to keep chatting while a call continues.

• Keep the conversation beside a call

  The conversation can appear in the right panel during a call, so messages stay within reach alongside the call.

• Recovery for the last remaining member

  A recovery kit can bring back the organisation and its groups even when the restoring person was their sole member. Recovery still depends on the person’s kit and encrypted backup.

• Restore beside a working account

  Restore from Recovery Kit is available while another account is already working. It can restore a different server’s account or resume an unfinished restore without replacing the working accounts.

• Finish an interrupted account setup

  Settings shows accounts whose registration did not finish, with Try again and Remove actions. A failure in the final setup step now leaves the account in that recoverable state.

• Conversation menus from the sidebar

  Right-clicking a conversation opens its action menu. Show Details and Hide Details are also available from the Conversation menu.

• Emoji while you type

  The composer gains emoji shortcodes and emoticon completion, offering a faster way to enter familiar emoji.

• Familiar text editing keys

  Text fields use the platform’s expected editing key bindings, bringing everyday keyboard behavior closer to the system’s own fields.

• Updated app artwork

  Lowfire uses the owner’s app artwork, fitted consistently for the icon sizes the app needs.

• Storage information for server operators

  Server operators can inspect storage use and limits for each organisation. This provides administration information without access to message contents.

• Organisation removal for operators

  The operator interface can delete an organisation. The app explains when its server operator has removed one, instead of leaving people with an unexplained failure.

• Conversations belong to an organisation

  Every direct conversation and group belongs to one organisation. This strengthens the separation between workspaces and makes membership and removal apply consistently to their conversations.

• Read and navigate a shared screen

  A viewer can choose actual size, fit or full screen, and zoom or pan the shared picture. Clear permission and capture-failure messages offer system settings or Share Again where supported.

• Video returns when the connection can carry it

  Video paused by a weak connection resumes when a usable path returns. A good connection no longer incorrectly shows “Video paused: poor connection,” and a broken codec can be replaced.

• Better video on a narrow connection

  Video transmission was adjusted to show more of the available frames with less waiting when bandwidth is limited. This improves difficult calls without claiming every connection meets the eventual quality targets.

• Opening the camera leaves the app responsive

  The camera and video encoder open on their own thread, reducing interference with the app while video starts.

• Smoother video and sound together

  Video playback adapts its delay to the connection and keeps the picture aligned with the sound, reducing uneven playback.

• Self view stays where you put it

  Dragging the self view during a video call now keeps it at the chosen position.

• A call continues without video support

  On a device without usable video, a video call continues as an audio call and explains the limitation. This includes the Linux fallback covered in the change.

• Recover conversation names and explain server trouble

  Conversations left without a name can recover their display information. Unavailable servers are described more clearly instead of presenting ambiguous account or conversation state.

• Explain a full organisation

  When an organisation reaches its member limit, its admins can see the server operator’s explanation. Storage refusals likewise tell an admin why an upload was turned away.

• A steady admin choice in invitations

  Selecting “They become an admin” in the invite flow no longer flashes.

• Consistent recovery confirmation

  The recovery kit’s Confirm button now matches the card’s other buttons.

• Automatic appearance follows the system immediately

  Choosing automatic appearance applies the current system theme at once, including on machines that switch appearance automatically.

• Clear attachment selection and keyboard focus

  Clicking an attachment selects it and keyboard focus is visible in the message log. Quick Look is offered on the Mac, and copying or previewing a message preserves the keyboard’s place.

• Less work while typing long drafts

  When typing in a draft with several paragraphs, accessibility caret positioning lays out the paragraph being edited rather than repeatedly processing the entire draft.

• Setup retries recover earlier progress

  Retrying account creation finds an account an earlier attempt already made and reconciles its organisation membership. A limited automatic retry also handles a further internal refusal with a fresh group.

• One explanation for a failed retry

  Try again on an unfinished account reports a failure once, avoiding repeated copies of the same error.

• Restored history takes over leftover conversations

  Restoring over conversations left by an interrupted attempt takes them over as history rather than conflicting with their leftover records.

• Failed restore and linking clean up their changes

  If restore or device linking fails, conversations added during the failed step are also released from memory as the stored changes roll back.

• Incomplete history stays marked incomplete

  A partly downloaded history page remains marked partial after restarting, so the app can still fetch what is missing.

• Retention cleanup avoids false gaps

  The app bounds the markers it keeps for history removed by retention without wrongly showing holes in the conversation.

• New conversations avoid leftover records

  A new conversation no longer reuses an identifier that still has old stored records, preventing the new conversation from colliding with remnants.

• Waiting commands receive a final answer

  Commands waiting for a conversation now receive an answer when that conversation is torn down instead of remaining pending indefinitely.

• Keep the information needed to recover an organisation key

  After an organisation key is rejected, the client retains the recovery hint until a usable replacement arrives. Empty key lists are also handled safely during key rotation.

• Keep older device certificates during updates

  Saving a longer device history preserves certificates for older devices, so extending the record does not discard information needed to check it.

• Explain a peer’s disabled account

  A direct conversation can explain that the server reports the other account as turned off. The wording distinguishes the server’s report from a fact the app independently proved.

• Download updates without holding the whole archive

  Update archives are streamed and checked as they arrive, with bounded memory use and download limits.

• A required key change can follow revocation

  Revoking a device can trigger the required organisation-key change even when the account has used its ordinary key-change allowance. Separate device-change limits still bound repeated additions and revocations.

Designs, contracts and foundations are work in progress; they do not by themselves mean a finished feature is available.

• Presence storage groundwork

  The server gains storage and checks for presence updates, including changes in device and organisation membership. This is the server foundation; the visible presence interface is still a later step.

• Private push groundwork

  The private push design and its server and client core pieces landed: registrations are sealed and wakes carry no message or call contents. These pieces are groundwork for platform delivery rather than a claim that sleeping phones already receive notifications.

• Group call design and contracts

  Work defines small group calls, their participants and protected connection descriptions. The design and shared contracts landed here; the media and interface implementation follows separately.

• Organisation emoji and animation design

  A proposed design covers encrypted organisation emoji, including animated images and controls on who may manage them. It does not add usable custom emoji yet.

• Reusable invitation design

  An accepted design specifies invitation links that may be used more than once, with use limits and revocation. The implementation is a separate step.

• Planned version retirement and security updates

  The protocol gains an explicit version retirement policy, server dates and version usage information for operators. Signed update information can identify security releases; the user-facing advance warning follows separately.