Release Notes

What changed in each version of Methodox Lightning, newest first.

0.4.0 - 12 November 2026

A crashed page says so. When a page crashes or runs out of memory, the tab tells you and offers Reload instead of going blank.
Clear certificate warnings. When a site's certificate can't be trusted, Lightning doesn't load the site and says why in plain words: the certificate expired, is for a different site, was signed by the site itself, or comes from an issuer your computer doesn't trust. Details show the certificate, and from there you can continue to the site anyway if you know why.
Site permissions you stay in control of. A site that asks for your camera, microphone, location or notifications is asked once, and your answer is remembered. Settings lists every site with what it's allowed, and you can change or forget any of them.
The site panel. Click the icon at the start of the address bar to see whether the connection is secure, who issued the site's certificate, and what the site may do.
Save as PDF. Save any page as a PDF from the menu. PDFs open right in the browser, and printing uses your system's print dialog.

Links from other programs always open. A link clicked while the browser was closing could be lost, and every link after it then opened as an empty new tab. Such a link now waits for the browser to finish closing and opens when it starts again.

Selections are easy to see in the dark theme. Selected text, the highlighted suggestion under the address bar and the selected row of a list now stand out clearly in dark mode and in private windows.

Notes on saved sign-ins. Each sign-in has a Notes field for things like recovery codes or security answers. Like the password, notes show only when you open the entry.
Move the window from the tab panel. Drag the window by any empty part of the tab panel, not only by the top bar.

Ads and trackers blocked. Built in and on from the start. A shield in the address bar shows how much was blocked on the page and turns blocking off for that site.
Sandboxed like Chrome. Web pages run with almost no access to the rest of your computer.
Tabs that rest. A tab you haven't looked at for an hour lets go of its memory and reloads when you come back to it. Tabs that are playing sound, downloading or holding something you typed stay awake. Choose 15 minutes, an hour, four hours or never in Settings.
Five languages. English, 简体中文, 繁體中文, 日本語 and 한국어. The browser follows your system's language, or the one you pick in Settings.
Selections are easier to see in the light theme.
Clearer installer option. The file option now reads "Open web pages", and its tooltip says what it does.

The browser's own name everywhere. Task Manager and firewall prompts now say Methodox Lightning instead of a generic helper name.
A quicker first start after installing.

Passwords, addresses and cards. Lightning offers to save sign-ins, addresses and cards, and fills them in when you choose one. Everything is kept in one encrypted KeePass file, locked with a password only you know, that other password managers such as KeePassXC can open. It suggests strong passwords, locks itself when you step away, and brings in passwords exported from other browsers.
Type straight into a new tab. The address bar of a new tab now gets your typing right away.
Rearrange tabs. Drag a tab up or down, or press Ctrl+Shift+Page Up / Page Down. The tabs opened from it come along.

Open links in new tabs. Ctrl-click or middle-click a link to open it in a background tab, Ctrl+Shift-click to open it and switch to it, and Shift-click to open it in a new window.
Your default browser. Lightning can open links from other programs. Settings shows whether it is your default browser and takes you to the system setting to choose it.
Fixed: the first new tab after starting sometimes showed "New tab failed".

The first version.

A history that never loses a page. Every page a tab shows is kept, with how you got there. Going back and then clicking somewhere else no longer erases the page you left, and the history page draws each tab's trail.
Tabs in a tree. Tabs run down the side, each under the page that opened it, and branches fold away.
Pick up where you left off. Yesterday's tabs come back, and Back keeps going into yesterday.
The browser's own pages: a new tab with your most visited sites, history, bookmarks with folders, tags and notes (and import from Chrome, Edge and Brave), downloads and settings.
Private windows that forget everything when closed.
No account, no sync, no assistant. Google searches show plain web results.