PortableApps.com Platform 26.3: Improved Security, Locale Updates, Fixes

PortableApps.com is proud to announce the PortableApps.com Platform 26.3 release. This update improves security of download verifications and online installers, updates locales, and fixes a bug. Read on for all the details...(permalink)

Existing Platform users can automatically update by clicking Help - Check for Updates. A small quick-install patch will be downloaded and applied.

New in 26.3

This release improves security of app downloads and online app installer secondary downloads by eliminating all legacy MD5 hashes and only supporting SHA256 hashing. Multiple portable apps that haven't been updated in years have been rebuilt to support the latest PA.c Format and to support SHA256 hash verification in their online installer downloads. The PA.c Installer will be dropping MD5 support in the next release as well. Four locales have been updated with the new verification display strings. A bug was also fixed. Full details are in the PortableApps.com Platform changelog.

New in 26.2.3

This release improves the update and app store window by indicating when file download verification is occurring so downloads don't appear paused and updates 13 locales. Full details are in the PortableApps.com Platform changelog.

New in 26.2.2

This release improves keyboard navigation by having both popup and context menus appear relative to the button or app icon instead of near the mouse cursor when triggered by the keyboard. It also updates 6 locales. Full details are in the PortableApps.com Platform changelog.

26.2.2.1 Quick Update - A quick update to fix an issue with flickering and command lines being shown in the updater/app store due to an NSIS bug was released a few hours after 26.2.2.

New in 26.2.1

This release adds social links for BlueSky and Mastodon, fixes display issues within the About window and Help menu with RTL locales, fixes an issue with Danish locale displaying Dutch, fixes an issue with cancelled downloads on slow connections occasionally removing app files, and updates multiple locales. Full details are in the PortableApps.com Platform changelog.

New in 26.2

This release adds support for exiting anyway if you want to keep an app running when automatically closing apps on exits, fixes for RTL languages to the menu's popup submenus and about screen, multiple locale updates, and more. Full details are in the PortableApps.com Platform changelog.

New in 26.1

This release adds support for custom command line parameters sent to non-PA.c Format apps via an INI file. It also adds NixOS detection and font matching and updates 7-Zip used for backup and restore to the latest version. Full details are in the PortableApps.com Platform changelog.

New in 26.0

This release has improved app installation and uninstallation with greatly improved uninstall speed as well as symlink handling within app's base paths. UNC support for unmapped drives has been improved. Multiple fixes and other quality of life improvements are included as well. Full details on all versions are in the PortableApps.com Platform changelog.

macOS Support

Version 25.0 added initial support for macOS via our new macOS Helper app. It allows use of the PortableApps.com Platform on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. Many of the apps in our directory will work but not quite all that currently support Linux via Wine do. We're working on digitally signing the release and ironing out the bugs soon. And we're tracking installation issues with errors writing to Documents due to macOS not popping up the Documents permission popup as well as issues with the signing that we'd love your help on if you have some experience with macOS app signing and packaging.

Platform Features

As always, the PortableApps.com Platform is packed with great features like:

• Automatic App Closing - Closing down and getting going is easier than ever with the platform automatically (and safely) closing your running portable apps and letting you know which ones need to be closed before you eject and finish syncing your cloud drive.
• Awesome Themes - The modern default theme matches well with Windows 11, 10, 8 and 7. Plus all your favorite classic themes are included.
• Cascading Tray App Menu - Get quick access to all your apps with a right click in the system tray
• Always-Ready Search - The app search box is always visible and ready by default, so you can open the platform - possibly with the CTRL-ALT-SPACE hotkey - and just start typing to launch your favorite app. You can even search in app descriptions if you'd like by ticking a box in Options
• Proxy Support - The connections tab in Options lets you automatically or manually configure the platform to work with your internet proxy
• Full Featured Installer - The Platform installer can detect and install to your portable devices, synced cloud directories, local machine, and more
• Fast Updater / App Store - Quickly check for updates to your existing apps and find new ones by name, category, release date, and more
• Eject or Power Off - For local users, the eject button automatically switches to a shutdown/restart/log off button, bringing up the Windows prompt to select your choice. You can also right-click on the button to select to show either eject or shutdown/restart/log off.
• Portable Fonts - Take all your fonts with you and use them in all your portable apps
• Organize Your Apps Your Way - Use the default of favorites and most used apps with all apps by category on the second page or switch it up by selecting alphabetical apps, categories and favorites by default, and other options
• All the fixes and features are details in the PortableApps.com Platform Changelog

Next Version, Translators Needed

We're starting work on the next beta soon and we'll be going over the list of requested features and bugs to prioritize the additions and fixes in the next couple release. We'll be needing more translators watching the beta channel and translating the few new features in this release.

Ongoing Donation Drive

PortableApps.com needs your help to keep bringing you great software! To learn more, read a personal appeal from PortableApps.com founder John T. Haller. Now you can sponsor the PortableApps.com Platform and help us keep delivering awesome software for free. With options ranging from having your name included to a full-blown site-wide sponsorship, there's a good fit for everyone. Sponsor us today and be a part of the action! Ad revenue and donations have decreased drastically due to the global pandemic and associated economic impact, so we need your help more than ever.

We also accept donations of any size to help with development and hosting:

- Please help support PortableApps.com's development and hosting

Discussing The Release, Enhancements and Bug Reports

As there is much to discuss with this new release, we've separated out a few forum threads for discussing:

• Platform bug reports
• Default app organization settings and "smart" list sorting
• Language updates and changes

Download Today

You can download the new version of the PortableApps.com Platform from the download page. Get it today!

Please note that any bug reports and feature requests go in the PortableApps.com Platform Bug Report and Feature Request Tracker.