Rayburst Updates & Release Notes

Important

Rayburst 4.1 needs Rayburst Connect 2.1.2 or later. Browser handoff was rebuilt for this release. With Connect 2.0.x the extension shows "Desktop version not supported" and the browser keeps its downloads. Update the extension from the Chrome Web Store, Edge Add-ons or Firefox Add-ons. Connect 2.1.2 and later also work with Rayburst 4.0.

What's Changed

Rayburst 4.1.0 is the largest update since 4.0 and brings eleven betas to the stable channel. It moves to the rebuilt Aria2 Next 3 engine, bundled here as 3.0.8, which replaces the event loop inherited from aria2 with Boost.Asio, libcurl, libtorrent and SQLite. The app now reads the engine through one native pump instead of several polling loops, and a browser download is released only after the engine confirms it would receive the same file. Every new download is confirmed in a standalone add window, an optional floating window shows progress over other apps, and site rules, multi-select, moving unfinished downloads and post-download actions are new. Linux rendering, start at login and file safety are fixed across the board.

🚀 Performance

Aria2 Next 3.0.0 against the 2.8.6 engine of Rayburst 4.0.1, measured on the same machine and network; every downloaded file was verified.

Download Size 4.1.0 vs 4.0.1 openSUSE image from a Metalink with several mirrors 261 MiB about 20× faster eMule installer over ED2K 3.2 MiB about 6× faster Sintel torrent with a web seed 123 MiB about 2× faster; first data about 10× sooner Linux kernel tarball from kernel.org 149 MiB about 1.8× faster HLS and DASH streams 4 cases all complete; 4.0.1 failed 3 Server that throttles with 503 or 429 — completes at the server's limit; 4.0.1 failed the task One response with a wrong Content-Range — about 14× faster; 4.0.1 dropped to one connection Connections that open but never send data — completes; 4.0.1 stalled

Fast single servers download at the same speed with 2–4× less CPU time and less memory.

Downloads from one server share its connections by remaining bytes when the server limits them, so a large video no longer waits behind its audio and subtitles.

The app reads the global status and the task lists in one call per tick, and the window no longer polls. Busy engines no longer trigger restart storms (#690).

Large torrents stay responsive: the file selector is virtualized, and the window receives at most 64 files per task, except the task whose details are open (#447).

🔗 Rayburst Connect

Rayburst 4.0.x Rayburst 4.1.0 Rayburst Connect 2.0.x ✅ Update the extension Rayburst Connect 2.1.2 or later ✅ ✅

Verified handoffs: the extension holds a browser download until Rayburst answers. Rayburst asks the engine to request the URL with the browser's headers and cookies, and takes over only when the server answers with the expected file. Web pages, rejected or unreachable URLs and size mismatches stay in the browser, and a lost answer never leaves a download in neither place.

With the confirm behavior and Connect 2.1.4 or later, the browser releases a download as soon as the add window shows it (#720).

The popup lists unfinished and recent tasks with pause, resume and show in folder.

Browser .torrent links either open the torrent's content or are saved as plain files; they are always saved while BitTorrent is off (connect#50).

Starting Rayburst from Firefox works when the browser forbids leaving its job object (connect#62).

Media from a CDN without captured headers is requested with the page origin as Referer, so split audio and video tracks no longer answer 403.

✨ New Features

• Standalone add window — every new download, from the menu, tray, links, drops or the extension, is confirmed in one movable window that opens at once. It reads each link's size and file name the way the download will request them, shows the total against the folder's free space, and accepts dropped .torrent files (#693, #445, #379, #400, #718)
• Floating window — an optional orb that stays on top, fills with the overall progress and shows the speed. Click it for a panel to pause or resume each download, or drop links and torrents on it. Show it always, only while downloading or never; on Windows it steps aside for fullscreen apps (#718, #726)
• Site rules — choose the proxy and cap connections per host, for the add window and browser downloads (#489, connect#52)
• Multi-select — Ctrl/Shift click, Ctrl+A and Esc, with batch resume, pause and delete (#473)
• Move unfinished downloads — Task details → "Save to" → "Move to…" pauses the download, moves its files across disks too, and resumes it (#696)
• Per-task speed limits in the add window and task details, including live upload limits for BitTorrent
• Duplicate detection against live tasks and history, even after the earlier file was moved or deleted, with skip, add anyway or cancel (#491, #545)
• Replace a task's URL, or retry a failed task with a new one (#548)
• Post-download program with {file}, {dir} and {name} arguments, and shut down when complete from the speed popover (#651, #733)
• Expected checksum for single downloads, DNS over HTTPS with presets, and a switch to skip certificate checks for trusted self-signed servers (#337, #704)
• Download torrents in order, so files finish one after another like the episodes of a series (#703)
• Torrent links open their file list when copied or pasted (#737)
• Mark unfinished files with .ray until they complete, and remove records when complete while keeping the files (#721, #722)
• Notifications — clicking one on Windows shows or opens the file, and Settings says when the system turns Rayburst's notifications off, with a test notification (#609, #742)
• Redirect target — task details show where a redirected link leads, and the download is filed under the category of the file it delivers (#730)
• Interface size with Ctrl/Cmd +, − and 0, optional IEC units (KiB, MiB) and a Linux system title bar option (#367, #496, #533)
• Tray icon can be hidden, and shows a dot while downloads run and the speeds in its tooltip (#352, #508, #283)
• GPU acceleration on Linux — Settings → Advanced picks whether the graphics card or the CPU draws the window (#731)

🛠 Improvements

• Bundles Aria2 Next 3.0.8. It keeps an existing file intact when a server ignores ranges, writes BitTorrent names as UTF-8 under any Linux locale and names an unavailable Windows drive or network share. XML-RPC, Thunder links and the PeerBanHelper blocklist methods remain available
• Settings are reorganized so related options sit together, with shorter hints in all languages. Save and Discard appear only when something changed (#691, #723)
• The BitTorrent file selector shows a folder tree with file-type icons, type shortcuts and invert selection (#598, #472)
• Taken file names are numbered name (1).ext, as browsers and file managers do; a typed name is used exactly as written (#709)
• Split archive parts such as .7z.001, .z01 and .r00 are filed with the archive's category (#736)
• Clipboard detection offers file links only by default, and only links copied after Rayburst started (#683, #738)
• Lightweight mode frees every window in the tray, leaving only Rayburst and the engine; the floating window can optionally stay (#735)
• The add window, the floating window and its panel follow the system text size and interface zoom on Windows and Linux (#731)
• Esc hides the window like its close button without quitting (#569)
• Update checks finish within 15 seconds and check both channels together (#657)
• Task progress is rounded down to one decimal, so a task never reads 100% before it finishes
• History written by a newer version is kept; the notice offers an update or, after confirmation, a reset (#729)
• The engine saves unfinished tasks every 60 seconds and checkpoints progress every 10 seconds. Crash recovery stops after three crashes in five minutes
• docs/LINUX.md lists fixes for Linux display problems

⚠️ Changed Behavior

• Resume downloads is removed. A new download of an existing file name is renamed instead of continuing into that file; Retry still resumes the task's own file (#595)
• New installs use 16 connections per file; saved preferences keep their value
• Downloaded .torrent files are saved instead of started; open them to start the torrent. A new switch turns BitTorrent off entirely (#558)
• The engine maps BitTorrent and ED2K ports itself and moves to another port when one is taken; a taken RPC port falls back to a free local port. The port-conflict recovery settings are removed
• The maximum HTTP range size setting is removed; the engine sizes ranges by connection speed
• On Linux, GPU acceleration replaces the software rendering switch and is off by default. Remove WebKitGTK environment variables you added for earlier versions
• External RPC clients see the Aria2 Next 3 changes: RPC over TLS is gone, retired engine options are ignored with a warning, and Metalink 3 is no longer read. See the engine release notes
• Settings for removed features are dropped on first start; everything else carries over, and unfinished downloads resume with their progress

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fixed a download continuing into another download's file of the same name, including when the server ignores ranges (#595)
• Fixed Linux windows flickering or showing only the area around the pointer with WebKitGTK 2.54: every frame is now repainted in full. WebKitGTK also keeps compositing, so translucent shadows no longer pile up (#650, #705, #731)
• Fixed the AppImage staying invisible with EGL_BAD_PARAMETER on newer Mesa (#714)
• Fixed KDE showing a generic icon for Rayburst, and Rayburst missing from application menus in deb and rpm installs (#745, #731)
• Fixed the main window popping up after a KDE panel restart (#707)
• Fixed start at login on Windows for install paths with spaces, such as D:\Program Files; the next launch repairs the entry (#716)
• Fixed "Open file" for downloads on network shares such as \server\share (#715)
• Fixed notifications on Windows installs upgraded from an older product, start notifications for tasks added by any RPC client, and tasks announced as "Unknown" (#685, #534)
• Fixed a silent autostart showing a maximized window (#576)
• Fixed queued magnets showing as fetching metadata (#611)
• Fixed shortened long multibyte file names losing their extension (#509)
• Fixed seeding-only or unsized downloads animating the taskbar indefinitely
• Bounded Extension API requests in flight and their write rate (#603)

📦 Downloads

Platform Architecture File macOS Apple Silicon · Intel .dmg Windows x64 · ARM64 -setup.exe Linux x64 · ARM64 .AppImage .deb .rpm

Bundles Aria2 Next 3.0.8. Pair with Rayburst Connect 2.1.7 or any version from 2.1.2.

Full changelog: v4.0.1...v4.1.0

Original source

What's Changed

This beta bundles Aria2 Next 3.0.8 for all platforms. A download no longer writes into another download's file of the same name, Linux windows keep their shadows clean with GPU acceleration off by default, and the add window opens smoothly at the right size.

✨ New Features

• GPU acceleration on Linux — Settings → Advanced picks whether the graphics card or the CPU draws the window. It is off by default, which avoids drivers and virtual GPUs that freeze or blank the window; either way WebKitGTK keeps compositing, so translucent shadows no longer pile up (#731)
• Notification check — when the system turns Rayburst's notifications off, Settings says so and offers the notification settings and a test notification (#742)
• Floating orb in lightweight mode — an optional setting keeps the orb while lightweight mode releases the other windows

🛠 Improvements

• Aria2 Next 3.0.8 — keeps an existing file intact when a server ignores ranges, writes BitTorrent names as UTF-8 under any Linux locale, names an unavailable Windows drive or network share, and restores the PeerBanHelper blocklist and announce RPC methods
• Add window — it rises in smoothly, grows a little before scrolling when advanced options open, and opens over the main window on GNOME; connections per file moved into advanced options; on macOS it keeps the system traffic lights
• Window scaling — the add window, the floating orb and its panel follow the system text size and interface zoom on Windows and Linux (#731)
• Wayland — turning the floating orb on asks for the restart it needs to place itself
• New installs use 16 connections per file, which most servers accept; saved preferences keep their value

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fixed a download continuing into another download's file of the same name: the global "continue" setting is gone, a new download of an existing name is renamed, and Retry still resumes the task's own file (#595)
• Fixed KDE showing a generic icon for Rayburst in the overview and task switcher (#745)
• Fixed two spinners showing while the add window fetches the file name again (#749)
• Fixed the floating orb drifting on X11 and after repeated dragging
• Fixed the content of record and manager dialogs running past the dialog in short windows

📦 Downloads

Platform Architecture File macOS Apple Silicon · Intel .dmg Windows x64 · ARM64 -setup.exe Linux x64 · ARM64 .AppImage .deb .rpm Original source

What's Changed

This beta bundles Aria2 Next 3.0.6, which shares a server's connections fairly across downloads and keeps parallel connections for servers that omit Content-Range. Lightweight mode now frees every webview in the tray, the floating orb tells seeding from downloading, and several download and add-window refinements land.

✨ New Features

• Torrent links open their file list — copying or pasting a .torrent link fetches it and shows its files for selection at once (#737)
• Split archives in their category — parts such as .7z.001, .z01 and .r00 are filed with the archive's category (#736)

🛠 Improvements

• Aria2 Next 3.0.6 — downloads from one server share its connections by remaining bytes when the server limits them, so a large video no longer waits behind its audio and subtitles; a 206 without Content-Range keeps its parallel connections
• Lightweight mode frees every webview — the main window, the prepared add window, the floating orb and its panel all close in the tray, leaving only Rayburst and the engine; they return with the main window (#735)
• Floating orb — it fills from the bottom with the overall progress, shows the upload speed while only seeding, and marks connecting, queued and paused states with their sign and percentage; its panel opens centered on it and lists seeding torrents with their upload speed
• Duplicate prompt from history — a URL downloaded before is recognized even after its file was moved, renamed or deleted (#545)
• Clipboard detection — only links copied after Rayburst started are picked up (#738)
• Advanced options — resource type and "save for this site" sit lower, next to the options they belong to

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fixed the floating orb spinning forever while torrents only seed, and the completion check vanishing when a finished torrent starts seeding
• Fixed the main window appearing transparent and empty for a moment on launch and when reopened from the tray
• Fixed the macOS traffic lights drifting off the add window's title bar; on macOS the add window is now framed like the main window
• Fixed the floating panel opening away from the orb on Wayland: Rayburst runs under XWayland while the orb shows (#731)
• Fixed Rayburst missing from Linux application menus: deb and rpm desktop entries now list it under Network (#731)

📦 Downloads

Platform Architecture File macOS Apple Silicon · Intel .dmg Windows x64 · ARM64 -setup.exe Linux x64 · ARM64 .AppImage .deb .rpm Original source

What's Changed

This beta fixes two Linux layout problems, the new-task window opening too tall and button labels sitting high, and lets you reset the database from the notice about history written by a newer version.

🛠 Improvements

• The notice about history saved by a newer version of Rayburst now also offers a reset; history is still kept unless you choose it and confirm (#729)

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fixed the new-task window on Linux opening too tall, with blank space below the advanced options (#731)
• Fixed button labels sitting above center on Linux, where the font fallback picked a font with mismatched metrics

📦 Downloads

Platform Architecture File macOS Apple Silicon · Intel .dmg Windows x64 · ARM64 -setup.exe Linux x64 · ARM64 .AppImage .deb .rpm Original source

What's Changed

This beta targets the WebKitGTK 2.54 rendering problem on Linux, where windows flickered or showed only the area around the pointer. It also fixes downloads that stayed at 0% on some servers, shows where redirected links lead, and keeps download history that a newer version wrote. Aria2 Next is updated to 3.0.5.

✨ New Features

• Shut down when complete — the speed popover in the sidebar switches "Shut Down After Downloads" on and off (#733)
• Redirect target — the task details' Sources section shows where a redirected link leads, ready to copy (#730)

🛠 Improvements

• On Windows, the floating orb hides while a fullscreen video or game fills its screen, and returns afterwards without taking the focus (#726)
• Redirected links are filed under the category of the file they deliver, such as .msix behind a fwlink URL (#730)
• History saved by a newer version of Rayburst is kept as is; the app asks you to update instead of offering a reset (#729)

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fixed Linux windows flickering or showing only the area around the pointer with WebKitGTK 2.54, including with NVIDIA drivers and software rendering: every frame is now repainted in full (#650, #705)
• Fixed the new-task window on Linux missing its bottom buttons (#731)
• Fixed the floating orb and panel being cut off after changing the interface size (#731)
• Fixed buttons jumping when changing settings that save at once, such as the update channel (#732)
• Fixed downloads staying at 0% when a server answers range requests without a usable Content-Range, as cloud.mail.ru does; they now continue on one connection (#734)

📦 Downloads

Platform Architecture File macOS Apple Silicon · Intel .dmg Windows x64 · ARM64 -setup.exe Linux x64 · ARM64 .AppImage .deb .rpm Original source

What's Changed

The floating window now shows always, only while downloading, or never, and takes links and torrents dropped on it. This beta also fixes a crash when adding a task on Linux under X11, CJK text whose tops were cut off, and a jagged tray icon on Windows.

✨ New Features

• Floating window modes — Settings → General → "Floating window": "Always", "While Downloading" or "Off"; the orb's right-click menu and the tray menu switch it too, so a hidden orb comes back from the tray. "While Downloading" leaves out paused and seeding tasks (#726)
• Drop to download — drop links, magnet links or .torrent files on the orb to open them in the new-task window (#726)

🛠 Improvements

• The floating orb is larger (#726)
• Settings fade out above the action bar, so a row cut by the window's edge no longer looks like clipped text (#723)
• If you turned the floating window on in an earlier beta, pick a mode again: the switch became a choice of three

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fixed adding a task crashing the app on Linux under X11 (#725)
• Fixed the tops of Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters being cut off in buttons, headings and lists (#723)
• Fixed the Windows tray icon looking jagged, including after a change of display scale (#728)
• Fixed the floating orb on Linux sitting in an invisible 200 × 200 px window that caught clicks

📦 Downloads

Platform Architecture File macOS Apple Silicon · Intel .dmg Windows x64 · ARM64 -setup.exe Linux x64 · ARM64 .AppImage .deb .rpm Original source

What's Changed

A floating speed window, a new-task window that appears instantly and shows each download's size before it starts, moving unfinished downloads to another folder, and Thunder links working again. The bundled engine moves to aria2-next 3.0.4.

✨ New Features

• Floating window — an optional orb that stays on top with the overall speed ringed by progress; click it for a panel to pause or resume each download, drag it anywhere (Settings → General → Tray & Dock → "Floating window") (#718)
• Size and name before downloading — the new-task window reads each link's size and file name the way the download will request them, and counts them against the folder's free space (#718)
• Move unfinished downloads — Task details → "Save to" → "Move to…": a running download pauses, its files move (across disks too) and it resumes (#696)
• Mark unfinished files — Settings → Downloads: unfinished downloads end in .ray until they complete (#721)
• Remove records when complete — "Keep completed records" can now remove a record as soon as the download finishes; files stay (#722)

🛠 Improvements

• Bundled engine updated to aria2-next 3.0.4
• The new-task window is prepared at startup and only hidden when closed, so it appears without delay, with a smoother entrance
• Taken file names are numbered name (1).ext, as browsers and file managers do (#709)
• A typed file name is used exactly as written, extension included; "Look up filename" became "Refresh"
• The connections field shows the cap a site rule applies and names the rule (#719)
• Save and Discard in Settings appear only when something changed and slide in; "Save & Apply" is now "Apply" (#723)
• DNS-over-HTTPS presets reach their resolvers by IP address, so finding the resolver needs no plain DNS lookup
• With the browser extension 2.1.4, the browser releases a download as soon as the Rayburst dialog shows it (#720)
• Transparent windows are back on Linux; the panels that blurred their background use a plain translucent one (#705, #650)
• After a KDE panel restart, the main window no longer pops up; it shows only if the tray stays gone for 10 s (#707)

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fixed Thunder (thunder://) links failing with "Unsupported URI"
• Fixed every failed submission in the new-task window being reported as "The engine is starting"
• Fixed start at login on Windows still failing silently: the entry no longer carries the \?\ prefix Explorer cannot start; the next launch repairs it (#716)

📦 Downloads

Platform Architecture File macOS Apple Silicon · Intel .dmg Windows x64 · ARM64 -setup.exe Linux x64 · ARM64 .AppImage .deb .rpm Original source

What's Changed

Start at login works again for install paths that contain spaces, and the bundled engine moves to aria2-next 3.0.3, which keeps large downloads on Windows fast and responsive.

🛠 Improvements

• Bundled engine updated to aria2-next 3.0.3
• Task progress shows one decimal and is rounded down, so a task never reads 100% before it finishes
• The add-task window is closed when you confirm or dismiss it, instead of staying hidden in the background
• The browser extension's download settings ("Extension download behavior" and the .torrent action) moved to Settings → Advanced → Browser Extension
• The toolbar actions now fade in place together with the page title when you switch views

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fixed start at login on Windows when Rayburst is installed in a path with spaces, such as D:\Program Files: Windows showed an "Open with" dialog and Rayburst did not start. The next launch repairs an existing registration, and turning start at login off in Task Manager is respected (#716)
• Fixed large downloads on Windows slowing down, stalling the interface and taking long to delete: files are created sparse again with the default allocation
• Fixed zero-length files failing with HTTP 416 on servers that support ranges

📦 Downloads

Platform Architecture File macOS Apple Silicon · Intel .dmg Windows x64 · ARM64 -setup.exe Linux x64 · ARM64 .AppImage .deb .rpm Original source

What's Changed

Every window is now opaque and framed by the system. This fixes flickering and partly drawn windows on Linux with WebKitGTK 2.54.

🛠 Improvements

• The add-task window is now a plain native window whose height follows its content
• Window backgrounds follow the theme, so a resizing window never flashes white

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Fixed flickering and partly drawn windows on Linux with WebKitGTK 2.54 (#650, #705)
• Linux with the NVIDIA driver: the WebKitGTK DMA-BUF renderer is turned off automatically, so windows no longer stay blank

📦 Downloads

Platform
Architecture
File

• macOS
  • Apple Silicon · Intel
  • .dmg
• Windows
  • x64 · ARM64
  • -setup.exe
• Linux
  • x64 · ARM64
  • .AppImage .deb .rpm

Original source

What's Changed

The third 4.1.0 beta fixes the add window on Linux, opening files on network shares and the AppImage on newer Linux systems. It bundles Aria2 Next 3.0.2 and pairs with Rayburst Connect 2.1.1.

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Linux: the add window opens at its full height again instead of as little more than a title bar (#712).
• Windows: "Open file" works for downloads saved to a network share such as \server\share (#715).
• Linux AppImage: the window opens on systems with newer Mesa, where it stayed invisible with EGL_BAD_PARAMETER. The AppImage now uses the system's Wayland libraries (#714).

🛠 Improvements

Bundles Aria2 Next 3.0.2, which restores XML-RPC for tools such as Sonarr and Radarr, reads flags written alone in aria2 configuration files and runs as a daemon on Windows.

📦 Downloads

Platform Architecture File macOS Apple Silicon · Intel .dmg Windows x64 · ARM64 -setup.exe Linux x64 · ARM64 .AppImage .deb .rpm

Bundles Aria2 Next 3.0.2. Pair with Rayburst Connect 2.1.1.

Full changelog: v4.1.0-beta.2...v4.1.0-beta.3

Original source

What's Changed

The second 4.1.0 beta fixes the Linux engine crash found in beta.1, makes the standalone add window open reliably and instantly, and reorganizes Settings so related options sit together. It bundles Aria2 Next 3.0.1 and pairs with Rayburst Connect 2.1.1; Connect 2.1.0 keeps working with it.

✨ New Features

• Download in order for torrents: files finish one after another, like the episodes of a series (#703).
• Verify certificates switch under Settings → Network → TLS, for trusted servers with self-signed certificates (#704).
• Notification click action on Windows: show the file in its folder or open it (#609).
• Drag torrents onto either window: the main window and the add window both accept .torrent files and show whether a drag can be dropped. Other files in a drop are reported instead of being ignored silently.

🛠 Improvements

• Standalone add window: every new download (menu, tray, links, the extension) opens in one movable window. It is prepared in the background, so it appears at once with a short scale-in animation, uses the app's own title bar and colors on all platforms, and grows with the advanced options up to a fifth above its plain height before scrolling.
• Reorganized Settings:
  • General now holds how downloads arrive (extension behavior, torrent links, clipboard detection), notifications and default programs (#691).
  • Downloads groups speed with concurrency and file allocation with the save location.
  • Network groups request and connection settings.
  • BitTorrent lists the download options first.
• Long descriptions are shortened in all languages.
• Add-task advanced options: HTTP username, password and the Authorization header share one field, with tighter spacing.
• Toasts are separated when they stack and use a surface that suits light and dark themes; the "engine ready" and background sync toasts on every launch are gone.
• Clearer hints for prioritizing file start and end (#702), the post-download program's {file}, {dir} and {name} arguments (#281) and custom DNS-over-HTTPS resolvers (#337).

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Linux: the engine no longer crashes as soon as BitTorrent starts, which made Rayburst report the engine as unavailable (#701, #705).
• Changing BitTorrent options such as "Prioritize file start and end" now applies to torrents that are already downloading (#702).
• An engine that exits during start-up is reported as a failed start instead of running.
• The add window opens on Windows again; browser handoffs no longer fail because it could not be created (rayburst-connect#94).
• Subtitle tracks from servers that always compress them are readable again.

📦 Downloads

Platform Architecture File macOS Apple Silicon · Intel .dmg Windows x64 · ARM64 -setup.exe Linux x64 · ARM64 .AppImage .deb .rpm

Bundles Aria2 Next 3.0.1. Pair with Rayburst Connect 2.1.1.

Full changelog: v4.1.0-beta.1...v4.1.0-beta.2

Original source

Important

Please pair this beta with Rayburst Connect 2.1.0. Browser handoff was rebuilt for this release. Rather than keep the old handoff path alongside the new one, we chose to keep both apps lean, so Rayburst 4.1.0 and Rayburst Connect 2.1.0 work with each other but not with the earlier versions. Until both are updated, the extension shows "Desktop version not supported" and the browser simply keeps its downloads. The browser stores still list 2.0.6, so install 2.1.0 from its GitHub Release for now.

What's Changed

Rayburst 4.1.0 is the largest update since 4.0: it moves to the rebuilt Aria2 Next 3.0.0 engine, rebuilds how the app supervises the engine and how browser downloads are handed over, and brings the biggest download speedups the project has had. The engine replaces the event loop inherited from aria2 with a new core (Boost.Asio, libcurl, libtorrent, SQLite) at about a quarter of the previous code. The app now reads the engine through one native pump instead of several polling loops, and a browser download is released only after the engine confirms it would receive the same file. This beta also adds a standalone add window, per-site rules, multi-select, post-download actions and more than forty fixes.

🚀 Performance

Aria2 Next 3.0.0 against the 2.8.6 engine of Rayburst 4.0.1, measured on the same machine and network; every downloaded file was verified.

Download Size 4.1.0 vs 4.0.1 openSUSE image from a Metalink with several mirrors 261 MiB about 20× faster eMule installer over ED2K 3.2 MiB about 6× faster Sintel torrent with a web seed 123 MiB about 2× faster; first data about 10× sooner Linux kernel tarball from kernel.org 149 MiB about 1.8× faster HLS and DASH streams 4 cases all complete; 4.0.1 failed 3 Server that throttles with 503 or 429 — completes at the server's limit; 4.0.1 failed the task One response with a wrong Content-Range — about 14× faster; 4.0.1 dropped to one connection Connections that open but never send data — completes; 4.0.1 stalled

Fast single servers download at the same speed with 2–4× less CPU time and less memory.

HTTP downloads open every configured connection at once. Servers that throttle (429/503), misreport ranges or stall a connection no longer fail the task or drop it to a single connection.

The app reads the global status and the task lists in one call per tick, and the window no longer polls. Busy engines no longer trigger restart storms (#690).

Large torrents stay responsive: the file selector is virtualized, and the window receives at most 64 files per task, except the task whose details are open (#447).

🔗 Rayburst Connect

Rayburst 4.0.x Rayburst 4.1.0 Rayburst Connect 2.0.x ✅ Update the extension Rayburst Connect 2.1.0 Update Rayburst ✅

Verified handoffs: the extension holds a browser download until Rayburst answers. Rayburst asks the engine to request the URL with the browser's headers and cookies, and takes over only when the server answers with the expected file. Web pages, rejected or unreachable URLs and size mismatches stay in the browser, and a lost answer never leaves a download in neither place.

The popup lists unfinished and recent tasks with pause, resume and show in folder.

Browser .torrent links either open the torrent's content or are saved as plain files; they are always saved while BitTorrent is off (connect#50).

Site rules choose the proxy per host and can cap connections per server (connect#52, #489).

Starting Rayburst from Firefox works when the browser forbids leaving its job object (connect#62).

Media from a CDN without captured headers is requested with the page origin as Referer, as browsers do, so split audio and video tracks no longer answer 403.

⚠️ Changed Behavior

The UPnP and port-conflict recovery settings are removed. The engine maps BitTorrent and ED2K ports itself and moves to another port when one is taken; a taken RPC port falls back to a free local port.

Downloaded .torrent files are saved instead of started; open them to start the torrent. A new BitTorrent switch turns BitTorrent off entirely (#558).

External RPC clients see the Aria2 Next 3.0.0 changes: XML-RPC and RPC over TLS are gone, and retired engine options are ignored with a warning. See the engine release notes.

Settings for removed features are dropped on first start; everything else carries over.

✨ New Features

• Standalone add window for browser downloads that arrive while the main window is hidden or closed, showing the batch size and the free space of the target drive (#693, #445, #379, #400).
• Site rules with per-host connection caps and proxy choice, applied to the add dialog and browser downloads (#489).
• Multi-select with Ctrl/Shift click, Ctrl+A and Esc, with batch resume, pause and delete (#473).
• Per-task speed limits in the add dialog and task details, including live upload limits for BitTorrent.
• Duplicate detection against live tasks and history, with skip, add anyway or cancel (#491).
• Replace a task's URL, or retry a failed task with a new one (#548).
• Post-download program with {file}, {dir} and {name} arguments (#651).
• Expected checksum for single downloads, and DNS over HTTPS with presets (#337).
• Clickable notifications on Windows that reveal the finished file (#609).
• Interface size setting with Ctrl/Cmd +, − and 0 (#367), optional IEC units (KiB, MiB) (#496) and a Linux system title bar option (#533).
• Tray icon can be hidden, and shows a dot while downloads run and the speeds in its tooltip (#352, #508, #283).

🛠 Improvements

• The BitTorrent file selector is redesigned with a folder tree, file-type icons, type shortcuts and invert selection (#598, #472).
• Esc hides the window like its close button without quitting (#569).
• Clipboard detection offers file links only by default (#683).
• The engine saves unfinished tasks every 60 seconds and checkpoints progress every 10 seconds, so a crash or power loss loses little.
• The sidecar is stopped through its own process handle, and a restart never overlaps a running engine. Crash recovery stops after three crashes in five minutes.
• Update checks finish within 15 seconds and check both channels together (#657).
• docs/LINUX.md lists workarounds for blank windows, stutter and WebKit crashes on Linux.

🐛 Bug Fixes

Notifications show on Windows installs upgraded from an older product (#685), tasks added by any RPC client announce their start (#534), and a started task is announced by its real name instead of "Unknown".

A silent autostart no longer shows a maximized window (#576).

Queued magnets show as queued instead of fetching metadata (#611).

Shortening a long multibyte filename keeps its extension (#509).

Seeding-only or unsized downloads no longer animate the taskbar indefinitely.

Extension API requests in flight and their write rate are bounded (#603).

📦 Downloads

Platform Architecture File macOS Apple Silicon · Intel .dmg Windows x64 · ARM64 -setup.exe Linux x64 · ARM64 .AppImage .deb .rpm

Bundles Aria2 Next 3.0.0. Pair with Rayburst Connect 2.1.0.

Full changelog: v4.0.1...v4.1.0-beta.1

Original source

Caution

Resuming a partial download now requires its original task and recovery data. Re-adding the same URL creates a new task instead of adopting an existing file by name or size.

What's Changed

Rayburst 4.0.1 adds filename controls and an Extensions panel, improves download recovery and desktop integration, and bundles Aria2 Next 2.8.6.

✨ New Features

• Preview and edit filenames before downloading, with optional remote filename lookup.
• Rename completed single-file downloads from task details, with collision protection and recoverable history updates.
• Install Rayburst Connect for Chrome, Edge or Firefox from the new Extensions sidebar panel.

🛠 Improvements

• Choose whether browser downloads ask for confirmation, start in the background or show Rayburst. Confirmation is the default.
• Simplify update channels to Stable and Beta. Beta selects the newest version across both channels; neither channel offers downgrades.
• Bundle Aria2 Next 2.8.6, with background disk I/O, transactional recovery checkpoints and improved handling of interrupted or compressed HTTP responses.
• Support hostname patterns in proxy bypass rules and improve filename detection across redirects.
• Refresh the website with interactive product previews, localized copy and a promotional film.

🐛 Bug Fixes

• Prevent concurrent downloads from sharing an output file or resuming another task's partial data.
• Fix retries and re-downloads that rejected full output paths as invalid filenames (#684).
• Restore automatic magnet file selection for browser submissions and after reopening the window. Preserve pending selections and Choose Later choices.
• Remove empty task subdirectories when deleting downloaded content, while preserving download roots, shared files and nonempty directories.
• Prevent long filenames from wrapping vertically in task details; add ellipsis, full-name tooltips and horizontal scrolling (#686).
• Preserve browser download URLs and confirmation IDs, and keep the Windows app running independently of its browser launcher.
• Keep verified update packages available after installation failures and prevent older update checks from replacing newer results.
• Register Windows file and public protocol handlers without replacing existing defaults, and support native mouse, pen and touch window dragging.
• Repair Linux tray activation and menus, add a targeted NVIDIA Wayland startup workaround, and include native WebKitGTK diagnostics.
• Fix the Windows engine crash when starting HTTP/HTTPS downloads in the earlier 4.0.1 betas.

Known Issue

Some Linux NVIDIA/Wayland systems still show page-transition flicker (#650).

📦 Downloads

Platform Architecture File macOS Apple Silicon · Intel .dmg Windows x64 · ARM64 -setup.exe Linux x64 · ARM64 .AppImage .deb .rpm

Full changelog: v4.0.0...v4.0.1

Original source

What's Changed

🐛 Bug Fixes

Fixed failed retries and re-downloads caused by full output paths being treated as filenames (#684).

Fixed long filenames wrapping vertically in task details. File names now use ellipsis with full-name tooltips and horizontal scrolling when needed (#686).

Restored automatic magnet file selection for browser submissions and after reopening the window. Pending selections and "Choose Later" choices are preserved.

Removed empty task subdirectories when deleting downloaded content, while preserving download roots, shared files and nonempty directories.

📦 Downloads

Platform Architecture File macOS Apple Silicon · Intel .dmg Windows x64 · ARM64 -setup.exe Linux x64 · ARM64 .AppImage .deb .rpm

Full changelog: v4.0.1-beta.4...v4.0.1-beta.5

Original source

What's Changed

This hotfix bundles Aria2 Next 2.8.6 across all six desktop targets to restore Windows downloads affected in 4.0.1-beta.2 and 4.0.1-beta.3.

🐛 Bug Fixes

Fixed the Windows engine crash with 0xC0000005 (-1073741819) when starting HTTP/HTTPS downloads, which triggered engine recovery. The engine fix unifies Windows lock types while retaining asynchronous disk I/O (aria2-next#58).

📦 Downloads

Platform Architecture File macOS Apple Silicon · Intel .dmg Windows x64 · ARM64 -setup.exe Linux x64 · ARM64 .AppImage .deb .rpm

Full changelog: v4.0.1-beta.3...v4.0.1-beta.4

Original source