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Electron 12.0.0

· 5 min read
VerteDinde
VerteDinde
mlaurencin
mlaurencin
sofianguy
sofianguy

Electron 12.0.0 has been released! It includes upgrades to Chromium 89, V8 8.9 and Node.js 14.16. We've added changes to the remote module, new defaults for contextIsolation, a new webFrameMain API, and general improvements. Read below for more details!

The Electron team is excited to announce the release of Electron 12.0.0! You can install it with npm via npm install electron@latest or download it from our releases website. Continue reading for details about this release, and please share any feedback you have!

Notable Changes​

Stack Changes​

Highlight Features​

  • The ContextBridge exposeInMainWorld method can now expose non-object APIs. #26834
  • Upgraded from Node 12 to Node 14. #23249
  • Added a new webFrameMain API for accessing sub-frames of a WebContents instance from the main process. #25464
  • The default values of contextIsolation and worldSafeExecuteJavaScript are now true. #27949 #27502

See the 12.0.0 release notes for a full list of new features and changes.

Breaking Changes​

More information about these and future changes can be found on the Planned Breaking Changes page.

API Changes​

  • Added webFrameMain API: The webFrameMain module can be used to look up frames across existing WebContents instances. This is the main process equivalent of the existing webFrame API. More information about this new API can be found here, and in our documentation.
  • app API changes:
    • Added non-localized serviceName to 'child-process-gone' / app.getAppMetrics(). #25975
    • Added new app.runningUnderRosettaTranslation property to detect when running under rosetta on Apple silicon. #26444
    • Added exitCode to render-process-gone details (app & webContents). #27677
  • BrowserWindow API changes:
    • Added BrowserWindow.isTabletMode() API. #25209
    • Added resized (Windows/macOS) and moved (Windows) events to BrowserWindow. #26216
    • Added new system-context-menu event to allow preventing and overriding the system context menu. #25795
    • Added win.setTopBrowserView() so that BrowserViews can be raised. #27713
    • Added webPreferences.preferredSizeMode to allow sizing views according to their document's minimum size. #25874
  • contextBridge API changes:
    • Allowed ContextBridge exposeInMainWorld method to expose non-object APIs. #26834
  • display API changes:
    • Added displayFrequency property to the Display object to allow getting information about the refresh rate on Windows. #26472
  • extensions API changes:
    • Added support for some chrome.management APIs. #25098
  • MenuItem API changes:
    • Added support for showing macOS share menu. #25629
  • net API changes:
    • Added a new credentials option for net.request(). #25284
    • Added net.online for detecting whether there is currently internet connection. #21004
  • powerMonitor API changes:
    • Added powerMonitor.onBatteryPower. #26494
    • Added fast user switching event to powerMonitor on macOS. #25321
  • session API changes:
    • Added allowFileAccess option to ses.loadExtension() API. #27702
    • Added display-capture API for session.setPermissionRequestHandler. #27696
    • Added a disabledCipherSuites option to session.setSSLConfig. #25818
    • Added extension-loaded, extension-unloaded, and extension-ready events to session. #25385
    • Added session.setSSLConfig() to allow configuring SSL. #25461
    • Added support for explicitly specifying direct, auto_detect or system modes in session.setProxy(). #24937
    • Added Serial API support. #25237
    • Added APIs to enable/disable spell checker. #26276
  • shell API changes:
    • Added a new asynchronous shell.trashItem() API, replacing the synchronous shell.moveItemToTrash(). #25114
  • webContents API changes:
    • Added a small console hint to console to help debug renderer crashes. #25317
    • Added frame and webContents properties to the details object in webRequest handlers. #27334
    • Added webContents.forcefullyCrashRenderer() to forcefully terminate a renderer process to assist with recovering a hung renderer. #25580
    • Added setWindowOpenHandler API for renderer-created child windows, and deprecate new-window event. #24517
  • webFrame API changes:
    • Added spellcheck API to renderer. #25060

Removed/Deprecated Changes​

The following APIs have been removed or are now deprecated:

  • Deprecated the remote module. It is replaced by @electron/remote. #25293
  • Removed deprecated crashReporter APIs. #26709
  • Removed links to the Electron website from the default 'Help' menu in packaged apps. #25831

End of Support for 9.x.y​

Electron 9.x.y has reached end-of-support as per the project's support policy. Developers and applications are encouraged to upgrade to a newer version of Electron.

What's Next​

In the short term, you can expect the team to continue to focus on keeping up with the development of the major components that make up Electron, including Chromium, Node, and V8. Although we are careful not to make promises about release dates, our plan is release new major versions of Electron with new versions of those components approximately quarterly. The tentative 13.0.0 schedule maps out key dates in the Electron 13.0 development life cycle. Also, see our versioning document for more detailed information about versioning in Electron.

For information on planned breaking changes in upcoming versions of Electron, see our Planned Breaking Changes doc.

Electron 11.0.0

· 4 min read
VerteDinde
VerteDinde

Electron 11.0.0 has been released! It includes upgrades to Chromium 87, V8 8.7, and Node.js 12.18.3. We've added support for Apple silicon, and general improvements. Read below for more details!

The Electron team is excited to announce the release of Electron 11.0.0! You can install it with npm via npm install electron@latest or download it from our releases website. The release is packed with upgrades, fixes, and new support for Apple's M1 hardware.

We can't wait to see what you build with them! Continue reading for details about this release, and please share any feedback you have!

Notable Changes​

Stack Changes​

Highlight Features​

See the 11.0.0 release notes for a full list of new features and changes.

Breaking Changes​

  • Removed experimental APIs: BrowserView.{fromId, fromWebContents, getAllViews} and the id property of BrowserView. #23578

More information about these and future changes can be found on the Planned Breaking Changes page.

API Changes​

  • Added app.getApplicationInfoForProtocol() API that returns detailed information about the app that handles a certain protocol. #24112
  • Added app.createThumbnailFromPath() API that returns a preview image of a file given its file path and a maximum thumbnail size. #24802
  • Added webContents.forcefullyCrashRenderer() to forcefully terminate a renderer process to assist with recovering a hung renderer. #25756

End of Support for 8.x.y​

Electron 8.x.y has reached end-of-support as per the project's support policy. Developers and applications are encouraged to upgrade to a newer version of Electron.

What's Next​

In the short term, you can expect the team to continue to focus on keeping up with the development of the major components that make up Electron, including Chromium, Node, and V8. Although we are careful not to make promises about release dates, our plan is to release new major versions of Electron with new versions of those components approximately quarterly. The tentative 12.0.0 schedule maps out key dates in the Electron 12.0 development life cycle. Also, see our versioning document for more detailed information about versioning in Electron.

For information on planned breaking changes in upcoming versions of Electron, see our Planned Breaking Changes doc.

Continued Work for Deprecation of remote Module​

We started work to remove the remote module in Electron 9. We plan to remove the remote module itself in Electron 14.

Read and follow this issue for full plans and details for deprecation.

Final Step for Requiring Native Node Modules to be Context Aware or N-API (in Electron 12)​

From Electron 6 onwards, we've been laying the groundwork to require native Node modules loaded in the renderer process to be either N-API or Context Aware. Enforcing this change allows for stronger security, faster performance, and reduced maintenance workload. The final step of this plan is to remove the ability to disable render process reuse in Electron 12.

Read and follow this issue for full details, including the proposed timeline.

Electron 10.0.0

· 5 min read
VerteDinde
VerteDinde
sofianguy
sofianguy

Electron 10.0.0 has been released! It includes upgrades to Chromium 85, V8 8.5, and Node.js 12.16. We've added several new API integrations and improvements. Read below for more details!

The Electron team is excited to announce the release of Electron 10.0.0! You can install it with npm via npm install electron@latest or download it from our releases website. The release is packed with upgrades, fixes, and new features.

In the Electron 10 release, we also made a change to our release notes. To make it easier to tell what's brand new in Electron 10 and what may have changed between Electron 10 and past releases, we now also include changes that were introduced to Electron 10, but backported to previous releases. We hope this makes it easier to apps to find new features and bug fixes when upgrading Electron.

We can't wait to see what you build with them! Continue reading for details about this release, and please share any feedback you have!

Notable Changes​

Stack Changes​

Highlight Features​

  • Added contents.getBackgroundThrottling() method and contents.backgroundThrottling property. [#21036]
  • Exposed the desktopCapturer module in the main process. #23548
  • Can now check if a given session is persistent by calling the ses.isPersistent() API. #22622
  • Resolve network issues that prevented RTC calls from being connected due to network IP address changes and ICE. (Chromium issue 1113227). #24998

See the 10.0.0 release notes for a full list of new features and changes.

Breaking Changes​

  • Changed the default value of enableRemoteModule to false. #22091
    • This is part of our plans for deprecating the remote module and moving it to userland. You can read and follow this issue that details our reasons for this and includes a proposed timeline for deprecation.
  • Changed the default value of app.allowRendererProcessReuse to true. #22336 (Also in Electron 9)
    • This will prevent loading of non-context-aware native modules in renderer processes.
    • You can read and follow this issue that details our reasons for this and includes a proposed timeline for deprecation.
  • Fixed the positioning of window buttons on macOS when the OS locale is set to an RTL language (like Arabic or Hebrew). Frameless window apps may have to account for this change while styling their windows. #22016

More information about these and future changes can be found on the Planned Breaking Changes page.

API Changes​

  • Session: Can now check if a given session is persistent by calling the ses.isPersistent() API. #22622
  • Contents: Added contents.getBackgroundThrottling() method and contents.backgroundThrottling property. #21036

Deprecated APIs​

The following APIs are now deprecated or removed:

  • Removed the deprecated currentlyLoggingPath property of netLog. Additionally, netLog.stopLogging no longer returns the path to the recorded log. #22732
  • Deprecated uncompressed crash uploads in crashReporter. #23598

End of Support for 7.x.y​

Electron 7.x.y has reached end-of-support as per the project's support policy. Developers and applications are encouraged to upgrade to a newer version of Electron.

What's Next​

In the short term, you can expect the team to continue to focus on keeping up with the development of the major components that make up Electron, including Chromium, Node, and V8. Although we are careful not to make promises about release dates, our plan is release new major versions of Electron with new versions of those components approximately quarterly. The tentative 11.0.0 schedule maps out key dates in the Electron 11.0 development life cycle. Also, see our versioning document for more detailed information about versioning in Electron.

For information on planned breaking changes in upcoming versions of Electron, see our Planned Breaking Changes doc.

Continued Work for Deprecation of remote Module (in Electron 11)​

We started work to remove the remote module in Electron 9 and we're continuing plans to remove the remote module. In Electron 11, we plan to continue refactor work for implementing WeakRef as we have done in Electron 10. Please read and follow this issue for full plans and details for deprecation.

Final Step for Requiring Native Node Modules to be Context Aware or N-API (in Electron 12)​

Edit: Originally, this blog post stated that we would disable renderer process reuse in Electron 11. Disabling renderer process reuse has now been pushed to Electron 12.

From Electron 6 onwards, we've been laying the groundwork to require native Node modules loaded in the renderer process to be either N-API or Context Aware. Enforcing this change allows for stronger security, faster performance, and reduced maintenance workload. The final step of this plan is to remove the ability to disable render process reuse in Electron 12. Read this issue for full details including the proposed timeline.

Electron 9.0.0

· 4 min read
sofianguy
sofianguy
VerteDinde
VerteDinde

Electron 9.0.0 has been released! It includes upgrades to Chromium 83, V8 8.3, and Node.js 12.14. We've added several new API integrations for our spellchecker feature, enabled PDF viewer, and much more!

The Electron team is excited to announce the release of Electron 9.0.0! You can install it with npm via npm install electron@latest or download it from our releases website. The release is packed with upgrades, fixes, and new features. We can't wait to see what you build with them! Continue reading for details about this release, and please share any feedback you have!

Notable Changes​

Stack Changes​

Highlight Features​

  • Multiple improvements to the spellchecker feature. See more details in #22128 and #22368.
  • Improved window events handler efficiency on Linux. #23260.
  • Enable PDF viewer. #22131.

See the 9.0.0 release notes for a full list of new features and changes.

Breaking Changes​

  • Deprecation warning when using remote without enableRemoteModule: true. #21546
    • This is the first step in our plans for deprecating the remote module and moving it to userland. You can read and follow this issue that details our reasons for this and includes a proposed timeline for deprecation.
  • Set app.enableRendererProcessReuse to true by default. #22336
    • This is continued work for a future requirement that native Node modules loaded in the renderer process be either N-API or Context Aware. Full info and proposed timeline is detailed in this issue.
  • Sending non-JavaScript objects over IPC now throws an exception. #21560
    • This behavior was depreciated in Electron 8.0. In Electron 9.0, the old serialization algorithm has been removed, and sending such non-serializable objects will now throw an "object could not be cloned" error.

More information about these and future changes can be found on the Planned Breaking Changes page.

API Changes​

  • shell API changes:
    • The shell.openItem API has been replaced with an asynchronous shell.openPath API. proposal
  • sessionAPI changes:
    • Added session.listWordsFromSpellCheckerDictionary API to list custom words in the dictionary. #22128
    • Added session.removeWordFromSpellCheckerDictionary API to remove custom words in the dictionary. #22368
    • Added session.serviceWorkerContext API to access basic service worker info and receive console logs from service workers. #22313
  • app API changes:
    • Added a new force parameter to app.focus() on macOS to allow apps to forcefully take focus. #23447
  • BrowserWindow API changes:
    • Added support for property access to some getter/setter pairs on BrowserWindow. #23208

Deprecated APIs​

The following APIs are now deprecated or removed:

  • shell.openItem API is now depreciated, and replaced with an asynchronous shell.openPath API.
  • <webview>.getWebContents, which was deprecated in Electron 8.0, is now removed.
  • webFrame.setLayoutZoomLevelLimits, which was deprecated in Electron 8.0, is now removed.

End of Support for 6.x.y​

Electron 6.x.y has reached end-of-support as per the project's support policy. Developers and applications are encouraged to upgrade to a newer version of Electron.

What's Next​

In the short term, you can expect the team to continue to focus on keeping up with the development of the major components that make up Electron, including Chromium, Node, and V8. Although we are careful not to make promises about release dates, our plan is release new major versions of Electron with new versions of those components approximately quarterly. The tentative 10.0.0 schedule maps out key dates in the Electron 10.0 development life cycle. Also, see our versioning document for more detailed information about versioning in Electron.

For information on planned breaking changes in upcoming versions of Electron, see our Planned Breaking Changes doc.

Change the default of contextIsolation from false to true (Starting in Electron 10)​

Without contextIsolation, any code running in a renderer process can quite easily reach into Electron internals or an app's preload script. That code can then perform privileged actions that Electron wants to keep restricted.

Changing this default improves the default security of Electron apps, so that apps will need to deliberately opt in to the insecure behaviour. Electron will depreciate the current default of contextIsolation in Electron 10.0, and change to the new default (true) in Electron 12.0.

For more information on contextIsolation, how to enable it easily and it's security benefits please see our dedicated Context Isolation Document.

Electron 8.0.0

· 6 min read
jkleinsc
jkleinsc
sofianguy
sofianguy

Electron 8.0.0 has been released! It includes upgrades to Chromium 80, V8 8.0, and Node.js 12.13.0. We've added Chrome's built-in spellchecker, and much more!

The Electron team is excited to announce the release of Electron 8.0.0! You can install it with npm via npm install electron@latest or download it from our releases website. The release is packed with upgrades, fixes, and new features. We can't wait to see what you build with them! Continue reading for details about this release, and please share any feedback you have!

Notable Changes​

Stack Changes​

Highlight Features​

  • Implemented usage of Chrome's built-in spellchecker feature. See more details in #20692 and #21266.
  • IPC communication now uses v8's Structured Clone Algorithm. This is faster, more featureful, and less surprising than the existing logic, and brings about a 2x performance boost for large buffers and complex objects. Latency for small messages is not significantly affected. See more details in #20214.

See the 8.0.0 release notes for a full list of new features and changes.

Breaking Changes​

  • Show module name in deprecation warning for context-aware modules. #21952
    • This is continued work for a future requirement that native Node modules loaded in the renderer process be either N-API or Context Aware. Full info and proposed timeline is detailed in this issue.
  • Values sent over IPC are now serialized with Structured Clone Algorithm. #20214
  • Offscreen Rendering is currently disabled due to lack of a maintainer to work on this feature. It broke during the Chromium upgrade and was subsequently disabled. #20772

More information about these and future changes can be found on the Planned Breaking Changes page.

API Changes​

  • app API changes:
    • Added app.getApplicationNameForProtocol(url). #20399
    • Added app.showAboutPanel() and app.setAboutPanelOptions(options) support on Windows. #19420
  • BrowserWindow API changes:
    • Updated docs to note that BrowserWindow options hasShadow is available on all platforms #20038
    • Added trafficLightPosition option to BrowserWindow options to allow custom positioning for traffic light buttons. #21781
    • Added accessibleTitle option to BrowserWindow for setting the accessible window title #19698
    • BrowserWindow.fromWebContents() can now return null #19983
    • Added BrowserWindow.getMediaSourceId() and BrowserWindow.moveAbove(mediaSourceId). #18926
    • Added support for will-move event on macOS. #19641
  • Documented previously undocumented crashReporter.getCrashesDirectory(). #20417
  • dialog API changes:
    • Added dontAddToRecent property to dialog.showOpenDialog and dialog.showOpenDialogSync to prevent documents from being added to recent documents on Windows in open dialogs. #19669
    • Added property customization to dialog.showSaveDialog and dialog.showSaveDialogSync. #19672
  • Notification API changes:
    • Added timeoutType option to allow Linux/Windows users to set the type of notification timeout. #20153
    • Added urgency option to set urgency on Linux notifications. #20152
  • session API changes:
    • Updated documentation on session.setProxy(config) and session.setCertificateVerifyProc(proc) to note optional options. #19604
    • Added session.downloadURL(url) to allow to triggering downloads without a BrowserWindow. #19889
    • Added support for HTTP preconnect resource hints via session.preconnect(options) and the preconnect event. #18671
    • Added session.addWordToSpellCheckerDictionary to allow custom words in the dictionary #21297
  • Added option to shell.moveItemToTrash(fullPath[, deleteOnFail]) on macOS to specify what happens when moveItemToTrash fails. #19700
  • systemPreferences API changes:
    • Updated systemPreferences.getColor(color) documentation for macOS. #20611
    • Added screen media type to systemPreferences.getMediaAccessStatus(). #20764
  • Added nativeTheme.themeSource to allow apps to override Chromium and the OS's theme choice. #19960
  • TouchBar API changes:
    • Added accessibilityLabel property to TouchBarButton and TouchBarLabel to improve TouchBarButton/TouchBarLabel accessibility. #20454
    • Updated TouchBar related documentation #19444
  • tray API changes:
    • Added new options to tray.displayBalloon(): iconType, largeIcon, noSound and respectQuietTime. #19544
    • Added tray.removeBalloon(), which removes an already displayed balloon notification. #19547
    • Added tray.focus(), which returns focus to the taskbar notification area. feat: add tray.focus() #19548
  • webContents API changes:
    • Added contents.executeJavaScriptInIsolatedWorld(worldId, scripts[, userGesture]) to expose executeJavaScriptInIsolatedWorld on the webContents API. #21190
    • Added methods to capture a hidden webContents. #21679
    • Added options to webContents.print([options], [callback]) to enable customization of print page headers and footers. #19688
    • Added ability to inspect specific shared workers via webContents.getAllSharedWorkers() and webContents.inspectSharedWorkerById(workerId). #20389
    • Added the support of fitToPageEnabled and scaleFactor options in WebContents.printToPDF(). #20436
  • Updated webview.printToPDF documentation to indicate return type is now Uint8Array. #20505

Deprecated APIs​

The following APIs are now deprecated:

  • Deprecated the nonfunctional visibleOnFullScreen option within BrowserWindow.setVisibleOnAllWorkspaces prior to its removal in the next major release version. #21732
  • Deprecated alternate-selected-control-text on systemPreferences.getColor(color) for macOS. #20611
  • Deprecated setLayoutZoomLevelLimits on webContents, webFrame, and <webview> Tag because Chromium removed this capability. #21296
  • The default value of false for app.allowRendererProcessReuse is now deprecated. #21287
  • Deprecated <webview>.getWebContents() as it depends on the remote module. #20726

End of Support for 5.x.y​

Electron 5.x.y has reached end-of-support as per the project's support policy. Developers and applications are encouraged to upgrade to a newer version of Electron.

App Feedback Program​

We continue to use our App Feedback Program for testing. Projects who participate in this program test Electron betas on their apps; and in return, the new bugs they find are prioritized for the stable release. If you'd like to participate or learn more, check out our blog post about the program.

What's Next​

In the short term, you can expect the team to continue to focus on keeping up with the development of the major components that make up Electron, including Chromium, Node, and V8. Although we are careful not to make promises about release dates, our plan is release new major versions of Electron with new versions of those components approximately quarterly. The tentative 9.0.0 schedule maps out key dates in the Electron 9 development life cycle. Also, see our versioning document for more detailed information about versioning in Electron.

For information on planned breaking changes in upcoming versions of Electron, see our Planned Breaking Changes doc.

Deprecation of remote Module (Starting in Electron 9)​

Due to serious security liabilities, we are beginning plans to deprecate the remote module starting in Electron 9. You can read and follow this issue that details our reasons for this and includes a proposed timeline for deprecation.

Electron 7.0.0

· 3 min read
sofianguy
sofianguy
ckerr
ckerr

Electron 7.0.0 has been released! It includes upgrades to Chromium 78, V8 7.8, and Node.js 12.8.1. We've added a Window on Arm 64 release, faster IPC methods, a new nativeTheme API, and much more!

The Electron team is excited to announce the release of Electron 7.0.0! You can install it with npm via npm install electron@latest or download it from our releases website. The release is packed with upgrades, fixes, and new features. We can't wait to see what you build with them! Continue reading for details about this release, and please share any feedback you have!

Notable Changes​

  • Stack Upgrades:

    StackVersion in Electron 6Version in Electron 7What's New
    Chromium76.0.3809.14678.0.3905.177, 78
    V87.67.87.7, 7.8
    Node.js12.4.012.8.112.5, 12.6, 12.7, 12.8, 12.8.1

  • Added Windows on Arm (64 bit) release. #18591, #20112

  • Added ipcRenderer.invoke() and ipcMain.handle() for asynchronous request/response-style IPC. These are strongly recommended over the remote module. See this "Electron’s ‘remote’ module considered harmful" blog post for more information. #18449

  • Added nativeTheme API to read and respond to changes in the OS's theme and color scheme. #19758, #20486

  • Switched to a new TypeScript Definitions generator. The resulting definitions are more precise; so if your TypeScript build fails, this is the likely cause. #18103

See the 7.0.0 release notes for a longer list of changes.

Breaking Changes​

More information about these and future changes can be found on the Planned Breaking Changes page.

  • Removed deprecated APIs:
    • Callback-based versions of functions that now use Promises. #17907
    • Tray.setHighlightMode() (macOS). #18981
    • app.enableMixedSandbox() #17894
    • app.getApplicationMenu(),
    • app.setApplicationMenu(),
    • powerMonitor.querySystemIdleState(),
    • powerMonitor.querySystemIdleTime(),
    • webFrame.setIsolatedWorldContentSecurityPolicy(),
    • webFrame.setIsolatedWorldHumanReadableName(),
    • webFrame.setIsolatedWorldSecurityOrigin() #18159
  • Session.clearAuthCache() no longer allows filtering the cleared cache entries. #17970
  • Native interfaces on macOS (menus, dialogs, etc.) now automatically match the dark mode setting on the user's machine. #19226
  • Updated the electron module to use @electron/get. The minimum supported node version is now Node 8. #18413
  • The file electron.asar no longer exists. Any packaging scripts that depend on its existence should be updated. #18577

End of Support for 4.x.y​

Electron 4.x.y has reached end-of-support as per the project's support policy. Developers and applications are encouraged to upgrade to a newer version of Electron.

App Feedback Program​

We continue to use our App Feedback Program for testing. Projects who participate in this program test Electron betas on their apps; and in return, the new bugs they find are prioritized for the stable release. If you'd like to participate or learn more, check out our blog post about the program.

What's Next​

In the short term, you can expect the team to continue to focus on keeping up with the development of the major components that make up Electron, including Chromium, Node, and V8. Although we are careful not to make promises about release dates, our plan is release new major versions of Electron with new versions of those components approximately quarterly. The tentative 8.0.0 schedule maps out key dates in the Electron 8 development life cycle. Also, see our versioning document for more detailed information about versioning in Electron.

For information on planned breaking changes in upcoming versions of Electron, see our Planned Breaking Changes doc.

Electron 6.0.0

· 4 min read
sofianguy
sofianguy
ckerr
ckerr
codebytere
codebytere

The Electron team is excited to announce the release of Electron 6.0.0! You can install it with npm via npm install electron@latest or download it from our releases website. The release is packed with upgrades, fixes, and new features. We can't wait to see what you build with them! Continue reading for details about this release, and please share any feedback you have!

What's New​

Today marks a first for the Electron project: this is the first time we've made a stable Electron release on the same day as the corresponding Chrome stable release! 🎉

Much of Electron's functionality is provided by the core components of Chromium, Node.js, and V8. Electron keeps up-to-date with these projects to provide our users with new JavaScript features, performance improvements, and security fixes. Each of these packages has a major version bump in Electron 6:

This release also includes improvements to Electron's APIs. The release notes have a more complete list, but here are the highlights:

Promisification​

Electron 6.0 continues the modernization initiative started in 5.0 to improve Promise support.

These functions now return Promises and still support older callback-based invocation:

  • contentTracing.getCategories() #16583
  • contentTracing.getCategories() #16583
  • contentTracing.getTraceBufferUsage() #16600
  • contents.executeJavaScript() #17312
  • cookies.flushStore() #16464
  • cookies.get() #16464
  • cookies.remove() #16464
  • cookies.set() #16464
  • dialog.showCertificateTrustDialog() #17181
  • inAppPurchase.getProducts() #17355
  • inAppPurchase.purchaseProduct()#17355
  • netLog.stopLogging() #16862
  • session.clearAuthCache() #17259
  • session.clearCache() #17185
  • session.clearHostResolverCache() #17229
  • session.clearStorageData() #17249
  • session.getBlobData() #17303
  • session.getCacheSize() #17185
  • session.resolveProxy() #17222
  • session.setProxy() #17222
  • webContents.hasServiceWorker() #16535
  • webContents.printToPDF() #16795
  • webContents.savePage() #16742
  • webFrame.executeJavaScript() #17312
  • webFrame.executeJavaScriptInIsolatedWorld() #17312
  • webviewTag.executeJavaScript() #17312

These functions now have two forms, synchronous and Promise-based asynchronous:

  • dialog.showMessageBox()/dialog.showMessageBoxSync() #17298
  • dialog.showOpenDialog()/dialog.showOpenDialogSync() #16973
  • dialog.showSaveDialog()/dialog.showSaveDialogSync() #17054

These functions now return Promises:

Electron Helper (Renderer).app, Electron Helper (GPU).app and Electron Helper (Plugin).app​

In order to enable the hardened runtime, which restricts things like writable-executable memory and loading code signed by a different Team ID, special code signing entitlements needed to be granted to the Helper.

To keep these entitlements scoped to the process types that require them, Chromium added three new variants of the Helper app: one for renderers (Electron Helper (Renderer).app), one for the GPU process (Electron Helper (GPU).app) and one for plugins (Electron Helper (Plugin).app).

Folks using electron-osx-sign to codesign their Electron app shouldn't have to make any changes to their build logic. If you're codesigning your app with custom scripts, you should ensure that the three new Helper applications are correctly codesigned.

In order to package your application correctly with these new helpers you need to be using electron-packager@14.0.4 or higher. If you are using electron-builder you should follow this issue to track support for these new helpers.

Breaking Changes​

  • This release begins laying the groundwork for a future requirement that native Node modules loaded in the renderer process be either N-API or Context Aware. The reasons for this change are faster performance, stronger security, and reduced maintenance workload. Read the full details including the proposed timeline in this issue. This change is expected to be completed in Electron v11.

  • net.IncomingMessage headers have changed slightly to more closely match Node.js behavior, particularly with the value of set-cookie and how duplicate headers are handled. #17517.

  • shell.showItemInFolder() now returns void and is an asynchronous call. #17121

  • Apps must now explicitly set a log path by calling the new function app.setAppLogPath() before using app.getPath('log'). #17841

End of Support for 3.x.y​

Per our support policy, 3.x.y has reached end of life. Developers and applications are encouraged to upgrade to a newer version of Electron.

App Feedback Program​

We continue to use our App Feedback Program for testing. Projects who participate in this program test Electron betas on their apps; and in return, the new bugs they find are prioritized for the stable release. If you'd like to participate or learn more, check out our blog post about the program.

What's Next​

In the short term, you can expect the team to continue to focus on keeping up with the development of the major components that make up Electron, including Chromium, Node, and V8. Although we are careful not to make promises about release dates, our plan is release new major versions of Electron with new versions of those components approximately quarterly. The tentative 7.0.0 schedule maps out key dates in the Electron 7 development life cycle. Also, see our versioning document for more detailed information about versioning in Electron.

For information on planned breaking changes in upcoming versions of Electron, see our Planned Breaking Changes doc.

New Electron Release Cadence

· 3 min read
sofianguy
sofianguy
⚡️ Update (2021-07-14): We're going even faster!

In Q3 2021, the Chrome team increased their release cadence from every 6 weeks to every 4 weeks. Electron's releases have followed suit. Please read the updated 8 week cadence blog post for more up-to-date information!

🎉 Electron is moving to release a new major stable version every 12 weeks! 🎉

⚡️ Wow that's quick! But why?​

Simply put, Chromium doesn't stop shipping so Electron is not going to slow down either.

Chromium releases on a consistent 6-week schedule. To deliver the most up-to-date versions of Chromium in Electron, our schedule needs to track theirs. More information around Chromium's release cycle can be found here.

🚀 Why every 12 weeks?​

Every 6 weeks, a new Chromium release comes out with new features, bug fixes / security fixes, and V8 improvements. Electron's users have been loud and clear about wanting these changes in a timely manner, so we've adjusted our stable release dates to match every other Chromium stable release. Up first, Electron v6.0.0 will include M76 and is scheduled for stable release on July 30, 2019, the same release day as Chromium M76.

🚧 What does this mean for me and my Electron app?​

You'll have access to new Chromium and V8 features and fixes sooner than before. Importantly, you'll also know when those new changes are coming, so you'll be able to plan with better information than before.

The Electron team will continue to support the latest three major versions. For example, when v6.0.0 goes stable on July 30, 2019, we will support v6.x, v5.x, and v4.x, while v3.x will reach End-Of-Life.

💬 App Feedback Program​

Please consider joining our App Feedback Program to help us with testing our beta releases and stabilization. Projects who participate in this program test Electron betas on their apps; and in return, the new bugs they find are prioritized for the stable release.

📝 A brief history of Electron releases​

The decisions around stable releases before v3.0.0 did not follow a schedule. We added internal schedules to the project with v3.0.0 and v4.0.0. Earlier this year, we decided to publicize our stable release date for the first time for Electron v5.0.0. Announcing our stable release dates was positively received overall and we're excited to continue doing that for future releases.

In order to better streamline these upgrade-related efforts, our Upgrades and Releases Working Groups were created within our Governance system. They have allowed us to better prioritize and delegate this work, which we hope will become more apparent with each subsequent release.

Here is where our new cadence will put us in comparison to Chromium's cadence:

line graph comparing Electron versus Chromium versions

📨 If you have questions, please mail us at info@electronjs.org.

Electron 5.0.0

· 4 min read
BinaryMuse
BinaryMuse
ckerr
ckerr
jkleinsc
jkleinsc

The Electron team is excited to announce the release of Electron 5.0.0! You can install it with npm via npm install electron@latest or download the tarballs from our releases page. The release is packed with upgrades, fixes, and new features. We can't wait to see what you build with them! Continue reading for details about this release, and please share any feedback you have!

What's New?​

Much of Electron's functionality is provided by the core components of Chromium, Node.js, and V8. Electron keeps up-to-date with these projects to provide our users with new JavaScript features, performance improvements, and security fixes. Each of these packages has a major version bump in Electron 5:

Electron 5 also includes improvements to Electron-specific APIs. A summary of the major changes is below; for the full list of changes, check out the Electron v5.0.0 release notes.

Promisification​

Electron 5 continues Promisification initiative initiative to convert Electron's callback-based API to use Promises. These APIs were converted for Electron 5:

  • app.getFileIcon
  • contentTracing.getCategories
  • contentTracing.startRecording
  • contentTracing.stopRecording
  • debugger.sendCommand
  • Cookies API
  • shell.openExternal
  • webContents.loadFile
  • webContents.loadURL
  • webContents.zoomLevel
  • webContents.zoomFactor
  • win.capturePage

System colors access for macOS​

These functions were changed or added to systemPreferences to access macOS systems' colors:

  • systemPreferences.getAccentColor
  • systemPreferences.getColor
  • systemPreferences.getSystemColor

Process memory information​

The function process.getProcessMemoryInfo has been added to get memory usage statistics about the current process.

Additional filtering for remote APIs​

To improve security in the remote API, new remote events have been added so that remote.getBuiltin, remote.getCurrentWindow, remote.getCurrentWebContents and <webview>.getWebContents can be filtered.

Multiple BrowserViews on BrowserWindow​

BrowserWindow now supports managing multiple BrowserViews within the same BrowserWindow.

Breaking Changes​

Defaults for packaged apps​

Packaged apps will now behave the same as the default app: a default application menu will be created unless the app has one and the window-all-closed event will be automatically handled unless the app handles the event.

Mixed sandbox​

Mixed sandbox mode is now enabled by default. Renderers launched with sandbox: true will now be actually sandboxed, where previously they would only be sandboxed if mixed-sandbox mode was also enabled.

Security improvements​

The default values of nodeIntegration and webviewTag are now false to improve security.

Spellchecker now asynchronous​

The SpellCheck API has been changed to provide asynchronous results.

Deprecations​

The following APIs are newly deprecated in Electron 5.0.0 and planned for removal in 6.0.0:

Mksnapshot binaries for arm and arm64​

Native binaries of mksnapshot for arm and arm64 are deprecated and will be removed in 6.0.0. Snapshots can be created for arm and arm64 using the x64 binaries.

ServiceWorker APIs on WebContents​

Deprecated ServiceWorker APIs on WebContents in preparation for their removal.

  • webContents.hasServiceWorker
  • webContents.unregisterServiceWorker

Automatic modules with sandboxed webContents​

In order to improve security, the following modules are being deprecated for use directly via require and will instead need to be included via remote.require in a sandboxed webcontents:

  • electron.screen
  • child_process
  • fs
  • os
  • path

webFrame Isolated World APIs​

webFrame.setIsolatedWorldContentSecurityPolicy,webFrame.setIsolatedWorldHumanReadableName, webFrame.setIsolatedWorldSecurityOrigin have been deprecated in favor of webFrame.setIsolatedWorldInfo.

Mixed sandbox​

enableMixedSandbox and the --enable-mixed-sandbox command-line switch still exist for compatibility, but are deprecated and have no effect.

End of support for 2.0.x​

Per our supported versions policy, 2.0.x has reached end of life.

App Feedback Program​

We continue to use our App Feedback Program for testing. Projects who participate in this program test Electron betas on their apps; and in return, the new bugs they find are prioritized for the stable release. If you'd like to participate or learn more, check out our blog post about the program.

What's Next​

In the short term, you can expect the team to continue to focus on keeping up with the development of the major components that make up Electron, including Chromium, Node, and V8. Although we are careful not to make promises about release dates, our plan is release new major versions of Electron with new versions of those components approximately quarterly. The tentative 6.0.0 schedule maps out key dates in the Electron 6 development life cycle. Also, see our versioning document for more detailed information about versioning in Electron.

For information on planned breaking changes in upcoming versions of Electron, see our Planned Breaking Changes doc.

Node.js Native Addons and Electron 5.0

· 2 min read
BinaryMuse
BinaryMuse

If you're having trouble using a native Node.js addon with Electron 5.0, there's a chance it needs to be updated to work with the most recent version of V8.

Goodbye v8::Handle, Hello v8::Local​

In 2014, the V8 team deprecated v8::Handle in favor of v8::Local for local handles. Electron 5.0 includes a version of V8 that has finally removed v8::Handle for good, and native Node.js addons that still use it will need to be updated before they can be used with Electron 5.0.

The required code change is minimal, but every native Node module that still uses v8::Handle will fail to build with Electron 5.0 and will need to be modified. The good news is that Node.js v12 will also include this V8 change, so any modules that use v8::Handle will need to be updated anyway to work with the upcoming version of Node.

I maintain a native addon, how can I help?​

If you maintain a native addon for Node.js, ensure you replace all occurrences of v8::Handle with v8::Local. The former was just an alias of the latter, so no other changes need to be made to address this specific issue.

You may also be interested in looking into N-API, which is maintained separately from V8 as a part of Node.js itself, and aims to insulate native addons from changes in the underlying JavaScript engine. You can find more information in the N-API documentation on the Node.js website.

Help! I use a native addon in my app and it won't work!​

If you're consuming a native addon for Node.js in your app and the native addon will not build because of this issue, check with the author of the addon to see if they've released a new version that fixes the problem. If not, reaching out to the author (or opening a Pull Request!) is probably your best bet.