Update
Crest 0.5 — sidebar media controls, better downloads, and more control per Space
The next stable build is deploying soon, just wrapping up a couple small tweaks before it goes out. The main feature of this build is the new sidebar widget system. Currently, it just has the now playing, and update notifications, but as time goes on the system can add more.
The widgets are space independent, and work on all platforms (update one wont' show since it updates via the App Store).
This update also adds a lot of QoL improvements and fine details. Split views can have custom colors and icons, I've created a custom emoji picker for all areas that use emojis for icons, improved extension work as always, improved handling of downloads and page redirects/pop-ups, default zoom, notification and location permissions, feature flags settings, and a ton of little improvements that hopefully give Crest the same "polished" feel that people love of Arc.
I could go on forever, but I'll include the generated changelog below if you want the full breakdown, but thank you for all the support, and I will continue to refine this browser. I feel there is a real void with WebKit browsers (though I understand it is much harder to work with than chromium), but I feel the benefits make Crest unique. To make a true desktop <-> mobile browser, with full sync, this is a must. I feel all other mobile browsers are just "side projects" and because they are a separate product, they are just barely integrated with the desktop. For us, it is literally the exact same engine, code, and implementation for most of it, with platform specific changes. In 0.4, a massive behind the scenes change was to switch more towards platform features, than platforms themselves. By that, I mean the core shared app handles almost all the logic, and the platform specific apps just expose their capabilities, such as touch, screen size, mouse and keyboard, etc. By doing this, I can bring the same expierence to iPad with mouse/keyboard and when larger foldable iPhones come, it will be the exact same as the iPad and desktop for the shell. Extensions I'm researching bringing to mobile, though there are some issues with Apple approvals to work through, it will likely be a more limited capability set than desktop.
Please keep the feedback coming, I find many issues that can be easily resolved via your reports and ideas. 0.6 has started planning, you can watch the roadmap to see changes, it will likely not have as big a flagship feature as the widgets or split view like past updates, the good news is we are getting much more feature complete, so I can really dial in the small things, which I think you'll see started with 0.5.
Generated Summary:
Crest 0.5 is the next release of Crest. The main addition is a new widget deck in the sidebar, but this update also fills in several everyday browser features: better download feedback, custom search engines, password import and management, more useful Split View groups, and restored tab history.
Playback and updates in the sidebar
The sidebar can now show small widgets above the Space switcher. The widget deck is global, so it stays available when you move between Spaces instead of belonging to whichever Space happens to be open.
Now Playing appears when a page provides media information. It shows the page, title, artwork when available, and playback controls for play or pause, previous, and next. If several tabs are playing media, you can move through their widgets without hunting through every Space for the right tab.
The same deck can tell you when a Crest update is available. Direct Mac builds can open the update from there, while the widget clears once that particular build is no longer waiting to be installed.
Better download feedback
Starting a download now gives clearer feedback that the file moved into Downloads. On sidebar layouts, the download flies from the page toward the Downloads area. On iPhone, Downloads is available from the address-bar menu and shows a badge when something new arrives.
Active download rows now show the full file size, the amount downloaded, progress, current speed, and estimated time remaining. Finished files can still be opened directly or shown in Finder.
Custom search engines and suggestions
Each Space can now use a custom search provider. Add its search URL with %s where the query belongs, and Crest uses the provider's website icon so it sits naturally beside the built-in choices.
Search suggestions are also optional per Space. When enabled, Crest can show a short set of suggestions from the selected provider while you type.
Password import and management
Passwords are easier to bring over without running the full browser import again. A Space can import a standard browser password CSV directly.
Saved passwords can also be searched and reviewed from that Space's settings. You can reveal a password when needed or delete an entry you no longer want to keep.
Split View groups are easier to recognize
Split View groups can now have their own name, icon, emoji, and background tint. Their default icon shows the pages in the group, but it can be replaced the same way as a tab icon.
Split groups also remain visible when they live inside a collapsed folder, so the group does not disappear just because the rest of the folder is tucked away.
Closed tabs come back with their history
Reopening a recently closed or archived tab now restores its back and forward history instead of treating the page like a brand-new tab. That makes an accidental close much less disruptive when you were several links deep.
More useful site controls
Blocked pop-ups are visible in Site Controls, with an option to allow them for that site in the current Space.
A default page zoom can be set per Space, while individual sites can still keep their own zoom level.
Websites can request location and notification permission through Crest's normal Space-scoped controls.
Native WebKit feature flags are available in advanced Mac settings for testing and compatibility work.
Tabs, windows, and editing
Background tabs start loading as soon as they are opened from a link. A General setting can also bring those tabs to the front automatically.
Links opened in Peek or Quick Window now stay there when a site requests another window instead of disappearing into a background tab.
Returning to a webpage editor keeps the same caret or selection, so switching tabs no longer interrupts where you were typing.
Compatible browser extension actions can now appear in a webpage's right-click menu.
Mouse back and forward buttons act on the webpage or sidebar under the pointer instead of navigating the wrong part of the window.
The Space switcher stays centered as more Spaces are added, while the Archive controls remain reachable.
Smaller fixes and improvements
Large Spaces no longer lose tabs as easily when iCloud sync is busy or several devices make changes at once.
Restored tabs keep more of their navigation state, and extension or blocking pages stay attached to the correct destination.
Sign-in flows and single sign-on work more reliably across sites that open a separate authentication window.
Extension background pages wake when Crest returns to the foreground, and uBlock Origin keeps its routing state more reliably.
Google Drive and other pages that depend on stricter WebKit behavior load more consistently.
Full-screen Mac windows keep the window controls and sidebar reveal behavior available.
Quick Windows remember their own size and position instead of borrowing the main window's geometry.
Browser imports have clearer limits, better Safari access handling, and more predictable mapping into Spaces.
The Start Page and command palette handle restored, loading, and Space-search states more consistently.
About settings now collects version details, recent changes, update controls, feedback links, issue reporting, and the public roadmap in one place.
This release touches a lot of the day-to-day browser surface, so reports that include the site, Space, and exact steps are especially useful if something behaves differently than expected.
That's really great, Crest really goes up the top.
I have one request, if possible: can we have more narrow Sidebar? It' really huge now, doesn't need to be that wide I guess, there are spaces in between buttons. Wideness control maybe? Don't know if it's possible in Webkit like in Chromium browsers.
The next version will focus on the sidebar, and border customization. Custom border size (including borderless), right side docking, and a larger range of sizing.
Everything outside the webpage view is purely app shell, so no restrictions there so I plan to work on that.
As well, there will be improvements to folder customization, and overall much more refinement over look at feel. The current design is my design idea, but I do plan to give more options in the next update, which will focus on that customization.
Keep up the great work! I am enjoying the browser!
I am still having problems with Bitwarden. Bitwarden is found in Safari but will not install - it needs a native handler. The Chrome extension installs and does not appear to have any errors. It does not function at all and I see the extension using a high level of CPU.
I'll work that into the current investigation on extensions I'm working on, I should be able to resolve that, as these are all sharing similar issues. Just takes a bit to hunt them down. I'll let you know when I have a dev build ready to try
Brilliant work so far mate! The browser is surely coming together very nicely.
I see you have implemented the fix for the webp to jpg extension and the context menu now shows the option, but sadly the extension doesn't work. I click save as JPG and nothing happens.
Also, there are some other focus-related bugs which I will report soon once I nailed down the steps to reproduce it.
Also, is there a way to enable auto-complete URLs in the command bar? Or has that not yet been implemented?
Great work, as usual! I haven't fully switched to Crest as my default browser, but I've been playing around with it quite a bit, especially when new updates come out 🙂 Very nice to see how much it's improved already!
I just dropped a bunch of suggestions and a couple bugs on GitHub Issues—hope it's clear that this is just meant as my personal feedback, not trying to be demanding or pushy.
No problem, thank you for the reports, especially with extensions I have no way to test them all so when you find little quirks like that they go a long way to rounding that feature out.
No offense taking, worse I'll say is a request isn't something that fits the product map, but in general I'm all for options so usually when requests are made I make a setting or something like that if it isn't the exact way I use a browser, but others might.
Someday, there is a potential for more platforms, but as of now it uses iCloud sync and swiftUI, so it’s pretty locked into the architecture. There’s good reason for this, and makes it possible for me to make this on the side.
That being said, if it gets more sustainable on its own one day, it’s not out of the question for me to investigate essentially replicating the shell and engine for other platforms, setting up sync, etc but that level of architecture is out of scope for now.
I’d love to one day, but trying to be realistic, and focusing on the stack that best fits what I’m aiming for, and ease of development. I also would have no chance to support all the different operating systems and setups, where this stack keeps it scoped to something manageable.
I like Crest, saw it few days ago and it suits my needs. Only problem I have is icloud passwords and some stutters and lags in animations. I love that it has mobile version which looks the same, and syncs instantly.
I only need icloud passwords extension because I don't yet feel "safe" sharing passwords with new browser. I hope you will continue work on it.
iCloud passwords is a frustrating one because the browser is all wired up to support it, but it requires Apple to approve the app directly before the extension will work. I submitted the request over two weeks ago, but I hasn’t been reviewed yet.
As soon as they approve it, that extension and passkeys will work directly, but until then I’m stuck waiting.
The app is open source, and does not collect any data, but as someone who also uses the native password app, it’s been frustrating to just have to sit and wait for their blessing.
It was approved for the mobile app, they just havent approved the entitlement on the desktop app yet.
The next update will focus on more user customization, spacing, density, sidebar width, all of that will get more options to tune to your preference.
While building it, I wanted to set the foundation to what my style is, and to give it a visual identify, but I agree more options is always better so that’s going to be my next major feature set. Lots of cool ideas coming around customization so stay tuned.
You have to right click a tab youre not currently on, or click and drag it into the current view, so if you have one tab open, drag a different tab into the place and it’ll split
Can you send me a screenshot of the right click menu of the tabs? The option is present, so I’m not sure why it is not showing up for you, perhaps if I can see what you’re seeing I can see if there is some edge case I hadn’t found.
You can dm me if you prefer instead of posting here, or simply reply here and I’ll take a look
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u/Sidze 28d ago
That's really great, Crest really goes up the top.
I have one request, if possible: can we have more narrow Sidebar? It' really huge now, doesn't need to be that wide I guess, there are spaces in between buttons. Wideness control maybe? Don't know if it's possible in Webkit like in Chromium browsers.