LinwoodButterfly Dreamy Duskywing (2.6.3-rc.0) released
🎨 Powerful, minimalistic, cross-platform, opensource note-taking app
Butterfly 2.6.3-rc.0 is here!
After the security-focused 2.6.2 release, this update returns to improving the everyday experience of using Butterfly.
There are some long-requested features in this release, including drag and drop imports, a redesigned pack interface, better synchronization progress and improvements to page switching performance.
A lot of smaller usability issues have also been addressed, making common workflows a little easier.
Highlights:
- 🖼️ Drag and drop imports
- 📦 Redesigned pack management
- 🔗 Better connection setup and synchronization
- ⚡ Faster page switching and improved reliability
- 🔍 More customizable camera controls
- 📁 A better file dialog for imports and exports
Drag and drop imports
One of the most requested improvements to importing content is finally here!
You can now drag and drop files directly into Butterfly instead of opening the import menu and manually selecting them.
This also works with images dragged from your browser, making it much easier to collect references, create mood boards or bring content from other applications into your notes.
For example, if you are researching something online, you can simply drag an image from the browser into your document.
This should make Butterfly much more convenient for workflows involving lots of images and external resources.
Sometimes the simplest features make the biggest difference.
Redesigned pack management
The pack dialogs have received a significant redesign.
Instead of the previous layout, packs now use a compact grid with responsive sidebar navigation.
The interface has also been updated with more consistent styling, making it easier to browse and manage different parts of a pack.
Another useful improvement is that you can now add assets before creating a pack.
Previously, you had to create the pack first before adding content. This is now more flexible and should make creating new packs feel more natural.
An issue where pack actions ignored the currently selected storage connection has also been fixed.
Together, these changes should make working with packs more straightforward, especially if you regularly create or edit your own resources.
Better connection setup and synchronization
Setting up storage connections has become easier.
The connection dialog now uses help tooltips with additional guidance, instead of placing longer descriptions directly below input fields.
Custom icons have also been added, allowing connections to be distinguished more easily.
And when deleting a connection, Butterfly now asks for confirmation first.
That should help prevent accidentally removing a connection you actually wanted to keep.
More detailed synchronization progress
The synchronization dialog has received an important improvement too.
Previously, the progress indicator mainly reflected top-level folders. If a connection contained only a few folders with hundreds of files inside them, the progress could appear to barely change for a long time.
Butterfly now displays more detailed progress for nested folders and files, making it easier to understand how far synchronization has progressed.
This is done without requiring an additional scan of the entire directory structure.
Especially for larger WebDAV or Nextcloud connections, the progress indicator should now provide much more useful feedback.
Faster page switching and improved reliability
Switching between pages could sometimes feel slower than expected, particularly in larger documents.
Butterfly now avoids unnecessary save operations and renderer initialization when changing pages.
This reduces work that previously happened during navigation and should make switching between pages more responsive.
The release also includes fixes for several memory leaks.
These are particularly important for longer editing sessions, where unnecessary memory usage can accumulate over time.
Embed handling and archive imports have also received security improvements, adding further protection when working with external content.
Not every performance or reliability improvement is immediately visible, but these are exactly the kinds of changes that help make Butterfly more comfortable to use every day.
More customizable camera controls
The camera controls introduced in previous 2.6 releases have received some additional customization options.
You can now independently choose whether to display sliders, text fields and buttons.
This makes it possible to configure the camera panel according to how you prefer to navigate the canvas.
For example, you might want precise text inputs without sliders, or prefer a compact layout with only buttons.
The panel also adjusts its layout when sliders or text fields are hidden, avoiding unnecessary empty space.
These changes should be particularly useful on smaller screens or when you want to keep as much room as possible for the canvas.
A better file dialog for imports and exports
Importing and exporting files now uses a better file dialog.
This provides a more familiar experience when choosing files and destinations, especially on desktop platforms.
Custom save extensions are now enforced as well, helping ensure exported files receive the correct extension.
Combined with the new drag and drop functionality, working with files outside Butterfly should feel much more integrated with the rest of your system.
What’s next?
Butterfly 2.6.3 continues the smaller release cycle introduced with 2.6.1.
Instead of waiting for the next major version, I want to keep bringing improvements to the existing 2.6 series, especially when they address common usability problems.
This release candidate includes several changes that should make Butterfly easier to use, but as always, testing is important before the stable release.
If you encounter any issues, please report them on GitHub.
Thanks to everyone reporting bugs, suggesting improvements and testing Butterfly! 💚
Full changelog
- Add drag and drop imports from files and browser images (#1314)
- Redesign pack dialogs with a compact grid, unified styling, and responsive sidebar navigation
- Allow adding assets before creating a pack
- Simplify connection setup with help tooltips, custom icons, and deletion confirmation (#1330)
- Fix pack actions ignoring the selected connection
- Fix memory leaks and secure embed and archive imports (#1324)
- Avoid unnecessary saves and renderer initialization when switching pages (#1336)
- Allow choosing camera sliders, text fields and buttons independently (#1223)
- Keep camera panels compact when sliders and text fields are hidden
- Show detailed synchronization progress for nested folders and files without an additional scan (#1337)
- Use native file dialogs for imports and exports, with enforced custom save extensions