Orion for Linux Beta 0.3 Released

Posted by ucsilahsor@reddit | linux | View on Reddit | 14 comments

https://orionbrowser.com/download/oriongtk.0.3.0.flatpak

Orion for Linux Beta 0.3 is Here!

This is a big moment for Orion. After months of building, testing, and iterating with a smaller group of early users, we’re opening the doors: Orion for Linux is now in Public Beta – available to everyone.

Core browsing is in place, key features are coming together, and Orion is now ready for broader, real-world use and feedback.

You can download the Flatpak build of Orion Browser for Linux here:

Orion for Linux Beta 0.3 (x86)

Orion for Linux Beta 0.3 (ARM)

What’s new in this version

A more complete browsing experience

Since Alpha and the early beta, Orion for Linux has evolved into a much more capable browser:

Full tab management

Password manager and history tracking

Dark Mode and Focus Mode

Custom search engines (search directly from the address bar)

Early download support (work in progress)

Features added in the last release

AdBlock support

Built-in EasyList and EasyPrivacy

Additional filter lists prepared for future expansion

Download manager

Kagi Search onboarding

Try Kagi search even without a paid account

Local Sync (initial version)

Export/import your profile data (remote sync coming later)

Improved bookmark import/export

Stability & performance improvements

We’ve made significant progress in reliability:

Fixed crashes when closing pinned tabs

Resolved browser freezes in Website Settings

Fixed issues with opening new tabs after installation

Addressed tab overview crashes and SQL-related issues

Overall, Orion is now noticeably more stable and responsive than in earlier builds.

Smaller improvements that make a difference

A lot of polish has gone into everyday usability:

Standard shortcuts like Ctrl+R and F5 for refresh

Ctrl+click to open links in new tabs

Improved Settings dialog (especially on smaller screens)

Better Tab Groups experience (formerly “Windows”)

Context menu improvements and UI fixes across the app

Orion for Linux Beta 0.3 screenshot

Orion for Linux Beta 0.3 screenshot

Orion for Linux Beta 0.3 screenshot

What’s next

We’re not stopping here. Next steps include:

Remote Sync support

Continued work on downloads

WebExtension compatibility

Ongoing stability and performance improvements

We’d love your feedback

Opening the beta to everyone means your feedback matters more than ever.

Tell us what works, what doesn’t, and what you’d like to see next.

Browse Beyond ✴︎

The Orion for Linux Team

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Danrobi1@reddit

Cant find the source code :/ Any link to the repo?

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Misicks0349@reddit

not open source yet, though they are in principle fine with it provided the browser sustain itself in funding:

Kagi founder here. Orion isn't open source yet primarily because we're a 5-person team that spent 6+ years building this and created significant IP doing so, and we're not in a position to defend our work against a well-funded company using it as a base (we care very much about the business model of the browser surviving). Restrictive licenses help in theory but enforcing them against a company with a larger legal budget doesn't.

We also see limited upside from community contributions - the number of people who can meaningfully work on a WebKit browser is small (from our experience hiring), and most of them already work at Apple or Kagi. Meanwhile, managing an open source codebase of this size would add real strain to our small team.

The plan is however to open source when Orion is self-sufficient (business model of Orion is you are the customer and can pay for it - like we used to pay for browsers 20 years ago before advertisers started paying for our browsing), meaning it can sustain its own development independent of Kagi Search. I want to take the opportunity to thank all people who supported the Orion browser vision [1]. We're not there yet but recent 1.0 launch and expanding to Linux are steps in that direction. And on Jan 1st this year we began development of Orion for Windows (HN exclusive yay!).

I understand this is unsatisfying to people who want source access now. It's a tradeoff we've made deliberately, not something we're hiding behind.

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How am i going to trust it if its source is not available for scrutiny? It's a browser of all things.. And from a new vendor... Even if the want to keep their IP, they should make it auditable at least...

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anti-hero@reddit

Safari doesn't seem to have that problem?

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iHarryPotter178@reddit

As I said, it's from a new vendor.. Apple and Google, are at least old and people use their services.. They don't hack your banking info and steals money.. They don't put trojan or other things.. But of course, they are data hog.

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anti-hero@reddit

Fair. How does a new vendor become 'old' if people dont trust it to begin with, because 'old' vendors had a business model that stole user data/privacy, while the whole purpose of existence of the 'new' vendor is to offer a new business model that doesn't do that? There is some irony to that.

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iHarryPotter178@reddit

There is no irony.. And there is no reason to trust a new vendor, when there is already so many, that broke trust..