Friend Software Labs Releases FriendUP v1.2 Release Candidate
After many months of development, we’re proud to release the first candidate of Friend version 1.2 — a public pre-release of the next version of the Friend Platform for both users and developers. The Friend Platform v1.2 has been completely revamped with several new features and improvements on v1.1.1 that we’re sure you will all enjoy.
The platform gives you a single “cloud computer” and desktop where you can work, collaborate, play and enjoy media content —maybe develop the next awesome application or game? — from any browser, via any device!
For users
Users should have freedom of choice, privacy, security, and control when and where they work; but, right now technology silos and other barriers get in the way. The Friend Platform offers you an on-ramp to the open internet that helps integrate these technologies and knocks down the barriers that prevent you from working effectively and efficiently.
For developers
You should be able to reach the whole world of users without having to rewrite your software for each device. We want to free you from the requirement of using proprietary technologies to manifest your ideas. And we want to create a collaborative developer community where people can learn from each other’s experiences.
Check out Friend for yourself!
Open demo and where you create your own account:
- https://go.friendup.cloud/
Our main website:
Our Github repositories:
Our forums and channels:
- https://developers.friendup.cloud/
- https://discord.gg/GREj9Gv
- https://t.me/friendupcloud
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/friendunifyingplatform/
Changelog
Highlights
- Updated default theme with new color palette and new icon set
- Improved file integration with apps like OnlyOffice and Photopea
- New version of Friend Chat, cleaner user interface and improved video/audio chat stability
- Improved Friend Create user interface
- Friend Network prototype — massive peer-to-peer based collaboration
- User experience improvements throughout
- Stability and bug fixes
- Improved compatibility with Firefox, Safari, Opera, Edge and many devices running a flavor of these web browsers
New Features
New UX / GUI
The Friend Workspace has been completely revamped with a new user interface:
- New icons based on a contemporary “flat design”
- New color palette
- Improved Dock with support for Drag & drop from the start-menu, start-menu keyboard navigation
- New mobile interface with less space consumption
- Improved “Remember me” and auto-login
- Improved disk management
- New tab button and page design
- Completely revamped GUI on “My account”, making it easier to use
- New launch command error notification
- Improved tray notification API with support for sticky notifications and notification message interaction
- New theme engine with support for theme color schemes and configurable button layouts
- Reorganized and reworked pull-down menus in Workspace
- Tablet interface updated to work with changes
- Window snapping (hold in shift). Experimental feature. Allows multiple snapping, snapped windows behave like one
Friend Network
The Friend Network is a peer-to-peer communication technology that allows users to share files, directories, disks and apps.
- p2p over WebRTC
- Client to server network
- Share files, directories and disks
- Share applications
- Send notifications to friends
- Chat with friends
- Connect to friends in workgroups
- Connect your personal devices together (files and resources)
Cloud Storage
We have improved our handling of disks in Friend:
- Share any disk with a workgroup
- Improved file views
- Improved upload support
- Improved file dialogs with upload
- New Friend Network disk — your whole personal network in one disk
- New hierarchical file navigation side-panel
- Manage and use bookmarks in file views
Friend Chat
Our video conferencing and chat application has been upgraded:
- Main view UX overhaul, new layout, new interaction scheme
- Search added. Easily find rooms, current contacts and contacts that can be added from Friend Community
- Support for Workspace color schemes
- Calls to getUserMedia in Live sessions refactored, fixed an issue where screen sharing would default to the wrong audio input device, and making future improvements easier to implement
- Users can paste images into conference rooms and private chats
- Improved support for Firefox, Edge and Safari (experimental)
Changes
Several changes were made over v1.1.1 (the previous version):
- Rewrote storage of files in per user directories on server
- Added a Friend Core re-spawn script that detects crashed server
- Added “Open with” for file extensions in icon Properties
- Added user feedback notifications for apps and Workspace events
- Mobile version now shows notifications
- Users can paste images onto the Friend Workspace, in a dedicated Home:Downloads/ folder
- New functionality which checks http/s calls and restarts server when there is no response
- OnlyOffice productivity suite support added
- HTTP header parser improvements
- GEOIP service improved
- Stability improvements under heavy load
- Logger improved (file.logger)
- Example Friend Core configuration added to repository
- DOSToken functionality added
- Clustering improved (load balancer)
- Several improvements in socket code. select() can be used again instead of epoll
- Compilation flags moved to one file
- X-Frame-Options added
- Exit codes added (Friend Core codes)
- Libwebsockets are using now IPv6
- Mobile version supports drag & drop
- Tablet version is on par with desktop version
Android app
- Android back button is now handled by the Friend Workspace
- Enabled push notifications for apps and Workspace
- White label enabled build system (for customers and third parties)
- New login screen design
iOS app (iPhone / iPad)
- Available in first incarnation for testing
- Adapts to screen size (tablet mode / smartphone mode)
Bugfixes
- Fullscreen elements are no longer overlayed by the Workspace menu
- Fixed problem with missing disks on login
- Fixed problem with tab layout getting the wrong height on changing theme
- Rewrote handling of “Remember me” login option
- Use localStorage instead of cookies
- Compress/Decompress doesn’t create unnecessary directories and doesn’t omit files in subdirectories
- “make clean” fixed in the build system
- Disappearing disks on Friend Core restart fixed
- Libwebsockets updated
- PHP/Node.js drives are using current user sessionid
- Fixed file notifications disappearing
- SSH server works again
- New mutex locking system
- Mutex lock fixed (websockets part of code)
- Mutex lock on module calls and Mod PHP fixed
- UserGroup drives (not finished for SQLDrive)
- Multiple memory leaks fixed
- Localfs could not remove empty directories
- File copy command fixed — files were created even when they were missing or could not be accessed
- API user login disabled for Workspace session
- Compress/decompress empty directories
- Return proper error message for file/write
- Tinyurl sometimes wouldn’t work
- Filedialog uploads now refresh the file listing automatically
- Windows do not suddenly lose focus / flip to the back
Finally!
Thanks to all of our developers, co-workers, partners and friends for your hard work! Thanks to our investors for helping to fund our endeavor to change computing!
To everyone else, if you find this project compelling, please consider joining our project by visiting one of our channels. We still have one release candidate (RC2) to go, before we do the 1.2 final — which should be rock solid on all browsers and devices.
