GIF Launcher

GIF Launcher / Release notes

What changed

The app updates itself, so you are usually on the newest version. The Microsoft Store version follows a little later, once Microsoft has reviewed it. Installers for every version are on GitHub.

12.9

Safer links, decided on your own screen.

New

  • Safe links: by default only supported sources open on your screen (GIF sites, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Vimeo, SoundCloud and the in-app search). Each person decides for their own screen.
  • Adult, gore and malware sites are blocked and never open, in any mode.
  • An Any link mode in Settings, Playback, for channels with people you trust. It is not recommended, and sites our filter flags still stay closed.
  • YouTube search now shows Shorts too.

Fixed

  • A link from a friend is checked on your screen before it is shown or added to history, including where it redirects.

12.8

A bigger Free plan, and help built in.

New

  • A bigger Free plan: 5 videos, music or any links a day, 2 GIFs and 2 sounds on screen at once, and channels up to 10 people.
  • Placement is free for everyone: choose where windows land on your screen.
  • Help, beside What’s new: how to use the app and answers to common questions, with a way to send feedback.
  • Pick the key that opens another window: Shift or Alt (Settings, Playback).
  • We can now post a notice in the app when something is down, without an update.

Fixed

  • The app no longer pops up in the middle of the screen when Windows starts.
  • The search window fits smaller screens, can be made smaller, and opens at the size you left it.
  • Settings only looks at your audio devices once you open the microphone menu.

12.7

Safer channels, and quieter updates.

New

  • Lock your channel so new people wait for a yes, and make a new invite link when an old one got around.
  • Reporting someone also blocks them, and you can mute a person for yourself.
  • Updates now install quietly when you close the app.

Fixed

  • Links that point into your own network are refused, and voice with strangers goes through our relay.
  • Safety fixes: stricter windows, a cap on open overlays, tighter limits on what others in a channel can send.

12.6.1

New

  • What’s new sits beside the card size, with a dot after an update.

Fixed

  • Instagram videos play with sound, for you and your friends.
  • Video windows take the video’s shape: no black bars on vertical clips.
  • Pointing at a folder no longer nudges the row.
  • In the Dock layout a long folder row scrolls sideways, with the wheel too.

12.6

A clearer Free plan, and a smoother first run.

New

  • Free: GIFs and short sound effects from Search, unlimited. Videos and music are Pro.
  • New channels allow sounds and clips from the start. GIFs only is still a switch for the owner.
  • Folders: rename, drag to reorder, delete (with undo).
  • TikTok links play for Pro.
  • Join with an invite code, or the invite you just copied from the invite page.
  • Type in the link field and press Enter to search.
  • GIF search keeps loading more results from related searches.
  • A welcome for new installs, and a What’s new sheet after updates.

Fixed

  • Pause now pauses the video for your friends too, embedded players included.
  • A refused send says why, never “Sent”.
  • SoundCloud sounds can be scrubbed.
  • Safe search catches more.
  • Pasted links show a preview picture in Recent.

12.5

New

  • A new icon: a play button cut into three frames. It is on the desktop, the taskbar, the tray and beside the title in the launcher.

12.4

New

  • Your own hotkeys. Settings lets you pick keys for close everything, stop sounds, pause, mute, search, show launcher and mic.
  • Search by source. Each search tab can be narrowed to one source, and Shift+click opens an extra search window.
  • Softer, more even sound. New interface sounds, and streams from different sites now play at a closer loudness.

Fixed

  • SoundCloud tracks show their full length from the start.
  • Short silent clips loop, and Recent video cards show a first frame.
  • Playing a sound no longer shows a second warning.
  • Per-GIF shortcuts work again after a restart.
  • Fluent theme: the in-channel search row stays in the title bar on wide windows.

12.3

New

  • Pro follows your profile. Restore your profile on a new PC with its recovery code and your Pro comes back with it.
  • Invite links. Share hedaron.com/j/CODE and friends land straight in your channel.
  • A new moment for unlocking Pro.

Fixed

  • Entering a different key while Pro is on now asks first, and warns before a lower plan replaces a higher one.
  • An ended subscription key can no longer replace a working one.
  • Pro that ends while the app is open drops to Free within six hours.

12.2

Fixed

  • SoundCloud sounds play again. SoundCloud changed how it streams audio, so a sound from it flashed on the bar and closed without playing.
  • The upgrade button opens the Pro plans on this site.

12.1

Chat beside your GIFs, and a new player bar.

New

  • The channel chat is a panel next to the grid instead of a page that hides it. Expand it to the full width or keep it closed; the latest line shows in the bottom bar.
  • A new player bar: what is playing shows with a preview and its name, and everything open is one stack you can pause or close item by item. Volume is one control; scroll over it to change it.
  • Channel owners can remove someone from the channel. When the owner leaves, the next owner gets the owner controls.

Fixed

  • Space no longer pauses your GIF while you type in the chat.
  • Avatars and GIFs in the chat hold still until you point at them.
  • If the connection drops, the channel row stays and reconnects faster after sleep or a network change.
  • Errors that used to hide behind the player bar now show as notes.

12.0

Chat and voice in every channel.

New

  • Every channel has a chat: one timeline of messages and sent GIFs. Click a GIF there to send it again.
  • Voice rooms. Up to 4 people talking, 8 when anyone in the channel has Pro. Mute with Ctrl+Shift+M.
  • Speaking rings on avatars, a volume for each person, and mic and speaker pickers in Settings.
  • “Hide my IP address in voice” sends your voice through our relay instead of directly.
  • Everyone in your channel stays in view on the command bar. Alone, it offers to copy your invite code.

11.3

New

  • Your look has its own page, with your real card on top changing as you edit.
  • One GIF picker for background, signature and avatar, with search and pasted links.
  • The channel chip shows who is in the channel and flares when someone sends.

11.2

New

  • Avatars: one colour or a GIF, with up to 3 characters or an emoji on top.
  • Person cards: a background GIF behind the avatar, and up to 3 signature GIFs on the back.
  • Free plan: GIFs unlimited, 3 videos or sounds a day, and everything friends send plays for everyone.
  • Reports: pick a reason when you report someone.
  • Transparent stickers in GIF search.

Fixed

  • The launcher no longer drops behind other windows when Appearance or Search closes.

11.1

Search rebuilt, and themes.

New

  • Search runs inside the app and asks many sources at once, so GIFs, videos and sounds stream in as they arrive. Safe search is on.
  • A new Appearance window: six palettes, four layouts, and four worlds that redraw the whole app (Liquid Glass, Fluent, Nebula and Deck).
  • Your colours: place up to three colours and the whole app is drawn from them.
  • The channel panel shows where things landed on each friend’s screen. It sends only the position, never a picture of the screen, and it can be turned off.

Fixed

  • You can undo removing a friend or a favourite.