Anki 26.05b1 release notes

What's Changed

New Installer

This release replaces the UV-based launcher introduced in 25.07 with a more standard installation process using Briefcase for packaging:

Anki no longer shows a terminal on install/update.
Installation no longer requires network access.
You can install updates using Tools>Check For Updates.
The macOS builds require macOS 13 or later.
A standard MSI installer is provided for Windows.
A native Windows ARM64 build is now available. Audio playback/recording doesn't work, but this will be fixed in the next release.
The minimum supported Python version is now 3.10 (The official builds still ship Python 3.13).
Anki now ships with Qt 6.11
The Linux x86_64 build should work on glibc 2.35 or later.

FSRS/Scheduling changes

Remove broken retention rate help link in stats by @Hannanilsenn in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4329
Improve performance of reviews_for_fsrs function by @L-M-Sherlock in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4339
Export last_interval to Python by @user1823 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4365
Fix/first and latest review dates should only consider entries with a rating. by @L-M-Sherlock in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4360
Fix/Ensure fuzz doesn't go backward during rescheduling by @user1823 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4364
Improve FSRS invalid parameters error message with FAQ link by @AmandaSternberg-creator in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4342
Fix/Per deck retention not used when card is moved to filtered deck by @Luc-Mcgrady in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4413
Restore retrievability SQL fix that was accidentally reverted by @Luc-Mcgrady in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4424
Fix/rounded corners on FSRS Simulator modal by @Luc-Mcgrady in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4535
Require three left-clicks to unlock FSRS parameter editing by @Luc-Mcgrady in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4372
Fix FSRS short-term schedule being ignored when using default parameters by @L-M-Sherlock in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4412
Use quantiles for FSRS retrievability stat ranges by @Luc-Mcgrady in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4425
Make descending retrievability a pure R sort by @user1823 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4400
Don't reschedule suspended cards by @L-M-Sherlock in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4453
Speed up FSRS memory state updates by batching calculations by @DanielPechersky in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4335
Apply deck-specific load balancer settings to filtered deck study by @MoamenAbdelsattar in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4574
Prioritize previously-attempted cards in the intraday learning queue by @user1823 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4393
Improve sibling dispersal in the load balancer, including across presets by @jakeprobst in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4640
Rework the efficiency ratio graph in FSRS Help Me Decide by @Luc-Mcgrady in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4452
Fix desired retention not refreshing when switching deck option presets by @barisayyildiz in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4610
Clarify ambiguous "this value" wording in desired retention tooltip by @Expertium in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4647
Drop QDialog argument from grade_now() to make it add-on friendly by @abdnh in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4459

Other Notable Changes

Briefcase Installer by @andrewsanchez in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4629
Show saved custom colours in the image-occlusion fill tool colour picker on mobile by @iamllama in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4348
Add support for tag:nc:... (case-insensitive) tag searches by @iamllama in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4344
Treat newlines as term breaks in search queries by @eliasjlara in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4336
Add syntax for multi-card cloze deletions by @tfpgh in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4333
Remember image-occlusion translucency toggle between sessions by @dspilleb in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4366
Fix "Restore to Default" picking the wrong template for basic notetype variants by @arold0 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4382
Let the "Limit to" spin box grow with its content in the filtered deck dialog by @jcznk in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4398
Fix unescaped HTML in correct type-in answers by @Eltaurus-Lt in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4407
Always show text boxes on image-occlusion cards during review by @jariji in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4387
Fix FindDuplicates dialog size exceeding screen bounds by @Nechaiter in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4426
Fall back to Apple Samantha for TTS on macOS when no requested voice matches by @leedoughty in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4420
Allow variable field counts per row when CSV import uses a notetype column by @iamllama in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4421
Case-fold media filenames when checking uniqueness by @iamllama in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4435
Keep non-breaking spaces outside cloze deletions when wrapping text by @leedoughty in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4446
Start decoding images immediately by @SelfishPig in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4471
Revert ForceDarkMode change that interfered with Anki's native dark theme by @GithubAnon0000 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4483
Apply the nightMode class to the editor in dark mode so custom HTML styles correctly by @leedoughty in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4473
Auto-select the relevant note type in the Manage Note Types dialog after add/rename by @Arthur-Milchior in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4479
Fix field rename by matching on the old name rather than field position by @Arthur-Milchior in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4488
Allow horizontal scrolling on the deck options screen so AnkiDroid handles large font sizes by @defkorean in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4501
Fix {{#Tags}} conditional not triggering card generation by @Yuukidiv in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4533
Silence console spam from image decoding errors during preload by @SelfishPig in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4534
Add note type and GUID column headers to deleted.txt for easier reimport by @hnvy in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4454
Apply Ctrl/Cmd+W window-closing shortcut globally to all dialogs by @beyondcompute in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4475
Fix overlapping date ranges in graphs when "all history" is selected by @JMannervik in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4430
Add a preference to disable the startup add-on update check by @SecretX33 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4478
Add dir="auto" to cards so text direction no longer depends on the UI language by @MoamenAbdelsattar in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4428
Accept images with capitalized extensions in the Browse "Attach" dialog by @miggazElquez in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4474
Re-enable WindowsRT TTS file player on Windows 11 by @abdnh in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4512
Fix HTML editor collapsing after toggling sticky fields and adding a note by @Yuukidiv in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4566
Fix image occlusion editor layout for right-to-left languages by @MoamenAbdelsattar in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4594
Speed up tag autocomplete by using the Rust backend's complete_tag() by @user1823 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4626
Detect cloze fields nested inside conditionals during card generation by @maskady in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4651
Prompt to save unsaved changes when closing or switching debug console scripts by @Arthur-Milchior in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4625
Roll back the sidebar tag name when the backend rejects a rename by @chrislongros in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4718
Improve word wrapping on the Deck Options screen for narrow viewports by @defkorean in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4558

Developer Improvements

The release build process is now fully automated using GitHub Actions.
Migrate CI from BuildKite to GitHub Actions. by @andrewsanchez in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4593
Build and publish dev docs by @andrewsanchez in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4579
Update to Rust 1.92 by @abdnh in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4461
Add Dependabot config with monthly grouped updates by @fernandolins in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4726
Update PyCharm docs by @abdnh in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4389
Update VS Code config by @abdnh in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4397
Treat proto/i18n's implicit outputs as inputs by @iamllama in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4439
Respect .python-version when generating pyenv by @iamllama in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4436
Add more required packages to Linux build guide by @user1823 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4432
Only run cargo-deny if there are dependency changes by @abdnh in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4644
Remove old GPG public key by @dae in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4707
Raise dependabot open-pull-requests-limit to 3 by @fernandolins in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4746
Add release-age controls for uv and Yarn dependencies by @fernandolins in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4761
docs: add contributing guidelines for add-ons, linked issues, and AI-assisted PRs by @fernandolins in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4782
Add pre-commit for automated pre-push checks by @fernandolins in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4660
Add a standardized pull request template by @fernandolins in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4655
Exclude BackendFrontendService from write_python_interface by @Luc-Mcgrady in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4410
Add regression test for #1909 (media check long filenames) by @bds124 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4476
Update docker build command for syncserver by @CYPHER0041 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4562
Render GH Markdown alerts in Sphinx docs by @abdnh in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4663
Exclude more folders from build actions by @abdnh in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4561
Add Windows quick start guide for new contributors by @DaniSilvaCodes in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4466
Update Windows developer docs by @user1823 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4662
Ignore Fluent message errors in TypeScript by @abdnh in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4494
Wrap previewer type field syntax replacement in separate method by @DaedalusIndigo in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4563
Document that add_deck requires refetching the deck to see its new ID by @jfly in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4760

Other Improvements

Fix progress bar overflow crash when one-way uploads exceed 2 GB by @matbe766 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4354
Fix fatal error from rapidly double-clicking the Add button by @arold0 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4377
Use the native crypto.randomUUID() instead of a custom UUID implementation by @leedoughty in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4384
Credit Arabic translation contributor in the About window by @hnvy in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4720
Tighten Collection.add_notes type annotation so single-pass iterables aren't accepted by @jfly in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4758
Set a friendly process job name for mpv on Windows by @abdnh in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4438
Add Rust unit tests for the card-generation logic by @Yuukidiv in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4551
Add punctuation, convert raw URLs to markdown links in READMEs by @oliolioli in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4570
Reorder and comment .ftl files in UI order to help translators by @RolfMaster in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4514
Show tooltips for truncated sidebar items in the Browse window by @nav1s in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4385
Stop showing an error toast when saving an image-occlusion note twice on mobile by @iamllama in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4458
Render <br> as a line break in card template error messages instead of literal text by @leedoughty in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4451
Use a true minus sign instead of a hyphen in the deck browser by @GithubAnon0000 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4437
Fix sync login dialog ignoring a freshly-set custom sync server URL by @ranjitodedra in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4396
Add plural forms to unit labels next to spin boxes in the Custom Study dialog by @RolfMaster in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4520
Don't expose collection.media.db2 over the API by @dae in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4653
Update media sync progress dialog correctly after an error occurs in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4486
Disable the Custom Study OK button when the selected deck is empty by @tunamayo04 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4463
Warn the user when renaming a profile would exceed the OS path length limit in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4552

Launcher Improvements

Note: listed for documentation/crediting purposes. Launcher builds are not provided in this release

Add i18n to launcher by @iamllama in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4361
Replace more strings in launcher with translations by @iamllama in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4368
Change launcher strings to clarify installing for novices by @GithubAnon0000 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4327
Fix launcher strings by @user1823 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4375
Show launcher if different version was installed by @iamllama in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4381
Exclude pre-release if a newer major_minor exists by @user1823 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4388
Apply cache settings to all uv invocations by @iamllama in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4404
Add build dependencies and instructions for building / running the launcher by @GithubAnon0000 in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4380
Make uv use system certstore by @iamllama in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4386

New Contributors

@Hannanilsenn made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4329
@eliasjlara made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4336
@tfpgh made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4333
@dspilleb made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4366
@matbe766 made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4354
@AmandaSternberg-creator made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4342
@arold0 made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4377
@nav1s made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4385
@ranjitodedra made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4396
@Eltaurus-Lt made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4407
@jariji made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4387
@Nechaiter made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4426
@SelfishPig made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4471
@bds124 made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4476
@tunamayo04 made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4463
@defkorean made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4501
@RolfMaster made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4514
@Yuukidiv made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4533
@JMannervik made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4430
@SecretX33 made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4478
@DanielPechersky made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4335
@MoamenAbdelsattar made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4428
@DaedalusIndigo made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4563
@miggazElquez made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4474
@oliolioli made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4570
@DaniSilvaCodes made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4466
@chrislongros made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4668
@CYPHER0041 made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4562
@maskady made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4651
@jfly made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4758
@barisayyildiz made their first contribution in https://github.com/ankitects/anki/pull/4610

Full Changelog: https://github.com/ankitects/anki/compare/25.09.4...26.05b1

Anki 26.05b1