Quran Browser – Advanced Desktop Application for Quran Study

# Changelog

2.2.0 — 2026-03-03

Features

•Version Checker – A new “Check for Updates” option in the Menu (shortcut Ctrl+Z) contacts the server to compare the installed version with the latest release. If a newer version is found, a dialog provides a direct download link. Network errors are gracefully reported.

Improvements

•Proximity Search Reliability – The search engine’s proximity operator (+++) now correctly handles substring patterns (e.g., المؤمن +++ يسبح) by falling back to a scanning method when the fast word index cannot be used. This restores the ability to find verses where two words appear within three verses of each other, even for non‑exact‑word queries.

•Robust Surah Range Handling – Fixed a subtle bug that prevented the proximity search from iterating over all surahs when no specific surah was selected. The surah list is now reliably flattened into a list of integers, ensuring every verse is considered.

Fixes

•Resolved an issue where proximity searches returned empty results despite the debug output showing matching verses. The problem stemmed from a surah in surahs membership test that failed because surahs was a list containing a range object instead of a flat list of integers.

•Corrected the _get_verses_matching_pattern helper to accept and flatten any iterable of surah numbers, making it robust against the same wrapping issue.

2.1.0 — 2026-02-27

Features

•Translation Bar – Added a persistent bar that displays English translations for the current verse. It can be toggled via Menu or Ctrl+U and offers multiple English translations selectable from a new Translations menu.

•Search Help Dialog – A dedicated dialog explains the full search syntax and operators. It is accessible via a new button inside the search field or by pressing Ctrl+?.

•Note Highlighting in Course Manager – The notes editor now provides syntax highlighting for line‑start markers (**, ##, --, !!) and inline formatting (*, _, ~), making note editing clearer and more efficient.

Improvements

•Enhanced Search Engine

•Introduced proximity search using the +++ operator, which finds words occurring within three verses of each other.

•Wildcard patterns (...) are now fully supported in proximity searches.

•Refined color‑highlighting logic for search matches and multi‑pattern queries.

•Numerous bug fixes in text normalization and pattern matching, ensuring more accurate results.

•Search Input – Added a question‑mark button to the search field for one‑click access to syntax help.

•Help Files – Updated and expanded the help documentation, improving clarity and user guidance.

Fixes

•Resolved issues with text normalization that could cause false‑negative or false‑positive matches.

•Fixed several edge cases in wildcard and proximity searches to align with expected behaviour.

2.0.0 — 2026-02-22

Features

•Data Transfer Dialog: Added a comprehensive import/export system accessible via Menu → Data Transfer or Ctrl+Shift+E. Users can now export their notes, courses, word dictionary, and bookmarks to zip files and import them back, enabling seamless data backup, migration, and sharing between installations.

•Notes Recovery System: Implemented an automatic recovery mechanism for notes being edited in the Course Manager. Unsaved changes are periodically saved to a recovery folder, and a new "Recovery Files" dialog allows users to browse, preview, and restore lost notes, grouped by course and sorted by date.

•Enhanced Course Management:

•Added "Combine Verses → Note" feature to merge multiple verse items into a single note.

•Notes can now be edited directly within the Course Manager with auto‑save and recovery support.

•Personal Data Export in Releases: The official Windows installer archive now includes a readme.txt (with bilingual instructions) and a QuranData_all_25.zip containing my personal courses and notes

Improvements

•Better File Handling: The import process intelligently skips duplicate entries, preventing clutter when restoring multiple backups.

•Recovery File Organization: Recovery files are now grouped by course name and listed newest first, making it easy to locate the most recent auto‑save.

•Status Bar Feedback: Clear messages inform users about import/export progress and recovery file locations.

Technical

•Added views/dialogs/data_transfer.py and views/dialogs/notes_recovery.py with full UI integration.

•Extended database manager with methods for exporting/importing all user data.

•Updated release script to bundle additional files (readme.txt, data.zip) with the main installer.

1.5.0 — 2026-02-19

Features

•Integrated translation bar: Introduced a persistent translation bar that dynamically shows the English translation of the active verse. The translation updates automatically as the user navigates between verses, providing a smoother bilingual reading experience.

Fixes

•Resolved an issue where the chapters (Surah) dropdown list detached visually from its QComboBox, restoring proper popup behavior and alignment.

1.4.1 — 2026-02-17

-

•Fixed: URL in status bar label was truncated (e.g., showing only "https://mo") on Windows due to DPI scaling.

•Replaced the fixed width (self.scale(250)) with an expanding size policy while keeping a scaled minimum width.

•Affected file: views/main_window.py (in init_ui).

1.4.0 — 2026-02-17

Features

•Official Windows installer: Introduced a fully integrated Windows installation package. The application now installs into the system’s Program Files directory with proper shortcuts and uninstallation support, providing a smoother and more professional setup experience.

Improvements

•Added Start Menu shortcuts for quick access.

•Added uninstaller entry in Windows Apps & Features.

•Improved deployment structure and file organization.

•Enhanced overall installation reliability and user onboarding experience.

Technical

•Added Inno Setup configuration (QuranBrowser.iss) for automated installer builds.

•Docker-based reproducible build process using amake/innosetup.

•Improved packaging consistency across releases.

1.3.2 — 2026-02-16

Features

•Unified UI scaling: Introduced a comprehensive scaling system that adapts the entire application interface to high‑DPI displays and user‑defined scale preferences. All dialog boxes and the main window now correctly respect the system DPI and the adjustable UI scale factor, ensuring crisp and properly sized elements on any screen.

Improvements

•Scaled widget geometries: All fixed sizes, minimum widths, button dimensions, splitter proportions, and layout margins are now dynamically calculated using the new scale() function.

•Dynamic stylesheets: Pixel values in stylesheets (borders, paddings, margins) are now generated with scaling, eliminating hard‑coded sizes that could appear too small on high‑resolution screens.

•Consistent delegate rendering: Custom item delegates (e.g., Quran verses, bookmarks, word dictionary) now apply scaling to their painting and size hints, resulting in uniform spacing and readability across all views.

•Better RTL support: All dialogs maintain proper right‑to‑left layout while respecting the scaled dimensions, preserving the intended visual flow for Arabic text.

Technical

•Added utils/scaling.py module with get_scale_factor() and scale() functions.

•Integrated scaling into every UI component across views/ and dialogs/.

•Ensured that font sizes specified in points remain independent of DPI scaling, while pixel dimensions are uniformly adjusted.

1.3.1 — 2026-01-27

Features

•Now supporting Windows platform

•Added Quran words dictionary dialog

•Enhanced search logic with word boundary aware search

•Detail view supports font size change

•Added color highlighting for search query

•Added autocomplete feature in search

•Added font size control

Improvements

•Scroll to top after surah selection

•Bug fixes and improvements to course manager

•Course improvements

•Bookmarks improvements

•More improvements and fixes

•Better status messages

•Updated install scripts

•Minor fixes across the app

•Removed ignored files from tracking

Fixes

•Bug fixes and general improvements

•Fixed Windows install script

•Fixed course handling

•Reload bookmarks after adding bookmark

•Enhanced search history navigation

---

1.3.0 — 2025-07-03

Refactor

•Complete refactor of codebase

---

1.2.0 — 2025-03-26

Features & Improvements

•UI improvements

•Bookmarks handling improvements

•Course management improvements

---

1.1.0 — 2025-02-14

Initial release

•User manual created

•Project setup and first commit