Beta 2 is the largest release so far: 669 completed backlog items, 24 P0 fixes and 132 P1 fixes. The installer is calmer, the gallery keeps its place, and the metadata work is finally visible.
The short version
A release of this size is not one headline feature. It is hundreds of moments where the app stops fighting you: the installer that says the right thing, the thumbnail that is already there, the person who stays one person.
Installer
The Beta 1 edge cases are no longer papered over. A Beta 1 install is refused, named, uninstalled and replaced; the maintenance path keeps or deletes data according to the answer you gave.
Gallery
The grid now has real loading, empty and error states, keyboard movement, tiles that fill their cell, and thumbnail work that matches the size on screen.
Metadata & people
WLPG face names are no longer dropped by a metadata gate. People merge across batches, unnamed clusters can be folded in bulk, and stale face boxes clear when you move on.
Worker
Replacement workers are reconnected, progress counts have one owner, shutdown no longer escapes the pipe loop, and rows that vanished are checked before they reach the grid.
Formats
The RAW table now covers 30 camera formats and 76 extensions in total. The format table is checked against the libraries that decode it, so the app stops refusing files it can actually read.
Selected from 669
A representative slice, not the whole 1,000+. Each row is a completed backlog item with a real verification route behind it. The IDs are there for anyone who wants to follow the paper trail.
| Area | What changed | Ref |
|---|---|---|
| Installer | Beta 1 is refused cleanly instead of being offered an upgrade it cannot survive. | LG-413 |
| Installer | Uninstall now removes the install folder, including files the old deferred-delete path left behind. | LG-433 |
| Installer | The maintenance uninstall asks before preserving settings, so the wording and the action agree. | LG-622 |
| Gallery | The camera’s embedded EXIF thumbnail is saved instead of regenerating every thumbnail. | LG-524 |
| Gallery | Thumbnails decode at the tile size instead of a fixed size, cutting work at every zoom level. | LG-252 |
| Gallery | Keyboard navigation, loading, empty and error states now have real behaviour behind them. | LG-195 / LG-257 |
| Gallery | A gallery tile laid out at zero size now stretches to fill its container. | LG-300 |
| Metadata | Facial recognition waits for the metadata pass, so WLPG face names are no longer lost. | LG-324 |
| People | People sharing a name are merged in one pass instead of fragmenting across batches. | LG-464 / LG-724 |
| People | Unknown people can be named and folded in bulk instead of one card at a time. | LG-742 |
| People | Face annotation boxes clear when the viewer moves to a photo with no faces. | LG-701 |
| Worker | The app reconnects to a replacement Worker instead of talking to a dead IPC listener. | LG-507 |
| Formats | 28 camera RAW extensions the libraries could already read were added to the format table. | LG-677 |
| Processing | Priority processing requested from the gallery can preempt the batch already running. | LG-154 |
Selected from 669 completed items. The full count includes documentation, tests, refactors, accessibility and installer work as well as user-facing fixes.
Still not shipped
The launch is big, but it is not a blank cheque. These are still missing or deliberately out of scope; if one of them is the reason you are here, Beta 2 will not be enough yet.
All 76 formats are included on every licence tier. Beta 2 remains local-only: the photo app has no network code; the installer and updater are separate.
The next thousand
The beta is free for 5,000 photos. Keep the folder structure you already have; let the quieter release do the work.
Windows 11 · Free 5,000-photo beta · No account needed
