v2.28.0 (2026-08-07)

Overview

Vite Horizon 2.28.0 adds update notifications. When a new version of Horizon is released, the app now tells you and offers to reload, instead of leaving you working in an older version without knowing. It also handles the case where Horizon is updated while your tab is still open — previously that could cause part of the app to stop responding with no explanation.

There are no changes to existing workflows, tools or data.

Breaking Changes

None in this release.

New Features and Improvements

"Update available" message

When a new version of Horizon has been released, a message appears at the bottom of the screen:

Update available — A newer version of Horizon has been released. Reloading takes a few seconds.

Click Reload now to switch to the new version, or dismiss the message with its ✕ to keep working. The message closes on its own after a few seconds, so it never sits over the map.

Horizon checks for a new version when you return to the tab, so if you leave Horizon open overnight you will normally see the message shortly after you come back to it.

Save your work first

Reloading restarts Horizon. Shapes you have drawn but not saved are lost — the map editors do not keep unsaved drawings across a reload, and Undo does not bring them back. Save or export anything you need before reloading.

Horizon never reloads on its own. It only reloads when you click the button.

The update stays available in Settings

If you dismiss the message, the update is not lost. A small dot appears on the Settings button in the toolbar, and Settings → About → Version gains a Reload now button next to your version number:

• Up to date — you are on the current version.
• Reload now — a newer version is available whenever you are ready.

This is also where to look if someone asks which version you are running.

Not every update interrupts you

Small maintenance updates — bug fixes and behind-the-scenes improvements — update the Settings dot only, without showing the pop-up message. Releases that add or change features show the message. So a dot on the Settings button without a message simply means a minor update is available.

"Please reload Horizon" prompt

If Horizon is updated while your tab is open, parts of the app that had not loaded yet (a panel or tool you had not opened during that session) can no longer be loaded. Previously this caused the tool to silently fail to open.

Horizon now detects this and shows a prompt explaining that it needs to be reloaded to continue. This prompt appears only when the app genuinely cannot continue, and it appears for every update — including the quiet maintenance ones described above.

Under the Hood

• Horizon identifies each released build by a fingerprint of the build itself, rather than by its version number. This means an update is detected even for releases that do not change the version number, and — just as importantly — re-publishing an unchanged version does not produce a false "update available" message.
• The version check is a small file request made when you return to the tab, on reconnecting to the network, and periodically in the background. It is deliberately silent if it fails: a check that cannot complete never shows an error and never interrupts you.
• Whether a release announces itself is decided per release when it is published, so routine maintenance can ship without interrupting anyone.