Hello everyone,
there is a new beta version ready - build 26.2.10761.
Release notes
[+] What is New
Installer & Updates
- Smoother upgrades and migrations: Installing or upgrading suites now handles older versions and multiple installed tools more reliably, reducing error dialogs and repeated restarts.
- Cleaner uninstall experience: Uninstall flows have been simplified, with clearer final screens and fewer legacy questions or surveys.
- Use of latest setup interface: The installer now uses the most recent interface package during setup, so even fresh installs benefit from current visuals and behavior.
Shopping & Subscriptions
- In‑app cart auto‑fill: The in‑app cart can now auto‑fill details where appropriate, making it faster and easier to complete purchases.
- Smarter upsell and inbox tiles: Product tiles and inbox counters have been refined so that recommendations, trial information, and “add device” prompts show only when they are truly relevant.
Protection, Scanning & Engine
- Improved detection windows: Security pop‑ups and detection dialogs were refreshed so that what was found and what to do next is easier to understand.
- Stronger unpacking and archive support: The engine has been hardened across many archive and installer formats (ZIP, RAR, CAB, DBX mail stores, DMG/HFS images, Python and script installers, and various executable packers). This improves stability on damaged files and helps ensure more content is actually scanned.
- Safer driver and kernel integrations: Several security checks and “unload” behaviors were added to low‑level drivers, so protection can react more safely to system changes and diagnostic tools.
- More precise DNS and encryption handling: Network protection now better understands modern DNS and encrypted connection patterns, improving compatibility while keeping inspection and blocking effective.
Privacy, Browser & Identity
- Unified privacy settings: Privacy‑related settings have been aligned across different parts of the app, so similar options look and behave consistently.
- Improved browser extension experience: Integration with Avast/AVG secure browsers and standard browsers was updated so that extensions install and register more consistently with the security suite.
User Interface & Experience
- Dark theme and visuals aligned with design system: Dark and light themes, dialogs and icons have been updated to follow a consistent design system across Avast and AVG on Windows.
- Customizable window layout: The app responds better to resizing and layout changes, improving usability on different display sizes and resolutions.
- Clearer troubleshooting options: A new “hardware network acceleration” toggle and other advanced settings make it easier to try performance‑related adjustments without guesswork.
Cleanup & Tools
- Extended support tooling: Standalone support tools now cover more modules and configurations, giving support teams better information when diagnosing issues.
- Improved orphaned‑file cleanup: When installations are interrupted (for example by a restart), the installer now cleans up more of its temporary files without touching active installs.
[✓] What Was Fixed
Installer & Uninstall
- Correct product names on final uninstall screens: The final uninstall screen now consistently shows the correct product name, even on machines where multiple products were installed.
- Uninstall dialogs that stayed open or closed too fast: Cases where “setup finished” or repair dialogs closed immediately or behaved unpredictably have been fixed.
- Migration from older setups: Installing newer suites over older setup technologies now requests and handles required restarts more cleanly, avoiding confusing error codes at the end of setup.
- Registry and activation bookkeeping: Registry values that track which standalone apps are part of a suite migration have been corrected so suite license information is stored consistently.
Uninstall Surveys & Flows
- Removed obsolete uninstall surveys: Legacy uninstall surveys that no longer provided value were removed, simplifying the uninstall flow.
- Working privacy links in uninstall surveys: “Privacy Center” links in uninstall surveys now open the correct page.
- Fixed scrollbars and layout in password dialogs: Password‑protected uninstall dialogs no longer show unnecessary scrollbars or clipped content.
App Interface & Messages
- Clearer error and status text: Multiple messages and notifications were simplified to make it clearer what happened and what action, if any, is needed from the user.
- Theme and color inconsistencies: Several theme‑related issues (such as dialogs not respecting design‑system colors) were corrected for a more consistent look.
- Safer handling of missing or empty data in UI reports: The app and backend now avoid sending or accepting empty UI‑report payloads that previously caused hidden errors.
Reporting, Telemetry & Logging
- Fixed “400” errors from event reporting: Telemetry events with missing or invalid fields are now filtered or corrected before sending, reducing failed requests and log noise.
- Removal of bad cached events: Events that the backend permanently rejects are now removed from the cache, preventing repeated retries.
- Improved shutdown and restart logging: When Windows is shutting down while the installer engine runs, this is now logged as a specific event, simplifying later diagnosis of interrupted installs.
- More accurate configuration signature checks: Cases where downloaded configuration files produced spurious signature‑verification errors have been mitigated with better validation and logging.
Engine & File‑Format Handling
- Safer unpacking of archives and packed executables: Many boundary checks and error paths were corrected across packers and archive handlers to prevent out‑of‑bounds reads/writes and to fail cleanly on corrupted data.
- Correct handling of big‑endian and large files: Several places where sizes or offsets could be misread on certain architectures or for very large entries were fixed, preventing truncation or mis‑scans.
- More reliable mail‑store and database processing: Logic used for mail stores and database‑like formats was corrected so messages and records are not silently skipped when headers are unusual but valid.
- Better certificate and signature parsing: Signature‑verification routines now handle edge cases in ASN.1 and certificate chains more robustly, avoiding sporadic verification errors on malformed signatures.
Performance, Stability & Crashes
- Reduced crashes in uninstall and setup UI: Rare crashes in the setup UI during uninstall or complex flows have been addressed.
- More robust memory‑allocation handling: Components now react more safely when system memory is low, returning clear errors instead of crashing or silently dropping work.
- Improved handling of extreme or malformed input: Decompression and script‑parsing routines were hardened so that deliberately malformed content is more likely to result in a clean error rather than instability.
Cleanup & Tools
- Improved installer cleanup of temp folders: When previous installs left behind temporary content, new installs are now better at cleaning it up without interfering with active products.
[!] Known Issues
The following issues are known at the time of this release. Some apply only to specific configurations or product combinations.
Installer, Updates & Modules
- During change operations, different temporary folders may be created than expected, which can make log review more complex but does not affect the outcome of the operation.
- After certain suite installs, an unexpected language ID may appear in internal configuration files; the app UI language itself remains correct.
Network Protection
- In a few environments, firewall rules can lead to a temporary black screen when specific Windows apps are used, indicating an overly strict block rule.
Browsers, Extensions & Web Protection
- Avast and AVG secure browsers may not always appear in certain “Extensions” or “Browsers” lists inside the app, even though they are installed and protected.
- The Brave browser may be missing from some browser‑listing views and require manual checking.
- In rare situations, websites may not load correctly when a web‑filtering component is installed but disabled, due to how traffic is still intercepted at a low level.
- Some bank or dark‑theme tutorials and overlays do not perfectly match the current tile layout or theme, leading to minor visual mismatches.
UI, Themes & Interaction
- Some settings tabs and dialogs do not automatically scroll or resize to keep content fully visible when opened from deep links.
- Instant summary panes in certain feedback experiences may sometimes fail to load until retried.
- Various tiles and overlays in dark layouts may not fully match the current design system, especially in tutorial or education screens.
Performance & Stability
- Under heavy use, some users report high cache usage or multiple browser processes for privacy‑focused browsers, which can impact perceived performance.
- Rare crashes have been seen in components that scan or manage web certificates; these are under investigation.
- In some environments, auto‑update may be turned off after installation, requiring users to re‑enable it manually in settings.
Firewall & Remote Access
- Firewall blocked‑packet logs may not always list every blocked connection, even though the firewall is actively blocking suspicious traffic.
- For some unmanaged small‑business environments, Remote Access Shield does not record all connection attempts in its UI, even though blocking still occurs according to rules.
Download links:
Avast Free
Avast Premium
Avast Clear
Enjoy this beta!
We are looking forward to your feedback.
AVAST Team
