Panic Button 4.4.6 released!

An update to Panic Button 4.4, the Firefox extension that quickly hides your browser windows from curious eyes with a click of a button, has been released, and is now available from Firefox Add-ons and the AE Creations website.

If you already have an older version of Panic Button installed, it will be updated for you if automatic extension updates are enabled. Otherwise, open Add-ons Manager (Tools → Add-ons), click on the entry for Panic Button in the list of installed extensions, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Check for Updates.

What's New

• Bug fix: Unexpected change in appearance of checkboxes and drop-down menu buttons in Firefox 124 (issue #91)
  

Things You Should Know About

• The Hide and Replace action won't work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history" in Privacy & Security settings.
• The Hide and Replace action is unable to restore any browser tabs displaying Firefox pages such as Add-ons Manager and Firefox Settings.
  
• Any downloads in progress will continue in the background if clicking the Panic Button to hide or minimize all windows. If Close All Windows was selected in extension preferences as the Panic Button action, downloads in progress will be canceled.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Panic Button should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, now hosted on Groups.io.

Panic Button issue on macOS is fixed on Firefox 121 and 115.6 ESR

Back in August, I wrote about an issue affecting Panic Button on macOS that occurs if the Panic Button action is set to "Minimize All Windows" and the "Open a new window after all browser windows are minimized" option is selected. More details can be found in this blog post.

I finally have good news to share: this issue is now fixed in Firefox 121, which was released last week. Update Firefox to this new version to resolve this issue. Users on Firefox ESR should update to version 115.6.

If there are any questions, post to the AE Creations Help and Support forums.

Happy Holidays!

Panic Button 4.4.5 released!

An update to Panic Button 4.4 has been released, and is now available from Firefox Add-ons and the AE Creations website.

If you already have an older version of Panic Button installed, it will be updated for you if automatic extension updates are enabled. Otherwise, open Add-ons Manager (Tools → Add-ons), click on the entry for Panic Button in the list of installed extensions, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Check for Updates.

What's New

• Added Polish localization
• Bug fix: In the extension preferences page, resetting the keyboard shortcut doesn't appear to work if it was changed from Manage Extension Shortcuts in Add-ons Manager
  

Things You Should Know About

• The Hide and Replace action won't work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history" in Privacy & Security settings.
• The Hide and Replace action is unable to restore any browser tabs displaying Firefox pages such as Add-ons Manager and Firefox Settings.
  
• On Firefox 115 and newer on macOS and Linux, there is an issue with the "Minimize All Windows" action that occurs if the "Open a new window after all browser windows are minimized" option is selected. If this action is invoked, and then the browser windows are restored by clicking the Panic Button or pressing the keyboard shortcut on the temporary browser window, the restored browser window heights are shrunk down. This issue is not occurring on Windows.
• Any downloads in progress will continue in the background if clicking the Panic Button to hide or minimize all windows. If Close All Windows was selected in extension preferences as the Panic Button action, downloads in progress will be canceled.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Panic Button should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, now hosted on Groups.io.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Crowdin contributor jeleniogorzanin for translating Panic Button into Polish!

If you are fluent in English and another world language and would like to help update or add a new translation, consider contributing a translation in Crowdin. Localizations in other languages are always welcome, and will be added in future releases.

Follow-up to Firefox issue on macOS affecting Panic Button's "Minimize All Windows" action

Back in August, I wrote about an issue affecting Panic Button on macOS that occurs if the Panic Button action is set to "Minimize All Windows" and the "Open a new window after all browser windows are minimized" option is selected. More details can be found in this blog post.

Unfortunately, the most recent version of Firefox (version 117 at the time of this post) hasn't fixed the issue. I've investigated further and discovered that this issue is also occurring on Linux (confirmed on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS). The good news is that this issue is not reproducible on Windows, even with the latest Firefox release.

I've opened a bug in Mozilla's Bugzilla database. Until this is resolved, the workaround solution remains the same: users on macOS and Linux should consider turning off the option to open the temporary browser window, or change the Panic Button action to a different selection.

Firefox issue on macOS affecting Panic Button's "Minimize All Windows" action

Panic Button users on macOS should take note!

There is an issue with the "Minimize All Windows" action that occurs if the "Open a new window after all browser windows are minimized" option is selected. If this action is invoked, and then the browser window states are restored by clicking the Panic Button toolbar button or pressing the keyboard shortcut on the temporary browser window, the restored browser window heights are shrunk down.

 The shrunk-down browser windows after they are restored.

A similar issue happens when the Panic Button action is set to "Minimize Current Window."

This is confirmed to be occurring on Firefox versions 115 and 116 on macOS. This issue is not occurring on Windows.

The good news is that this issue is fixed in Firefox 117, which is due to be released at the end of August. Until then, consider turning off the option to open the temporary browser window, or change the Panic Button action to a different selection. This is understandably a bothersome inconvenience for many users -- indeed, Firefox 117 can't come soon enough!

Panic Button 4.4.4 released!

An update to Panic Button 4.4 has been released, and is now available from Firefox Add-ons and the AE Creations website.

If you already have an older version of Panic Button installed, it will be updated for you if automatic extension updates are enabled. Otherwise, open Add-ons Manager (Tools → Add-ons), click on the entry for Panic Button in the list of installed extensions, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Check for Updates.

What's New

•  Bug fix: Panic Button toolbar button doesn't appear in the browser toolbar by default on Firefox 109 (issue #82)

Things You Should Know About

• The Hide and Replace action won't work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history" in Privacy & Security settings.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Panic Button should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, now hosted on Groups.io.

Panic Button 4.4.3 released!

An update to Panic Button 4.4 has been released, and is now available from Firefox Add-ons and the AE Creations website.

If you already have an older version of Panic Button installed, it will be updated for you if automatic extension updates are enabled. Otherwise, open Add-ons Manager (Tools → Add-ons), click on the entry for Panic Button in the list of installed extensions, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Check for Updates.

What's New

• Bug fix: Panic Button is unresponsive after changing the "Run in Private Windows" setting (issue #79)
  

Things You Should Know About

• The Hide and Replace action won't work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history" in Privacy & Security settings.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Panic Button should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.

Panic Button 4.4.2 released!

An update to Panic Button 4.4 has been released, and is now available from Firefox Add-ons and the AE Creations website.

If you already have an older version of Panic Button installed, it will be upgraded for you if automatic extension updates are enabled. Otherwise, open Add-ons Manager (Tools → Add-ons), click on the entry for Panic Button in the list of installed extensions, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Check for Updates.

What's New

•  Minor cosmetic fixes for macOS

Things You Should Know About

• Panic Button 4.4 requires Firefox 78 or newer.  
• The Hide and Replace action won't work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history" in Privacy & Security settings.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Panic Button should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.

Panic Button 4.4.1 released!

An update to Panic Button 4.4 has been released, and is now available from Mozilla Add-ons and the AE Creations website.

If you already have an older version of Panic Button installed, it will be upgraded for you if automatic extension updates are enabled. Otherwise, open Add-ons Manager (Tools → Add-ons), click on the entry for Panic Button in the list of installed extensions, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Check for Updates.

What's New

• Updated German localization
  
• Minor fixes and improvements

Things You Should Know About

• Panic Button 4.4 requires Firefox 78 or newer.  
• The Hide and Replace action won't work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history" in Privacy & Security settings.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Panic Button should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Crowdin contributor scribger for updating the German localization of Panic Button! If you are fluent in English and another world language and would like to help update or add a new translation, consider contributing a translation in Crowdin.

Panic Button 4.4 released!

A new version of Panic Button has been released, and is now available for download from Mozilla Add-ons and the AE Creations website.

If you already have an older version of Panic Button installed, it will be upgraded for you if automatic extension updates are enabled. Otherwise, open Add-ons Manager (Tools → Add-ons), click on the entry for Panic Button in the list of installed extensions, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Check for Updates.

What's New

• New menu options added to the Panic Button toolbar button context menu, allowing you to change the toolbar button in just a few clicks, or go to the extension preferences page. To show the context menu, right-click on the Panic Button toolbar button (issue #61 and #70)
• New option in extension preferences for snoozing inactive browser tabs when restoring the browser session after invoking the Hide and Replace action (issue #64)
• When restoring the browser session after invoking the Hide and Replace action, Panic Button will try to restore Reader Mode on those browser tabs that had it turned on (issue #65)
• The toolbar button icons now blends in better with the Light and Dark themes in Firefox 89 and newer (issue #71 and #73)
• Bug fix: Container tabs converted to normal tabs when restoring the browser session after invoking the Hide and Replace action (issue #74). This affected users who have installed the Firefox Multi-Account Containers add-on.

Things You Should Know About

• Panic Button 4.4 requires Firefox 78 or newer.  
• The Hide and Replace action won't work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history" in Privacy & Security settings.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Panic Button should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Crowdin contributor ticao7 for providing the Portuguese (Brazil) localization of Panic Button! If you are fluent in English and another world language and would like to help update or add a new translation, consider contributing a translation in Crowdin.

Panic Button 4.4 release candidate 1 released!

A release candidate of Panic Button 4.4 is now available for testers and early adopters craving the latest and greatest! This will become the official release unless any last-minute showstopper bugs are found.

Read on to learn more about what's new in version 4.4, and how to get it.

What's New

• New menu options added to the Panic Button toolbar button context menu, allowing you to change the toolbar button in just a few clicks, or go to the extension preferences page. To show the context menu, right-click on the Panic Button toolbar button (issue #61 and #70)
• New option in extension preferences for snoozing inactive browser tabs when restoring the browser session after invoking the Hide and Replace action (issue #64)
• When restoring the browser session after invoking the Hide and Replace action, Panic Button will try to restore Reader Mode on those browser tabs that had it turned on (issue #65)
• The toolbar button icons now blends in better with the Light and Dark themes in Firefox 89 and newer (issue #71 and #73)
• Bug fix: Container tabs converted to normal tabs when restoring the browser session after invoking the Hide and Replace action (issue #74). This affected users who have installed the Firefox Multi-Account Containers add-on.

Things You Should Know About

• Panic Button 4.4 requires Firefox 78 or newer.  
• The Hide and Replace action won't work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history" in Privacy & Security settings.

How to Get It

To install this release candidate, head over to the Panic Button 4.4 release candidate 1 page on GitHub. Look for the link to panic_button-4.4rc1-fx.xpi, then click on it to install.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Panic Button should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.

If you find a bug, you may file a bug report on GitHub. Please search the issues list first to confirm that your issue has not already been reported.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Crowdin contributor ticao7 for providing the Portuguese (Brazil) localization of Panic Button! If you are fluent in English and another world language and would like to help update or add a new translation, consider contributing a translation in Crowdin.

Panic Button 4.4 beta 4 released!

A fourth beta release of the next version of Panic Button is now available for testers and early adopters craving the latest and greatest. This unplanned fourth beta includes a last-minute bug fix for an issue affecting users who have installed the Firefox Multi-Account Containers add-on.

Read on to learn more about what's new in this release, and how to get it.

What's New

Here are the new features coming to version 4.4:

• New menu options added to the Panic Button toolbar button context menu, allowing you to change the toolbar button in just a few clicks, or go to the extension preferences page. To show the context menu, right-click on the Panic Button toolbar button (issue #61 and #70)
• New option in extension preferences for snoozing inactive browser tabs when restoring the browser session after invoking the Hide and Replace action (issue #64)
• When restoring the browser session after invoking the Hide and Replace action, Panic Button will try to restore Reader Mode on those browser tabs that had it turned on (issue #65)
  
• The toolbar button icons now blends in better with the Light and Dark themes in Firefox 89 and newer (issue #71 and #73)
•  Fixed in 4.4b4  Container tabs were converted to normal tabs when restoring the browser session after invoking the Hide and Replace action (issue #74)
  

Things You Should Know About

• Panic Button 4.4 requires Firefox 78 or newer.  
• The Hide and Replace action won't work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history" in Privacy & Security settings.

How to Get It

To install this beta release, head over to  the Panic Button 4.4 beta 4 page on GitHub. Look for the link to panic_button-4.4b4-fx.xpi, then click on it to install.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Panic Button should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.

If you find a bug, you may file a bug report on GitHub. Please search the issues list first to confirm that your issue has not already been reported. 

Panic Button 4.4 beta 3 released!

This is the third beta release of the next version of Panic Button. It is being made available for testers and early adopters craving the latest and greatest. This beta release is the most stable yet, but you may still encounter a few minor bugs.

Read on to learn more about what's new in this release, and how to get it.

What's New

Here are the new features coming to version 4.4:

• New menu options added to the Panic Button toolbar button context menu, allowing you to change the toolbar button in just a few clicks, or go to the extension preferences page. To show the context menu, right-click on the Panic Button toolbar button (issue #61 and #70)
• New option in extension preferences for snoozing inactive browser tabs when restoring the browser session after invoking the Hide and Replace action (issue #64)
• When restoring the browser session after invoking the Hide and Replace action, Panic Button will try to restore Reader Mode on those browser tabs that had it turned on (issue #65)
  
• The reverse contrast toolbar button icons now blends in better with the Dark Mode theme in Firefox 89 and newer (issue #71)
•  Fixed in 4.4b3  Setting a custom toolbar button icon doesn't work (issue #72)

Things You Should Know About

• Panic Button 4.4 requires Firefox 78 or newer.  
• Panic Button won't work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history" in Privacy & Security settings.

How to Get It

To install this beta release, head over to the Panic Button 4.4 beta 3 page on GitHub. Look for the link to panic_button-4.4b3-fx.xpi, then click on it to install.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Panic Button should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.

If you find a bug, you may file a bug report on GitHub. Please search the issues list first to confirm that your issue has not already been reported.

Panic Button 4.4 beta 2 released!

This is the second beta release of the next version of Panic Button. It is being made available for testers and early adopters craving the latest and greatest. This beta release is the most stable yet; nonetheless, expect to encounter a few inevitable bugs.

Read on to learn more about what's new in this release, and how to get it.

What's New

Here are the new features coming to version 4.4:

• New menu options added to the Panic Button toolbar button context menu, allowing you to change the toolbar button in just a few clicks, or go to the extension preferences page. To show the context menu, right-click on the Panic Button toolbar button (issue #61 and #70)
• New option in extension preferences for snoozing inactive browser tabs when restoring the browser session after invoking the Hide and Replace action (issue #64)
• When restoring the browser session after invoking the Hide and Replace action, Panic Button will try to restore Reader Mode on those browser tabs that had it turned on (issue #65) 
•  New in 4.4b2  The reverse contrast toolbar button icons now blends in better with the Dark Mode theme in Firefox 89 and newer (issue #71)

Things You Should Know About

• Panic Button 4.4 requires Firefox 78 or newer.  
• Panic Button won't work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history" in Privacy & Security settings.

How to Get It

To install this beta release, head over to the Panic Button 4.4 beta 2 page on GitHub. Look for the link to panic_button-4.4b2-fx.xpi, then click on it to install.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Panic Button should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.

If you find a bug, you may file a bug report on GitHub. Please search the issues list first to confirm that your issue has not already been reported.

Panic Button 4.4 beta 1 released!

This is the first beta release of the next version of Panic Button. It is being made available for testers and early adopters craving the latest and greatest, and although it is fairly stable, expect to encounter a few inevitable bugs.

Read on to learn more about what's new in this release, and how to get it.

What's New

• New menu options added to the Panic Button toolbar button context menu, making it easier to change the toolbar button icon or go to the extension preferences page. To show the context menu, right-click on the Panic Button toolbar button (issue #61 and #70)
• New option in extension preferences for snoozing inactive browser tabs when restoring the browser session after invoking the Hide and Replace action (issue #64)
• When restoring the browser session after invoking the Hide and Replace action, Panic Button will try to restore Reader Mode on those browser tabs that had it turned on (issue #65)
  

Things You Should Know About

• Panic Button 4.4 requires Firefox 78 or newer.  
• Panic Button won't work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history" in Privacy & Security settings.

How to Get It

To install this beta release, head over to the Panic Button 4.4 beta 1 page on GitHub. Look for the link to panic_button-4.4b1-fx.xpi, then click on it to install.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Panic Button should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.

If you find a bug, you may file a bug report on GitHub. Please search the issues list first to confirm that your issue has not already been reported.

Panic Button 4.3.3 released!

A minor update to Panic Button 4.3 has been released and is now available for download from Mozilla Add-ons and the AE Creations website.

If you already have an older version of Panic Button installed, it will be upgraded for you if automatic extension updates are enabled. Otherwise, open Add-ons Manager (Tools → Add-ons), click on the entry for Panic Button in the list of installed extensions, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Check for Updates.

What's New

• Bug fix: When browser session is restored, Reader Mode tabs are missing (issue #67)
• Bug fix: Missing message box icon in Firefox 88 on Windows (issue #68)

Things You Should Know About

• Panic Button 4.3 requires Firefox 78 or newer.  
• Panic Button won't work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history" in Privacy & Security settings.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Panic Button should be posted to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.

Panic Button 4.3.2 released!

A minor update to Panic Button 4.3 has been released and is now available for download from Mozilla Add-ons and the AE Creations website.

If you already have an older version of Panic Button installed, it will be upgraded for you if automatic extension updates are enabled. Otherwise, open Add-ons Manager (Tools → Add-ons), click on the entry for Panic Button in the list of installed extensions, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Check for Updates.

What's New

• Fixed the appearance of checkboxes and radio buttons in the extension preferences page when color overrides is turned on in Firefox

Things You Should Know About

• Panic Button 4.3 requires Firefox 78 or newer.  
• Panic Button won't work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history" in Privacy & Security settings.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Panic Button should be directed to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.

Updating to Panic Button 4.3

Panic Button 4.3 was released on 22 September 2020. It contains a long-awaited bug fix that affected users who normally have multiple browser windows open when invoking Panic Button with the action set to Hide and Replace. The new Minimize Current Window action was also introduced.

Since then, there was a minor update that came out earlier this month, containing further improvements.

Some users may have missed the update alerts in Firefox and are still using Panic Button 4.2.1. To enjoy the benefits of new features and improvements, make sure you have the latest version of Panic Button installed and that automatic add-on updates are turned on in Add-on Manager.

If you are on an older version of this Firefox add-on and want to update to version 4.3 or newer, there is an extra step that you'll need to perform in Firefox to complete the update of Panic Button. Follow the steps described below.

How to Update Panic Button

When automatic add-on updates are turned on, Firefox will periodically check for updates to your add-ons. When it finds that an update for Panic Button is available, the Firefox menu button will have a little alert indicator.

 

The Firefox menu button, with an update alert indicator.

Click on it, and you'll see a yellow menu item informing you that Panic Button requires new permissions.

 

 Panic Button requires new permissions.

Panic Button 4.3 requires a new permission to access your browser tabs. Panic Button needs it so that it can properly restore your browser session after your windows and tabs were hidden by the Hide and Replace action.

To proceed with the update of Panic Button, you'll need to grant approval for the "Access browser tabs" permission. To do this, click on the yellow menu item, and then click Update in the update permissions popup.

Click Update to approve the new permission and proceed with the installation.

Once approval is granted, the latest version of Panic Button will finish installing into Firefox, and you're good to go!

As always, post any questions to the AE Creations Help and Support forums.

Panic Button 4.3.1 released!

An update to Panic Button has been released and is now available for download from Mozilla Add-ons and the AE Creations website.

If you already have an older version of Panic Button installed, it will be upgraded for you if automatic extension updates are enabled. Otherwise, open Add-ons Manager (Tools → Add-ons), click on the entry for Panic Button in the list of installed extensions, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Check for Updates.

What's New

• Updated German localization
• Bug fix: Pinned tabs are unpinned after restoring browser session (issue #60)
  

Things You Should Know About

• Panic Button 4.3 requires Firefox 78 or newer.  
• Panic Button won't work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history" in Privacy & Security settings.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Panic Button should be directed to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Crowdin contributor AlexanderS for updating the German localization of Panic Button!  If you are fluent in English and another world language and would like to help update or add a new translation, consider contributing a translation on Crowdin.

Panic Button 4.3 released!

A new version of Panic Button has been released and is now available for download from Mozilla Add-ons and the AE Creations website.

If you already have an older version of Panic Button installed, it will be upgraded for you if automatic extension updates are enabled. Otherwise, open Add-ons Manager (Tools → Add-ons), click on the entry for Panic Button in the list of installed extensions, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click Check for Updates.

What's New

• Panic Button can now handle multiple browser windows when restoring the browser session after triggering the "Hide and Replace" action (issue #44). Note that browser tabs loaded with special Firefox pages, such as the Firefox options page and Add-ons Manager, cannot be restored
• New action to minimize the current browser window
• The default keyboard shortcut is changed to F8 (previously F9) to avoid a conflict with toggling Reader Mode on Windows 10 (issue #49)
• Improvements to Dark Mode icons

Things You Should Know About

• Panic Button 4.3 requires Firefox 78 or newer.  
• Panic Button won't work if Firefox is set to "Never remember history" in Privacy & Security settings.

Help and Support

Questions and comments about Panic Button should be directed to the AE Creations Help and Support forums, hosted on Google Groups.