Change Release Notes
NOTE: If upgrading from 2026.02.02.00, you will need to either...
- Uninstall the previous version and install this from scratch, or
- Install this version and run the installer again, selecting REPAIR.
A big stability-and-performance-focused release
This one is less about flashy features and more about making ARC feel faster, more predictable, and harder to break. Many long-standing rough edges were finally sanded down, along with some very real Windows 11 showstoppers.
Here is what landed...
Cleaner Builds, Cleaner Startup
- The ARC splash window was rewritten to prevent cross-thread issues and to shut down cleanly on initialization errors instead of hanging.
- Updated the embedded CEF Chromium library and now logs browser output to
ProgramData\ARC\Logfor easier diagnostics.
Windows 11 Scaling Fixes (Big One)
- Fixed a major scaling render issue introduced by recent Windows 11 updates that broke embedded Chromium rendering, especially noticeable in Blockly. This was a real showstopper created by Microsoft for our dev team to scramble over, and it is now resolved. Our fingers are crossed that Microsoft will stop breaking Windows 11 so we can focus on building new features rather than fixing its bugs.
- When screen resolution is very low, the warning form now displays the active scaling value to help users understand why the resolution looks off and how to fix it.
Firmware and Board Management Improvements
- Updated firmware layout for ESP32-CAM.
- Board Manager updated with the latest firmwares and board images.
- Port selection window now displays the currently selected firmware under the board dropdown.
- Firmware label now updates correctly when the board index changes while editing servos or digital ports.
- EZ-B now logs the capability controller firmware ID on connect.
- When an unknown firmware is detected, EZ-B defaults to a safe "unknown" capability profile instead of guessing.
Major UI and Control Rewrites
A lot of old code finally got retired.
Servo and Digital Port selection user control completely rewritten.
ARC tab control rewritten for faster rendering and proper title layout. The long-standing bug where "Communication" wrapped the last character onto its own line is gone.
New internal ARC control method allows temporarily disabling painting to prevent live redraw chaos:
- Script editor window
- Robot skill rendering on the workspace
- Robot skill contents panel
- Workspace smartarrangemente
Instead of partial redraws, you will briefly see a white flicker where the control is updating. That is intentional and much more stable.
Blockly Performance and Stability
Blockly received a lot of love.
- Both Blockly implementations (Script Editor and Virtual Desktop) were rewritten for performance and stability.
- Blockly base control was rewritten to reduce redraw overhead and improve responsiveness.
- Embedded Chromium rendering is now significantly smoother under load.
Audio, Soundboard, and File Safety
- Wave editor used by the Soundboard for script generation has been optimized for performance and reliability.
- Improved validation when saving auto positions that contain escape characters or quotes.
- Soundboard now blocks loading files with problematic filenames and displays a clear warning instead of failing silently.
- Audio playback error message for low baud rates has been corrected.
- USB/UART connections now explicitly block baud rate 256000, which is non-standard and can cause converter issues.
Quality of Life Fixes
- Speech Recognition robot skill now recreates the phrase list window if it is closed with ALT-F4, instead of getting stuck waiting for ESC.
- File open dialogs no longer close if the cloud server is unreachable due to no internet connection.
The Theme of This Release
Fewer rendering glitches. Fewer UI surprises. Better logging. Safer defaults. And a lot of old performance debt finally paid off.
If ARC has ever felt just a little fragile under heavy use, this release should feel noticeably calmer.
As always, thanks for pushing ARC in ways that expose these edge cases. Keep building.
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Compare Editions
| Feature | ARC FREE |
ARC PRO |
|---|---|---|
| Get ARC for Free | View Plans | |
| Usage | Personal DIY Education |
Personal DIY Education Business |
| Early access to new features & fixes | Yes | |
| Simultaneous microcontroller connections* | 1 | 255 |
| Robot skills* | 20 | Unlimited |
| Skill Store plugins* | 1 | Unlimited |
| Cognitive services usage** | 10/day | 6,000/day |
| Auto-positions gait actions* | 40 | Unlimited |
| Speech recongition phrases* | 10 | Unlimited |
| Camera devices* | 1 | Unlimited |
| Vision resolution | max 320x240 | Unlimited |
| Interface builder* | 2 | Unlimited |
| Cloud project size | 128 MB | |
| Cloud project revision history | Yes | |
| Create Exosphere requests | 50/month | |
| Exosphere API access | Contact Us | |
| Volume license discounts | Contact Us | |
| Get ARC for Free | View Plans |
** 1,000 per cognitive type (vision recognition, speech recognition, face detection, sentiment, text recognition, emotion detection, azure text to speech)
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Exceptional release great job!
I forced an update, which required downgrading a library that is compatible with Windows 11 but not with Windows 10 because of the changes. So this new fix will work. Thankfully, it was published late enough in the day that not many computers updated to this version.
You will most likely need to uninstall the current version before installing this if you have trouble launching it if you’re upgrading from 2026.02.02.00.
This sounds cool. I happen to be running Windows 11 on the tablet I use for current projects, though I still have one copy on a Windows 10 desktop pc I still use for some quick testing.
Just so I understand. Next time I go to run ARC and it indicates a new version is available, will it tell me to totally remove the current ARC and to re-install as a brand new install? Will this new install erase all the little ARC programs I've created? should I back all of them up first before the install?
Is there still a plan on doing a Linux version ever? I'm looking to dump windows in the future ( or maybe just do a dual boot setup at some point)
You will only need to uninstall first if you’re upgrading from version 2026.02.02.00. So, most likely does not apply to you.
ARC installer or uninstall will never remove your project files.
It's also even easier to simply select "REPAIR" from the installer after installing this version (2026.02.03.00). The repair option will forcibly overwrite the libraries that were broken by Microsoft's update.
Thanks - repairing will be easier. However, the timeframe between the two releases was probably too short for anyone to really notice. I updated the message at the top of these release notes to include the note about using the repair option.