Panels 3.11 is here: faster libraries, better PDF performance, and more format support

Panels 3.11 is now available, bringing one of the biggest under-the-hood upgrades we have shipped in a while.

This release focuses heavily on performance, reliability, and compatibility. The biggest change is a complete rebuild of the library indexer from scratch, which makes importing and indexing content faster, lighter on memory, and more dependable overall. We are also adding support for TAR and CBT files, improving PDF rendering, and fixing a long list of bugs across iCloud, OPDS, web server, thumbnails, and reading progress syncing.

A rebuilt library indexer

The headline feature in Panels 3.11 is a brand new library indexing system, rebuilt from the ground up.

The new indexer uses a streaming architecture, deferred metadata processing, parallel rendering during prefetch, dual fingerprinting, and safer path construction. In practice, that means Panels can process libraries more efficiently while using less memory and behaving more reliably.

For users, the result is simple: faster indexing, smoother imports, and a more solid foundation for large libraries.

This is one of those changes that is not flashy on the surface, but it improves a core part of the app in a very meaningful way.

TAR and CBT support

Panels 3.11 also adds support for TAR and CBT-based comic files.

This includes automatic decompression for TAR variants like:

.tar
.cbt

As well as compressed TAR formats like:

.tar.gz
.tar.bz2
.tar.xz

Panels now recognizes these compound extensions correctly and displays them properly, making it easier to work with a wider range of comic archives.

Better PDF performance and quality

We also spent time improving the PDF reading experience.

Panels 3.11 removes an unnecessary JPEG conversion step and optimizes image rendering for pages loaded from disk. Native PDF mode prefetching is also faster now.

The end result is better rendering quality, improved performance, and a smoother experience when reading PDF-based content.

More improvements across the app

A few more notable improvements in this release:

OPDS servers using Digest authentication are now supported
The web server icon now turns green and pulses while the server is running

These are smaller changes, but they make Panels feel more capable and more polished in everyday use.

Bug fixes

Panels 3.11 also includes a long list of fixes:

Fixed import of accented filenames
Fixed locked content name leak in Up Next by showing the correct subtitle for locked items
Fixed a deadlock during iCloud library import
Added timeouts for reading progress fetch and update in Komga and Kavita to prevent hangs and keep syncing after reading
Fixed thumbnails sometimes rendering as white
Fixed locked content appearing in Reading Now
Fixed low-resolution thumbnails on Retina displays
Fixed OPDS cross-device reading session lookup using a normalized URL fallback
Fixed library progress indicators not updating after a settings change
Fixed iCloud libraries not detecting externally added files
Fixed the web server being unreachable from the local network in some cases
Fixed the double page reader jumping pages after rotating from portrait to landscape

Available now

Panels 3.11 is available now, and as always, we hope these updates make your reading experience faster, smoother, and more reliable.

We are continuing to improve the foundations of Panels while expanding support for more formats, sources, and workflows. Releases like this one may look technical, but they matter a lot. They make the app stronger for everyone.

Thanks for using Panels.

Panels v3.11 now available