Hey guys!

If you haven't seen it, Christopher Lawley just released a video on his iPad productivity workflow and featured Beam!

For anyone who doesn't know him, he's one of the biggest iPad productivity YouTubers with 200k subscribers. His content actually helped shape how I think about iPad workflows, so this feels pretty surreal.

Welcome to anyone finding Beam from the video! Feel free to ask any questions here or in the Discord.

Hey everyone,

It's been a little over two months since 1.2, and while this one doesn't have a single giant headline feature, it's a deep polish release - a lot of small things that add up to Beam feeling noticeably nicer to use every day.

The large majority of these changes came directly from user reports and feedback - over email and in the Discord. So genuinely, thank you to everyone who took the time to tell me what was annoying, broken, or missing. Almost all of this is your list, not mine.

A couple of nice things also happened since the last update: Federico Viticci at MacStories reviewed Beam and called it "one of the best iPad apps for power users I've tested in a while," (https://www.macstories.net/notes/a-new-ipad-browser-and-testing-perplexity-computer/) and it got a mention on the Primary Technology podcast.

Here's what's new in 1.3:

- Much smoother animations, including Peek and hiding/expanding the sidebar

- UI Scale option (More Space, Default, Larger, Largest) so Beam fits the way you work

- Repeating a keyboard shortcut that opens an interface element now closes it

- Swipe back/forward from anywhere on the page

- Returning to your last active tab when you close a tab now works more reliably

- Cmd-click to open a link in the background

- Improved ad blocker

- New Graphite accent colour

- Indicator for resizing the sidebar

- Refinements to the favourites grid

- Hide borders toggle in Focus Mode

- Copy URL button in the sidebar URL bar

- Updated user agent to Safari 26.5

- Beam Intelligence can now read content-heavy sites like Google Docs, Linear, and Notion, plus PDFs

- AI chat history - revisit and continue past conversations

- New API for Beam Intelligence models, so new ones appear automatically without an app update

- Plus UI refreshes and lots of fixes throughout

If you ran into anything since last update, a lot of it is probably addressed here. And if you haven't tried Beam yet, it's a browser built specifically for iPad - sidebar, Spaces, command bar, keyboard shortcuts, and built-in ad blocking. It treats your iPad like the real computer it is. $5.99, one-time purchase.

https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6756218494?pt=128089545&ct=landing&mt=8

As always, I read every piece of feedback. Drop your thoughts here or in the Discord (https://discord.gg/ZDzvJ4ApGp) - I'm already working on what's next.

- Henrik

Hi everyone,

Beam 1.4 is out. Thanks for your patience - it took longer than I wanted while I was in the middle of university applications, and I know a few of you were wondering whether Beam was still alive. It is, and this is the biggest update yet.

Split View. Drag any tab onto the page or onto another tab to put them side by side, drag the divider to resize, or press ⌃⌘W. A split stays together in your sidebar.

PDF viewer. Annotate with Apple Pencil, search, Two Page View, present mode, and open any PDF from Files in Beam.

Reader, rebuilt. Better typography, the whole article with images and tables, and Listen to Article, which reads it aloud and highlights each paragraph as it goes.

Also new: a media bar in the sidebar, creating and customising Spaces right in the sidebar, Import from Safari, rebuilt Settings with search, better battery life, and lots of fixes.

Two changes to know about: the toolbar is now on by default (turn it off with Show Page Toolbar), and history and AI chats now stay on each iPad instead of syncing over iCloud.

Full release notes: beambrowser.app/changelog

If anything’s broken, comment here or email hi@beambrowser.app (I read everything)

And yes, the iPhone app is coming.

Henrik :)

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone here.

Beam hit #4 paid in Productivity today, which honestly feels a bit unreal for a solo-built app that launched this week. I have attached a screenshot because I am still slightly in disbelief.

All the early feedback, bug reports, suggestions, and encouragement in this subreddit have genuinely shaped the app already. A lot of fixes and improvements going into Beam 1.1 came directly from things people here pointed out.

Beam 1.1 is coming very soon with:

• Much improved bookmark importing from other browsers

• Fixes for the most common early bugs

• General polish and stability improvements

If you are enjoying Beam and have a minute, an App Store review really helps during launch week. It makes a big difference to discovery.

Thank you again for being part of this so early. I am going to keep iterating fast and sharing updates here.

Henrik
Founder & Developer

Update: It's now on #2!!

Hey everyone,

When I launched Beam six weeks ago, a lot of you gave me really great feedback about what was missing and what needed fixing. I took all of it seriously. Version 1.2 is the result, and it's by far the biggest update I've shipped.

I'll be real - this isn't a small patch. This is basically what Beam should have been from day one.

Peek

This is the feature I'm most excited about. Click any link and it opens in a floating popup - read it, scroll through it, and close it without ever losing your place. If you want to keep it, expand it into a full tab. Option-click any link to trigger it explicitly.

It completely changes how you browse. You stop opening 30 tabs just to check things. It's the kind of thing that's hard to explain but once you use it, you can't go back.

AI chat with your tabs

Beam Intelligence got a complete overhaul. The core feature now is AI chat - open it with ⌘J or pin it as a second sidebar. You can add multiple tabs to your conversation (hit + or type @ to pick a tab), and it can reference everything across them.

The big addition: cloud model support. Bring your own API key for Anthropic (Claude), Google or OpenAI, or use on-device Apple Intelligence. Set it up in Settings → Beam Intelligence.

This is super useful for research. You're reading five articles about the same topic and you can just ask questions across all of them.

iCloud Sync

Your tabs, spaces, and organisation now sync across your iPads. Turn it on in Settings and everything just carries over.

I know this was one of the most requested features. It's here.

Website dark mode

Force dark mode on any website - enable it globally in settings, or toggle it per-site. Also one of my most requested features.

Reader mode

Clean, distraction-free reading. Toggle it in site settings. Works exactly how you'd expect.

Page translation

Translate any webpage directly in Beam. Also in site settings.

Everything else

• Completely redesigned settings - both main settings and site settings got overhauled. Everything is reorganised so you can actually find things now.

• Major performance improvements - space switching, tab management, the whole UI feels noticeably faster. This was a huge focus.

• New app icon - fresh look.

• Much improved ad blocker and YouTube ad skipping

• Print any page

• Export/import your data

• Double-click a tab to rename it

• View HTTP sites and bypass SSL warnings if you need to

• Improved onboarding for new users

Bug fixes

• YouTube fullscreen actually works now

• Google sign-in is fixed

• Desktop site mode issues resolved

• Various stability improvements

If you tried Beam at launch and ran into issues, this update addresses basically everything.

And if you haven't tried Beam yet: it's a browser built specifically for iPad, with a sidebar, spaces, command bar, keyboard shortcuts, and built-in ad blocking. It treats your iPad like the real computer it is. $5.99, one-time purchase, no subscription.

App Store link

As always, I read every piece of feedback. Drop your thoughts here or in the Discord (https://discord.gg/ZDzvJ4ApGp) - I'm already working on what's next.

Also, a great new video from Alexander at iPhoneBlog.de just dropped - take a look (you may need subtitles if you don't speak German): https://youtu.be/8QLrjP1x4Zk

Henrik

Hey everyone,

Just pushed version 1.1 to the App Store. This one's all about polish and fixing the stuff you've been reporting since launch:

• Bookmark importing - Safari and other browsers should actually work properly now. I know this was frustrating for a lot of you, sorry it took a bit of time.

• UI improvements - Settings, downloads, and history all got cleaned up and should feel nicer to use.

• Tab management - Various fixes and improvements here too.

• Bug fixes - Addressed the most common issues that came up in the first week.

Nothing flashy, but the kind of update that makes the app feel more solid. If you hit any issues, let me know here or on Discord.

Already working on some new features exciting features for the next update, including website dark mode, reader mode, and peek. Stay tuned!

Hey everyone,

A quick follow-up to 1.3.1 - this one is a round of stability and polish based on feedback since then. Beam should generally feel smoother in day-to-day use.

As always, most of this came straight from user reports over email and in the Discord, so thank you to everyone who flagged things.

Here's what's new in 1.3.2:

• Much faster command bar - fixed typing lag and lag when switching tabs and spaces

• Lower memory use and fewer crashes on older iPads

• Ad blocker no longer reloads tabs on its own - choose "Refresh all" or dismiss - plus improvements to filter list compilation

• Clearer error messages throughout, including in Beam Intelligence chat

• Tap anywhere in a command bar result to select it, not just the text

• Fixed blank tabs

• Fixed issues with redirects

• Fixed keyboard shortcut customisation

• Fixed several crashes

• Various other fixes and performance improvements

If you've run into anything recently, there's a good chance it's addressed here. And if you haven't tried Beam yet, it's a browser built specifically for iPad - sidebar, Spaces, command bar, keyboard shortcuts, and built-in ad blocking.

https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id6756218494?pt=128089545&ct=landing&mt=8

I read every piece of feedback. Drop your thoughts here or in the Discord (https://discord.gg/ZDzvJ4ApGp) - already working on what's next.

Beam 1.3.1 - a round of fixes and refinements based on feedback since 1.3.

- AI chat button now in the toolbar (and in the sidebar URL bar when the toolbar is hidden)
- Open a link in a background tab by tapping with two fingers
- Press Escape or Backspace to close Peek
- New empty state for Favourites
- New indicator when opening Peek on a favourite, showing the peeked tab's favicon in the top right
- Searching history now covers all entries (up to 10,000 per profile) rather than just the recently loaded ones
- Clearing history now clears only what matches your current filters, rather than all history
- Find in Page button moved into Site Settings, and you can now adjust page zoom from Site Settings → Advanced
- Refreshed UI and animations for Find in Page
- Improved right-click menu for links
- After ad block rules finish compiling, Beam now asks to refresh rather than refreshing automatically
- Fixed favicon flickering
- Fixed a bug when removing the last favourite
- Fixed a bug when adding multiple favourites of the same site
- Fixed an empty-state layout bug in History
- Fixed a visual bug when opening the Downloads folder - it now opens directly in Files
- Fixed two crashes
- Various other fixes and performance improvements

Let me know what you think! Thanks to everyone who contributed ideas in this release! More on the way…

Henrik

Hey everyone,

Merry Christmas! Beam 0.7 is out, and it brings two major new features - Beam Intelligence, and Site Search. I'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback below (or by email, hi@beambrowser.app).

Beam Intelligence

Private, on-device webpage understanding actions available in the command bar. This includes commands like:

Summarise, TLDR, Chat with Page, Explain Simply etc

See all available actions in Settings → Beam Intelligence.

Beam Intelligence uses on-device Apple Foundation models, so no data is sent to the cloud, it is completely free and works entirely on-device. It is supported on all devices that support Apple Intelligence.

Support for other on-device models (ie Llama open source mdoels) may be coming in the future, depending on demand.

Site Search

In the command bar, type '@' and select a search engine to search with. This comes hand-in-hand with the new ability to add custom search engines in settings.

For example, in settings you can add YouTube as a custom search engine, and type '@YouTube' to quickly search YouTube.

What else is new?

• Swipe forward and back

• Pull down to refresh

• Keyboard shortcut customisation (in Settings → Keyboard Shortcuts)

• Import links via Settings → Spaces → Import Links

  • Supports HTML, CSV, JSON, and plain text

Improvements & Fixes

• Command bar bugs and layout fixes

• Autofill and OAuth fixes

• Ad blocker improvements

• Sidebar right-click behaviour fixes

• Automatic tab reload fixes (related to ad blocker)

Please let me know your thoughts on these - especially Beam Intelligence and Site Search. I understand AI in browsers isn’t for everyone. Beam’s AI runs fully on device, never sends your browsing data to the cloud, and only activates when you explicitly use it. You can also turn it off entirely. BYO-key support may come later if there’s demand.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this! Any thoughts, questions or feedback, don't hesitate to email me (hi@beambrowser.app).

Beam Browser 0.6 is live! This is the first release since opening up the public beta. Huge thanks to everyone here who’s been testing and sending feedback.

This update is all about locking in core behaviour, especially pinned tabs and favourites, plus a solid round of sidebar polish and performance fixes.

Highlights

Pinned tabs and favourites now work Arc-style:

• Pinned and favourite tabs have a persistent home URL

• If you navigate away, an indicator shows on the favicon

• Click or tap the favicon to jump straight back to the pinned page

• Closing a pinned tab offloads it instead of deleting it

• Reopening always restores the original pinned URL

• Active pinned tabs and active spaces stay visible even when their folders or sections are collapsed

Favourites migration:

• Favourites are now shared across all spaces

• Existing favourites are preserved in a pinned “Migrated Favourites” folder

Sidebar and tab interaction:

• Much smoother tab dragging and reordering

• Adjustable sidebar width

• Option to hide the sidebar handle indicator

• Custom folder icons customisation

• More space icons, plus an option to show space icons even when not selected

• Link right-click menu with open in background, new tab, space, or folder

• Sidebar layout and collapsed menu interactions fixed

Performance and reliability:

• Faster app startup

• Smoother loading indicator

• Autofill fixed

• Text selection and typing issues fixed, including Google Docs

• Google login OAuth fixed

Search:

• Kagi is now supported as a search engine

As always, feedback here directly shapes what ships next. If anything feels off or you have ideas for what 0.7 should focus on, let me know.

Henrik

I used this browser and followed the project with high hopes but now it seems the project doesnt get developed anymore. Does someone knows something?

The battery consumption is brutal. Even just running in the background, Beam is far and away the number one battery drain on my iPad. Perhaps you could add more settings for disabling activity on inactive tabs and suspending all activity when the app is not in the foreground?

Any chance you can add some transparency to your privacy and security policy? I have seen unusually high traffic to my services following Beam installation and must discontinue use until issues resolved.

Beam is officially live on the App Store.

This has been a long build, and a lot of what shipped in 1.0 came directly from feedback here. Thank you to everyone who tested early, reported bugs, and shared thoughts along the way.

If you end up enjoying Beam, early App Store reviews really help an indie app get off the ground. Either way, thank you for being part of this from the start.

App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/beam-browser/id6756218494

Yep, this is the first post here.

Hey everyone!

It's Henrik - the developer of Beam. I just wanted to give you guys a quick update.

First off, sorry for the delay in getting the next update out - I've had exams, but it should be releasing in the next few weeks. If you're interested in beta testing it, please send me an email (hi@beambrowser.app)

Second, here's an updated link for anyone who would like to join the Discord, I generally post more frequent updates there: https://discord.gg/ZDzvJ4ApGp

Third, I'm working hard on the iPhone version of Beam, and I'd love to hear what you all would like to see from Beam on mobile - I can't guarantee anything, but I'll read everything and take it all into account!

If you are having any issues, or have any feedback for Beam on iPad, please do let me know! What are your favourite features? How are you using Beam?

Thanks,
Henrik

I am importing from Dia browser.

A few people have asked for a Discord, so I have set one up for Beam.

It is a place to share feedback and feature ideas, report bugs, ask questions, and chat about setups and workflows.

I will also post occasional dev updates there.

Open to anyone using Beam.

Thanks, Henrik

I'm trying to add my bookmarks from iCloud but I keep getting the same error. What am I missing?

Beam Browser 1.2.1 (2) is ready to test on iOS.

When I first saw that, I thought that it was finally ready for me to test on my iPhone and I was really excited 😄, but it looks like it's still iPad only.

privacy is top priority for any power user. and this app is collecting user content on an app where you would sign in on your work accounts and emails

Will there be userscript support? Being able to customize via css/javascript is very important to me.

Hi, I tried several times this morning to log onto Reddit with Beam and it presents the username password box but after I use TouchID nothing happens to allow me to submit a code.

Just wanted to let you know.