New Release Detected!
🔥 Thorium M156.0.8078.28 Released!
Another double jump! Collaborator gz83 (still holding the fort while Alex313031 is away) has skipped M155 and moved Thorium from Chromium 154 up to Chromium 156. The M156.0.8078.28 build landed on gz83’s fork on Oct 11, 2026, with the matching notification release on the main repo about twenty minutes later.
✨ New in M156: the bundled uBlock Origin is now 1.75.0 (still installed offline for new profiles), icon switching got a proper cleanup so the –disable-thorium-icons flag brings back Chromium’s own rounded and legacy icons, Android extensions and on-device DevTools were updated for M156 (fixing a compile error along the way), the legacy download shelf was adapted to Chromium’s new active-content view API, and the V8 snapshot dependencies were fixed for Windows SSE2 installers and macOS framework resources. On the Chromium side, JPEG XL decoding is now on by default (progressive, HDR and animated images included), CSS picked up symbols(), margin-trim, random() and :navigation-source, JavaScript modules can import text directly and retry failed fetches, and WebCrypto gained the post-quantum ML-KEM, ML-DSA and X-Wing algorithms plus ChaCha20-Poly1305.
⚠️ Same drill as before: these builds live on gz83’s fork and stay marked BETA until Alex signs off. gz83 says this one feels quite stable and plans to send his M156-Stable branch to Alex as a pull request once all the platform builds are out. The M156 release on the main repo is a notification only (no binaries there).
→ Download M156.0.8078.28 (Windows, Linux, macOS & Android)
Want stability instead? The last stable release is M138.0.7204.303, and you can browse all releases anytime.
✅ Extension Working Perfectly!
Our extension caught the new M156 release the moment it went live. Still a perfect record since launch.
Keeping Your Browser Up To Date
Thorium Update Checker is a lightweight browser extension that automatically monitors for new versions of Thorium Browser. It runs silently in the background, checking GitHub for the latest releases so you don’t have to.
✨ Features
🔄 Automatic Update Checking
Checks for updates when browser starts and once daily.
🔔 Instant Notifications
Receive alerts when new versions are available.
📊 Version Comparison
Easily see your current version vs. the latest release.
🛡️ Minimal Permissions
Only accesses what it needs — no privacy concerns!
📝 Installation Guide
Method 1: Manual Installation (Recommended)
- Download the Extension
- Download the thorium-update-checker-v1.3.0.zip file
- Extract the ZIP file to a folder on your computer
- Install in Thorium
- Open Thorium Browser
- Type
chrome://extensions/in the address bar and press Enter - Enable “Developer mode” using the toggle in the top-right corner
- Click the “Load unpacked” button
- Select the folder where you extracted the extension files
- Pin to Toolbar
- Click the puzzle piece icon in your browser toolbar
- Find “Thorium Update Checker” in the list
- Click the pin icon next to it to keep it visible
Method 2: Chrome Web Store (Coming Soon)
We’re working on making the extension available through the Chrome Web Store for easier installation. Stay tuned for updates!
🧠 How to Use
Your Current Version (Detected Automatically)
- Click the Thorium Update Checker icon in your toolbar
- The popup reads your Thorium version on its own using the browser’s Client Hints API and shows it under “Your Thorium Version” with an “Auto” badge (e.g., 156.0.8078.28)
- That detected version is saved and compared with the latest release on GitHub, so there is nothing to type in
- If the version ever looks wrong, click “Re-detect Version”, or open “Manual override” to enter it yourself and click “Save”
💡 Tip: You can double-check your version by visiting chrome://about or chrome://version/
Checking for Updates
- The extension automatically checks for updates daily and on browser startup
- To check manually, click the “Check Now” button
- When an update is available:
- The status will change to “Update Available!”
- A download button will appear
- A red badge will show on the extension icon
- You’ll receive a notification (first time only)
Downloading Updates
- Click the “Download Update” button to visit the official Thorium releases page
- Download and install the latest version from GitHub
🔧 Troubleshooting
- Extension not showing updates? Try clicking “Check Now” or restart your browser
- Version detected wrong or “Not detected”? Click “Re-detect Version”, or use the manual override and enter the full version (e.g., 156.0.8078.28)
- No notifications? Check your browser notification settings
🔒 Privacy First
Your Privacy Matters
This extension was built with privacy as the top priority. Here’s exactly what it does and doesn’t do:
What it DOES:
- ✓ Makes API calls only to GitHub’s public API (
api.github.com) - ✓ Checks the Thorium browser repository for the latest release version
- ✓ Stores your current version locally in your browser’s storage
- ✓ Shows notifications when updates are available
What it DOES NOT do:
- ✗ Collect your browsing history
- ✗ Track your activity
- ✗ Send data to any third-party servers
- ✗ Access any personal information
- ✗ Use analytics or tracking
- ✗ Monetize your data in any way
The extension uses the minimum permissions required to function:
- storage: To remember your current version locally
- alarms: To check for updates periodically
- notifications: To notify you when updates are available
- host permission (GitHub only): To fetch release information
You can verify this yourself! The code is open source and deliberately kept simple and readable so you can inspect it — browse the full source on GitHub.
💡 Why I Created This Extension
A Personal Project Shared With The Community
As a regular Thorium Browser user, I found myself manually checking GitHub for new releases every few days. This became tedious, and I thought, “There must be a better way!”
I searched for an update checker but couldn’t find one specifically for Thorium Browser. That’s when I decided to create my own solution — a simple, lightweight extension that would handle this task automatically.
The development process was straightforward but rewarding. I focused on:
- Minimal design with essential functionality
- Strong privacy protection (no tracking, data collection, etc.)
- Reliability and low resource usage
After using it personally for a while and finding it genuinely useful, I decided to share it with the broader Thorium community. The extension has made my browsing experience better, and I hope it does the same for you!
💻 Development Tips & Resources
Creating Your Own Browser Extensions
Interested in creating your own browser extensions? Here are some resources that helped me:
Learning Resources:
- Chrome Extension Developer Guide – Comprehensive documentation
- Mozilla Extension Workshop – Cross-browser extension development
- Google’s Extension Examples – Sample code to learn from
Helpful Tools:
- Visual Studio Code – Excellent free code editor
- Figma – Design UI elements for your extension
- Icons8 – Free icons for your extension
Tips From My Experience:
- Start simple – Build the core functionality first, then expand
- Test thoroughly – Extensions can break with browser updates
- Respect privacy – Only request permissions you absolutely need
- Document your code – You’ll thank yourself later
- Use version control – GitHub or similar services keep your code safe
The most rewarding aspect of creating this extension was solving my own problem and then being able to share that solution with others. If you’re considering creating a browser extension, I encourage you to start with a problem you personally face!
📚 Useful Links
Thorium Browser Resources
- Thorium Update Checker Source Code – This extension itself, open source on GitHub
- Thorium Browser GitHub Repository – Source of truth for all Thorium updates
- Thorium Releases Page – Where you can download the latest versions
- Thorium Browser Official Website – General information and documentation
- Thorium Discord Community – Get help and connect with other users
- Thorium Features Documentation – Learn about what makes Thorium special
💜 Love This Extension?
Help us grow by leaving a review or reaching out with feedback!
Your feedback helps us improve and reach more Thorium users!