feat: What's New screen + updater progress, plus light-theme fixes

Post-update UX for the next release (0.1.2):

- What's New: after a version change, greet the user with a toast that opens
  an in-app release-notes screen (collapsible Added/Changed/Fixed sections)
  sourced from the bundled CHANGELOG.md, reopenable from Settings -> Updates.
  Backed by a last_seen_version settings file (get/set_last_seen_version
  commands) that distinguishes upgrades from fresh installs.
- Updater: the download/install progress toast now reappears when an update is
  started from the title-bar indicator or Settings after the prompt was
  dismissed; Settings -> Updates gains a real progress bar with a percentage.
- Light theme: fix the recurring subtle-light breakage. Neutral surfaces now
  rely on the CSS-variable remap instead of light-theme:bg-white (which forced
  surfaces dark because --color-white is remapped dark); the green action
  buttons drop the broken light-theme:hover:bg-emerald-200 (remapped dark,
  unreadable on hover) for an override-free emerald-500 tint that auto-themes,
  across the updater, What's New, and onboarding.
- Debug panel: add What's New triggers (toast / modal / reset).

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -5,6 +5,30 @@ All notable changes to Phokus are documented here. The format is based on
 aims to follow [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html)
 (0.x: anything may change between minor versions).
 
+## [Unreleased]
+
+### Added
+
+- **What's New** — after updating, Phokus now greets you with a "What's new"
+  toast that opens an in-app release-notes screen for the new version, with the
+  changes grouped into collapsible Added / Changed / Fixed sections. It's
+  sourced from the bundled changelog (so it works offline) and can be reopened
+  any time from Settings → Updates → What's new.
+
+### Changed
+
+- The updater now shows a real download progress bar with a percentage in
+  Settings → Updates (previously it only said "Downloading").
+
+### Fixed
+
+- The update download/install progress toast now reappears when you start an
+  update from the title-bar indicator or Settings after dismissing the earlier
+  "Update available" prompt — previously progress only showed in Settings.
+- Subtle Light theme — fixed several surfaces and buttons that stayed dark or
+  became unreadable on hover, including new dialogs and the green action buttons
+  across the updater and onboarding.
+
 ## [0.1.1] — 2026-06-23
 
 ### Added

src-tauri/src/commands.rs

@@ -2430,3 +2430,33 @@ pub async fn set_onboarding_completed(app: AppHandle, completed: bool) -> Result
     )
     .map_err(|e| e.to_string())
 }
+
+const LAST_SEEN_VERSION_FILE: &str = "settings/last_seen_version.txt";
+
+/// The app version recorded on the previous launch. `None` when the file is
+/// absent (fresh install, or first launch since this was introduced) — the
+/// frontend uses that to decide whether to surface the "What's New" prompt.
+#[tauri::command]
+pub async fn get_last_seen_version(app: AppHandle) -> Result<Option<String>, String> {
+    let app_dir = app.path().app_data_dir().map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+    let path = app_dir.join(LAST_SEEN_VERSION_FILE);
+    if !path.exists() {
+        return Ok(None);
+    }
+    let content = std::fs::read_to_string(&path).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+    let trimmed = content.trim();
+    Ok(if trimmed.is_empty() {
+        None
+    } else {
+        Some(trimmed.to_string())
+    })
+}
+
+#[tauri::command]
+pub async fn set_last_seen_version(app: AppHandle, version: String) -> Result<(), String> {
+    let app_dir = app.path().app_data_dir().map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+    let settings_dir = app_dir.join("settings");
+    std::fs::create_dir_all(&settings_dir).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+    std::fs::write(settings_dir.join("last_seen_version.txt"), version.trim())
+        .map_err(|e| e.to_string())
+}

src-tauri/src/lib.rs

@@ -208,6 +208,8 @@ pub fn run() {
             commands::retry_ffmpeg_download,
             commands::get_onboarding_completed,
             commands::set_onboarding_completed,
+            commands::get_last_seen_version,
+            commands::set_last_seen_version,
             commands::get_notifications_paused,
             commands::set_notifications_paused,
         ])

src/App.tsx

@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ import { TitleBar } from "./components/TitleBar";
 import { SettingsModal } from "./components/SettingsModal";
 import { FolderPickerModal } from "./components/FolderPickerModal";
 import { UpdateToast } from "./components/UpdateToast";
+import { WhatsNewToast } from "./components/WhatsNewToast";
+import { WhatsNewModal } from "./components/WhatsNewModal";
 import { OnboardingOverlay } from "./components/onboarding/OnboardingOverlay";
 import { DemoPanel } from "./components/DemoPanel";
 import { initializeNotifications } from "./notifications";
@@ -29,15 +31,18 @@ export default function App() {
   const checkForUpdates = useGalleryStore((state) => state.checkForUpdates);
   const loadFfmpegStatus = useGalleryStore((state) => state.loadFfmpegStatus);
   const loadOnboardingCompleted = useGalleryStore((state) => state.loadOnboardingCompleted);
+  const initWhatsNew = useGalleryStore((state) => state.initWhatsNew);
   const activeView = useGalleryStore((state) => state.activeView);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     void initializeNotifications();
     void loadMutedFolderIds();
     void loadNotificationsPaused();
-    void loadAppVersion();
     void loadFfmpegStatus();
     void loadOnboardingCompleted();
+    // Load the app version first so the What's New toast/modal (which read
+    // appVersion from the store) have it before the greeting can appear.
+    void loadAppVersion().then(() => initWhatsNew());
     // Quiet launch check — dev builds have no signed artifacts to update to.
     if (import.meta.env.PROD) {
       void checkForUpdates({ quiet: true });
@@ -96,6 +101,8 @@ export default function App() {
       <SettingsModal />
       <FolderPickerModal />
       <UpdateToast />
+      <WhatsNewToast />
+      <WhatsNewModal />
       <OnboardingOverlay />
       {import.meta.env.DEV && <DemoPanel />}
     </div>

src/changelog.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+// Parses the project CHANGELOG.md (imported raw at build time) into structured
+// data so the "What's New" UI can render it nicely instead of dumping markdown.
+// Keeping the changelog as the single source of truth means there's no separate
+// per-release copy to maintain — whatever ships in CHANGELOG.md is what users see.
+import changelogRaw from "../CHANGELOG.md?raw";
+
+export interface ChangelogItem {
+  /** The bold lead-in at the start of a bullet (e.g. "Custom multi-folder picker"), if any. */
+  lead: string | null;
+  /** The remaining descriptive text. May still contain inline `code` / **bold** markers. */
+  body: string;
+}
+
+export interface ChangelogSection {
+  /** "Added" | "Changed" | "Fixed" | "Removed" | "Deprecated" | "Security" */
+  title: string;
+  items: ChangelogItem[];
+}
+
+export interface ChangelogEntry {
+  version: string;
+  date: string | null;
+  sections: ChangelogSection[];
+}
+
+// "## [0.1.1] — 2026-06-23" / "## [Unreleased]"
+const VERSION_HEADING = /^##\s+\[([^\]]+)\]\s*(?:[—–-]\s*(.+?)\s*)?$/;
+// "### Added"
+const SECTION_HEADING = /^###\s+(.+?)\s*$/;
+// "- bullet text"
+const BULLET = /^[-*]\s+(.*)$/;
+// Leading "**Title**" optionally followed by an em dash, used as the item's lead-in.
+// (Item text is whitespace-collapsed before matching, so no dotAll flag needed.)
+const LEAD = /^\*\*(.+?)\*\*\s*(?:[—–-]\s*)?(.*)$/;
+
+function toItem(text: string): ChangelogItem {
+  const collapsed = text.replace(/\s+/g, " ").trim();
+  const match = collapsed.match(LEAD);
+  if (match) {
+    return { lead: match[1].trim(), body: match[2].trim() };
+  }
+  return { lead: null, body: collapsed };
+}
+
+function parseChangelog(raw: string): ChangelogEntry[] {
+  const lines = raw.split(/\r?\n/);
+  const entries: ChangelogEntry[] = [];
+
+  let entry: ChangelogEntry | null = null;
+  let section: ChangelogSection | null = null;
+  let buffer: string[] = [];
+
+  const flushItem = () => {
+    if (section && buffer.length > 0) {
+      section.items.push(toItem(buffer.join(" ")));
+    }
+    buffer = [];
+  };
+
+  for (const line of lines) {
+    const versionMatch = line.match(VERSION_HEADING);
+    if (versionMatch) {
+      flushItem();
+      section = null;
+      entry = { version: versionMatch[1].trim(), date: versionMatch[2]?.trim() ?? null, sections: [] };
+      entries.push(entry);
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    // Stop collecting once we leave the changelog body (e.g. link-reference defs at EOF).
+    if (!entry) continue;
+
+    const sectionMatch = line.match(SECTION_HEADING);
+    if (sectionMatch) {
+      flushItem();
+      section = { title: sectionMatch[1].trim(), items: [] };
+      entry.sections.push(section);
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    const bulletMatch = line.match(BULLET);
+    if (bulletMatch) {
+      flushItem();
+      buffer.push(bulletMatch[1]);
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (line.trim() === "") {
+      // A blank line ends a (possibly wrapped) multi-line bullet.
+      flushItem();
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    // Indented continuation of the current wrapped bullet.
+    if (buffer.length > 0) {
+      buffer.push(line.trim());
+    }
+  }
+
+  flushItem();
+  return entries.map((e) => ({ ...e, sections: e.sections.filter((s) => s.items.length > 0) }));
+}
+
+const ENTRIES = parseChangelog(changelogRaw);
+
+export function getChangelogForVersion(version: string | null | undefined): ChangelogEntry | null {
+  if (!version) return null;
+  const normalized = version.replace(/^v/, "");
+  // Never surface the in-progress [Unreleased] section to users.
+  if (normalized.toLowerCase() === "unreleased") return null;
+  return ENTRIES.find((e) => e.version.replace(/^v/, "") === normalized) ?? null;
+}

src/components/DemoPanel.tsx

@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ const DEMO_UPDATE_VERSION = "0.2.0";
 
 export function DemoPanel() {
   const folders = useGalleryStore((state) => state.folders);
+  const appVersion = useGalleryStore((state) => state.appVersion);
   const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
   const downloadTimer = useRef<number | null>(null);
 
@@ -160,6 +161,18 @@ export function DemoPanel() {
     });
   };
 
+  // --- What's New flow ------------------------------------------------------
+  // Drives the post-update greeting without needing a real version change. The
+  // toast + modal pull their content from the bundled changelog for the running
+  // app version, so the current release's notes are what render.
+
+  const showWhatsNewToast = () =>
+    useGalleryStore.setState({ whatsNewToast: appVersion ?? DEMO_UPDATE_VERSION, whatsNewOpen: false });
+
+  const openWhatsNewModal = () => useGalleryStore.setState({ whatsNewOpen: true, whatsNewToast: null });
+
+  const resetWhatsNew = () => useGalleryStore.setState({ whatsNewOpen: false, whatsNewToast: null });
+
   if (!open) return null;
 
   const injectBtn =
@@ -215,6 +228,24 @@ export function DemoPanel() {
           Reset updater state
         </button>
       </div>
+
+      <div className="my-3 h-px bg-amber-400/20" />
+
+      <p className="mb-1.5 text-[11px] font-semibold uppercase tracking-wide text-amber-200/60">What's new</p>
+      <p className="mb-2 text-[11px] leading-snug text-amber-200/70">
+        Post-update greeting for v{appVersion ?? "—"}, sourced from the bundled changelog.
+      </p>
+      <div className="flex flex-col gap-1.5">
+        <button className={injectBtn} onClick={showWhatsNewToast}>
+          Show "What's new" toast
+        </button>
+        <button className={injectBtn} onClick={openWhatsNewModal}>
+          Open "What's new" modal
+        </button>
+        <button className={neutralBtn} onClick={resetWhatsNew}>
+          Reset What's New state
+        </button>
+      </div>
     </div>
   );
 }

src/components/SettingsModal.tsx

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { useEffect, useMemo, useRef, useState } from "react";
 import { AppTheme, CleanupOrphanedThumbnailsResult, DatabaseInfo, OrphanedThumbnailsInfo, TaggerAcceleration, TaggingQueueScope, VacuumResult, useGalleryStore } from "../store";
 import { FfmpegStatusRow } from "./onboarding/StepWelcome";
 import { ThemedDropdown } from "./ThemedDropdown";
+import { getChangelogForVersion } from "../changelog";
 
 type SettingsSection = "workspace" | "general";
 
@@ -192,9 +193,11 @@ export function SettingsModal() {
   const appVersion = useGalleryStore((state) => state.appVersion);
   const updateStatus = useGalleryStore((state) => state.updateStatus);
   const updateVersion = useGalleryStore((state) => state.updateVersion);
+  const updateProgress = useGalleryStore((state) => state.updateProgress);
   const updateError = useGalleryStore((state) => state.updateError);
   const checkForUpdates = useGalleryStore((state) => state.checkForUpdates);
   const installUpdate = useGalleryStore((state) => state.installUpdate);
+  const openWhatsNew = useGalleryStore((state) => state.openWhatsNew);
   const openOnboarding = useGalleryStore((state) => state.openOnboarding);
   const theme = useGalleryStore((state) => state.theme);
   const setTheme = useGalleryStore((state) => state.setTheme);
@@ -670,7 +673,24 @@ export function SettingsModal() {
                       updateStatus === "error" ? (
                         <span className="text-amber-300/90">Update check failed: {updateError}</span>
                       ) : updateStatus === "downloading" || updateStatus === "installing" ? (
-                        "Downloading update — the app will restart when it finishes."
+                        <span className="block">
+                          <span className="text-gray-400">
+                            {updateStatus === "installing"
+                              ? "Installing update…"
+                              : updateProgress !== null
+                                ? `Downloading update — ${Math.round(updateProgress * 100)}%`
+                                : "Downloading update…"}
+                          </span>
+                          <span className="mt-2 block h-1 overflow-hidden rounded-full bg-white/10">
+                            <span
+                              className={`block h-full rounded-full bg-emerald-400/80 transition-[width] duration-200 ${
+                                updateProgress === null ? "w-full animate-pulse" : ""
+                              }`}
+                              style={updateProgress !== null ? { width: `${Math.round(updateProgress * 100)}%` } : undefined}
+                            />
+                          </span>
+                          <span className="mt-1 block text-gray-600">The app will restart when it finishes.</span>
+                        </span>
                       ) : (
                         "Updates are checked quietly at launch and installed only when you choose."
                       )
@@ -678,7 +698,7 @@ export function SettingsModal() {
                   >
                     {updateStatus === "available" ? (
                       <button
-                        className="rounded-md border border-emerald-400/35 bg-emerald-500/15 px-3 py-1.5 text-xs text-emerald-200 transition-colors hover:bg-emerald-500/25 light-theme:border-emerald-600/50 light-theme:bg-emerald-100 light-theme:text-emerald-700 light-theme:hover:bg-emerald-200"
+                        className="rounded-md border border-emerald-400/35 bg-emerald-500/15 px-3 py-1.5 text-xs text-emerald-200 transition-colors hover:bg-emerald-500/25"
                         onClick={() => void installUpdate()}
                       >
                         Install &amp; restart
@@ -693,6 +713,19 @@ export function SettingsModal() {
                       </button>
                     )}
                   </SettingsItem>
+                  {getChangelogForVersion(appVersion) ? (
+                    <SettingsItem
+                      label="What's new"
+                      description={`See what changed in Phokus v${appVersion}.`}
+                    >
+                      <button
+                        className="rounded-md border border-white/10 bg-white/[0.055] px-3 py-1.5 text-xs text-gray-300 transition-colors hover:bg-white/10 hover:text-white light-theme:border-gray-700/50 light-theme:bg-gray-900 light-theme:text-white light-theme:hover:bg-gray-800 light-theme:hover:text-white"
+                        onClick={openWhatsNew}
+                      >
+                        View changes
+                      </button>
+                    </SettingsItem>
+                  ) : null}
                 </SettingsGroup>
 
                 <SettingsGroup title="Setup">

src/components/UpdateToast.tsx

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ export function UpdateToast() {
               </p>
               <div className="mt-3 flex items-center gap-2">
                 <button
-                  className="rounded-md border border-emerald-400/35 bg-emerald-500/15 px-3 py-1.5 text-xs text-emerald-200 transition-colors hover:bg-emerald-500/25 light-theme:border-emerald-600/50 light-theme:bg-emerald-100 light-theme:text-emerald-700 light-theme:hover:bg-emerald-200"
+                  className="rounded-md border border-emerald-400/35 bg-emerald-500/15 px-3 py-1.5 text-xs text-emerald-200 transition-colors hover:bg-emerald-500/25"
                   onClick={() => void installUpdate()}
                 >
                   Install &amp; restart

src/components/WhatsNewModal.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,197 @@
+import { useEffect, useState, type ReactNode } from "react";
+import { AnimatePresence, motion } from "framer-motion";
+import { openUrl } from "@tauri-apps/plugin-opener";
+import { useGalleryStore } from "../store";
+import { getChangelogForVersion, type ChangelogSection } from "../changelog";
+
+const CHANGELOG_URL = "https://github.com/JezzWTF/phokus/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md";
+
+// Per-section accent. These all use the standard colour scale, which the
+// subtle-light theme re-maps to readable dark shades via CSS variables — so no
+// `light-theme:` overrides are needed (or wanted) here. See the theme note in
+// index.css: `bg-white`/`text-white` deliberately become *dark* in light mode,
+// so neutral surfaces must use the gray scale and trust the remap.
+const SECTION_STYLES: Record<string, { label: string; dot: string }> = {
+  Added: { label: "text-emerald-300", dot: "bg-emerald-400/80" },
+  Changed: { label: "text-sky-300", dot: "bg-sky-300/80" },
+  Fixed: { label: "text-amber-300", dot: "bg-amber-400/80" },
+  Removed: { label: "text-rose-300", dot: "bg-rose-400/80" },
+  Security: { label: "text-violet-300", dot: "bg-violet-400/80" },
+};
+
+const NEUTRAL_STYLE = { label: "text-gray-300", dot: "bg-gray-400/70" };
+
+// Render the small amount of inline markdown the changelog uses: **bold** and
+// `code`. Anything else passes through as plain text.
+function renderInline(text: string): ReactNode[] {
+  const nodes: ReactNode[] = [];
+  const regex = /\*\*(.+?)\*\*|`([^`]+)`/g;
+  let lastIndex = 0;
+  let key = 0;
+  let match: RegExpExecArray | null;
+  while ((match = regex.exec(text)) !== null) {
+    if (match.index > lastIndex) {
+      nodes.push(text.slice(lastIndex, match.index));
+    }
+    if (match[1] !== undefined) {
+      nodes.push(
+        <strong key={key++} className="font-semibold text-white">
+          {match[1]}
+        </strong>,
+      );
+    } else if (match[2] !== undefined) {
+      nodes.push(
+        <code key={key++} className="rounded bg-white/10 px-1 py-0.5 text-[12px] text-gray-200">
+          {match[2]}
+        </code>,
+      );
+    }
+    lastIndex = regex.lastIndex;
+  }
+  if (lastIndex < text.length) {
+    nodes.push(text.slice(lastIndex));
+  }
+  return nodes;
+}
+
+function Section({ section }: { section: ChangelogSection }) {
+  const style = SECTION_STYLES[section.title] ?? NEUTRAL_STYLE;
+  const [open, setOpen] = useState(true);
+
+  return (
+    <section>
+      <button
+        type="button"
+        onClick={() => setOpen((value) => !value)}
+        className="flex w-full items-center gap-2 text-left"
+        aria-expanded={open}
+      >
+        <svg
+          className={`h-3 w-3 shrink-0 text-gray-600 transition-transform ${open ? "rotate-90" : ""}`}
+          fill="none"
+          viewBox="0 0 24 24"
+          stroke="currentColor"
+        >
+          <path strokeLinecap="round" strokeLinejoin="round" strokeWidth={2.5} d="M9 5l7 7-7 7" />
+        </svg>
+        <span className={`text-[11px] font-semibold uppercase tracking-[0.1em] ${style.label}`}>{section.title}</span>
+        <span className="text-[11px] font-medium text-gray-600">{section.items.length}</span>
+      </button>
+      <AnimatePresence initial={false}>
+        {open ? (
+          <motion.div
+            initial={{ height: 0, opacity: 0 }}
+            animate={{ height: "auto", opacity: 1 }}
+            exit={{ height: 0, opacity: 0 }}
+            transition={{ duration: 0.18 }}
+            className="overflow-hidden"
+          >
+            <ul className="mt-2.5 space-y-2.5 pl-5">
+              {section.items.map((item, index) => (
+                <li key={index} className="flex gap-3">
+                  <span className={`mt-[7px] h-1.5 w-1.5 shrink-0 rounded-full ${style.dot}`} />
+                  <p className="text-[13px] leading-relaxed text-gray-400">
+                    {item.lead ? (
+                      <>
+                        <span className="font-semibold text-gray-100">{item.lead}</span>
+                        {item.body ? <span> — {renderInline(item.body)}</span> : null}
+                      </>
+                    ) : (
+                      renderInline(item.body)
+                    )}
+                  </p>
+                </li>
+              ))}
+            </ul>
+          </motion.div>
+        ) : null}
+      </AnimatePresence>
+    </section>
+  );
+}
+
+export function WhatsNewModal() {
+  const whatsNewOpen = useGalleryStore((s) => s.whatsNewOpen);
+  const closeWhatsNew = useGalleryStore((s) => s.closeWhatsNew);
+  const appVersion = useGalleryStore((s) => s.appVersion);
+
+  const entry = getChangelogForVersion(appVersion);
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!whatsNewOpen) return;
+    const handleKeyDown = (event: KeyboardEvent) => {
+      if (event.key === "Escape") closeWhatsNew();
+    };
+    window.addEventListener("keydown", handleKeyDown);
+    return () => window.removeEventListener("keydown", handleKeyDown);
+  }, [whatsNewOpen, closeWhatsNew]);
+
+  return (
+    <AnimatePresence>
+      {whatsNewOpen ? (
+        <motion.div
+          className="fixed inset-0 z-[90] flex items-center justify-center bg-black/65 px-6 backdrop-blur-sm"
+          onClick={closeWhatsNew}
+          initial={{ opacity: 0 }}
+          animate={{ opacity: 1 }}
+          exit={{ opacity: 0 }}
+          transition={{ duration: 0.15 }}
+        >
+          <motion.div
+            className="relative flex max-h-[min(82vh,760px)] w-[min(88vw,560px)] flex-col overflow-hidden rounded-lg border border-white/10 bg-gray-950 shadow-2xl shadow-black/60"
+            onClick={(event) => event.stopPropagation()}
+            initial={{ opacity: 0, scale: 0.97, y: 8 }}
+            animate={{ opacity: 1, scale: 1, y: 0 }}
+            exit={{ opacity: 0, scale: 0.98, y: 6 }}
+            transition={{ duration: 0.16 }}
+          >
+            <div className="flex items-start justify-between gap-4 border-b border-white/[0.07] px-6 py-5">
+              <div>
+                <p className="text-[11px] font-semibold uppercase tracking-[0.12em] text-emerald-300">What's new</p>
+                <h3 className="mt-1 text-lg font-semibold text-white">
+                  Phokus v{entry?.version ?? appVersion ?? "—"}
+                </h3>
+                {entry?.date ? <p className="mt-0.5 text-xs text-gray-600">Released {entry.date}</p> : null}
+              </div>
+              <button
+                className="rounded-md p-1.5 text-gray-500 transition-colors hover:bg-white/[0.06] hover:text-white"
+                onClick={closeWhatsNew}
+                title="Close"
+              >
+                <svg className="h-4 w-4" fill="none" viewBox="0 0 24 24" stroke="currentColor">
+                  <path strokeLinecap="round" strokeLinejoin="round" strokeWidth={2} d="M6 18L18 6M6 6l12 12" />
+                </svg>
+              </button>
+            </div>
+
+            <div className="min-h-0 flex-1 space-y-6 overflow-y-auto px-6 py-5">
+              {entry && entry.sections.length > 0 ? (
+                entry.sections.map((section) => <Section key={section.title} section={section} />)
+              ) : (
+                <p className="text-sm text-gray-500">
+                  Release notes for this version aren't available in-app. See the full changelog on GitHub.
+                </p>
+              )}
+            </div>
+
+            <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-4 border-t border-white/[0.07] px-6 py-4">
+              <button
+                type="button"
+                onClick={() => void openUrl(CHANGELOG_URL)}
+                className="text-xs text-gray-500 transition-colors hover:text-gray-300"
+              >
+                Full changelog ↗
+              </button>
+              <button
+                className="rounded-md border border-emerald-400/35 bg-emerald-500/15 px-3.5 py-1.5 text-xs text-emerald-200 transition-colors hover:bg-emerald-500/25"
+                onClick={closeWhatsNew}
+              >
+                Got it
+              </button>
+            </div>
+          </motion.div>
+        </motion.div>
+      ) : null}
+    </AnimatePresence>
+  );
+}

src/components/WhatsNewToast.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import { AnimatePresence, motion } from "framer-motion";
+import { useGalleryStore } from "../store";
+
+// Shown once on the first launch after an update, inviting the user to read the
+// changelog. Distinct from UpdateToast (which drives the download/install flow).
+export function WhatsNewToast() {
+  const whatsNewToast = useGalleryStore((s) => s.whatsNewToast);
+  const whatsNewOpen = useGalleryStore((s) => s.whatsNewOpen);
+  const openWhatsNew = useGalleryStore((s) => s.openWhatsNew);
+  const dismissWhatsNewToast = useGalleryStore((s) => s.dismissWhatsNewToast);
+
+  const visible = whatsNewToast !== null && !whatsNewOpen;
+
+  return (
+    <AnimatePresence>
+      {visible ? (
+        <motion.div
+          initial={{ opacity: 0, y: 12 }}
+          animate={{ opacity: 1, y: 0 }}
+          exit={{ opacity: 0, y: 12 }}
+          transition={{ duration: 0.18 }}
+          className="fixed bottom-4 right-4 z-50 w-80 rounded-lg border border-emerald-400/20 bg-gray-900 p-4 shadow-xl"
+        >
+          <p className="text-sm font-medium text-white">What's new in Phokus v{whatsNewToast}</p>
+          <p className="mt-1 text-xs text-gray-500">See what's changed in this version.</p>
+          <div className="mt-3 flex items-center gap-2">
+            <button
+              className="rounded-md border border-emerald-400/35 bg-emerald-500/15 px-3 py-1.5 text-xs text-emerald-200 transition-colors hover:bg-emerald-500/25"
+              onClick={openWhatsNew}
+            >
+              What's new
+            </button>
+            <button
+              className="rounded-md border border-transparent px-3 py-1.5 text-xs text-gray-500 transition-colors hover:bg-white/[0.06] hover:text-gray-200"
+              onClick={dismissWhatsNewToast}
+            >
+              Dismiss
+            </button>
+          </div>
+        </motion.div>
+      ) : null}
+    </AnimatePresence>
+  );
+}

src/components/onboarding/OnboardingOverlay.tsx

@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ export function OnboardingOverlay() {
               Back
             </button>
             <button
-              className="rounded-md border border-emerald-400/35 bg-emerald-500/15 px-4 py-1.5 text-xs text-emerald-200 transition-colors hover:bg-emerald-500/25 light-theme:border-emerald-600/50 light-theme:bg-emerald-100 light-theme:text-emerald-700 light-theme:hover:bg-emerald-200"
+              className="rounded-md border border-emerald-400/35 bg-emerald-500/15 px-4 py-1.5 text-xs text-emerald-200 transition-colors hover:bg-emerald-500/25"
               onClick={() => (isLast ? completeOnboarding() : setOnboardingStep(onboardingStep + 1))}
             >
               {isLast ? "Finish" : "Next"}

src/components/onboarding/StepAddLibrary.tsx

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ export function StepAddLibrary() {
           )}
         </div>
         <button
-          className="shrink-0 rounded-md border border-emerald-400/35 bg-emerald-500/15 px-3 py-1.5 text-xs text-emerald-200 transition-colors hover:bg-emerald-500/25 disabled:cursor-not-allowed disabled:opacity-45 light-theme:border-emerald-600/50 light-theme:bg-emerald-100 light-theme:text-emerald-700 light-theme:hover:bg-emerald-200"
+          className="shrink-0 rounded-md border border-emerald-400/35 bg-emerald-500/15 px-3 py-1.5 text-xs text-emerald-200 transition-colors hover:bg-emerald-500/25 disabled:cursor-not-allowed disabled:opacity-45"
           onClick={handlePick}
         >
           {folders.length > 0 ? "Add another folder" : "Choose a folder"}

src/components/onboarding/StepWelcome.tsx

@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ export function StepWelcome() {
               type="button"
               className={`rounded-md border p-2 text-left transition-colors ${
                 selected
-                  ? "border-emerald-400/35 bg-emerald-500/15 text-emerald-200 ring-1 ring-emerald-400/40 light-theme:border-emerald-600/50 light-theme:bg-emerald-100 light-theme:text-emerald-700 light-theme:hover:bg-emerald-200"
+                  ? "border-emerald-400/35 bg-emerald-500/15 text-emerald-200 ring-1 ring-emerald-400/40"
                   : "border-white/10 bg-white/[0.055] text-gray-300 hover:bg-white/10 hover:text-white light-theme:border-gray-700/50 light-theme:bg-gray-900 light-theme:text-white light-theme:hover:bg-gray-800 light-theme:hover:text-white"
               }`}
               onClick={() => setTheme(option.value)}

src/store.ts

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { getVersion } from "@tauri-apps/api/app";
 import { check, Update } from "@tauri-apps/plugin-updater";
 import { relaunch } from "@tauri-apps/plugin-process";
 import { notifyTaskComplete } from "./notifications";
+import { getChangelogForVersion } from "./changelog";
 
 // Per-folder debounce timers for batching notifications.
 // Keyed as `${folderId}:embedding` or `${folderId}:tagging`.
@@ -378,6 +379,11 @@ interface GalleryState {
   updateProgress: number | null; // 0..1 download progress, null while size unknown
   updateError: string | null;
   updateDismissed: boolean;
+  // "What's New" greeting after a version change. `whatsNewToast` holds the
+  // version to advertise in the corner toast (null = hidden); `whatsNewOpen`
+  // controls the full changelog modal.
+  whatsNewOpen: boolean;
+  whatsNewToast: string | null;
 
   ffmpegStatus: FfmpegStatus;
   ffmpegProgress: { downloaded_bytes: number; total_bytes: number } | null;
@@ -479,6 +485,10 @@ interface GalleryState {
   checkForUpdates: (options?: { quiet?: boolean }) => Promise<void>;
   installUpdate: () => Promise<void>;
   dismissUpdate: () => void;
+  initWhatsNew: () => Promise<void>;
+  openWhatsNew: () => void;
+  closeWhatsNew: () => void;
+  dismissWhatsNewToast: () => void;
   loadFfmpegStatus: () => Promise<void>;
   retryFfmpegDownload: () => Promise<void>;
   loadOnboardingCompleted: () => Promise<void>;
@@ -810,6 +820,8 @@ export const useGalleryStore = create<GalleryState>((set, get) => ({
   updateProgress: null,
   updateError: null,
   updateDismissed: false,
+  whatsNewOpen: false,
+  whatsNewToast: null,
 
   ffmpegStatus: "unknown",
   ffmpegProgress: null,
@@ -1801,7 +1813,10 @@ export const useGalleryStore = create<GalleryState>((set, get) => ({
     const update = pendingUpdate;
     if (!update || get().updateStatus !== "available") return;
 
-    set({ updateStatus: "downloading", updateProgress: null, updateError: null });
+    // Clearing the dismissed flag re-surfaces the progress toast: the user may
+    // have clicked "Later" on the prompt and then triggered the install from the
+    // title-bar button or Settings, and they should still see download progress.
+    set({ updateStatus: "downloading", updateProgress: null, updateError: null, updateDismissed: false });
     try {
       let contentLength: number | null = null;
       let downloaded = 0;
@@ -1830,6 +1845,40 @@ export const useGalleryStore = create<GalleryState>((set, get) => ({
 
   dismissUpdate: () => set({ updateDismissed: true }),
 
+  initWhatsNew: async () => {
+    try {
+      const current = await getVersion();
+      const lastSeen = (await invoke<string | null>("get_last_seen_version")) || null;
+      // Already greeted this version — nothing to do, and no need to rewrite.
+      if (lastSeen === current) return;
+
+      let shouldShow: boolean;
+      if (lastSeen) {
+        // A recorded earlier version means this launch is a genuine upgrade.
+        shouldShow = true;
+      } else {
+        // No record yet. Fresh installs are covered by the welcome tour, so only
+        // greet users who have already completed onboarding (i.e. upgraded into
+        // this feature) rather than someone opening the app for the first time.
+        shouldShow = await invoke<boolean>("get_onboarding_completed").catch(() => false);
+      }
+
+      // Only surface the prompt if we actually have notes for this version.
+      if (shouldShow && getChangelogForVersion(current)) {
+        set({ whatsNewToast: current });
+      }
+      await invoke("set_last_seen_version", { version: current }).catch(() => {});
+    } catch {
+      // Non-fatal: the greeting is a nicety, never block startup on it.
+    }
+  },
+
+  openWhatsNew: () => set({ whatsNewOpen: true, whatsNewToast: null }),
+
+  closeWhatsNew: () => set({ whatsNewOpen: false }),
+
+  dismissWhatsNewToast: () => set({ whatsNewToast: null }),
+
   loadFfmpegStatus: async () => {
     try {
       const status = await invoke<{ installed: boolean; downloading: boolean; failed: boolean }>(