Minbar Caption v1.1.40

This major update officially introduces Minbar Caption (formerly Minbar Studio), adds support for four new languages, introduces permanent subtitle merging, and brings significant improvements to transcript editing, Quranic references, translations, and styling.

---

New Languages & Arabic RTL Support

• Added support for four new interface languages:

  • French 🇫🇷
  • Arabic 🇸🇦
  • German 🇩🇪
  • Spanish 🇪🇸

  English remains available.

• Added full Right-to-Left (RTL) interface support for Arabic.

  The application now automatically adjusts its layout direction, text alignment, and interface elements when Arabic is selected.

• Improved localization throughout the application, including the editor, AI tools, settings, export options, and project management.

---

Subtitle Editing

• Added a new Merge Permanently option for adjacent subtitles.

  You can now combine two consecutive subtitles into a single editable segment directly from the timeline's right-click menu.

  Unlike visual merging, this permanently combines their content into one subtitle.

• Merged subtitles preserve their existing text, translations, and Quranic references.

• Word-by-Word timestamps are also combined and adjusted when the original subtitles contain valid word timings.

• The operation supports Undo/Redo.

---

Transcript Editor Improvements

• Improved how Quranic verses and quotations appear in the subtitle editor.

  Instead of displaying raw reference markers such as {{2:255}}, Minbar Caption now displays the actual Quranic text.

• Added distinct colors for Quranic passages and quotations, making them easier to distinguish from regular speech.

• Fixed missing spaces around Quranic references and quotations in displayed subtitles.

• Improved translation previews inside subtitle cards.

  Structured translations now display their resolved content, including translated Quranic references, instead of internal reference markers.

• Improved the Word-by-Word transcript bar.

  • Noto Sans Arabic is now used for clearer and more consistent Arabic rendering.
  • The transcript automatically scrolls to the selected subtitle when entering edit mode.
  • Fixed spacing and formatting issues around Quranic verses and quotations.

---

Quranic References & Translations

• Improved automatic Quranic translation loading.

  When a Quranic reference is added or modified, Minbar Caption now automatically fetches its corresponding Quranic translation for the project's selected languages.

  This works from any editor tab, without requiring you to open the Translation Editor.

• Fixed newly added translation languages occasionally displaying incomplete or uninitialized content.

  Translation data is now initialized before the language appears in the editor.

---

Export Improvements

• Improved missing translation warnings before exporting.

  Minbar Caption now checks only subtitles within the selected export range and translations that are actually enabled.

  Warnings are based on missing translation content rather than whether a translation has been manually reviewed.

  This prevents unnecessary warnings for completed translations or subtitles outside the exported passage.

• Removed the YouTube Chapters export option, which is no longer relevant to Minbar Caption's workflow.

---

Arabic Fonts & Styles

• Added IBM Plex Sans Arabic Medium as a built-in Arabic font.

  The font is included with the application and can be selected directly from the Style Editor.

• Restored Noto Sans Arabic as the default font for regular Arabic text.

• Improved font selection by restricting Quran-specific fonts to Quranic Arabic content.

  Fonts designed specifically for Quranic script are no longer suggested for ordinary speech, while remaining available for Quranic passages.

---

Minbar Caption Branding

• Minbar Studio has officially been renamed to Minbar Caption.

  The new name is now reflected throughout the application, including its interface, documentation, package information, and update system.

• Updated the release system to use dedicated MC- version tags.

• Removed the Quran.com account integration.

  Connecting a Quran.com account is no longer part of the Minbar Caption experience.

  Quranic text and reference functionality remain available without signing in.

---

Style Presets & Community Library

---

Announcements & Support

• Added support for Minbar Caption-specific announcements on the homepage.

  Important updates and messages can now appear directly in the application, with the option to dismiss them.

Minbar Caption v1.1.31

This update simplifies speaker management, improves default styling for new projects, and enhances analytics for AI-powered tools.

---

Speaker Management

• Simplified speaker management to use one speaker per project.

  Instead of assigning different speakers to individual subtitles, Minbar Caption now uses the speaker defined in the project's settings.

• Removed the multi-speaker management interface and individual subtitle speaker assignments.

• Added automatic migration for existing projects.

  Older speaker assignments are removed while preserving subtitle text, timestamps, translations, and other existing content.

---

Style Improvements

• Fixed the default speaker name appearing in videos when no speaker had been specified.

  New projects with an unknown speaker now automatically hide the speaker name.

  Projects with a specified speaker continue to display their name normally.

• Existing projects retain their saved speaker visibility preferences.

---

Analytics & Reliability

• Added usage and reliability tracking for AI Transcription, AI Correction, Subtitle Rearrangement, and AI Reference Detection.

  These tools now report their execution status and duration, helping identify failures and improve reliability without sending transcript text, AI prompts, or API keys.

• Improved compatibility of automated analytics tests with Node.js 18.

Minbar Caption v1.1.30

This major update completely reworks the AI Transcription, AI Quote Detection, and AI Translation systems, introducing a more powerful and streamlined workflow for creating subtitles from Islamic lectures, sermons, speeches, and other spoken content.

It also brings new subtitle editing tools, improved styling options, and several usability fixes.

---

AI Transcription — Complete Rework

• Completely rebuilt the AI transcription workflow.

  Minbar Caption now supports transcription through two providers:

  • Groq: Whisper Large V3 and Whisper Large V3 Turbo.
  • ElevenLabs: Scribe v1 and Scribe v2.

• Added automatic Word-by-Word timestamps.

  Transcribed speech is synchronized with the audio, allowing precise word-level highlighting and editing.

• Added intelligent subtitle segmentation.

  After transcription, AI automatically divides the speech into readable subtitle segments based on sentence structure, meaning, pauses, and the configured word and duration limits.

• Added configurable silence padding.

  You can now extend subtitles before and after spoken words, with default values of 500 ms on each side.

  Padding is automatically adjusted to prevent overlapping subtitles.

• Added a confirmation dialog before overwriting existing subtitles.

• Added a dedicated settings section for transcription API keys.

  Groq and ElevenLabs keys are now automatically saved, with instructions to help you obtain and configure them.

---

AI Transcription Correction

• Added a new AI-powered transcription correction tool.

  AI analyzes your existing subtitles and suggests corrections to transcription mistakes while preserving the intended meaning.

• Added a complete review interface.

  You can now:

  • Compare the original text with the AI's suggested correction.
  • Play the corresponding audio directly from each subtitle.
  • Select which corrections you want to accept.
  • Apply selected corrections or approve all suggestions at once.

  Nothing is modified until you approve the proposed changes.

---

Intelligent Subtitle Rearrangement

• Added a new AI-powered subtitle rearrangement tool.

  AI can now reorganize subtitle boundaries according to the meaning and grammatical structure of the speech, rather than relying only on fixed word counts.

• Customize the maximum number of words, maximum duration, and additional AI instructions.

• Added a Before / After preview.

  Review the proposed segmentation alongside your original subtitles before applying it.

• Original words and Word-by-Word timestamps are preserved.

  The AI only decides where subtitles should be split. It does not rewrite, remove, or invent spoken words.

• Existing silence clips and protected subtitle content are preserved.

---

AI Quote & Quran Reference Detection — Complete Rework

• Added a completely redesigned AI reference detection system.

  Minbar Caption can now analyze transcribed speech to identify:

  • Quranic verses and references.
  • Quotations and cited passages within the speech.

• Added Quranic text matching.

  Detected Quranic passages can be matched against the Quran to identify their Surah, verse, and word range.

• Added a new review and approval interface.

  You can inspect the detected passages, review the AI's suggestions, and choose which references to apply.

• Added separate detection options for Quranic references and quotations, along with support for additional AI instructions.

• Detected Quranic passages and quotations can be styled independently from regular speech.

---

AI Translation — Complete Rework

• Completely redesigned the AI Translation system for long-form speech, lectures, sermons, poems, and other spoken content.

• Improved translation accuracy and contextual understanding.

  Instead of translating each subtitle independently, AI now considers the surrounding speech, sentence structure, and timing to produce more natural and consistent translations.

• Improved sentence continuity across subtitle boundaries.

  Translations now better preserve grammatical flow, punctuation, capitalization, and meaning when a sentence spans multiple subtitles.

• Added translation scope options.

  You can choose to translate only missing subtitles, regenerate existing AI translations, or retranslate all subtitles.

• Added support for additional AI instructions.

  Customize how translations should be written according to your preferences.

• Improved Islamic terminology handling.

  Choose whether Islamic terms should be translated, transliterated, or presented using both forms.

• Improved protection of Quranic references and quotations.

  Quranic passages are handled separately from regular speech to preserve their references and avoid unintended modifications.

• Added translation progress previews and the ability to stop an ongoing translation process.

• Fixed translations not updating correctly after resetting or modifying them through AI tools.

---

Subtitle Styling

• Added separate styling tabs for three types of content:

  • Normal Text
  • Quranic Passages
  • Quotations

  You can now customize their appearance independently.

• Improved the Style Editor by displaying Quran-specific settings only when editing Quranic content.

  Options such as Riwayah selection, Quranic verse numbering, and Basmala calligraphy no longer appear in unrelated styling sections.

• Added an optional setting to display Salawat as the ﷺ symbol.

  When enabled, recognized Arabic prayers upon the Prophet ﷺ are displayed using the symbol without modifying the original transcription or its Word-by-Word timestamps.

---

Interface & User Experience

• Redesigned the AI workflow in the Subtitles Editor.

  The transcription, correction, rearrangement, and reference detection tools are now presented as connected steps, making the process easier to follow.

• Completed AI steps are visually distinguished from those that have not yet been performed.

• Improved the onboarding experience specifically for Minbar Caption.

  The tutorial no longer creates an unnecessary sample project and now guides users through creating their own project and importing media.

• Improved translations throughout the application by replacing hardcoded interface text with localization keys.

---

Bug Fixes & Stability

• Fixed missing silence clips at the beginning of transcriptions.

• Fixed translation content not refreshing correctly after AI modifications or translation resets.

• Improved AI dialog behavior.

  Review dialogs now close automatically after successfully applying approved changes.

• Improved transcription and AI workflow reliability, including validation of results and protection against applying outdated changes.