docs(release): v1.8.5-alpha changelog section + What's New sync

Curated release notes for the pending v1.8.5-alpha: Cuprate (with the two review catches), kdump/rasdaemon + the host-fixup OTA channel, the uninstall-abort fix, federation inline-picture routing, honest disk usage, the three lying-screens fixes (#143/#127/#129), durable mesh notifications + router recovery (#57/#103), and upstream-release tracking with the first-sweep safe bumps. What's New modal synced via scripts/sync-whats-new.py (--check passes; 89 versions, all present). Per docs/RELEASE_NOTES_BACKLOG.md the v1.7.44-alpha -> current section audit remains the open item before the tag.
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 # Changelog
 ## v1.8.5-alpha (2026-08-30)
 - **Cuprate — an independent Monero node — is now an app.** Monero consensus validated by a second, unrelated codebase (Rust), the same layer of security-in-depth Bitcoin gets from Knots. Review caught two problems before anything shipped: the unrestricted RPC that can move funds stayed bound to the container's loopback (never published to the node, let alone the LAN — anything on the node could previously have reached it), and its restricted RPC moved off port 18089 to avoid colliding with Penpot. Honest caveat: upstream has cut no stable release yet, so the pin tracks an exact preview build (0.1.0-preview-18-g618ff14) and moves to their first tagged release when there is one.
 - **A frozen node now explains itself — and comes back on its own.** The host now captures a memory dump into /var/crash when the kernel panics *or* wedges (a hung kiosk used to sit dead until someone power-cycled it; now it dumps, reboots itself, and leaves the evidence behind), and records failing-memory signals (ECC errors) into a database as they happen. This is the first change delivered by a new host-update channel: the node's own updater now carries OS-level packages and settings to already-deployed machines — the crash-kernel's memory reservation is the one part that waits for a reboot, and the node says so rather than pretending.
 - **Uninstalling an app can no longer report success when it failed.** The declarative path used to swallow every teardown error and report the app uninstalled, leaving the tile behind and the truth in the logs. A failed uninstall now stops and shows the real per-app errors, so "still there" is never presented as "gone".
 - **Pictures to internet-only mesh contacts work now.** Sending an attachment inline always took the radio path and failed with "Peer is federation-only (no radio twin)" for contacts reachable only over the internet — and the size-adviser kept recommending a radio transfer those peers can't receive. Both fixed: inline sends route over the federation when that's the only way to reach the peer, and the advice no longer offers radio-only transfers to radio-unreachable contacts.
 - **Disk cleanup finally has honest numbers.** Space "free" on a drive was counted including the slice the filesystem keeps reserved for root — roughly 5% of the disk, 92 GB on one dev box — so the automatic cleanup that's supposed to kick in at 90% never triggered and stale container images piled up unnoticed. Reserved space now counts as used, which is what the threshold was always meant to measure.
 - **Three small screens that were lying to you, fixed.** The "Bitcoin is synced — fund your wallet" toast no longer appears on a node where the wallet it means (LND) isn't installed — it points at installing LND instead. The seed-reveal screen hides its third prompt unless the password actually fails to decrypt (the backup passphrase only exists if you set one). And multi-version store cards stop quoting a version number you'll be asked to choose on the next screen anyway.
 - **Mesh notifications survive a refresh, and a stale router no longer hides the fix.** Radio message unread counts are now remembered per contact instead of guessed from session state (the "one new message showed 11 unread" bug), cover Meshtastic, MeshCore and Reticulum alike, and deep-link to the right conversation; a single new message announces itself once. Separately, when the cached router address goes stale, the error card gains a "Reconfigure router" action instead of a Retry loop that can never succeed.
 - **The app updater now knows what upstream shipped.** Every app's manifest records where it comes from — including the odd corners (GitLab-only projects, ghcr-only images) — and a checker sweeps all of them against upstream releases, so a pin that quietly rots for months is now visible instead of invisible. The first full sweep found 27 pins behind; the safe patch-level ones shipped with this release (strfry, BTCPay Server 2.4.3, the two nginx frontends), and the major jumps that may carry data migrations are deliberately held for their own careful passes.
 ## v1.8.4-alpha (2026-08-20)
 - **Apps with their own login can now skip the node's login screen — Gitea and BTCPay Server do so out of the box.** Some apps bring a complete account system of their own, and putting the node's password page in front of them broke real workflows: git clients can't answer a browser login, and a BTCPay checkout link handed to a customer must open for that customer. These apps are now served directly on their own login, while the node still fronts the connection for everything else it does (embedding fixes, the "app is restarting" page, Tor). Every app gets a new **Settings → app → Access control** switch, so you can put the node login back in front of any app — or take it away from one — with one click, effective immediately. App developers declare the default in their manifest (`auth: open`), documented in the developer guide.
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                  <span class="text-xs font-mono px-2 py-0.5 rounded bg-orange-500/20 text-orange-300">v1.8.5-alpha</span>
                  <span class="text-xs text-white/40">August 30, 2026</span>
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                  <p>**Cuprate — an independent Monero node — is now an app.** Monero consensus validated by a second, unrelated codebase (Rust), the same layer of security-in-depth Bitcoin gets from Knots. Review caught two problems before anything shipped: the unrestricted RPC that can move funds stayed bound to the container's loopback (never published to the node, let alone the LAN — anything on the node could previously have reached it), and its restricted RPC moved off port 18089 to avoid colliding with Penpot. Honest caveat: upstream has cut no stable release yet, so the pin tracks an exact preview build (0.1.0-preview-18-g618ff14) and moves to their first tagged release when there is one.</p>
                  <p>**A frozen node now explains itself — and comes back on its own.** The host now captures a memory dump into /var/crash when the kernel panics *or* wedges (a hung kiosk used to sit dead until someone power-cycled it; now it dumps, reboots itself, and leaves the evidence behind), and records failing-memory signals (ECC errors) into a database as they happen. This is the first change delivered by a new host-update channel: the node's own updater now carries OS-level packages and settings to already-deployed machines — the crash-kernel's memory reservation is the one part that waits for a reboot, and the node says so rather than pretending.</p>
                  <p>**Uninstalling an app can no longer report success when it failed.** The declarative path used to swallow every teardown error and report the app uninstalled, leaving the tile behind and the truth in the logs. A failed uninstall now stops and shows the real per-app errors, so "still there" is never presented as "gone".</p>
                  <p>**Pictures to internet-only mesh contacts work now.** Sending an attachment inline always took the radio path and failed with "Peer is federation-only (no radio twin)" for contacts reachable only over the internet — and the size-adviser kept recommending a radio transfer those peers can't receive. Both fixed: inline sends route over the federation when that's the only way to reach the peer, and the advice no longer offers radio-only transfers to radio-unreachable contacts.</p>
                  <p>**Disk cleanup finally has honest numbers.** Space "free" on a drive was counted including the slice the filesystem keeps reserved for root — roughly 5% of the disk, 92 GB on one dev box — so the automatic cleanup that's supposed to kick in at 90% never triggered and stale container images piled up unnoticed. Reserved space now counts as used, which is what the threshold was always meant to measure.</p>
                  <p>**Three small screens that were lying to you, fixed.** The "Bitcoin is synced — fund your wallet" toast no longer appears on a node where the wallet it means (LND) isn't installed — it points at installing LND instead. The seed-reveal screen hides its third prompt unless the password actually fails to decrypt (the backup passphrase only exists if you set one). And multi-version store cards stop quoting a version number you'll be asked to choose on the next screen anyway.</p>
                  <p>**Mesh notifications survive a refresh, and a stale router no longer hides the fix.** Radio message unread counts are now remembered per contact instead of guessed from session state (the "one new message showed 11 unread" bug), cover Meshtastic, MeshCore and Reticulum alike, and deep-link to the right conversation; a single new message announces itself once. Separately, when the cached router address goes stale, the error card gains a "Reconfigure router" action instead of a Retry loop that can never succeed.</p>
                  <p>**The app updater now knows what upstream shipped.** Every app's manifest records where it comes from — including the odd corners (GitLab-only projects, ghcr-only images) — and a checker sweeps all of them against upstream releases, so a pin that quietly rots for months is now visible instead of invisible. The first full sweep found 27 pins behind; the safe patch-level ones shipped with this release (strfry, BTCPay Server 2.4.3, the two nginx frontends), and the major jumps that may carry data migrations are deliberately held for their own careful passes.</p>
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