diff --git a/src/ext/lib/Settings.js b/src/ext/lib/Settings.js
index 5f0e904..bcca4db 100644
--- a/src/ext/lib/Settings.js
+++ b/src/ext/lib/Settings.js
@@ -76,7 +76,9 @@ class Settings {
 
   async init() {
     const settings = await this.get();
-    const oldVersion = settings.version;
+
+    //                 |—> on first setup, settings is undefined & settings.version is haram
+    const oldVersion = (settings && settings.version) || '0.0.0';
     const currentVersion = this.getExtensionVersion();
 
     if(Debug.debug) {
diff --git a/src/ext/lib/ar-detect/ArDetector.js b/src/ext/lib/ar-detect/ArDetector.js
index 8a35f14..bac7b2d 100644
--- a/src/ext/lib/ar-detect/ArDetector.js
+++ b/src/ext/lib/ar-detect/ArDetector.js
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+
 import Debug from '../../conf/Debug';
 import EdgeDetect from './edge-detect/EdgeDetect';
 import EdgeStatus from './edge-detect/enums/EdgeStatusEnum';
@@ -221,16 +222,22 @@ class ArDetector {
       this.conf.resizer.setLastAr({type: AspectRatio.Automatic, ratio: this.getDefaultAr()});
     }
 
+
+    
     // launch main() if it's currently not running:
     this.main();
+    // automatic detection starts halted. If halted=false when main first starts, extension won't run
+    // this._paused is undefined the first time we run this function, which is effectively the same thing
+    // as false. Still, we'll explicitly fix this here.
+    this._paused = false;  
     this._halted = false;
-    this._paused = false;
-
   }
 
   unpause() {
-    if(this._paused){ // resume only if we explicitly paused
-      this.start();
+    // pause only if we were running before. Don't pause if we aren't running
+    // (we are running when _halted is neither true nor undefined)
+    if (this._paused && this._halted === false) {
+      this._paused = true;
     }
   }
 
@@ -251,12 +258,14 @@ class ArDetector {
   }
 
   async main() {
-    if (this.paused) {
+    if (this._paused) {
       // unpause if paused
       this._paused = false;
+      return; // main loop still keeps executing. Return is needed to avoid a million instances of autodetection
     }
     if (!this._halted) { 
       // we are already running, don't run twice
+      // this would have handled the 'paused' from before, actually.
       return;
     }
 
@@ -794,12 +803,6 @@ class ArDetector {
       this.guardline.reset();
       this.conf.resizer.setAr({type: AspectRatio.Automatic, ratio: this.getDefaultAr()});
     }
-
-    // }
-    // else{
-    //   console.log("detected text on edges, dooing nothing")
-    // }
-
   }
 
   resetBlackLevel(){
diff --git a/src/manifest.json b/src/manifest.json
index e27fbf6..cbe47f3 100644
--- a/src/manifest.json
+++ b/src/manifest.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "manifest_version": 2,
   "name": "Ultrawidify",
   "description": "Removes black bars on ultrawide videos and offers advanced options to fix aspect ratio.",
-  "version": "4.2.3.1",
+  "version": "4.2.3.3",
   "applications": {
     "gecko": {
       "id": "{cf02b1a7-a01a-4e37-a609-516a283f1ed3}"
diff --git a/src/popup/panels/WhatsNewPanel.vue b/src/popup/panels/WhatsNewPanel.vue
index b8bf65f..17daf47 100644
--- a/src/popup/panels/WhatsNewPanel.vue
+++ b/src/popup/panels/WhatsNewPanel.vue
@@ -2,13 +2,15 @@
   <div>
     <h2>What's new</h2>
     <p>Full changelog for older versions <a href="https://github.com/xternal7/ultrawidify/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md">is available here</a>.</p>
-    <p class="label">4.2.3[.1]</p>
+    <p class="label">4.2.3[.x]</p>
     <ul>
       <li>Fixed twitchy behaviour on Twitch, Facebook and Twatter. Here's a <a href="https://stuff.tamius.net/sacred-texts/2019/08/24/ultrawidify-the-twitchy-twitch-problem/" target="_blank">blog post</a> that covers the issue in more detail.</li>
       <li>Cropping now uses user styles (as opposed to modifying element's style attribute)</li>
       <li>Fixed the issue where one-pixel letterbox would result in constant aspect ratio corrections.</li>
       <li>Started using mutation observers to watch for anything modifying the size of our video.</li>
       <li><b>[4.2.3.1]</b> fixed some bugs in popup.</li>
+      <li><b>[4.2.3.2]</b> fixed settings initialization for new users.</li>
+      <li><b>[4.2.3.3]</b> fixed autodetection not starting.</li>
     </ul>
     <p>As you can tell, I don't leave reddit and youtube much. To be fair, the twitching issue was intermittent on twitch.</p>
     <p v-if="BrowserDetect.chrome"><b>Chrome users:</b> as a result of Chrome's shortcomings, there now exists one potential performance issue.