What’s new

Changes to the AnswerAside Windows app, newest first.

Version 0.1.5 · November 11, 2026

Ask can now recap earlier meetings with the client when you ask in your own words, such as "recap what was said yesterday", "what did we cover last time?" or "where did we leave off on Tuesday?". You get the same short recap card as the Recap button, made from that day's meetings on this PC. If there was no meeting with the client that day, the card says so.
When Ask finds no confident answer, the card now says it looked in the client's files and meetings, not just files.
Straight after an update, Settings could say it couldn’t load some settings (such as the disclosure line or your company name) while your PC was still busy. It now waits a little longer and tries again, so your saved settings show.
If the speed check says your PC is too slow, AnswerAside now checks once more two minutes later and keeps that result. The first check runs right after the speech model downloads, when Windows is often still busy, and could wrongly turn off live listening on a PC that's fast enough.
Fixed a rare crash of file search right after you press Start on a busy PC. It restarted by itself, but meanwhile file answers and saving the transcript paused for a minute or two. File search also now gets ready for your first question as intended when the PC is busy.

The default shortcut for Ask is now Ctrl+Shift+A (it was Ctrl+Shift+Space). If you picked your own shortcut in Settings, you keep it.
The first time you use AnswerAside, it downloads its speech model (about 670 MB, once), then spends about 10 seconds checking how fast your PC transcribes. The sidebar shows the progress, and Start works as soon as both are done. An interrupted download carries on where it stopped, and every file is checked before it's used. Settings → Speech model shows your PC's result, lets you check again or delete the model, and explains what to do if antivirus software removes it. PCs too slow to transcribe a call as it happens get a clear message instead of live listening.
Live transcription now happens on your PC instead of a cloud service, so your audio never leaves your PC. It starts when you press Start and stops when you press Stop; if it ever stops working mid-meeting it restarts by itself within a few seconds, and the sidebar says so while it does. If it can't restart, transcription pauses with a red banner and a Retry button; it never switches to a cloud service. Minimum PC requirements are at answeraside.com/requirements.
You can now run AnswerAside’s AI with your own OpenAI API key (Settings → AI provider). Your key stays encrypted on your PC, and web searches still get only a generic version of the question.

AnswerAside now also stops listening by itself when only you have spoken for 7 minutes, for when you carry on talking after a call ends. You get the same one-minute warning with Keep listening, and it goes away as soon as the other side speaks. Setting the quiet time to Never in Settings turns this off too.
When the sidebar is collapsed to its small tab, you can now start and stop listening by clicking the status dot, and mute or unmute yourself with the new microphone button, without opening the sidebar.
You can now have each meeting’s notes and full transcript saved as a file in that client’s folder, so you can open them in File Explorer or point another AI tool at them (Settings → Client workspaces). It’s off until you turn it on for a client, and AnswerAside never uses these files in answers or search.
New What’s new button in Settings → Help opens this list of changes on the website.
Answer cards appear about a second sooner after you press Ask: working out the question now takes about half as long.

AnswerAside now stops listening by itself if nobody has spoken for 10 minutes, or after 4 hours in any case, so a forgotten session doesn't keep running. You get a warning a minute before, with a Keep listening button. You can change the quiet time, or turn the quiet stop off, in Settings.

New Mute me button in the sidebar: when you mute yourself in the meeting, AnswerAside stops listening to your microphone while still hearing the client. You can also give it a keyboard shortcut in Settings.
Pressing Ask when nobody asked a question now explains the latest specialist topic that came up in the conversation.
Choose Match Windows, Light or Dark in Settings → Appearance.

First release. AnswerAside listens to your calls and quietly shows answer cards from your own files, past meetings and the web, each with its sources and how confident it is. It only shows answers on your screen: it never joins, speaks or posts in a meeting, never records audio, and your documents stay on your PC.