CHANGELOG

What's new

Release notes for the Interview Helpers desktop app and website.

v1.1.1

May 2, 2026FIX

Auto-scroll, paywall ergonomics, and clearer login errors.

Fixes

  • Chat now auto-scrolls smoothly while the response streams in — no more pinning yourself to the bottom of the answer manually.
  • When the paywall is up, you can now minimize or hide the app from its own title bar — handy for stepping over to the browser to finish Stripe checkout.
  • Wrong password / wrong email at sign-in now shows the actual reason instead of a confusing "Session expired" message.
  • Account page subscription date is now consistent with the desktop sidebar wording ("Ends on May 15, 2026").

v1.1.0

May 2, 2026FEATURE

New models, real-time speaker mode, smoother streaming, and stronger stealth defaults — the biggest update since launch.

New models

  • GPT-5 is the new standard OpenAI model — faster, sharper than the previous default.
  • GPT-5.4 added in the premium tier for the absolute hardest problems.
  • Claude Sonnet 4.6 (standard) and Claude Opus 4.7 (premium) unchanged.
  • GPT-5 responses tuned for speed — first token in 1-2 seconds.

Real-time speaker mode

  • Voice to text in real time — words appear as they're spoken, no latency.
  • When you toggle off, the transcript is sent to AI instantly with no extra round-trip.

Stealth & privacy

  • App is now invisible to screen-share at all times, regardless of opacity. Open Settings, change opacity, or use the app freely during a screen-share — your interviewer sees nothing.
  • App stays hidden from the Windows taskbar even after restoring or signing in.
  • Default opacity is now 60%. The transparency hotkey toggles between 60% and 100%.
  • Click-through transparency: when stealth mode is engaged, mouse events pass through to the IDE behind so you can read answers without losing focus.

Better answers

  • Every model now produces rich markdown by default — bold inline labels, headings, tables, dividers, blockquotes for "things to mention".
  • System Design Mode produces cleaner Mermaid diagrams (architecture flowchart, sequence, and data model ER).
  • erDiagram parser hardened — automatically fixes common issues like type-length annotations (varchar(255)) that used to break rendering.

Smoother UI

  • Streaming responses now refresh at 60fps instead of token-by-token — text flows smoothly instead of popping line by line.
  • Window has minimize / maximize / hide buttons in the title bar.
  • Window movement (Ctrl + arrow keys) is clamped to your screen — can no longer drift off-display.

v1.0.0

April 26, 2026LAUNCH

Public launch. Interview Helpers is now live for Windows — the stealth desktop overlay built specifically for tech interviews.

Flagship features

  • System Design Mode — press Ctrl+Shift+S, then send a screenshot of an architecture question. The AI answers with rendered Mermaid diagrams (flowchart, sequence, ER) inline. No competitor draws diagrams in the answer.
  • Speaker Mode (Pro) — Ctrl+Shift+A toggles real-time transcription of your interviewer's voice through the system speaker. Live captions appear above the input. Toggle off and the AI answers in one tight sentence — perfect for verbal warm-ups and behavioral rounds.
  • Screenshot AI — Ctrl+1 captures your active screen and sends it instantly. The AI sees the LeetCode problem, the design doc, the code, and walks through the answer.

Stealth & ergonomics

  • Always-on-top transparent overlay, hidden from the Windows taskbar so it doesn't show in screen-shares.
  • Ctrl+G toggles transparency AND click-through — read the answer while your clicks pass through to the IDE underneath.
  • Ctrl+Shift+U panic-button to instantly hide the overlay if your interviewer asks for full-screen share.
  • Ctrl+Arrow keys move the window 50 px in any direction; clamped to the screen so it can't go off-display.
  • Custom hotkeys — every action is rebindable in Settings → General → Hotkeys.

AI models

  • Standard tier: GPT-5 and Claude Sonnet 4.6.
  • Premium tier: GPT-5.4 and Claude Opus 4.7 — for the hardest problems.
  • GPT-5 tuned for speed — first token in 1-2 seconds.
  • Real-time voice-to-text powers the live speaker transcription with zero perceived latency.

Pricing & trial

  • Monthly $39 or annual $375 ($31.25/mo equivalent — save $93/year).
  • 10 free messages on signup, no credit card.
  • Subscription managed via Stripe. Cancel any time from your account or the Stripe billing portal.

Privacy & security

  • Screenshots and audio are not logged by default — sent to the AI provider, then discarded.
  • Stealth overlay hidden from the Windows taskbar.
  • Per-user daily / weekly / monthly token caps and abuse rate limits to keep your trial-pool fair.