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What's New

v0.4.11Beta

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v0.4.11

Latest

Smoother Simulator Recovery

  • Simulator sessions recover more cleanly after reconnects and resumes.

  • Completed scores are better protected from late scoring errors.

  • Practice uploads feel smoother after sign-in, especially on shared or busy networks.

This release is about making practice feel steadier, especially when a simulator session has to recover and still finish with your work intact.

– Joe

v0.4.10

Gemini 3.5 Flash Feedback

  • Choose Gemini 3.5 Flash for stronger, more detailed speaking feedback.

  • Compare feedback models more easily with clearer descriptions and a New badge.

  • See dashboard coverage based on your selected IELTS question bank.

  • Study focus text fits better on mobile screens.

This release gives you clearer choices: a stronger feedback model when you want it, and dashboard numbers that match the bank you are practicing.

– Joe

v0.4.9

Sharper CELPIP Practice

  • Try the new Gemini 3.5 Flash model for higher-quality AI feedback.

  • See which CELPIP Speaking tasks need more work.

  • Learn each of the 8 CELPIP Speaking tasks with new guide pages.

  • Keep saved practice and review history more reliable.

This release makes CELPIP practice easier to understand after you finish, especially when you need to decide what to repeat next.

– Joe

v0.4.8

CELPIP Feedback Polish

  • Review full-practice CELPIP attempts with stronger task-by-task feedback.

  • Listen to improved answers from saved aggregate CELPIP feedback.

  • See CELPIP full-practice activity counted more cleanly in Dashboard trends.

  • Get steadier auth, recording health, Stripe settlement, and feedback retry handling.

This patch tightens the new CELPIP full-practice loop and closes several reliability gaps found during release review.

– Joe

v0.4.7

CELPIP Full Practice

  • Record a full CELPIP speaking attempt from Task 1 to Task 8.

  • Practice with 17 CELPIP sets, 136 tasks, and visual prompts.

  • Create structured custom IELTS and CELPIP questions.

  • See clearer repeated-practice trends and export safer backups.

This release makes CELPIP practice feel more like a real run, while keeping IELTS and custom practice moving forward too.

– Joe

v0.4.6

Safer Feedback Sync

  • Feedback is more likely to stay connected to the transcript and timing it was based on.

  • Interrupted feedback sync keeps local results and retries instead of replacing them too early.

  • With Topic Management set to exclude practiced topics, simulator selection checks completed sessions from the selected question bank.

This release is about keeping feedback grounded in the recording it came from, and making simulator topic selection feel more accurate when you are rotating through practice.

– Joe

v0.4.5

Safer Practice Sync

  • Recording sync is safer when cloud saves are interrupted.

  • Practice Review availability is clearer and less likely to show false zeroes.

  • Session pages keep local transcripts visible while cloud details load.

This release is about trust: your practice data should stay visible, Review should be less confusing, and feedback should keep moving onto the more stable path.

– Joe

v0.4.4

More Stable Feedback

  • Simulator scoring and detailed feedback now use a stronger enterprise-level provider for more stable results.

  • Practice Review buttons become ready sooner when daily or weekly feedback is available.

  • Transcript, audio retry, and app update recovery are safer and quieter.

This update is mostly about trust: feedback should be more stable, review should be clearer, and your practice data should be safer when the app has to recover.

– Joe

v0.4.3

Regional Banks and Practice Report

  • Choose the IELTS question bank that matches your test location.

  • Review recording and live-practice progress in one Practice Report.

This update is about making practice feel more specific and easier to review: the right question bank for your test location, and a clearer way to see your progress.

– Joe

v0.4.2

2026 May-Aug Question Bank Update

  • Updated May 7, 2026: the IELTS May-Aug bank now has 71 topics and 462 questions.

  • Collection now turns saved feedback into Study Focuses, Reuse Drills, and Answer Kits.

  • Saved phrases are easier to reuse in real speaking answers.

  • Flashcards and read-aloud feedback are cleaner and easier to follow.

The new May-Aug bank is the main update here, but I also wanted Collection to feel more useful after you save feedback: less storage, more actual speaking practice.

– Joe

v0.4.1

v0.4.0 Polish Update

  • Simulator scoring is safer after the v0.4.0 release.

  • Read-aloud feedback is easier to follow inside the answer text.

  • Mobile question banks are cleaner on small screens.

  • Flashcards show clearer practice prompts.

This is a quiet polish update for v0.4.0: feedback should be easier to follow, and simulator results should finish with complete scores you can trust.

– Joe

v0.4.0

Smoother Simulator, Read-Aloud Answers

  • Listen to sample answers and improved feedback answers with voice, accent, style, and pace settings.

  • Simulator sessions feel steadier across Part 2, Part 3, handoffs, and final scoring.

  • IELTS and CELPIP question-bank progress is clearer across live simulator and recording practice.

  • Flashcards, CELPIP images, feedback errors, app update recovery, and DIY candidate support are more reliable.

This release is about making the simulator easier to trust. You can now listen to strong answers, replay them, and keep practicing through steadier sessions, clearer progress, and fewer rough edges.

– Joe

v0.3.8

New Preview Questions, Smoother Sessions

  • Explore the new May-Aug 2026 preview question bank before the full season arrives.

  • The simulator now starts more reliably when your audio is ready.

  • Session flow, transcript handoff, and scoring feel steadier across longer speaking runs.

  • Saved feedback stays visible even if transcription has a problem.

This update adds the next preview question set and smooths out several rough edges in the simulator. The goal is simple: easier practice, fewer broken starts, and less friction when you finish a session.

– Joe

v0.3.7

Fewer Reconnects, Smoother Sessions

  • Fewer simulator reconnects and less jitter during part transitions.

  • Recovered sessions keep your answers and audio aligned.

  • Final answers are saved more safely before scoring.

  • Transcript recovery works more consistently after reconnects.

I wanted this release to reduce the reconnect interruptions that break your practice rhythm. The core change is simple: stay connected, stay aligned, and keep your answers usable to the end.

– Joe

v0.3.6

More Stable Simulator Sessions

  • The IELTS simulator disconnects less often and recovers better when it does.

  • Silent examiner turns are detected and recovered automatically.

  • Part 2 long answers end gracefully instead of hitting a protocol limit.

  • Your microphone warns you if it's capturing silence.

This release is all about making the simulator more dependable. Fewer disconnects, better recovery when they happen, and a safety net if things go wrong. Keep practicing.

– Joe

v0.3.5

Stronger Recording Recovery

  • Longer recordings are safer during upload and transcription.

  • Speech recognition credits are protected when no transcript is produced.

  • Simulator scoring waits more carefully for final answers to save.

  • Reconnect recovery avoids saving short replay fragments as answers.

This release is about protecting your work. If you record a long answer or hit a reconnect, Joe Speaking should hold on to it and score from the right transcript.

– Joe

v0.3.4

Reconnects And Repractice Polish

  • Simulator reconnects now wait for your next real answer before moving to scoring.

  • Repractice feedback compares the right recording versions more reliably.

  • Saved score settings fall back safely when an old value is invalid.

  • Reference images are easier to inspect with a larger zoomable preview.

This one is about trust: reconnects should not rush you, repractice should compare the right take, and images should be easier to study.

– Joe

v0.3.3

Steadier Transcripts And Reconnects

  • Speech recognition is more resilient when the network or server has a temporary hiccup.

  • iPhone installed-app transcription startup is less likely to fail during session warmup.

  • Simulator reconnects are better at keeping recovered answers attached to the right turn.

  • Recording versions and simulator audio replay are smoother.

This release is another reliability pass. Less friction around transcripts, reconnects, and replay means you can stay closer to the practice itself.

– Joe

v0.3.2

More Reliable Practice

  • Recordings are better at recovering when an upload gets interrupted.

  • Temporary speech recognition failures are retried automatically more often.

  • Sign-in and session refresh feel steadier when syncing is slow.

This update is about reliability. Practice should feel steady, and your recording should make it through.

– Joe

v0.3.1

Stronger Recording Recovery

  • If a recording upload does not finish right away, Joe Speaking is better at retrying in the background.

  • The homepage video preview now works more smoothly across mobile and desktop.

  • The landing page now includes a new native-speaker IELTS episode with Prof. David.

This one is about trust. Your recording should make it through, and the first thing you see on the site should feel smooth and clear.

– Joe

v0.3.0

Welcome to Beta

  • The IELTS Speaking Simulator is now in Beta — more stable, more reliable scoring.

  • Network access check before practice — the app tells you if your connection can reach the AI service.

  • Redesigned onboarding with video walkthrough and smarter defaults.

  • New intro video and native-speaker IELTS challenge series on the landing page.

Alpha is done. This is Beta — the simulator is more stable, the onboarding actually makes sense now, and we check your network before you start practicing. Still building. Still listening.

– Joe

v0.2.17

Steadier Reconnects

  • If a speaking session briefly disconnects, the reconnection is less likely to cause a follow-up disconnect.

Reconnects should stick better now. One disconnect shouldn't snowball into two.

– Joe

v0.2.16

Smoother Recovery, Faster Progress

  • If a speaking session reconnects in the middle of your answer, Joe Speaking is better at keeping more of what you said.

  • Your progress and topic pages load faster, especially if you have a larger practice history.

  • Saved sessions refresh more reliably, so your latest details are less likely to look stale or incomplete.

This update should make practice feel steadier. If a session reconnects or your saved history refreshes, the app should do a better job keeping up.

– Joe

v0.2.15

Better Disconnect Reporting

  • If a speaking session drops, Joe Speaking now keeps clearer disconnect details so the cause is faster to investigate.

  • If you use Joe Speaking as an installed app, update checks are more reliable.

  • This update focuses on reliability follow-up rather than big visible changes.

This one is small on the surface, but important. Better disconnect reporting helps me track down session dropouts faster, and app updates should come through more reliably.

– Joe

v0.2.14

Faster Collections, Safer Sessions

  • Live speaking sessions are less likely to drop or lose progress when the connection blips

  • Reconnects do a better job preserving your speech, replay audio, and final scoring

  • The Collection tab loads faster, especially for larger libraries

  • Collection is better at remembering where you left off

This update is about smoother practice. Fewer interruptions, better recovery, and a faster Collection tab so the app stays out of your way.

– Joe

v0.2.13

Steadier Practice Sessions

  • Live speaking sessions are less likely to disconnect unexpectedly

  • Reconnects do a better job preserving what you just said

  • Recovered turns are more likely to keep matching replay audio

  • Saved history and uploads are more reliable on slow or unstable connections

This one is about trust. Fewer dropouts, better recovery, and safer saving so you can stay focused on speaking.

– Joe

v0.2.12

Stability Improvements

  • Fixed an issue that could cause unexpected disconnects

  • Speech during reconnection is buffered so nothing is lost

  • Audio saving and sharing on iOS are more reliable

This update is all about reliability. Fewer disconnects, smoother reconnections, and audio that actually saves on iOS. Practice without worrying about the tech.

– Joe

v0.2.11

Quick Fixes

  • Practice sessions reconnect more reliably

  • Scores and feedback show up more consistently after practice

Small but important fixes to keep your practice sessions running smoothly.

– Joe

v0.2.10

Steadier Sessions

  • Reconnections during practice are smoother and less disruptive

  • Practice sessions now upgrade to more detailed scoring automatically

  • The homepage has a refreshed animated headline

Small fixes that make practice feel more reliable. That's the goal.

– Joe

v0.2.9

Practice & Recover

  • Recover your streak for up to 3 missed days by completing flashcard reviews

  • Re-practice the same topic right after reviewing your feedback

  • AI grammar suggestions now include specific structure patterns and examples

Life happens — now your streak can handle it. Recover missed days and jump right back into practice.

– Joe

v0.2.8

Conversation Stability

  • Live sessions stay connected more reliably across all parts

  • Part 3 transcripts and replays now capture your full answers

  • Better improved-answer suggestions for Part 2 and Part 3

Conversations should feel smoother now — fewer drops, and your Part 3 answers won't go missing.

– Joe

v0.2.7

Recording Reliability

  • Long recordings on iPhone now transcribe reliably

  • Clearer error recovery when audio upload fails

  • Better progress feedback during upload

Longer recordings should just work now, especially on iPhone. If something goes wrong, the app tells you what actually happened.

– Joe

v0.2.6

Conversation Recovery

  • More stable Live conversations with automatic reconnection

  • Sessions recover seamlessly on iPhone and iPad

  • Long conversations handle server time limits in the background

This update is all about stability. Your conversations should just work — even when the connection doesn't.

– Joe

v0.2.5

Reliable Scoring

  • More stable Live conversations — fixed disconnection issues that could interrupt sessions

  • Scoring feedback is now more complete and consistent

  • Fixed login issues on mobile when using the app as an installed app

This release focuses on making your practice sessions more reliable — fewer interruptions, better scores, and more complete feedback.

– Joe

v0.2.4

Smoother Conversations

  • More stable Live conversations — fixed a disconnection issue in certain network conditions

  • Pinch-to-zoom and scroll focus on editorial pages for a more comfortable reading experience

  • Audio sharing on iOS is now faster and more reliable

Stable conversations matter most. This update fixes a disconnect issue we've been tracking — your practice sessions should now run more smoothly.

– Joe

v0.2.3

Live Conversation Diagnostics

  • Added internal logging to help investigate and resolve Live conversation issues faster

Real-time natural conversation is our core feature. This update gives us better tools to investigate issues across different situations.

– Joe

v0.2.2

Smoother Loading & Stability

  • Tabs load instantly with smooth skeleton placeholders instead of blank flashes

  • Long recordings now transcribe reliably without upload errors

  • Email unsubscribe links work even from older emails

  • Safari and iOS speech recognition is more reliable

Faster loading, fewer glitches. April will bring more.

– Joe

v0.2.1

Better Diagnostics & Fixes

  • Better diagnostics for live conversation connection issues to help us improve reliability faster

  • Scoring data is now validated to catch incomplete or malformed evaluations

  • Filler word detection (um, uh, you know) is working again

  • You can now receive product update emails with one-click unsubscribe

This patch adds better visibility into connection and scoring issues so we can fix them faster. Filler word detection is also back. More improvements coming in April.

– Joe

v0.2.0

Smoother Conversations

  • Live conversations are smoother and more natural, powered by Gemini 3.1 Flash Live

  • New Score Breakdown shows how you scored in each IELTS criterion

  • Better conversation quality with improved noise filtering and turn-taking

  • Redesigned mobile onboarding fits on one screen

This is one of our biggest updates since alpha. The live conversation experience is much better now. More improvements coming in April.

– Joe

v0.1.20

Polish & Safari Fixes

  • Your practice heatmap now shows your full history with a color legend

  • Fixed recording issues on Mac Safari

  • Clearer error messages when microphone access is denied

  • No more accidental zoom on mobile

Lots of small fixes this round — Safari users should have a much smoother experience now.

– Joe

v0.1.19

Dashboard & Speed

  • See your IELTS practice progress — scores, streaks, and topics covered

  • Browse the full question bank and track which topics you've practiced

  • Tabs switch instantly with no reloading

  • Fixed empty recordings on Mac Safari

You can finally see your progress in one place. The dashboard shows your scores, streaks, and which topics you've covered. Keep practicing.

– Joe

v0.1.18

Reliability & Sharing

  • Audio sharing is now more reliable with smoother format conversion

  • Safer credit handling prevents accidental double charges

  • Fixed audio conversion issues on iOS Safari

Sharing audio should feel rock solid now — especially on iOS. Also plugged a memory leak and made billing safer.

– Joe

v0.1.17

Stability & Speed

  • Upgraded to a more accurate speech recognition engine

  • Faster loading on mobile devices

  • Fixed rare issues with recordings disappearing during sync

This one's all under the hood — better accuracy, faster loads, and squashing the little bugs that got in the way.

– Joe

v0.1.16

Per-Question Recording & Feedback

  • IELTS Part 1 & Part 3 recordings now show each question inline in your transcript

  • AI feedback analyzes each question individually with specific tips and improved answers

  • Fixed recording delays for users with many sessions on iOS

This one's been on my list for a while. Now your Part 1 and Part 3 recordings actually show each question — and feedback covers every single one. Practice smarter.

– Joe

v0.1.15

Stability & Smarter Feedback

  • Length-adaptive feedback — longer recordings get deeper, more detailed analysis

  • CELPIP question bank now shows images directly for visual questions

  • Major production stability sweep — fewer errors, smoother experience

  • Billing accuracy improvements for simulator and feedback sessions

A reliability-focused release. Fewer errors, smarter feedback, and billing you can trust.

– Joe

v0.1.14

Faster, Smarter Feedback

  • New Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite mode is now live (newly released)

  • Feedback is faster while keeping strong scoring quality

  • Fixed the BYOK billing bug so billing matches your active key usage

  • Feedback and scoring retries are more reliable in edge cases

This one is about speed and quality together. Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite is now live.

– Joe

v0.1.13

Feedback Reliability & Landing Page Update

  • AI feedback is more reliable — fewer unexpected errors during practice sessions

  • Landing page copy and layout refreshed across all languages

Mostly invisible improvements under the hood. The app should feel a little more solid now.

– Joe

v0.1.12

Japanese Polish & Stability

  • Japanese landing, about, and navigation pages now read like they were written by a native speaker

  • Simulator sessions automatically recover from temporary server hiccups

Six rounds of native speaker review on the Japanese copy. It should feel like it belongs now.

– Joe

v0.1.11

Now in Japanese

  • Landing, about, and releases pages now available in Japanese

  • Credit requirements adapt to each practice type for a fairer experience

  • Navigation bar no longer flickers when scrolling or hovering

Chinese was four releases ago. Now Japanese. One language at a time.

– Joe

v0.1.10

Faster & More Reliable

  • Library loads noticeably faster, especially on mobile

  • Deleted simulator sessions no longer reappear

  • iPhone settings sync and simulator connections are more stable

This release is about polish. The library loads faster, bugs that made sessions reappear are gone, and iPhone users should see fewer crashes.

– Joe

v0.1.9

Better on iPhone

  • iPhone and iPad now use cloud speech recognition automatically

  • More IELTS students can find Joe Speaking through search engines

  • Language selection and data storage are more reliable

iPhones can't run speech recognition locally, so we made cloud the default. Just open the app, tap record, and it works.

– Joe

v0.1.8

Scoring & Stability

  • IELTS band scores now calculated more accurately

  • Simulator shows clear error messages when something goes wrong

  • More reliable session loading and network detection in China

Getting the scores right matters most. This release fixes how band scores are calculated and makes the simulator more honest when things go wrong.

– Joe

v0.1.7

Now in Chinese

  • Landing, about, and releases pages now available in Simplified and Traditional Chinese

  • Switch languages from the navigation bar, or let your browser choose automatically

  • Fixed several bugs with transcription, credit checks, and session management

Last release we added Alipay and network diagnostics for China. This time, the pages themselves speak Chinese. Step by step.

– Joe

v0.1.6

China Support & Payments

  • Pay with Alipay in Chinese Yuan — no USD conversion needed

  • Automatic network diagnostics for users behind the Great Firewall

  • No more login flicker or infinite loading spinners

This release is for our users in China. Paying should be painless, and a VPN shouldn't make the app unusable. We also squashed some of the most frustrating bugs.

– Joe

v0.1.5

Performance & Stability

  • Speech recognition loads 2–6 seconds faster

  • Simulator sessions start instantly on iOS Safari

  • Error screens now help you recover instead of getting stuck

This release is all about making things faster and more resilient. The app should feel snappier — especially on mobile.

– Joe

v0.1.4

Android & Simulator Fixes

  • Clearer error messages when speech recognition fails on Android

  • Simulator sessions are more stable during rapid interactions

Small but important fixes — especially for Android users. More to come.

– Joe

v0.1.3

Stability & Reliability

  • App now recovers automatically when local storage gets stuck

  • Deleting sessions feels instant with smoother UI updates

Small fixes, big difference. Reliability is the foundation everything else is built on.

– Joe

v0.1.2

Alpha Release

  • Practice IELTS speaking with a realistic AI conversation partner

  • Record yourself, replay, and track your progress over time

  • Get instant feedback with estimated band scores and suggestions

  • Pay only for what you use — no subscription required

80 days ago I started building this for myself. Today it’s yours. This is just the beginning.

– Joe