backchannel
Release archive
Every Backchannel release.
Version history for the open-source, self-hosted AI meeting assistant: desktop downloads, publish dates, and what changed in each release, newest first.
Release history
Each release page carries its own downloads, changelog, and first-run notes.
| Version | Published | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| v0.6.5 | September 4, 2026 | Long audio imports and Re-transcribe jobs now show progress and can be canceled without replacing an existing transcript with a partial result. End Call completes with transcript refinement enabled, safe Ask requests get one local PII-token repair before the tripwire checks again, connection and update states use plain language, and unmatched voices stay unknown instead of being mislabeled. |
| v0.6.4 | September 4, 2026 | Both exports rebuilt around the reader: the insights workbook opens on a summary sheet instead of an eighteen-column grid, and the call briefing became a document that leads with what came out of the meeting and keeps the transcript line behind every claim. Sidebar groups stay collapsed, the Privacy tab stopped reporting transcript refinement as a gap it never was, and a meeting costs noticeably fewer tokens to analyse. |
| v0.6.3 | September 3, 2026 | Local transcription produced no transcript at all in v0.6.1 and v0.6.2: the bundle was missing files the speech engine reads on every job, and the app reported itself ready anyway. Recordings from those meetings are recoverable by re-transcribing, which no longer erases a transcript it cannot replace. |
| v0.6.2 | September 3, 2026 | Creating a session could stick on "Creating..." forever behind a background model download that deadlocked; saving text no longer waits on a download at all. Model downloads are visible now, with progress, a reason when one fails and a Retry button, and local transcription works in the desktop app again. |
| v0.6.1 | September 3, 2026 | In-app updating no longer asks for an account: pressing Download update sent you to a sign-in for a build the portal hands to anyone, and a v0.6.0 install can now fetch this release on its own. Post-call Chat searches meetings by date like the sidebar, and the Privacy First review panel is readable in dark mode. |
| v0.6.0 | September 2, 2026 | The PII Shield: names, companies, contact details and identifiers become tokens before any model, local or cloud, or the database sees them, with on-device detection, an encrypted vault, honest audio coverage and an audit trail; session setup puts the action button at the top, and the sidebar search understands dates. |
| v0.5.4 | September 2, 2026 | A completed session opens on an executive Overview whose counts link to the rows behind them, the session sidebar is rebuilt with search and a quiet row menu, the briefing reads as one sheet, live-gateway token usage is counted per turn with audio and cached tokens priced at their own rates, and the local API refuses other websites and unknown hostnames. |
| v0.5.3 | August 25, 2026 | The quieter live call screen, built after the v0.5.2 bundles were cut, ships for the first time: three strategic signals ranked by the model instead of five in a fixed order, every signal filed as an insight you can star, dismiss and export, and a transcript column that folds to a rail. |
| v0.5.2 | August 16, 2026 | Supersedes the undistributed v0.5.1 and carries all of it: cost reporting in the Tokens tab including the per-minute live audio bridge, duplicate transcript entries suppressed on dual-track calls, and bounded analysis replies. Adds a post-call briefing whose item headings get the width of their card. |
| v0.5.0 | August 2, 2026 | First-run setup asks which provider you use instead of seeding one, strategic signals persist live and post-call, the briefing names speakers instead of identifiers, and every build path installs the dependency tree that was tested. |
| v0.4.0 | July 28, 2026 | Updates itself with a verified signature and rollback, measures whether the machine can keep up before a call, and carries Privacy First across agents, Analyze, Enhance Insights, and the briefing. |
| v0.3.8 | July 25, 2026 | Self-hosted models become first-class: every endpoint model shows by name, register more than one endpoint, and Privacy First keeps on-prem agents running. |
| v0.3.7 | July 25, 2026 | Analysis agents can run against a self-hosted OpenAI-compatible server such as Ollama or LM Studio. |
| v0.3.6 | July 23, 2026 | Completes OpenAI support across every agent and adds OpenAI batch transcription options. |
| v0.3.5 | July 23, 2026 | Actionable provider failures, refreshed OpenAI model lineup including GPT-5.6, and cost estimates for completed calls. |
| v0.3.4 | July 23, 2026 | Hotfix that repairs starting a call, broken in v0.3.1 through v0.3.3. |
| v0.3.3 | July 23, 2026 | Live Strategic Signals split from the post-call briefing trio, complete agent controls, diarization diagnostics repairs. |
| v0.3.2 | July 23, 2026 | Bundles ffmpeg with the Windows and Linux desktop builds; clearer audio-conversion errors. |
| v0.3.1 | July 23, 2026 | Guided first-run provider setup, default-browser app window on Windows, safely deletable session groups. |
| v0.3.0 | July 23, 2026 | Local voice enrollment for mic-only speaker identity, split End Call flow with on-demand briefings, per-call token usage. |
| v0.2.5 | July 22, 2026 | Dedicated desktop-app window and the latest Gemini Flash model defaults. |
| v0.2.4 | July 15, 2026 | Improved two-speaker diarization, key-free local ASR first use, lighter runtime memory. |
| v0.2.3 | July 13, 2026 | Stable live audio startup and split-track speaker attribution for mic-plus-system-audio calls. |
| v0.2.2 | July 13, 2026 | Desktop delivery moved to the authenticated Backchannel portal with stronger installer access controls. |
| v0.2.1 | July 11, 2026 | Brand icon on the desktop apps, session data protected across upgrades, automated Linux tarball release. |
| v0.2.0 | July 11, 2026 | Private early-access administration, richer meeting chat context, portable Linux x64 desktop bundle. |
| v0.1.1 | July 11, 2026 | Better call continuity, chat readability, speaker attribution, interface contrast, and Windows launch experience. |
| v0.1.0 | July 10, 2026 | First desktop release: Windows x64 and macOS Apple Silicon executables without Docker. |
Run the latest release on your own hardware
Desktop bundles for the fastest start, or check out the matching source tag and rebuild Docker Compose for maximum control.