What’s new.

Changed

• Safety (site audit): defib.live, getdefib.com and the status page now each publish where to report a security problem (/.well-known/security.txt), ask browsers to always use https (ready for the HSTS preload list), upgrade any stray http link, and stop other sites from embedding their files. Pages are marked "do not change on the way", so Cloudflare no longer slips its analytics beacon into them (it was being blocked, and showed as an error).
• Fixed: a mistyped address on defib.live now shows a "There is nothing at this address" page instead of a browser error. /favicon.ico works on all three.
• getdefib.com: clearer titles for Pricing, Partners, About, Press and Accessibility; search engines get who Defib is (home page) and when each page last changed (sitemap); the live line, heading order and the X-Ray demo button now pass the accessibility check (0 problems on every page, light and dark, desktop and phone).
• One red everywhere: getdefib.com, the status page, the logo pack (SVG, PNG, zip), the brand guide, one-pagers, slide template and social images now use the same red as the app (before, the site used a slightly different one). They look the same; the new one keeps dark text on red buttons readable.

Changed

• Safety: email from a company's workspace keeps "Pulse" as the sender. Only the subject and footer carry the company's name, so nobody can open a workspace called "Your Bank" and send as it.
• Safety: deleting a workspace needs a sign-in from the last 30 minutes, so a browser left signed in cannot do it.
• Safety: a workspace being deleted stops answering anything else straight away.

Changed

• New: status.getdefib.com, a public page that says whether Defib is working, with 90 days of history and notices. Checked every five minutes.
• New: a private console at status.getdefib.com/console for running Defib from one place: every part we watch, Check now, posting notices, pausing workspaces, growth and Live Wire numbers, and links to every service. Locked behind sign-in.
• getdefib.com: every page's footer now links to System status (status.getdefib.com).
• The welcome animation uses the app's own red, so the app shows one red throughout.
• getdefib.com: the Privacy page explains deleting a workspace from Admin; the Terms say the 50-voter limit is in force.

Changed

• Phones: voting pages keep clear of the iPhone notch and home bar, small buttons are easier to tap, taps respond straight away, and the Aa button no longer covers the last item on the page.
• The countdown bar on voters' phones now drains properly when the host sets a time on the spot (it used to stay empty).
• Notifications read well on an Apple Watch: voters see "Vote now · 1 min" first, and the host gets "Voting closed · 12 answers" when a timed question ends.

Changed

• getdefib.com: Live Wire issue 3, "The survey nobody opens", is on the Live Wire page.
• Admissions and the public demo no longer promise "free for up to 50 voters" as if it were enforced; they say it is free to start and the 50-voter limit is planned, matching the Terms.
• Search engines are told not to list staff pages, join pages or workspace addresses; only the public pages (home, Admissions, Live Wire, Help) may appear.
• The demo-tap counter can no longer be inflated by a script, and oversized requests are refused even when they hide their size.

Changed

• Live Wire now comes from Live Wire <clear@getdefib.com>, and replies to it reach a person (they used to go to an address nobody reads).

Changed

• Live Wire, the Defib newsletter. Sign up at defib.live/live-wire: we email you a link first, and nothing is kept until you click it. Every issue has a one-click unsubscribe that deletes your address. It replaces the name Vital Signs; past issues are at getdefib.com/live-wire (the old address still works).
• getdefib.com: a new Partners page with the planned terms for IT service providers (a partner price under list) and for facilitators and events (free, with the "Made with Pulse by Defib" line kept). Nothing is on sale yet.

Changed

• Phones buzz like Defib. For people who keep "buzz" on: a thump as a question opens, a lub-dub as results appear, and a long flatline buzz as the meeting ends or an Offbeat closes. Phones still never make sound. (Buzzing works on Android; iPhones do not allow it.)
• getdefib.com: headings flicker on like neon as you scroll to them, and a "Sound: off" switch in the header turns on the Defib sounds (the home page's "Charging… Clear!" monitor now thumps). Sound stays off unless you turn it on.

Changed

• The big screen makes the Defib sounds. A defibrillator thump and a flash as each question opens, three heartbeats as the first one starts, a soft beat as answers arrive, a neon "We have a pulse." when everyone has answered, the paddles charging and a thump as voting closes, and a flatline as the meeting ends. Only the big screen makes sound; phones stay quiet. "Sound: on" mutes it, and "Close: shock / flatline" picks what closing a vote sounds like. No sound in the Professional look or the call layout, and no flashes for anyone whose device asks for less motion.
• getdefib.com has a new opening, designed by Rob: a flatline with its tone, the thump of a defibrillator, then three heartbeats that light up neon PULSE, OFFBEAT and a big DEFIB. The home page's "Shock your meetings back to life" shows on its own for a second before the rest appears. Once per visit; Skip, any key or a scroll ends it; nothing plays for people who ask their device for less motion. If the browser holds back sound, a "Sound on" button plays it again with sound.

Changed

• Code Blue is now called Murmur. , and the "Discharge early" tool is now just Discharge. Nothing else changes: the room still asks "Discharge early?" and the end screen still says "Discharged early: saved 18 minutes". Spanish: Murmullo; French: Murmure.
• Help now has topics for Small Doses and for Jolt, in English, Spanish and French.
• getdefib.com catches up: Jolt is on the home and Pulse pages, the Anonymity page (with its two honest limits), Pricing (Free), the press sheet and the story so far; the new names are used everywhere.

Changed

• Jolt: a secret devil's advocate. Press "Jolt" (6 or more people in the room) and Pulse quietly gives one person, or two in a room of 12 or more, the job of arguing the other side. Every phone shows the same sealed card, opened by pressing and holding, so nobody knows who has it and anyone can push back. Typed push-backs show on the big screen with no name. "End Jolt" asks everyone one quick question: did that change your mind?
• Plans behind the scenes: Pulse now knows which features belong to Free, Solo, Company and Business, and tools outside a workspace's plan carry a small label. Nothing is locked for anyone yet; that switch stays off until payment exists. The old "team" plan is now called Company.

Changed

• Small Doses: breakout groups in a click. Press "Small Doses" and the room is split into small colour groups for a few minutes. Each group writes one shared takeaway on their phones, anonymously, and "Bring everyone back" puts every group's takeaway on the big screen.
• Small Dose takeaways are kept with the meeting: they appear in the meeting report, the CSV and full exports, the AI summary, Chart (as counts) and each person's own summary. A takeaway the host hides stays out of all of them. You can also save a Small Dose to the question bank or paste one in with "Small dose:" or "Breakout:" in front.

Changed

• Admissions safety fixes: an address is only ever released if nobody ever used it; team names cannot hide web addresses written with unusual full stops; email addresses ending in a dot are refused. Invisible characters are dropped from team names. Workspaces that were ever set up are marked as claimed and are never released.

Changed

• Admissions are open. Anyone can open their own free Defib workspace at defib.live/admissions: fill in an email, a team name and an address, click the link we email, and set up your sign-in. Nothing is saved until the link is clicked.
• The public demo now offers "Start your own room" once a result is on screen.
• Real Terms and Privacy policy pages on getdefib.com, written for the free plan.
• Wrong platform-key attempts are now kept only as a scramble, never as a plain network address.

Privacy

• Rhythm counts one question per mood line per meeting. If the same Rhythm question was in a meeting twice, its answers were added together, which could show an average for a group smaller than the smallest-group rule allows.

New

• Silent Start. For the meeting where two people do all the talking: in a live session, type a prompt, pick 2, 3 or 5 minutes, and every phone gets a box for up to five short ideas. Nobody sees any ideas during the quiet time, the host included, only the countdown and how many are in. When time is up the ideas are sorted into at most eight groups (by the AI where it is connected, sent the words only; otherwise matching ideas are merged and the host groups the rest), the host tidies them, and "Vote on these" turns them into a pick-up-to-three question with the ideas listed under each group. Ideas are never shown in the order they arrived, and who wrote which is wiped the moment the quiet time ends.
• Follow-through and Chart. When you open a meeting, the Sessions screen lists the actions and decisions from earlier meetings of that series; "Ask the room: did this happen?" puts a one-minute anonymous tap (Yes, Partly, No, Don't know) on every phone, and what the room said is kept on the action or decision (totals only, held back when too few answer). Chart, a new page in the menu, is a searchable plain-language record of every meeting that has ended: what was asked, decided and promised, to copy or download as text.
• Pre-op: ask it first, maybe skip the meeting. On a scheduled session with people invited, the organiser can send one decision question in writing (as an Offbeat) before the meeting. If the answer comes back clear, Pulse offers to cancel the meeting, cancel the calendar invitation and email everyone the result; nothing is cancelled unless the organiser says so. If it is not clear, the meeting goes ahead and the result can be shown at the start.
• Forecast calls and Rhythm. Mark a yes/no question as a forecast with a date (“Will we ship by the 30th?”): when voting closes every screen shows “The room says 68% likely”, and the new Forecasts page (menu, under Review) lists open forecasts, lets the person who asked say what really happened once the date has passed (they are told once, and the Sessions screen shows “Forecasts to settle”), and after five settled forecasts shows how well the room’s forecasts match reality. Rhythm is a team mood heartbeat for a repeating meeting: its organiser switches it on and picks up to three built-in 1-to-5 questions, the host adds them with one “Run Rhythm” button, and the new Rhythm page draws one line per question across the last twelve meetings and flags a drop (“Dropped: Energy 2.9, was 3.8”; the organiser is told once). Both keep totals and averages only, never who answered what, and hold back anything from too few people.
• Org check-up. , a new page under Review for admins and super users: for this quarter, last quarter, the last 30 days or this year it shows how many meetings were held, the hours and (where the cost meter is used) the money they took, hours given back, decisions and follow-up actions, each against the period before; one sortable row per repeating meeting with its Vitals state, a download of the rows, and where the time went. Totals only: nothing shows what anyone answered or who attended.

Fixed

• X-Ray and the confidence check can be switched on from the question editor again. Since 1.32.0 the two switches showed in the editor but were not saved; they are now.
• A meeting cancelled after its Pre-op is not labelled "Discharged early", and the Forecasts page no longer shows a stray word under its list.

New

• Console, the fourth and last layout for the Sessions screen. Choose it under your name, in "Layout and design". The Sessions screen becomes a calm, spacious home page: a tall header with Defib's mark, links to Sessions, the question bank, Analytics, Help and Admin in the middle, and your name, search and the menu at the right; one large line that says what is going on (how many rooms are live, how many Offbeats are open) with the Pulse / Offbeat switch under it, where Demo mode is a third choice; up to four cards for the sessions that matter now (live first, then what is scheduled, then the newest, then the last one closed), each with its join code and one button for the natural next step; a "Start something new" band (create a session, start an InstaPulse, create an Offbeat); and a short table of every session that sorts by any column and opens out with "Show all". The InstaPulse, new session, kits and question bank panels sit under it as before. The staff menu is never docked at the side in this layout: it opens from the Menu button and holds everything the header's links do not. Works in Electric and Professional, for Pulse and Offbeat, on a phone, and with every Size, Lines, Corners, Glow and Movement setting (the dashed outlines follow Lines and Corners). Classic, Ops, Channels and Tracker are unchanged.

Fixed

• The open session's header no longer overlaps itself. In the Classic, Ops and Tracker layouts, on a window of ordinary laptop width with the menu docked at the side, the settings column sat on top of the session's name and its buttons. The settings now drop underneath whenever the session's own column is too narrow for both, however wide the window is.
• The stray words "false", "undefined" and "null" no longer appear on the Analytics page (with one host), the Phone remote (with no next question) and, in some states, the Help, What's new and Vitals pages and the meeting cost details.

The public site

• Real screens. from Pulse, taken in its own demo, on the Pulse and Press pages.
• One good question. twelve questions worth asking, with when and why.
• Vital Signs. issue 2, and an eleven-page brand guide to download.

Fixed

• The public demo that was already running did not pick up its new X-Ray question in 1.35.0 (only a brand-new demo did). It now takes on changes to its questions' settings each time it starts.
• The three beats before the first question were cut short as soon as the first vote arrived, so a busy room barely saw them. They now play in full.

New

• X-Ray in meeting reports. A report now shows, under each X-Ray question, what the room thinks beside what it guessed, with the headline about the gap and the "Surprisingly popular" mark, exactly as the screens did (and the confidence check's totals with it). The report's download has two new columns at the end, how many people guessed each answer would be the most popular and that as a share, plus one line with the gap in words. The Slack and email versions of a report carry that line too. The answer-by-answer download is unchanged.
• X-Ray in the public demo. "What kills a meeting fastest?" now asks visitors one more tap: how will the room answer? The simulated audience guesses too, so the results show a gap. The demo still takes taps only; "how sure are you" stays switched off there.
• In the staff sandbox, the simulated audience now also guesses on X-Ray questions.

Privacy

• Reports hold X-Ray totals only, never who guessed what, and leave them out whenever the question's result is held back for a small group. The public demo wipes guesses wherever it wipes answers.

The public site

• Fixed. with the Daylight layout chosen, the Pulse and Offbeat pages stayed dark under the light header. They are light now, and the Offbeat page uses Offbeat's orange for its highlights. Neon is unchanged.

New

• Tracker, a third layout for the Sessions screen. Choose it under your name, in "Layout and design". Sessions are arranged like an issue tracker, good at sorting and finding: a header with tabs for Sessions, Offbeat, the question bank, Analytics and Admin (with counts); saved filters down the left (all sessions, hosted by me, shared with me, live now, recent activity, and each of your meeting series); and one list with "Open" and "Closed" counts, drop-downs for host, product, series and sort order, and a row per session showing its state, labels, join code, host, date and how many people or questions it has. The filter box above the list can be typed in (for example is:open host:me budget); it always matches the buttons, says which terms it did not understand, and remembers your last filter on this device. The create form, InstaPulse, Coming up and the question bank sit under the list. In Tracker the staff menu opens from the Menu button on every page instead of sitting at the side. Classic, Ops and Channels look exactly as before.

Fixed

• The word "false" no longer appears in the Reminders, "You said, we did", Lightning round and Custom themes panels of a session when one of their lists is empty.
• Channels: the "Was this worth your time?" strip now sits under "Join and run" instead of showing on every tab.

The public site

• What's new. every version of Pulse and Offbeat on a public page, in plain words.
• Press. Defib in 25, 50 and 100 words, and a fact sheet.
• About. , an Accessibility statement (what has been checked and what has not), and Vital Signs, a letter about meetings, with its first issue.
• The new tools, one at a time, with X-Ray as the answer. The home page and the Pulse page have a new section that shows the eight tools added in 1.32.0 in turn: X-Ray, Clear!, Code Blue, Shock deck, Crash cart, Triage, Discharge early and Vitals. Each has its name, a line, what it does, and a small drawing. It starts on X-Ray ("See what the room really thinks. Then see what it thought it thought."), stays there longest, moves on by itself, and has previous and next buttons, a button for each tool and a pause button. Choosing a tool by hand holds it still, and the stage goes back to X-Ray after half a minute. It never moves by itself for people who have asked their device for less motion, and with scripts switched off it is a plain list of all eight. Every sentence was checked against the app, and the page says the figures in the drawings are samples.

New

• Channels, a second layout for the Sessions screen. Choose it under your name, in "Layout and design". The console is arranged like a team-chat app: Pulse, Offbeat and the main destinations in a narrow strip on the left; your sessions as a list under "Live now", "Up next", "Sessions" and "Closed" (on the Offbeat side, "Open" and "Closed"); and the open session beside it, its questions running down the page like a feed with the add-question box pinned underneath. Tabs over the session hold everything else it has: the question bank, joining and running the meeting, reports and settings. What is on screen now shows in a pane on the right, and each question says how many people have answered. On a phone the list comes first and a session opens in its place, with an arrow back. Nothing was removed: every button the console had is still there, and Classic and Ops look exactly as before.

New

• X-Ray and the confidence check: see what the room really thinks, then what it thought it thought. Two new switches on yes or no and pick-one multiple choice questions (the confidence check also works on ratings). With X-Ray, each person answers and then taps the answer they expect to be the most popular; the results show what the room thinks beside what it guessed, name the biggest gap ("82% of you chose No. Only 30% guessed the room would.") and mark the surprisingly popular answer. With the confidence check, each person also taps how sure they are (Not sure, Fairly sure, Certain) and the results show how sure each side is. Both taps are optional, are shown only as totals on phones, the host console and the big screen, and are held back in small groups like every other result.
• Clear! decision moments, a decision log and Second opinion. Mark a single-choice, yes/no or rating question as “Clear! — decision moment” and nobody sees the results while voting is open, the host included: only how many have answered. Press Clear! (or let its time limit run out) and everyone sees the result at the same moment, so nobody copies the boss. Afterwards the host records what was decided, filled in with what won; the new Decisions page in the menu lists these, newest first, with the totals and a search. Second opinion then asks the room one anonymous written question: what is the strongest reason this is wrong? The decision log keeps totals and the host’s words only, never who answered what; it is in the full export and follows the data-retention setting.
• Wake up a quiet room in one tap, and start common meetings ready-made. The Shock deck fires one of 30 ready-made energisers and icebreakers straight into a live session (or "Surprise me"); Crash cart creates a whole session from a kit (Retro, All-hands, Stand-up, Onboarding, Training, Town hall, Board or team vote, Project kickoff, Feedback for the presenter); Triage the agenda asks the room which agenda items really need covering and names the least wanted one; and a live heartbeat line in the host console offers the Shock deck when the room has been quiet for four minutes. All in English, Spanish and French, and nothing new is stored about voters.
• Code Blue and Discharge early. People in a meeting can quietly tell the host "We’re off track", "I’m lost" or "We could stop here"; the host hears of it only when enough people say so at once, and never who or how many. The host can also ask the room "Discharge early?" with a one-tap vote, and a meeting ended before its planned length shows the minutes (and, with the cost meter, roughly the money) it gave back, added up as "Given back so far" on the Sessions screen.
• Meetings that can die, and Vitals. Every repeating meeting now has a heartbeat: when one ends, each phone gets one anonymous tap, "Was this worth your time?". A new Vitals page (menu, under Review) shows each meeting series as a heartbeat line with a 0 to 100 score and one word: Healthy, Weak or Flatlining. When a series flatlines three times in a row, the host can ask the room to vote, anonymously, to revive it (shorter, less often, different people) or call it; if the room calls it and the organiser confirms, the series ends, invitations Pulse sent for its next date are cancelled, and Pulse shows an estimate of the hours given back. Only totals are ever shown, never from fewer than three people, and never who chose what. Organisers also get a short monthly Vitals email they can switch off.

Privacy

• All of the above keep Pulse's anonymity rule: only totals leave the server, small groups are held back, and nothing new is stored about a voter beyond the same random id an answer uses. A Code Blue press ends when its person leaves the session, so a signal can never appear at the moment someone rejoins. A question that is both Clear! and X-Ray keeps its X-Ray totals sealed until voting closes.

New

• A heartbeat when you sign in. The first staff page after signing in opens on black with three heartbeats, each fainter than the last, then the console appears. Any click or key skips it.
• A countdown as a meeting starts. When a session has a start time, the waiting room on every phone and on the big screen shows "Starts in 4:32" with a pulse that beats faster as the time gets closer. The last ten seconds take over the whole screen: one big number and one heartbeat a second, then "Clear!". The waiting room also shows the room's own pulse: joins and answers in the last minute.
• Three beats before the first question. When a waiting room goes live, phones and the big screen count 3, 2, 1 together. It is skipped for a question on a timer shorter than 30 seconds, for an Offbeat and for the public demo.
• None of these play in the Professional look, in the call layout, or on a device that asks for less motion. A session's start time is now sent to voters' pages as well as the host's; it says nothing about anyone.

The public site

• Dark neon is the default look again. , in the colours approved on 13 November: Defib in electric yellow, the Pulse pages in deep red lit with light orange, the Offbeat pages in orange lit with light red. The light Daylight layout is still one click away at the foot of each page.
• An opening. The first page of a visit opens on black with three heartbeats, each fainter than the last, then the page appears. Any click, key or scroll skips it, and it does not play for people whose device asks for less motion.
• One beating button. (Try a live poll) and a light that runs along the line under the menu.
• Templates. ten ready-made polls that paste straight into the question bank.
• Guides. seven short how-tos for hosts and the four presenter keys.
• Two things to play with. "What did that meeting cost?" (a calculator with a live meter) and "Could this meeting have been a poll?" (six taps and a verdict). Nothing is stored or sent.
• Brand page. with every mark, the colours, the type and the rules, and one download of all the logo and icon files.

Fixed

• Switching from the Electric theme to another theme no longer leaves one of an organisation's own Electric colours (Offbeat's highlight) behind on the page. Nothing visible changed.

Changed

• Emails and app icons in the new colours. Every email now wears the same colours as the app: Pulse mail the deep red lit with orange, Offbeat mail (the link, the reminder, the results) orange lit with red, and mail about your own account (sign-in link, security notice, "you have been added") a yellow Defib header. The words of each email are unchanged. The app icon you install, the browser tab icons and the picture shown when a Pulse link is shared were redrawn in the new red. Emails and icons now take their colours from the same place as the app, with tests that fail if they ever differ.

New

• Layouts, starting with Ops. "Layout and design" on your account page has a new first row, Layout: Classic (Pulse as it has always been) or Ops, which arranges the Sessions page like an operations dashboard. Ops shows every Pulse session and Offbeat poll in one sortable table (name, product, join code, status, when, questions, people, answers, host), with filter chips (Open, Closed, All, Mine, Pulse, Offbeat), four summary cards (live now, Pulse open, Offbeat open, follow-ups open) and a strip comparing the last seven days with the seven before. Its toolbar has New session, Share (a link to the view with its filters), Export (the rows shown, as a spreadsheet file), Search, Select (tick rows, then export or delete them), Columns (choose which columns show, remembered on this device), Customize and Refresh; the list also refreshes itself every minute. Clicking a row opens the session as before, with an "All sessions" button to come back. In Ops the side menu shows counts (open sessions, open Offbeats, questions in the bank) and, at its foot, whether the page is connected (LIVE or OFFLINE) and the version. Nothing changes for anyone who stays on Classic.

New

• Phones get your attention when a question opens. A phone with the voting page open buzzes (on Android), flashes a frame round the page, and flashes the tab title if its owner has looked away. Voters can switch this off or add a short sound under "Alerts" on the voting page.
• Nudge everyone. A new button beside End session makes every open phone buzz and flash at once, for when answers have slowed. It waits 20 seconds between nudges.
• Notifications, even when Pulse is closed. Staff choose Notifications in the menu and turn them on per device: Pulse then says when an Offbeat of theirs has closed with results ready, and when a question comes in on Q&A in a session they host. "Send a test" checks it works. Voters can choose "Notify me about new questions" for one session. On an iPhone or iPad this needs Pulse installed to the home screen, so the Alerts panel offers Install Pulse too. Needs two keys set on the server once; until then only the buzz, flash and nudge are offered.
• Help has a new topic, "Alerts, nudges and notifications".

Privacy

• A voter's notification address is kept against the session only, with no voter id, time or order beside it, in a list that is never matched to answers, and is deleted when the session ends. Notifications never carry an answer, and a Q&A notification to the host never carries what was asked. The anonymity page on getdefib.com explains this.
• Signing out, or an admin signing someone out everywhere, stops notifications to those browsers.

New

• Electric colours, your way. Admin → Look and feel has a new "Electric colours" section where an admin can retune the four neon colours of the Electric theme for their organisation: Pulse's main colour and highlight, and Offbeat's. Pick each one on a colour wheel, from a row of ready-made pairs worked out from the Defib colours (warmer, cooler, analogous, split complement, complement, reverse), or by typing a hex value or CMYK percentages. A preview shows a button, a live chip and the product mark on the dark background before anything is saved, and "Back to the Defib default" undoes it all. The colours then show for signed-in staff and for voters in that organisation's sessions, big screen included. Other themes are never changed.
• Pulse refuses to save a colour that cannot be seen on the dark background, and says so in plain words; it also warns when a colour is fine as a line or a glow but would be hard to read as text. The server makes the same checks, and only admins can change the colours.

New

• Alive neon: a new look for Pulse and Offbeat. In the Electric theme Pulse is now a deep red lit with light orange, and Offbeat is the same reversed: orange lit with red, on its own ground. Lines, borders and quiet text take the product's colour instead of grey, and the product's name in the top bar runs from its colour into its highlight. Defib's own bolt stays electric yellow.
• The button that matters has a pulse. The main button of a page, "Open voting" and "Close voting", "Next question", "Send Offbeat", and the Save button of any form you have typed in now beat with a glow: twice a second in Pulse, a slow breath in Offbeat. A light also runs along the line under the top bar and a faint band crosses the live question. It all holds still in the video-call layout and for anyone whose device asks for less motion. Disabled and delete buttons never glow.
• Layout and design: draw Pulse your way. On your account page (click your name) there is a new section with five choices: Size (Mini, Compact, Small, Medium, Large: text, buttons, rows and spacing scale together), Lines (Lite, Regular, Bold), Corners (Sharp, Soft, Round or as the look has them), Glow (Off, Soft, Full neon) and Movement (Still, Calm, Alive). A change shows at once, is saved for you and follows you to every device you sign in on. "Back to the defaults" undoes it all. Glow and movement only apply in the Electric look on a dark theme.

Changed

• The Electric theme's red is #f52249 (was #ff2d55) and its "live" colour is light orange #ffb35c (was yellow) inside the products. Emails, app icons and the public site still use the earlier colours until they are redone.

New

• Install Pulse. The staff menu has an "Install Pulse" button. In Chrome, Edge and on Android it opens the browser's own install box; on an iPhone, iPad, Safari on a Mac or Firefox it shows the two taps that browser needs instead. Once Pulse is installed (its own window and icon), the button goes away.
• A proper offline screen. If a page cannot load because there is no connection, Pulse now shows its own "You are offline" screen, in English, Spanish or French, with a Try again button. It reloads by itself when the connection comes back. Voters get it too.

Privacy

• The small helper file that makes the offline screen possible (sw.js) keeps three files on the device: the offline screen, its script and the Pulse icon. It never stores a page, an answer, or anything about a person, and everything else goes to the network exactly as before.

New

• A guide to Pulse in Slack. Help now explains how to run a poll from Slack ("Pulse in Slack: a poll in a channel") and, for admins, how to connect a Slack workspace step by step ("Connecting Slack"), in English, Spanish and French. The Pulse in Slack card in Admin links straight to it, and now also shows when Slack has not been switched on for this Pulse yet.
• The public help page on getdefib.com answers "Can I run a poll in Slack?" and "How does an admin connect Slack?".
• For whoever runs the server: docs/slack-setup.md is the one-time Slack app setup, with a table of what to check when something goes wrong.

New

• Pulse in Slack. Type /pulse Where should the offsite be? | Austin | Denver | Nashville in a Slack channel and Pulse posts the question with a button for each answer (leave the answers out and the buttons are Yes and No). Everyone in the channel answers once and can change their mind. While the poll is open the message shows only how many have answered; when it closes, after 24 hours or when the person who started it presses "Close now", the same message turns into the results. Each poll is also an ordinary session in Pulse, owned by whoever started it.
• Starting a poll is for people with a Pulse account (matched by the email address on their Slack profile); anyone in the channel can answer. The "smallest number of answers" setting applies in Slack too: below it the results are held back.
• Admin → Privacy and connections → Pulse in Slack → Connect Slack. ties a Slack workspace to a company's Pulse. One Slack workspace belongs to one company; it cannot be connected to a second. Disconnecting hands the access back to Slack. (The older "Slack channel for reports" connection is separate and unchanged.)
• A poll deleted in Pulse is taken down in Slack.

Privacy

• Slack tells Pulse who pressed a button. Pulse never stores that: it is turned into a scrambled id with a key that exists for one poll only, and the key is destroyed the moment the poll closes, before the results are posted. After that an answer cannot be traced to anyone. While a poll is open, someone with direct access to the database could work out a named person's answer; no screen, report or export shows it. The anonymity page on getdefib.com says so.

New

• Usage is counted per company per month. (sessions made, the biggest room, emails sent, AI summaries). Numbers only, kept in a small registry that never holds people or answers.

Changed

• The Defib site now opens in the Daylight layout. Neon is still there: switch at the foot of any page (Layout: Neon / Daylight) or with ?layout=neon, and the choice is remembered in that browser. People who had already picked a layout keep their pick.

New

• A public demo anyone can try, with no host and no sign-in. defib.live/try opens a never-ending demo session: a question opens, a simulated audience answers alongside you, the result shows, and the next question follows. It lives in its own separate database, apart from the real Pulse and from the staff demo. To keep it safe to leave open to the internet: nobody can sign in to it, every question is answered with a tap (nothing a visitor types is ever shown to another visitor, reactions are emoji only, no nicknames), each question's answers are wiped before it is asked again, and it pauses itself after three minutes with nobody answering.
• A public activity feed for the Defib site. (/api/public/pulse): how many things happened in the public demo in each of the last 30 seconds, and how many people are in it. Counts only; real meetings are never part of it.
• The Defib site has a live heartbeat. Under the menu on every page of getdefib.com a heart monitor line shows the public demo as it happens: a tall beat when a real person joins, answers or reacts, a small blip for the simulated audience, a flat line when nobody is there, and a count of who is in it. It wears Pulse's colours on the Pulse page and Offbeat's on the Offbeat page (where the beat lands the other way up), and carries on as you move between pages. "Try a live poll" now opens the public demo. The site's only outside call is that one read of public counts from defib.live.
• Emails in the Defib look. Sign-in links, security notices, Offbeat links, reminders and results, and emailed reports now arrive with a dark header carrying the product name, an easy-to-read body and clickable links. The plain-text version is still sent alongside. Calendar invitations are unchanged (plain text with their attachment).
• One look for everyone. Admin, "Look and feel", "Default look for everyone": Electric, Professional, or follow each meeting's theme. It applies on every screen, voting pages and the big screen included, for anyone who has not chosen their own look. A person's own choice wins.
• A point of light travels along the heartbeat line. in the top bar in the Electric look. Off in the Professional look, on light pages, in the video-call layout and under reduced motion.
• A second layout for the Defib site, "Daylight". The same pages arranged the way large software companies arrange theirs: a slim top row, drop-down menus (Products, Solutions, Trust) with two buttons, a centred opening, cards, a band of numbers and a wide five-column footer, on a light ground. Switch at the foot of any page (Layout: Neon / Daylight) or with ?layout=daylight; the choice stays in that browser. Neon is still what everyone sees first; one word in site/public/js/layout.js makes Daylight the default.
• Two new sections on the site's home page. (both layouts): four true numbers (0 names stored, 6 characters to join, 0 apps, 3 languages) and "Where it earns its place" (all-hands, retros, training, client reviews).
• "Made with Pulse by Defib". (or Offbeat) at the foot of every voter page, linking to getdefib.com.

Changed

• Every remaining session and InstaPulse profile moves to Electric neon. Version 1.22.3 moved the ones on the old default theme. This moves the rest, whatever theme they had (seasonal, Light, Dark, Professional, a client's custom theme), once, when this version arrives. Every theme, custom ones included, is still in the list: set a session or profile back under "Meeting theme" and it stays. Pulse keeps a note of what each one was before.

The public site

• A public website for Defib, live at getdefib.com (13 November 2026). Home, Pulse, Offbeat, How anonymity works, Pricing (planned prices, clearly marked as not on sale), Help and contact, and a "page not found" page, in the neon look. It lives in site/ and runs as its own small worker, defib-site, separate from the app. No sign-up form, no cookies, no tracking.

Changed

• The tab icon and the browser bar colour match Electric neon from the first moment a page opens.

Fixed

• Demo data is all-or-nothing. If the invented demo data cannot be written in full, none of it is kept and Pulse tries again on the next visit, instead of leaving a half-filled demo. "Reset demo data" works the same way: if the refill fails, the old demo data stays.

New

• Two new themes: Electric neon and Professional. Electric neon is neon on black (Pulse red, Offbeat orange, Defib yellow). Professional is a clean light theme. Pick them wherever themes are picked, for yourself or for a session. Every older theme is still there.
• Look and feel: Electric or Professional,. on your account page (click your name). It is your own setting and follows you to every device you sign in on. It is separate from the theme: the theme changes colours, the look changes behaviour. Electric has glow, a heartbeat on anything live, tall capital headlines, sharper corners and playful wording. Professional has no glow, nothing that keeps moving, plain wording, and mascots, falling decorations and the hidden extras switched off. "Match the theme" is the starting choice.
• "Charging… Clear!". In the Electric look, when voting closes the big screen shows a flat line charging, one flash, the line jumping into a heartbeat, and then the results. It takes under two seconds and one tap or any key skips it. It never runs in Professional, in the video-call layout, or when your device is set to reduce motion.
• Glow and motion with rules. Live things beat (the live chip, the timer, the Pulse mark while a question is open); the name flickers on once when a page opens; Offbeat breathes at half the speed. Movement stops in the video-call layout and with reduced motion. Nothing flashes more than three times a second.
• The brand's own typefaces. (Big Shoulders Display and Inter, both free to use) are now part of Pulse, so the two new looks are the same on Windows, Android and Apple devices.
• The Defib name where the company speaks. the sign-in page, your account page and the foot of the join page say "by Defib" (the DEFIB sign and "No flatlines." in the Electric look).
• Link previews and "add to home screen". A link to Pulse pasted into Slack, Teams or a message now shows a picture, title and description; phones get a proper app icon.
• Two wording sets. Electric: "Flatline. Somebody tap something.", "We have a pulse.", "Full house. Strong pulse.", "Got it. Nice one.". Professional: "No answers yet.", "First answer received.", "Everyone has answered.", "Answer received.". Error messages and the anonymity promise read the same in every look. All of it is in Spanish and French too.

Changed

• Errors never rely on red alone. Every error message, error pop-up and delete-style button now carries a warning sign (⚠) as well as its words, in every theme, and never glows.
• In the two new themes the Pulse mark is Pulse red and the tab icon matches it;. Offbeat has its own orange in each theme, and on Offbeat screens orange is the main colour.
• Page titles. now read "Pulse · Join a session", "Offbeat · (the poll's name)", "Defib · Sign in".
• The presenter's status line is now translated, and in the two new looks adds one line about how the room is doing.

Fixed

• The line under a question on the voter's phone was always blank. "Your vote is in. Tap another option to change it.", "Voting is closed for this question." and the quiz "Correct!" line had not shown since version 1.11.0. They show again.

New

• "I'm done" for voters. A button on the voting page lets a person say they have finished and step out; the host sees how many have finished. "Go back in" undoes it.
• Rude-word filter switch. Each host chooses whether answers with rude words are held back in their own sessions: a switch in session settings and on the account page. It is on unless you switch it off, and it now covers word clouds too.
• Sign out of all devices. on the account page (menu: click your name).
• Security notices by email. when your password is set or changed, an admin sets a one-time code for you, removes your password or changes your role.

Fixed

• Demo mode works on a brand-new Pulse. On a freshly created database, switching to demo mode failed and every page stayed empty until demo mode was left. The same gap also broke the follow-up actions list on a new database until its first restart. Existing sites were not affected.

New

• What's new: the whole history of Pulse, inside Pulse. A new page lists every version, newest first, with the date and time it went live (in your own time zone) and each change in plain words. Search it for a word or a version number. Find it in the menu, on the Help page, and from the "new version" card. The notes themselves are in English.
• Search everywhere. Press / or Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on a Mac), or choose Search, and type a few letters to jump to a screen, a help topic, a version note or one of your own sessions by name. Staff screens only; voters never see it.
• Help has three new topics: "The menu and search", "What's new" and "Finding a help topic".

Changed

• A tidier menu. Every screen is now in one grouped menu: Run (Sessions, Offbeat, Question bank), Review (Analytics), Learn (Help, What's new, Feature requests) and Manage (Admin), with your account, language, Demo mode and Sign out at the bottom. On a computer it sits down the left side and can be shrunk to icons or tucked behind a Menu button; the choice is remembered on that device. On a phone it opens from the Menu button. Escape closes it and it works from the keyboard. The language menu moved from the top bar into this menu.
• A simpler Help page. Topics are closed until you choose one, the contents list stays beside the page on a wide screen, search highlights what it finds and works in Spanish and French, each topic has its own link, and topics only admins can act on are marked "For admins". Nothing was removed; the downloads and printing are under "Download or print", and the tour switch and My connections moved to the bottom of the page.

New

• See and control where you are signed in. Click your name in the menu: your account page now shows how many other browsers are signed in, a "Sign out everywhere else" button, and your recent activity (sign-ins, and any change to your password or passkeys) so you can spot anything that was not you.
• "Also remove my passkeys". tick box when you change your password, for when someone else may have had access. It is ticked for you when you are replacing a forgotten password.
• Email notice when your sign-in details change. a password created, changed or removed, or a passkey added or removed. Sent only when email is connected.
• Admin: "Sign out everywhere". for any person in the People list, without changing anything else.
• Admin: passkeys instead of passwords. A new switch stops people who have a passkey from signing in with a password, so a stolen password is useless for them. An emailed link or a one-time code still works if a device is lost.
• Admin, with Duo required. let passkey sign-ins skip Duo, and choose how many days (1 to 30) a sign-in lasts before Duo is asked for again.

Fixed

• If Duo cannot be reached, an emailed sign-in link or one-time code is no longer used up; it works once Duo is back.
• Changing or removing a password, removing passkeys or deactivating a person now also cancels any sign-in of theirs that is still waiting at the Duo prompt, so it cannot be finished afterwards.

New

• Sign in with a passkey. Use your fingerprint, face or device PIN instead of typing a password. Click your name in the menu, then "Add a passkey on this device" (up to 10, each with a name you choose). After that, "Sign in with a passkey" on the sign-in page gets you in without typing an email address. Passwords, emailed links and one-time codes still work. Only the public half of a passkey is kept; it cannot be used to sign in.
• Admin: see and remove passkeys. The People list shows how many passkeys each person has, with a Remove passkeys button for a lost phone or laptop.
• Duo as a second step at sign-in (optional). Once an admin connects Duo and switches on "Require Duo at sign-in", everyone approves a Duo prompt after their password, passkey, emailed link, one-time code or Google sign-in. An admin has to pass "Test Duo with my account" before the switch unlocks. If Duo cannot be reached, nobody is let in until it is back; the owner passcode is the one way in that skips Duo. Voters are never asked. Setup steps are in the README.
• Help has two new sections: "Signing in with a passkey" and "Duo as a second step at sign-in".

New

• "A new version is here.". If you have Pulse open when it is updated, a small card appears in the corner with a cheerful line, what the update does for you, and a Refresh now button. It never refreshes by itself, so a meeting in progress is not interrupted. Staff screens only; voters and the big screen are left alone.
• Refreshing no longer loses what you were typing. A half-written question, note, name or answer is put back after a refresh, on staff screens and on voters' phones. It is kept only in that browser tab, for up to ten minutes. Passwords, passcodes and one-time codes are never kept.

New

• Create your account with a password. The invitation link (or an admin's one-time code) now signs a new person in and takes them to Create your account, where they type their name and choose a password. After that they sign in with their email address and password. The sign-in page has the email and password boxes at the top; emailed links and one-time codes still work.
• Change or replace a password. Click your name in the menu to change it (the current password is asked for). A forgotten password is replaced by signing in with an emailed link or one-time code and choosing a new one. Changing a password signs out every other device.
• Admin: who has a password. The People list shows "Password set" or "No password yet", and an admin can remove someone's password.
• Passwords need at least 10 characters, cannot be an obvious one or contain the person's name or email, and are stored only in scrambled form. Wrong guesses are slowed down per address and per account. Voters still never sign in.

Changed

• Offbeat now sits next to Pulse at the top. The Sessions page has the Pulse mark and a new Offbeat mark side by side. Press one or the other to switch between live sessions and Offbeats. The Offbeat side has its own New Offbeat card, its own list, and the sending panel at the top of the page instead of inside the settings.
• Offbeat has its own logo and colour. The amber Offbeat mark also shows on the page people answer an Offbeat on, and as the browser tab icon.

New

• Your summary. When a session ends or an Offbeat closes, each person's phone shows their own answers beside how the team answered, with their own choice marked, and buttons to copy it, share it or download it as text for an email, Slack or notes. It is made for that one device from its anonymous voter id: nobody else can see whose answers are whose. Other people's written answers are never included, the team side is held back for small groups, and it is left out when "Voters see results after voting" is off.

Fixed

• The voting screen is full width again. A style meant for the small vote buttons on Feature requests was also squeezing the page people vote on into a narrow column beside an empty box, on phones too. This affected every session, not only Offbeat.
• A closed Offbeat can no longer be half-reopened. Reopen session on a closed Offbeat used to say it was open again while every question stayed closed. It now explains that Restart meeting is the way to run it again.
• Offbeat results emails are retried. If the mail service refuses some results emails (or the Slack post), Pulse tries those again, up to four times, instead of giving up after one go.
• Sending an Offbeat to a long list no longer makes you wait. Long lists carry on sending in the background and the panel shows how many are still to go.

Changed

• New Offbeat button. The New session card has a New Offbeat button, which makes the session and takes you to its Offbeat panel.
• Replies to an Offbeat email now go to the organiser instead of the Pulse address.
• The meeting check-in prompt no longer shows to staff answering an Offbeat.
• Asking for a reminder with neither email nor Slack ticked now says no reminder will go out.

New

• Offbeat: a poll outside a meeting. In a session's settings, pick who gets the link, tick email, Slack or both, and choose how long people have to answer (24 hours, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, or a date and time). Every question opens at once and people answer in their own time from the link, with no sign-in. When the time is up it closes by itself, saves a report with the same charts as a live session, and emails the results to the organiser; the organiser can choose to send a summary to everyone it went to, by the same email and Slack routes. Optional: one reminder before it closes, a short note in the message, closing early, adding people or changing the closing time while it is open.
• A link that expires with the poll. The Offbeat panel has a Copy link button, for handing the poll out any way you like. The link lasts exactly as long as the poll: at the closing time it stops taking answers, and anyone who opens it afterwards sees "This poll has closed".
• Answers stay anonymous: everyone gets the same link and nothing records who opened it or who answered, which is why the reminder goes to everyone.

Changed

• Offbeat replaces the "Between-meeting poll" box in session settings; it is the same poll underneath, with sending, the reminder and the results added. Reports made this way are labelled Offbeat.
• The reaction strip is hidden on the voter's screen during an Offbeat.

Changed

• Restart a meeting without losing answers. Session settings now have two buttons. Restart meeting puts the clock back to zero and every question back to not asked, and keeps the answers already given. Restart and clear answers (the 1.14.0 Reset meeting) also wipes the answers.

New

• Reset a meeting. A session's settings now have a Reset meeting button. It clears every answer, puts every question back to not asked, stops the clock and any lightning round, and reopens the session if it had ended. The questions, the settings, the people in the room, check-ins and reports already made are kept. It asks first, and it is recorded in the activity log.

Fixed

• Buttons in the People list are always in view. On screens narrower than the table, the One-time code, Resend invitation and Deactivate buttons were cut off at the right edge and needed a sideways scroll. That column now stays put.

New

• Resend an invitation. In Admin, under People, each person now has a button that sends their invitation email again (or a fresh sign-in link, if they have signed in before). The email now carries its own sign-in link, which works once and lasts 24 hours.
• One-time codes. For someone whose email is not arriving, an admin can set a code (or let Pulse make one) and pass it on by phone or chat. The person signs in with their email address and the code on the sign-in page. A code works once, lasts 24 hours, is thrown away after five wrong guesses, and is never stored in a readable form. Setting and cancelling codes is recorded in the activity log.

New

• Holidays read from a calendar. In Admin, under Holiday mode, an admin can attach up to ten calendars: a calendar link (the standard iCalendar / .ics kind that Google Calendar, Outlook, Microsoft 365 and Apple iCloud all provide), or a calendar picked from their own connected Google or Microsoft account. Every all-day event in an attached calendar counts as a holiday next to the built-in and company days; a day that is already listed is not shown twice. Pulse reads each calendar again every six hours, keeps the last good copy when a read fails (and tries again an hour later), and shows when each was last read, with a "Read again now" button.
• Automatic calendar invitations for sessions. On a session, pick who to invite (staff from the list, or email addresses you type) and switch on "Send calendar invitations". Each person gets a standard calendar invitation by email, with the join link, that mail apps show with accept and decline. They get an update when the time, title or length changes, and a cancellation when the session is deleted, unscheduled, called off, or they are taken off the list. Changes are sent two minutes after the last edit so adjusting twice does not send two emails; "Send now" skips the wait. Replies go to the organiser's own address.
• Meeting profiles can have a time and a guest list. Under InstaPulse, Profiles, "Time and invitations" sets the next meeting date, time and whether it repeats (weekly, every two or every four weeks). Pulse invites the chosen people to the next meeting and to each one after it. A session can copy its guest list from a profile.
• Invitations through a connected calendar. When the organiser has connected Google or Microsoft, the meeting is created in their own calendar with the guests, and that service sends the invitations, updates and cancellations instead of Pulse's email.
• Help centre, Spanish and French cover all of the above.

Changed

• Connecting a Google or Microsoft account now asks for permission to add calendar events (for invitations) and to list the person's calendars (for holiday calendars), not only to read events. Pulse changes or removes only the events it created. Microsoft's app permission is now Calendars.ReadWrite.
• The session settings column no longer squeezes the rest of the session header on narrower screens, and profile buttons wrap instead of overflowing the side panel.

Fixed

• The word "false" could appear under "Coming up" on the Sessions screen.

New

• Staff screens in Spanish and French. The host console, presenter view, analytics, admin, question bank, feature requests, help centre (including its downloads), war room, phone remote and sign-in page now follow the browser's language, with a language menu in the top bar. The choice is remembered on that device. Messages from the server (errors, holiday names, the activity log) are translated too.

Changed

• All on-screen text now passes through one translation step (public/js/tr.js) with one dictionary per language (public/js/lang/). The dictionary is only downloaded when a language other than English is in use.

New

• Personal connections (Help → My connections). With Google connected, any report can be sent to the person's own Drive as Google Sheets, Docs, Slides or a CSV file, and their Google Calendar meetings show under "Coming up". With Microsoft connected, their Outlook meetings show there too. "Make a session for it" creates a session from a calendar meeting.
• Email a report: to yourself, or (hosts) to other people who use Pulse.
• Spanish and French for the screens voters see, following the phone's language, with a language menu.
• Admin shows whether email, Google and Outlook connections are ready.

New

• Meeting series. An InstaPulse profile is now also a series: every meeting started from it is grouped under it, and any session can be filed under one of its owner's profiles by hand.
• The Analytics page has a "Meeting series" picker that narrows everything on it (trends, question types, tracked questions, the session list) to one recurring meeting. "History" on a profile and a link on each session open it.
• Admins see what each meeting cost, and the total for a series, on the Analytics page.

Changed

• "You said, we did" follows the series: a meeting in a series shows that series' finished actions; other meetings show the host's actions that belong to no series.

New

• "You said, we did": hosts record actions they will take about a result. Open actions follow the host between meetings; finished ones are shown to the room on the join screen of their next meetings.
• Tracked questions on the Analytics page: any question asked in more than one meeting gets a trend line (average rating, share saying yes, or share choosing the top answer).
• Moderation: a per-session switch holds written answers until the host approves them. Written answers that trip the word filter are always held for the host.
• Phone remote (/remote/CODE): large next, back, close and join-screen buttons for driving a meeting from a phone.
• Larger text: an "Aa" control in the corner of every page, remembered per device.
• Client logo: a custom theme can carry a logo, shown on the big screen.
• Data retention: admins can have sessions deleted automatically a set number of days after they end, and can download everything as one file.
• Quiz mode: a single-choice question can have a right answer. Optional nicknames, points for correct and fast answers, and a top-five leaderboard on the big screen once voting closes. The right answer is never sent to voters while voting is open.
• Between-meeting polls: open every question at once until a closing time; people answer in their own time and the session ends by itself.

Fixed

• The Analytics page no longer scrolls sideways on phones.

New

• War room (/war/CODE): a host's-eye dashboard with the meeting clock against the planned length, people in the room, questions asked, responses, participation and answer speed, the live question with its results, an optional "next up" panel, reminders that are due, a one-line result for everything asked so far, the reaction feed, and a random true fact.
• Meeting cost calculator. Signed-in staff can check in to a meeting from the voter screen; their time in it, multiplied by their fully burdened hourly cost, gives the meeting's cost. Admins set each person's hourly cost, a default for people without one, and the currency. The cost display has three sizes: a full card, one line, and a tiny dot that reveals the figure on hover. People who did not check in, and guest groups, can be added by hand. Each meeting is counted as internal operations, client work, training or strategy. CSV export for admins.
• "My meeting time" on the Analytics page: each person's own time in meetings, private to them, with CSV download. Their own cost shows only if admins allow it.
• Sharing results: the host chooses who can review a session (only them plus admins and super users, everyone who signs in, or chosen people). Reviewing never includes running it.
• Scheduling and calendars: give a session a date and get "Add to Google Calendar", "Add to Outlook" and a calendar file, each carrying the join link. A "Coming up" list on the Sessions screen shows meetings a person can join.
• Small-group privacy: admins can set a minimum number of answers before any result is shown, to anyone, including the host. It also applies to reports and exports.
• Slack: admins can connect an incoming webhook; hosts can then send a report summary to Slack.
• A "Privacy and connections" section in Admin showing what is connected and what each remaining connection (email, Google files, Google Calendar and Outlook) still needs.
• Reactions: anyone in a session can send an emoji or up to three short words. Each one floats up the big screen and phones for three seconds and is never stored. One per person every three seconds; links and a short list of rude words are refused. Hosts can switch reactions off.

New

• InstaPulse: one click on the Sessions screen creates a session from a profile, starts the meeting clock and opens the big screen. Profiles set the title, theme, question source, planned length and how the meeting starts; each person has a default. With no profile it runs a built-in quick pulse.
• Reminders: notes that appear at the start, halfway, before the planned end, a set number of minutes in, or after the meeting. For the host only, or shown to the whole room as a banner on the big screen and phones. A personal reminder bank, with "Every meeting" reminders added to each new session automatically.
• Planned length on every session, used by halfway and before-the-end reminders.
• Holiday mode: when a meeting is near a US public holiday, a common observance or a company day, the host is told what is coming and what is customary, and can remind the room, switch to a matching theme or speed the meeting up. Admins manage company days and the reminder window.
• Help: a new section covering InstaPulse, reminders and holiday mode.

Changed

• In demo mode each person now has the same role they have in the real Pulse (previously everyone acted as an admin).

New

• Demo mode: a "Demo mode" button for signed-in staff switches every screen to a sandbox filled with an invented company (eight made-up people, seven past meetings with results, analytics, a question bank, a saved report and an activity log) plus a ready-to-run "Live demo session". The sandbox is a separate database; real data is not loaded or changed while it is on.
• Simulated audience in demo mode: when a question opens, two dozen invented voters answer over a few seconds so results move on screen. Real phones can join a demo session too.
• "Reset demo data" puts the sandbox back to its starting state; "Exit demo mode" returns to the real data. A banner shows on every screen while demo mode is on.
• Guided tour: nine steps that spotlight the real buttons on the Sessions screen, with an option to create a practice session. Starts automatically for new people; each person can replay it or switch it off from Help, and admins can switch it on or off per person.
• Help centre (/help): full guide, a "making it second nature" workflow section and an FAQ, with search. Download as PDF (print), Markdown or plain text. Readable without signing in.
• Feature requests (/requests): suggest improvements, vote others up or down, sort by most wanted. Admins set a status and can reply. Hosts can send a meeting answer straight to it.
• A standard, shared bank question, "What one thing would make Pulse better for you?", added with one button and held for the end of the meeting.
• Presenter view for video calls: a Call layout (larger text, QR and join address always visible, no moving decorations), Pop out into its own window for sharing, Copy join link for the meeting chat, and the screen is kept awake while presenting.
• The main menu folds into a Menu button on phones and narrow windows.
• Suggested additions recorded in the roadmap.

New

• Lightning round: a timed, rapid-fire run of questions. Each question opens with a countdown, closes by itself, shows its result for a few seconds, then the next one starts. Choose 10 to 60 seconds per question and what to run: the session's unasked questions, the questions held for the end, five random bank questions, or bank questions for a type of meeting.
• Time limits on individual questions (10 seconds to 5 minutes) with a live countdown on the voter and presenter screens. Late votes are refused.
• "When to run it" on each question: when the host opens it, held for the end of the meeting, or automatically a set number of minutes into the meeting.
• Meeting clock on the session screen, started by hand or by the first question.
• Reports: every lightning round saves a report automatically, and a meeting report can be made at any time. A report is a frozen snapshot with results per question, participation and answer speed. From the report page: save as PDF or print, download CSV, copy as an AI prompt, delete.

Changed

• Opening or closing a question by hand during a lightning round stops the round and still produces its report.

New

• Question bank (/bank): reusable questions kept per person, optionally shared with everyone who runs polls. Filter by wording, question type, type of meeting and author; sort by date, author, type, meeting or most used.
• Paste import: paste a batch of questions as plain text and Pulse turns them into bank questions, guessing each type from the wording and options, with a preview to correct before saving. Type hints such as [rating] or Word cloud: override the guess.
• Bank drawer in the session screen: drag a bank question onto the question list to add it, or onto "On screen now" to put it live at once. "Add" and "Go live" buttons do the same.
• "Save to bank" on any session question.

New

• This changelog, with matching version tags in git.
• An easter egg: clicking the heartbeat logo on any screen shows a random IT joke, shakes, wobbles, spins, bounces or tilts the page, or rains IT clutter. People who have asked their device for reduced motion only ever get the jokes.

New

• Three roles, enforced on every request and live connection: Admin, Super user and User.
• Session ownership: each session belongs to the person who created it. Sessions that existed before accounts go to the first admin.
• Admin console (/admin): add people, change roles, deactivate and reactivate, company email domains with optional auto-join, and an activity log.
• Analytics scoped by role, with a per-host breakdown for admins and super users.
• Read-only view of other people's sessions for super users.

Changed

• The shared host passcode no longer signs people in directly. It became the owner passcode: with an email address it creates or restores an admin.
• Sign-in state moved from a token in browser storage to a secure, server-side session cookie.

Fixed

• Editing a response the host had hidden no longer makes it visible again.
• Participation is measured against the people present when a question closed, not late arrivals.

New

• Live sessions with a unique six-character join code and QR code each time.
• Anonymous voting from phones: no names, no sign-in, nothing identifying stored.
• Eight question types: multiple choice, yes/no, rating scale, word cloud, open text, ranking, emoji pulse, and Q&A with upvotes.
• Four result styles for countable questions: bars, donut, bubbles and a mascot race.
• Presenter view with QR lobby, live results, keyboard controls and one anonymous character per person in the room.
• Host console: sessions, question builder, starter questions, moderation of text responses.
• Analytics: people joined, participation and answer speed per session, engagement by question type, fastest questions, per-session drill-down and CSV export.
• Hosting on Cloudflare Workers with a single SQLite-backed Durable Object.