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What’s new

Every user-visible change to AskGWINnett, newest first. Built (and still being built) by one Gwinnettian — if something here doesn’t work the way it says, use the Feedback button and tell me.

v0.37.34October 27, 2026— Operator dashboard: delete all shown questions
  • The unlisted operator dashboard gains a “Delete all shown” button on the Questions & answers tab, for clearing a crawler’s templated questions in one go instead of one thread at a time. Deleted rows are hidden, not destroyed.
v0.37.33October 27, 2026— Meeting-page links wait for you
  • The “Ask Gwin what the council decided on…” link on each meeting page now fills in the question and waits for you to tap Ask, instead of sending it the moment the page opens. Shared links and notification taps still answer right away.
  • Why: a web crawler followed that link on every meeting page overnight and asked Gwin 300 questions nobody was reading. Crawlers are now asked not to open the chat at all, and the question log records the browser so a bot can be told apart from a resident.
v0.37.32October 26, 2026— Planning Commission and ZBA minutes, read
  • Gwin now reads the minutes of the Gwinnett County Planning Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals: each case with its location, the Planning Department’s recommendation, the body’s action in the clerk’s own words and the vote. Ask “what did the planning commission decide on SUP2026-00013?” or “what did the ZBA approve at its last meeting?”.
  • Rezoning cases on the development map now show the Planning Commission’s recommendation about a month before the Board of Commissioners hears them, and Zoning Board of Appeals variances appear as cases of their own.
  • Votes come from the minutes’ own vote lines, read by code and checked against the summary; a record that does not reconcile is held back rather than shown.
  • Notifications: new Planning Commission and ZBA minutes can be switched on under “County boards”. One new question in the “Try asking” rotation.
v0.37.31October 25, 2026— Boards in the starters
  • Three new questions in the “Try asking” rotation: the next Planning Commission meeting and its agenda, who sits on the Zoning Board of Appeals, and when the county Audit Committee meets. The topic is now “Planning Commission, boards & committees”.
v0.37.30October 25, 2026— Install badge at the very bottom
  • The Android install badge now sits below the copyright line, last thing in the footer.
v0.37.29October 25, 2026— One install button
  • The Android install badge lives in the footer only; the green button under the greeting is gone.
v0.37.28October 25, 2026— Get the app, in the footer
  • The Android install button now also lives in a “Get the app” row at the bottom of every screen, styled as an app badge, with room beside it for the iOS App Store link once the iPhone app is approved. Nothing shows once the app is installed.
v0.37.27October 25, 2026— Android-only install button
  • The “Install on Android” button now wears the Android robot and appears only on Android phones and tablets whose browser can install (Chrome, Edge, Samsung Internet). Desktop browsers no longer show it.
v0.37.26October 25, 2026— Install on Android
  • On Android (Chrome, Edge or Samsung Internet) and desktop Chrome, an “Install the app” button now adds AskGWINnett to your home screen in one tap. No app store needed. The button only appears when your browser can install.
v0.37.25October 25, 2026— County boards and committees
  • Gwin now knows the county’s 55 boards, authorities and committees from the County Clerk’s portal: when the Planning Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals, Audit Committee, Board of Health, Water and Sewerage Authority and the rest meet next, what is on the agenda, and who sits on each. Minutes are linked, not yet summarized.
v0.37.24October 25, 2026— Shorter footer in the app
  • The copyright line at the bottom of the app now takes one line instead of a full tap-height row, so the conversation gets a little more of the screen.
v0.37.23October 23, 2026— Camera map in every language
  • Asking about license plate reader cameras near you in Spanish, Korean or Vietnamese now asks for your location up front and answers the same way English does: the nearest cameras with map and OpenStreetMap links, and the inline map.
v0.37.22October 23, 2026— “Closest X to me” asks where you are
  • Asking for the closest or nearest place — any place, including a brand name like Chick-fil-A — now asks for your location first, and the answer lists places nearest-first with the distance on each line.
v0.37.21October 22, 2026— Simpler hand-collection tasks
  • The admin tasks page now reads as one job: the drop box first, then each hand-collected city as three lines — what to get, where from, and what to do with it.
v0.37.20October 22, 2026— Answers start at the top
  • When an answer arrives, the chat now keeps your question at the top of the screen so you read the answer from its first line, instead of jumping to the sources at the end.
v0.37.19October 22, 2026— Tidier app footer
  • In the iPhone app, the footer is now three even rows: who made this, the Privacy, Terms, and Feedback links, and the version.
  • In the iPhone app, the start screen scrolls as one page, so the "Try asking" questions are no longer hidden under the footer.
v0.37.18October 22, 2026— Easier to tap
  • In the iPhone app, buttons, menu rows, and footer links grew to Apple's recommended tap size, and the smallest labels are larger.
  • In the iPhone app, the delete control on saved chats is always visible instead of waiting for a hover that never comes on a touchscreen.
v0.37.17October 21, 2026— Smoother windows
  • About, Topics, Feedback, and Notifications now ease open and ease closed instead of snapping.
  • In the iPhone app, About describes what the app can do instead of how the website is built.
  • On a phone, opening Feedback no longer pops the keyboard up over the window. Tap the box when you are ready to type.
v0.37.16October 21, 2026— Reports in the app
  • In the iPhone app, Download PDF and Download TXT now open the share sheet with the report attached, so you can save it to Files, AirDrop it, mail it, or print it.
v0.37.15October 20, 2026— Side menu slides, no fade
  • The side menu now slides in and out as a solid panel. It used to fade while it moved, which looked blurry.
  • Pressing and holding a button no longer selects its text. Answers can still be selected and copied.
  • The iPhone app footer now shows the app version first, with the web version in parentheses.
v0.37.14October 20, 2026— Smoother menu
  • The side menu now slides open and closed more smoothly on phones instead of snapping.
  • Developer-only details no longer show under answers in the iPhone app.
v0.37.13October 20, 2026— Sharing and feel in the app
  • In the iPhone app, Share this answer now opens the iPhone share sheet, so a link to the answer goes straight to Messages, Mail, Notes, or AirDrop. The website keeps its copy-the-link panel.
  • The app gives a light tap when you send a question or the mic switches on or off, and a soft pulse when the answer lands.
  • On a phone, Clear and New chat no longer pop the keyboard up over the question box. Tap the box when you are ready to type.
  • The app now wears the same green status bar as the Home Screen web app.
v0.37.9October 20, 2026— Notification fixes
  • A notification switch that cannot be saved now gives up after a short wait and says why, instead of leaving the switches disabled.
v0.37.8October 20, 2026— Notification switches
  • A notification switch that could not be changed now snaps back to its real setting, and a first failed attempt no longer blocks the next one.
v0.37.7October 20, 2026— Meeting notifications
  • A Notifications entry in the sidebar: get a reminder on county commission and school board meeting days, and a note when new minutes are posted for the county, the school board, or your city.
  • Your browser asks for permission only when you turn a switch on. No account, and nothing about you is stored; you can turn any of them off at any time. On iPhone, notifications come through the AskGWINnett app.
v0.37.6October 20, 2026— A roomier question box
  • The question box shows three lines instead of two, on the website and in the app.
  • On phones, the microphone, Clear and Ask buttons sit under the box instead of beside it, so the box has the full width.
v0.37.5October 19, 2026— Ask by voice in the iPhone app
  • The microphone button now works in the AskGWINnett app, using the phone’s own speech recognizer. The first tap asks for microphone and speech recognition permission.
  • As on the website, only the recognized text is sent; audio is never recorded or stored.
v0.37.4October 19, 2026— Ask by voice
  • A microphone button in the question box: tap it, say your question in English, Spanish, Korean or Vietnamese, and the words appear as you speak. A short rising tone means the microphone is on, a falling one means it is off. When you pause, the question sends itself a moment later; tap the box in that moment to edit it instead.
  • Speech is recognized by your browser (Chrome, Edge or Safari); AskGWINnett never records or stores audio. The button is hidden in browsers without speech recognition, such as Firefox.
v0.37.3October 19, 2026— First fit for the iPhone app
  • In the AskGWINnett app, the top bar and footer now sit clear of the iPhone status bar and home indicator.
  • The app footer keeps just Privacy, Terms and Feedback; the guides are still one tap away under “What can I ask?”.
v0.37.2October 19, 2026— Guide pages fit small phones
  • On guide, meeting and policy pages, the top bar no longer runs off the edge of smaller phones. Back is now an arrow at the top left, and the language picker is a globe button; both still read out their full labels to screen readers.
v0.37.1October 19, 2026— A cleaner name when you save or share
  • Adding AskGWINnett to your home screen, or sharing it from your phone, now shows just “AskGWINnett” instead of a cut-off tagline.
v0.37.0October 19, 2026— Install AskGWINnett on your phone
  • AskGWINnett can now be installed like an app. On Android, Chrome offers “Install app”; on iPhone, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. It opens full-screen from its own icon, with no browser bar.
  • Once installed it reopens instantly. If you lose signal, it still opens with your past chats, tells you you are offline, and keeps your typed question in the box until you reconnect. Answers always come fresh from the county data; nothing new is stored on your phone.
v0.36.0October 18, 2026— Buford and Auburn council records
  • Ask Gwin what the Buford City Commission or the Auburn City Council decided, and get it from their own minutes — ten Gwinnett cities are now searchable, with public meeting pages for both new ones.
  • Both cities straddle a county line (Buford into Hall, Auburn into Barrow), and every answer says so. Buford’s minutes run back to January 2025; Auburn’s cover the council, Downtown Development Authority, Parks & Leisure Board and Planning Commission over the same span.
v0.35.0October 16, 2026— Report a license plate reader camera
  • Know of a plate reader that is not on the map? The camera guide now has a report form: tap the map where it is, say which way it faces and what kind it is, and send. No name or email asked.
  • Reports are reviewed by hand and passed to OpenStreetMap as a note for a local mapper to verify and add — nothing is published automatically, and every report is credited to the resident who looked.
v0.34.1October 16, 2026— The camera answer now comes with a map
  • Ask “are there Flock cameras near me?” and the answer draws a small map right under the reply: your point, the search ring, and every mapped camera inside it. The guide page is one tap away for the county-wide view.
v0.34.0October 16, 2026— License plate reader cameras, on a map
  • Ask Gwin “are there Flock cameras near me?” and get a real answer: how many automated license plate readers are mapped within a mile, the closest few with distance and the direction they face, and a link to see them on the map. Name a city for its count, or type a street address.
  • A new guide, License plate reader cameras in Gwinnett, puts all 980-plus mapped cameras on an interactive map with a “find near me” button, per-city counts, and plain statements of what the map can and cannot tell you — it is crowd-sourced by OpenStreetMap volunteers via DeFlock, it undercounts, and it cannot say who owns a camera.
  • Credit where it is due: every number on that page and in the chat comes from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and the DeFlock project, and every camera links back to both so you can check it or report one that is missing.
v0.26.3September 17, 2026— Easier to read, easier to Tab through
  • Labels, placeholders, and footer links were too faint to meet contrast standards — they’re darker now. Buttons and links show a real focus ring when you Tab, a “Skip to question” link jumps past the chat list, and dialogs keep keyboard focus inside them until you close them.
v0.26.2September 9, 2026— The 2026 tax table is official
  • The county published the adopted 2026 millage table, and the automated drift check caught the change within hours. The news for your bill: every rate held — school 18.70 + 1.45, county 6.95 — so the property-tax guide’s numbers were already right; its labels now say 2026 instead of “latest available.” (One change countywide: Berkeley Lake’s small city bond ticked down.)
v0.26.1September 8, 2026— Coverage labels that update themselves
  • The meetings index now derives its city list from the data instead of hardcoded text — "Lawrenceville & Mulberry" had quietly survived a full day after Duluth joined. Adding a future city updates every label automatically.
v0.26.0September 7, 2026— Duluth joins the city records
  • Duluth is the third city with council records on AskGWINnett: the 2026 millage adoption, the new Unified Development Code, the FORWARDuluth 2045 plan amendments, and contracts down to the dollar — extracted from the city’s own published minutes.
  • Honest limits, stated plainly: many of Duluth’s signed minutes are scanned paper a machine can’t read, so coverage comes largely from published draft minutes. Answers about Duluth say “in the records held” for exactly that reason.
v0.25.0September 7, 2026— City council records — Lawrenceville & Mulberry
  • AskGWINnett now covers CITY government, starting with Lawrenceville and Mulberry: 100 city council, planning commission, and city board meetings as searchable pages — rezonings with vote splits, annexations, ordinances, contracts, and tabled items, extracted from each city’s own published minutes and linked to the source PDF.
  • Gwin answers city questions too — try “was the Rock Quarry Road rezoning approved in Mulberry?” or “what did the Lawrenceville city council vote on at their last meeting?”. For cities not yet covered, she says so plainly instead of guessing.
  • Minutes posted before council approval are labeled unofficial — they are the current public record, and pages update when the approved version lands.
v0.24.2September 6, 2026— External links open in a new tab
  • On the new meeting record pages, links to official minutes, agendas, and video recordings — including the “watch at…” links into school board footage — now open in a new tab instead of navigating away from your place on the page.
v0.24.1September 6, 2026— Caught up this page
  • The four releases below shipped in one very long day and this page fell behind — nothing new here, just the record catching up.
v0.24.0September 6, 2026— Why your property tax bill changed — a guide
  • New guide: Why your Gwinnett property tax bill changed. The county rate hasn’t moved since 2020 — so why did your bill go up, and why did you get an official “tax increase” notice anyway? Plain answers: what a mill is, who really sets most of your bill (the school board, not the commissioners), the homestead freeze most owners don’t know they have, and how to appeal an assessment. Linked from every page footer.
  • Every figure links to its source — including our own record of the August 4 vote that set the 2026 rate.
v0.23.0September 6, 2026— School board meetings — every one, as a page
  • All 22 GCPS Board of Education meetings on record now have their own page: what was discussed, public comments, appointments, and votes — summarized from the board’s own video recordings, since GCPS publishes video rather than detailed minutes.
  • Almost every item links to the exact moment in the recording it came from, so you can hear it for yourself with one tap.
  • Each page says plainly how it was made: these are summaries of official recordings, not official minutes.
v0.22.0September 6, 2026— County commission meetings — every one, as a page
  • Every substantial Board of Commissioners meeting now has its own page at askgwinnett.com/meetings — the actions taken, item numbers, vote tallies, and dollar amounts, extracted from the county’s published minutes and linked back to the original PDF.
  • Until now this only existed as chat answers; now it’s pages you can search, link, and share. A new “Meeting records” link sits in every page footer.
  • Meetings whose minutes the Board hasn’t formally approved yet are labeled as unofficial.
v0.21.0September 6, 2026— Better “Try asking” questions
  • Swapped the weakest suggested questions for ones that show what the app can actually do — like “What is the largest contract the county approved this year?” and “Has anyone complained to the commissioners about surveillance cameras?”. Every new question was tested against the live app before making the list.
v0.20.0September 4, 2026— County & school board meetings — as a page you can search
  • New guide: Gwinnett County Commission & School Board Meetings — who sits on each board, when they meet, where the official record lives, and tap-to-ask questions that search the live minutes and video transcripts. Linked from every page footer.
  • The home page’s “Try asking” line now draws from ten questions (boards, taxes, trash, parks, voting, clubs) and shows a fresh four each visit.
v0.12.0August 10, 2026— A new shell: your chats always in reach
  • Past chats now live in a persistent sidebar on desktop and a slide-in drawer on phones — no more hunting for the Chats button.
  • On phones, the top bar is one clean row: menu, AskGWINnett, and new chat.
  • "What can I ask?" moved to a full-width row right under the question box, and the 23 topics are now grouped into six categories so the right one is easier to find — in all four languages.
v0.11.0August 7, 2026— A clubs & groups guide — and pages search engines can read
  • New guide: Clubs & Social Groups in Gwinnett County — where groups actually organize (Meetup, Level Up Games in Buford, free library programs, Parks & Recreation), in all four languages, with tap-to-ask questions that get a live current list from Gwin. Linked from every page footer.
  • The FAQ, the new guide, and the policy pages are now delivered as real pre-built pages instead of waiting for the app to load — so search engines and link previews see the actual content of each page.
v0.8.0August 5, 2026— Tiếng Việt — Vietnamese support
  • AskGWINnett now works in Vietnamese, alongside English, Español, and 한국어 — Gwinnett's largest non-English/Spanish/Korean language community by households speaking it at home.
  • The full chat, FAQ, Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and Terms of Service are all translated.
v0.7.8August 5, 2026— Caught up this page
  • Filled in several release notes that had gotten behind — nothing new to the app itself, just this page catching up to what had already shipped.
v0.7.7August 4, 2026— Easier to find in search
  • Pages like the FAQ now show their own title and description in search results, instead of always showing the homepage's.
v0.7.6August 4, 2026— A friendlier wait
  • Added a small animated indicator, plus a few rotating status messages, while Gwin is looking something up — the short wait now feels more responsive.
v0.7.5August 4, 2026— Library hours & cards
  • Gwin can now answer questions about Gwinnett County Public Library branch hours and locations, and how to get a library card.
v0.7.4August 3, 2026— Logo now starts a new chat
  • Clicking the AskGWINnett logo now starts a fresh conversation, the same as the existing "New" button.
v0.7.3August 2, 2026— Closest bus stop, with your location
  • Asking for the closest bus stop now offers to use your location, the same way nearby restaurant/shopping searches already did.
v0.7.2August 2, 2026— FAQ in Spanish and Korean
  • The FAQ page is now fully available in Español and 한국어, not just English.
v0.7.1August 1, 2026— FAQ page
  • New FAQ page answering the questions residents ask most — taxes, voting, trash, parks, cities, the school board — each with a pointer to ask Gwin for specifics.
  • Search-engine improvements: structured data and an updated site description mentioning all three languages.
v0.7.0July 31, 2026— Privacy, Cookies & Terms in your language
  • The Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and Terms of Service are now fully translated into Español and 한국어 (courtesy translations — the English version controls).
  • A language dropdown now appears on those pages too.
  • Cookie Policy corrected to describe current storage (saved chats under askgwinnett.sessions; removed an obsolete entry).
v0.6.2July 31, 2026— Translated footer links
  • The Privacy, Cookies, and Terms links (and “Back to chat”) now follow your selected language.
v0.6.1July 31, 2026— This page
  • Added this release log — the version number in the footer now links here.
v0.6.0July 31, 2026— Korean language support
  • AskGWINnett now speaks Korean (한국어) — the whole site and Gwin’s answers.
  • The EN/ES switch is now a language dropdown: English, Español, 한국어.
  • Questions asked in Spanish or Korean are machine-translated to English behind the scenes so every county lookup works, then answered back in your language with a translation note.
  • Privacy policy updated to disclose the translation step.
v0.5.1July 31, 2026— County jobs, sturdier lookups
  • New “County jobs & hiring” topic — points you to the county’s official careers portal.
  • Smarter search matching: “pools”, “swimming”, and other plurals/synonyms now find what you meant.
  • Local news lookups are steadier — feeds that momentarily fail no longer break an answer.
v0.5.0July 31, 2026— Public launch
  • AskGWINnett is now discoverable — search engines welcome, with share previews when you link it.
  • Chats drawer slides smoothly in and out.
v0.4.0July 30, 2026— Chat history & school board answers
  • Your chats are now saved in your browser — pick up an old conversation from the drawer, like any chat app. Nothing leaves your device.
  • School board (GCPS) meeting answers went live: searchable summaries of the official meeting recordings, every answer linked to the video.
  • Mobile cleanup: Ask and New buttons in the prompt dock.
v0.3.0July 29, 2026— The “Quiet Ledger” redesign
  • Fresh desktop design, and a proper location-consent card before any “near me” question uses your location.
  • Rate any answer with a thumbs up or down.
  • New School System (GCPS) topic.
v0.2.0July 28–29, 2026— Español, topics & the fine print
  • Full Spanish translation with a language toggle.
  • “What can I ask?” topic browser, including elections & voter registration.
  • Privacy, cookies, and terms pages.
  • Feedback button — report a bad answer or ask for a new topic.
v0.1.0July 28, 2026— First build
  • AskGWINnett is born: a chat that answers questions from Gwinnett County’s public data — parks, property & zoning, taxes & millage, Board of Commissioners meetings, traffic, weather, and local news — with the sources attached.

Versions before 0.3.0 predate the version counter and are reconstructed from the build history.