Release Notes v1.12

1 December 2022

This release introduces a simpler and faster flow for users to share anything they need within a session. This release also introduces separate areas for Tools and Files, and minor changes to the agenda UI.

🚀 New Share Flow

• The new flow lets users share or embed anything they want directly into Sessions. Apart from their screen, users can now easily share presentations, links, photos, documents, websites, agendas, third-party integrations and more.
• The old ‘Tools’ button available during live sessions has been replaced by the ‘Share’ button which triggers an intuitive flow that allows users to share anything instantly during a session.
• Users can now search for files, tools or agendas by their name or paste links that will automatically be embedded into the meeting, all in one place.

👉 Read more here

📂 Tools and Files

• The old Tools explorer has been separated into two distinct areas: Tools and Files.
• Under Tools, users will find all the apps integrated with Sessions and all resources that come from these apps (Airtable, Canva, Google Docs, Miro, Mentimeter, YouTube, etc.).
• Tools developed by Sessions such as Videoshow, Slideshow and the tool used for Google Docs have been split into individual apps: ◦ ‘Videoshow’ has been separated into YouTube, Vimeo and Videos. ◦ ‘Slideshow’ has been separated into documents and presentation resources that can be found in Files. ◦ Sessions’ tool for Google resources formerly named ‘Google Docs’ has been separated into Google Docs, Google Forms, Google Sheets, and Google Slides, thus adding individual integrations for each type of Google resource.

👉 Read more here

• Under Files, users can find the images, documents (.pdf), presentations (.ppt/.pptx, .key) and videos (.mp4, .wmv) they have uploaded.

👉 Read more here

📑 Agenda upgraded

• The agenda’s UI has been updated to be even more accessible to users.

Release Notes v1.11.1

22 November 2022

This release introduces a new registration and onboarding flow for new users, as well as improvements to the platform’s Custom Branding feature.

🎨 Custom Branding

• Workspace Admins and Contributors are now responsible for setting up the Custom Branding details. Once they enable the Custom branding feature, this setting will automatically apply to all Workspace members. 
• Workspace Admins and Contributors can choose one logo image and primary color corresponding to their brand. 

👉 More details here

🆕 New Accounts Registration and Onboarding Flow

• The registration flow now includes a three-step process where users can set up their Workspace, invite team members and configure Custom Branding.
• The onboarding process allows new users to jump straight into an Instant Session where all the most important features are explained. Moreover, the platform’s most important features now have additional pop-up windows with short texts and GIFs that give more context to users. 

👉 More details here

Release Notes v1.11.0

18 November 2022

This release introduces a highly requested feature and a much-anticipated tool: Events and My Product tool. These two bring more possibilities for users to better engage with their audience in more complex online or hybrid interactions.

⭐ Events

• This feature allows users to create a custom event directly in Sessions. 
• Users can create landing pages from scratch and customize them with their speakers, agenda, logo, and a banner image of their choice. 
• Speakers can be registered or non-registered users of Sessions. 
• Speakers will automatically be placed in the Spotlight for the agenda item/items they’ve been assigned to as speakers. For those agenda items only, speakers will be able to control the tool or app embedded and manage the audience. 
• Participants can add the event to their calendar from the event’s landing page.

👉 More details here

🚀 My Product Tool

• This tool allows the Host and participants to co-browse a website, app, tool or platform. As long as it is browser-based, Workspace Admins and Contributors can add anything to this tool. 
• There can only be one My Product tool per Workspace. Admins and Contributors are the only ones who can add, edit or change this tool. Other Workspace members can use this tool in any agenda or meeting.

👉 More details here

Release Notes v1.10.8

17 October 2022

This version improves our users’ experience while in Sessions Home and also during live meetings.

📲 New sidebar navigation

• Home’s sidebar has been redesigned. All the features are now grouped and labeled to identify and access faster.
• The sidebar can now be minimized. 
• Contacts have been moved and can be accessed from My profile.

⚙️ Hover Player controls

• For the Sessions desktop version, the footer’s control buttons have been redesigned to show quick access to audio and video options (e.g. Noise reduction, Hide selfview) when hovering over them. 

💻 Full-screen mode updated

• Users can view the session in full-screen mode during live sessions, with or without Sessions UI. This update minimizes distractions and maximizes the space available to create a better, more focused experience.

📑 Hide agenda

• Hosts and Assistants can choose to hide the session’s agenda from their audience. Only they will continue to see it.

Release Notes v1.10.7

12 October 2022

This release introduces a new feature available in Workspaces: the possibility of collaborating on agendas. We’ve also worked on improving our users’ experience during live sessions.

📑 Collaborative Agendas

• Agendas’ UI has been redesigned.
• Agendas can now be shared with just individual Workspace members. Members with permissions will be able to collaborate in creating and editing agendas. While one user edits the agenda, others see who is making changes and will not be able to modify the same item simultaneously. Edits will be visible in real-time.
• Changes happen on the original agendas and are automatically saved. 
• Those with edit permissions cannot delete agendas.

👉 More details here

🔧 Settings Modal Updated

• Users can now change their session’s notification permissions from the Settings modal.
• A session’s Moderators (Hosts and Assistants) can now limit users’ access to Memory for Planned sessions. 
• Hosts and Assistants can change the name of ongoing sessions.

⭕ Recording Resumed after Refresh

• Suppose a recording is interrupted due to refreshing or other technical reasons. In that case, a modal appears after returning to the meeting, asking to resume the recording.

Release Notes v1.10.5

19 September 2022

This Sessions version focuses on finding better ways to manage and collaborate inside Workspaces and during live sessions.

🚀 New Workspace Roles

• There is a new role inside Workspaces: Contributor. A Contributor can share agendas and resources within the Workspace. 
• The original Workspace Admin can now promote other members to the Admin role. The new Admins have full management permissions over the members, plus sharing rights for agendas and resources, just like the original Admin.

👉 More details here

📑 Usage History for Agendas and Resources

• Users can check when and where they used a specific agenda or resource. This will include agendas, as well as past, present and future sessions. 
• Owners of agendas and resources shared within the Workspaces can check usage history to see how others integrated them into their work.

📈 Assistant Role Upgraded

• Assistants can now add, edit, or change tools and agendas during their sessions.

Release Notes v1.10.4

08 September 2022

This Sessions release focuses on allowing moderators to create better experiences for their participants.

💻 Enforce View Mode for Audience

• Hosts and Assistants can now choose a View Mode for their audience to visualize the session. Once a moderator selects a specific View Mode, participants cannot switch to a different one. 
• According to their needs, moderators can choose View Modes that differ from the ones selected for the participants. 
• The default state is for the audience to have Free choice, meaning they can select their views and switch between them at any given time.

👉 More details here

⚙️ Improvements and Resolved Issues

• The camera and mic symbols appearing on one’s video feed are now actionable.
• Users can log in directly from the pre-join screen when entering a live gathering.
• The Share Session link modal is now also available while in Collaboration View.

Release Notes v1.10.3

1 September 2022

This Sessions version gives users multiple layouts to choose from when attending live meetings. Also, moderators now have more control when it comes to managing their audience. 

💻 View Modes

• Sessions users can now switch between four View modes according to their needs: Focus, Presentation, Collaboration, or System default. 
• Tools come with a default view which can be seen in the System default view.

🔊 Audience management

• Hosts and Assistants now have more control over the audience. From the Participants’ modal, they can mute and turn a participant’s camera off, add to the Spotlight, promote Assistants or remove people from the session. They can also ask participants to unmute or turn their cameras on. 
• Organizers and participants can efficiently manage their own camera and microphone from this modal. They can also opt to hide their self-view or change their name live. 
• Moderators can remove participants and ban them from re-entering the session.

⚙️ Improvements and Resolved Issues

• Organizers can now Hide participants from view, which if enabled will hide participants that are muted and have their camera turned off
• Solved an issue where the Log out action didn’t work in the pre-join screen
• Solved an issue where deleting an event would take a long time
• Solved an issue with connecting to Locked Sessions

Release Notes v1.10.2

22 August 2022

This Sessions version focuses on improving how organizations collaborate inside the workspaces, giving Admins more control over the content they share with the rest of the members.

🧰 Sharing resources

• Admins can now share resources with all their workspace members. Admins choose which content to share with the team and which remains private.
• Members can use the shared resources in agendas and sessions just as they are or make copies of the resource and customize them. 
• Admins can delete resources or make them private. Admins choose whether to allow members who’ve used or are currently using the resources to continue having access to them or not.

👉 More details here

📖 Sharing agendas

• Workspace Admins can now make their agendas public, allowing all members to access them.
• Members can directly use the agendas shared by the Admin. Once used in a session, members can customize the agenda and save their own copy.
• Admins can turn a public agenda back into a private one or entirely delete it. Admins can choose whether to allow members who’ve used or are currently using the agenda to continue having access to it or not.

👉 More details here

Release Notes v1.10.1

11 August 2022

This Sessions version makes it easier to have an overview and manage participants. It also improves the experience of organizing and overseeing Locked sessions.

📋 Participants modal

• The Participants modal has been redesigned and moved next to the interaction tools (Chat, Questions, etc.). This new placement makes it more accessible for both Owners and participants.
• With the new design, participants are split into two groups: Moderators and Attendees. Under ‘Moderators’ will appear the session’s Owner and assistants, while under ‘Attendees’ will be listed the meeting’s users and guests that are online.
• The new modal also simplifies managing the audience for individual actions (mute, make assistants, remove them from the session) or bulk actions (mute all, allow/restrict reactions, screen sharing, using the mic).

🔑 Request to join redesigned

• The functionality around Locked Sessions has been redesigned.
• Participants awaiting to join the meeting can now be seen and given access directly from the Participants modal.
• Owners and Assistants can also accept requests to join individually or all at once.

Release Notes v1.10.0

9 August 2022

This Sessions version introduces a new and easier way for organizations to collaborate inside the platform.

🤝 Workspaces

• Admin accounts can now create one workspace for their teams. A workspace makes it simpler to have a shared overview of all the team’s contacts.
• Admins have complete control over their workspace members. A member's account can be suspended or entirely deleted.  
• Members of a workspace can be added manually by the admin or imported from a CSV file. Members will receive an email to activate their account or a link sent privately by the admin.

👉 More details on Admin accounts here

Release Notes v1.9.9

2 August 2022

This version of Sessions improves how Owners organize and conduct sessions. It also enhances participants’ overall experience during an online gathering.

⚙️ Settings modal in Player

• The “Settings” modal has been moved to the header, next to the user’s profile picture. This new placement makes it more accessible for the organizer and the audience.

👉 More details here

📄 Advanced settings for Planned sessions

• Owners can choose a meeting’s agenda from the first stages of a Planned session.
• Owners can access advanced settings like requesting permission to join and email addresses, disabling audio and disabling participants’ audio. Owners can select all their preferred settings immediately after starting a Planned session.

👉 More details here

🎥 Hide your camera

• To help people focus, participants can choose to hide their camera feed from themselves without stopping the other participants from seeing them.

🤳 Mirror self-view

• For a more natural, familiar feel, participants can opt to rotate their camera to self-view.

🔒 Lock session

• Participants will require the Owner’s approval to join the session.

📧 Request guests' email

• Unregistered Sessions users will be required to submit their email addresses before joining the gathering if this setting is active.

Release Notes v1.9.8

15 July 2022

This Sessions version immensely simplifies the chaotic back-and-forth process of booking a session by introducing the Book me feature. It also includes integrations with Evernote and Notion, allowing My Notes to be sent to these two platforms. Moreso, guest can now submit their email addresses live to receive notes, Takeaways and Resources. 

📅 Booking made easy

• Users can now create events and share them publicly. As a result, others can easily pick the most convenient day and hour to book a session from the time slots available.
• This feature can be embedded as a page, component or widget in external websites to make booking even more accessible.  
• When a user books a time slot, this becomes unavailable for other users to book. 
• The 'Book me' feature checks the user’s availability across all the calendars synced to their Sessions account to avoid double booking.

👉 More details here

📝 Notes sent to Notion and Evernote

• Users can sync private notes from a session to their Notion and Evernote accounts.
• This feature requires users to have both a Notion/Evernote and a Sessions account.

👉 More details for Notion here and Evernote here 

📧 Notes, Takeaways and Resources for guests

• Unregistered users can now submit their email addresses during the live session to receive the meeting’s takeaways, resources, and personal notes in their inbox.
• Users can submit their email addresses from My Notes. They’ll only receive that session’s notes, takeaways and resources.

Release Notes v1.9.7

12 July 2022

This release enhances the overall experience of both Owners and participants. Owners can now import Pitch presentations directly into Sessions. Also, they can enjoy a more straightforward way of accessing and sharing the session’s link. 

🧩 Pitch Integration

• Owners can now import Pitch presentations and integrate them seamlessly into their sessions.

👉 More details here

🔗 Share session link

• When Owners are alone in a session, a modal appears, allowing them to easily access and share the session’s link with other participants. 
• Owners also have a QR code in this modal if they want to join the session via their phones and experience it through their participant’s eyes.

Release Notes v1.9.6

04 July 2022

This Sessions version introduces two new features that improve how users manage their resources and participants: Tools explorer and Contacts. 

🔧 Tools explorer

• Users can manage all their resources from Tools explorer: add, rename, duplicate, delete. Users can upload, edit and revise resources easier. Users can complete bulk actions for multiple resources at once.

👉 More details here.

😃 Contacts & Groups

• Users can add new contacts and arrange them into groups. This makes it easier to manage and add participants to a session because the user can invite one or more groups at once.
• Users can complete bulk actions when managing contacts like adding to an existing or new group, exporting or deleting them.
• Users can also sync contacts from Google & Office 365 accounts or .csv files.  
• Users can start Instant or Planned sessions directly from Contacts.

👉 More details here

⚙️ Improvements and Resolved Issues

• Core improvements have been made to ensure the platform’s stability and performance optimization.
• Other bug fixes have been implemented.

Release Notes v1.9.5

20 June 2022

This version of Sessions makes it easier for participants to set up their audio and video preferences before entering the live event. It also includes improving the Polls tool to allow open-ended questions and other bug fixes. 

💻 New Pre-join Screen

• Users can now preview their video feed before entering the session.
• Users can also test their audio & video settings and review them if necessary. 
• They can also opt for a virtual background picture or blur. 
• Unregistered users will enter their chosen names for the session.

⚙️ Improvements and Resolved Issues

• Participants can now type their text answers to questions submitted in Polls. Audio & video input were not properly detected by non-Chromium browsers.

Release Notes v1.9.4

13 May 2022

This version improves users' experience in Sessions by allowing them to easily find and interact with their ended, live or upcoming online gatherings. 

🔎 Smart Search

• Smart Search is constantly present wherever the user navigates in Sessions, except during live gatherings.
• Users can find a session by searching for its title, a participant’s name or email address, or the name of a file shared in Resources. 
• Searching and clicking on an ended session redirects users to Memory. An upcoming session redirects users to Lobby, and a session that has started takes them to the live gathering.

👉 More details here

⚙️ Improvements and Resolved Issues

• When sharing their screen, users will see their shared content now displayed on the screen, just like the rest of the participants. This helps users have a visual confirmation of what is shared and recorded. 
• Going full screen will, by default, minimize the participants’ bar, so the shared content is more visible on the screen.
• “End for me” is now the default option when closing a session. Miro board creation and selection in preview mode is now fixed.
• A Form tool added in a recurrent session was not loading and is now fixed.

Release Notes v1.9.3

20 April 2022

This Sessions version brings game-changing features and updates. Sessions introduces a new feature, Breakout Rooms, and an improved version of Memory. The latter allows for data management at a session’s level and offers a comprehensive overview of all sessions with valuable metrics and statistics.

Additionally, recordings are now automatically uploaded to cloud storage. This helps users revisit sessions easier by watching recordings directly in Sessions. We also added a new feature that lets you create Ad hoc Polls during live sessions.

🎉 Breakout Rooms to split participants

• Owners can now split participants into smaller groups in separate rooms.
• Owners can assign participants to rooms or give attendees the freedom to choose their own rooms and switch between them.
• Owners and Assistants have an overview of all the rooms, which helps them manage better. They get notified when participants from a specific room raise their hands and ask questions, so they can join that room and assist. 
• They can send Chat messages visible across rooms.

👉 More details here

🧠 Memory as a Data Management system for a session

• Memory stores every relevant detail about an ended session that you’ve organized or been invited to:  ◦ Each session’s list of participants ◦ Time-related & performance metrics: date, duration, efficiency   ◦ Session’s agenda and its incorporated tools ◦ Content: Chat conversations, Polls created, Questions submitted, Resources shared, My Notes writings
• Owners can directly schedule a follow-up gathering that preserves the same participants and Agenda. To create continuity between the two sessions, contents from Chat, Resources, Polls, Questions, and My Notes from the last session will be available in the follow-up.
• Users can save an ended session’s agenda as a template for future online conferences.

👉 More details here

📊 Memory Dashboard to overview all sessions

• The platform’s data management system gathers individual sessions’ info and transforms them into useful performance metrics for the user.  
• Users have an overview of all their ended sessions for the chosen month.
• Users can filter sessions by ownership, type, attendance, and recording, or they can find a specific gathering by searching for participants or resources.

👉 More details here

⭕ Recordings uploaded to cloud storage

• Recordings will be automatically uploaded to cloud storage during the session (for Chrome users) or after the session ends (for Safari users). 
• Recordings are visible in Memory for all of the session’s participants. Users can watch the recording directly in Sessions and download it.
• The default state allows participants access to recordings, but Owners can change this preference and restrict access.

👉 More details here

🙋 Ad hoc Polls in live sessions

• Owners can create polls where participants submit answers in real-time. 
• Instant polls can be created during live sessions, or prepared in advance, in the Lobby of a Planned session. Polls will remain on standby until the session starts.

👉 More details here

Release Notes v1.9.2

13 April 2022

This version focuses on starting, planning and joining sessions outside of our platform in two ways: through Sessions' extension browser and Google Calendar add-on.

Sessions' extension allows users to start and schedule sessions directly from the browser's toolbar. Google Calendar add-on helps users select Sessions as their conference platform when planning a meeting there.

🧩 Sessions Browser Extension

• This extension allows users to start instant sessions or schedule online gatherings directly from their browser’s toolbar.  It is compatible with Chrome, Edge and Firefox. 
• Users can also see their list of upcoming sessions in the extension. 
• A session planned through the extension also appears in Sessions’ Home and built-in Calendar, with the same details (name, date, time) as configured in the extension.

👉 More details here

📅 Sessions Google Calendar Add-on

• This add-on gives users the possibility to add Sessions as their conference provider when scheduling gatherings in Google Calendar.
• An appointment scheduled in Google Calendar with Sessions as the platform of choice appears in Sessions’ Home and built-in Calendar with the same details (name, date, time) as configured in Google Calendar.

👉 More details here

Release Notes v1.9.1

31 March 2022

This new version is centered around two updates: Reactions and Office 365 Calendar integration. Reactions encourage participants to engage and give live feedback to their speakers. The other improvement is the integration with Office 365, which allows users to sync this calendar with Sessions and view their events on our platform. 

👏 Reactions

• Owners, Assistants, and audience members can now react in real-time. 
• The option to Raise your hand is now hosted by the Reactions button. 
• Each reaction is visible to all participants, followed by the name of the person who reacted.

👉 More details here

📅 Office 365 Calendar Integration

• Users can now sync Office 365 Calendar with Sessions’ built-in Calendar, so the events scheduled in Office 365 Calendar can be available in Sessions too.

👉 More about Calendar here

Release Notes v1.9

9 March 2022

Sessions just got a major level-up

Everything got easier, faster and more flexible than ever.

Version 1.9 brings significant upgrades to Sessions' design and dynamic. These improvements come as a result of our community's feedback and involvement in the creation process. As a user-first product, our mission is to serve our community.

The main upgrade which triggered everything else, including changes in design, is that Agendas and meetings are now separate. A session doesn't depend anymore on the presence of an Agenda. The latter can be created, edited and previewed on its own before a meeting, or it can be built, incorporated, and changed during a live session.

🤝 Smoother Instant & Planned Sessions

• Old Quick session becomes Instant Session. An Instant Session now allows users to configure all tools or import Agendas in a live meeting. 
• Old From scratch session becomes Planned Session. It still allows users to schedule a meeting ahead of time while permitting the usage of tools as a stand-alone, independent of the agenda. 
• The Agenda is now optional.
• Users can organize sessions without it. Users can create, add and edit tools & agendas in real-time during any live session.
• Adding the duration for each Agenda item is now optional. If durations are set, the Autopilot setting can be activated, and the Agenda will play on its own.

🔴 Improved overall in-session experience

• The UX/UI of live sessions has been redesigned to enable frictionless experiences.
• The control bar has been upgraded. 
• Users can enjoy multiple participant views, including a Grid view.
• Spotlight now stands out as a popover on top of any tool used.
• The full-screen view experience has been improved.

👉 More details here

📝 Planned Session improvements

Lobby updates:

• Owners can plan & edit a session’s details while in Lobby (date, time and duration). 
• Owners can customize the Lobby through a rich collection of cover photos thanks to our Unsplash integration, the system’s cover selection or by uploading a picture link.

👉 More details here

Agenda templates:

• Users can build Agenda templates independent of a session, directly from Home.  
• Agenda templates can be previewed before importing them into an Instant or Planned Session.They can choose from over 30+ ready-to-use Agenda templates.

👉 More details here

🏠 Improved Home Experience

• Home’s UX/UI has been redesigned.
• Users have complete overview of their sessions while in Home. 
• Sessions can be filtered or sorted so that users can have better control over their present, upcoming or finished meetings.

👉 More details here

📅 Calendar

• Two new integrations give users better control over their meetings: Office 365 sync and iCloud sync. Users can sync multiple calendars from the same provider.  Calendar’s design has been updated.

👉 More details here

Release Notes v1.8.4

15 February 2022

This new version integrates three new tools: Airtable, Mentimeter, and Slido. Mentimeter and Slido empower Owners to engage their audiences smoothly and efficiently. Airtable integration simplifies the process of reviewing spreadsheets that can now be displayed in Sessions. We also improved our Smartboard's interface, and we added the possibility to use Keynote presentations in Slideshow.

🧩 Mentimeter integration

• Users can share Mentimeter interactive presentations in Sessions for their audience to engage in, like live polls, quizzes, Q&As and many more.
• Owners can allow participants to see the results live in Sessions or keep them private.

👉 More details here

🧩 Slido integration

• This tool allows Owners to engage with their participants in live polls, quizzes, surveys or word builders. 
• Participants can vote directly in Sessions.

👉 More details here

🧩 Airtable integration

• Users can now visualize all types of Airtable resources previously created while being present in an online session.

👉 More details here

🔁 Keynote files in Slideshow

• Users can now upload Keynote presentations in Slideshow along with the other supported formats.

👉 More details here

🖼️ More Smartboard actions

• Users now have easier access to the options for customizing drawings on our native Smartboard.
• We also implemented keyboard shortcuts for frequently used actions.
• Save your working session outcome now available in Smartboard.

👉 More details here

Release Notes v1.8.3

03 February 2022

With this version of Sessions, we added the option of customizing your streaming’s background with images. We also improved the Active Speaker feature to enable better communication between participants with fewer distractions. We also changed the preview for email notifications to be more detailed.

🖼️ Custom virtual background with images

• Users can now choose from a selection of images to customize their streaming’s background.
• Participants can configure this setting during a live session by accessing More actions → Settings → Background from the Control bar.

🗣️ New behavior for the Active Speaker feature

• In sessions with 2-4 participants: the Attendees’ video streams will be promoted to the main screen. Their videos will not be taken down when they become inactive.
• In sessions with more than 4 participants: Four of the participants’ video streams will be promoted to the main screen. Their video streams will not be taken down from the main screen when they’ve stopped talking. They will be replaced only when other participants start speaking.

✔️ These behaviors are valid for the classic Conference mode, when no other participant has been promoted to the Spotlight.

👉 More details about Active Speaker here

📑 Detailed email preview

• When receiving an email invitation to a session, the email preview shows time-related information about that online interaction. 
• This helps users gather essential information about the meeting just by looking at the preview of the email.

⚙ Improvements and Resolved Issues

• Slideshow slides were only partially visible for participants.
• Joining Sessions through LinkedIn created an account with no name.

Release notes v1.8.2

26 January 2022

Version 1.8.2 welcomes two new integrations with Adobe XD and Canva. Courtesy to these updates, our users can easily export designs or prototypes in Sessions and share them in their online meetings.

🧩 Adobe XD

Users can easily export prototypes and designs from Adobe XD in Sessions. The designs are stored privately on our platform. Each user has access to their own exported designs and can share them in a meeting.

👉 More details here

🧩 Canva

Users can export any visual resource they design in Canva and later use it in their online gatherings. The designs are stored privately on our platform. Each user has access to their own exported designs and can share them in a meeting.

👉 More details here

Release Notes v1.8.1

24 January 2022

With this version, Assistants can contribute to writing the Takeaways, guest users can add a future session in their calendar to be reminded of it, and participants can send GIFs and write multiline messages in Chat.

We also included notifications for when Attendees have no internet connection, and the possibility to check the audio’s performance. 

📝 Assistants take over Takeaways

Assistants now have control over Takeaways and help the Owner write the meeting’s main points.Owner and Assistant(s) can edit taking turns, not simultaneously. Participants are notified when somebody takes over Takeaways.

👉 More details here

💬 Chat improvements

Participants can now:

send GIFs to animate Chat conversations. add multiple lines in their Chat messages by pressing Shift + Enter/Return. This makes the texts easier to read.

👉 More details about Chat here

🔔 Add to calendar

Guests* invited to a session via public link now have the option to add the event manually to their calendar to be reminded of it. This option is available in Lobby. Each guest* can choose where to save the session: Apple calendar, Google, Outlook, Outlook.com, Outlook Office, Yahoo.

*users who don’t have a Sessions account

❌ No internet connection status

When participants have no internet connection, a notification banner will inform them about this. The session will automatically reload after the connection is restored.

👂 Audio check

Users can now go to Audio/Video Settings and test that microphones and speakers are working correctly.

⚙ Improvements and Resolved Issues

Minor bug fixes

Release Notes v1.8

12 January 2022

Version 1.8 introduces new features meant to improve the quality of our community’s sessions. We implemented the possibility to reduce noise and add a blurred background. We also introduced a series of questions that give us a more detailed view of our first-time user’s needs.

🔇 Noise reduction

Participants now have the option to enable the Noise reduction setting during a session. (More actions - Settings - Toggle Noise Reduction)

👉 More details here

🙆 Blurred background

Sessions users can now customize their background. They have three options to choose from: No effect, Light blur or Strong blur, depending on the intensity desired for this setting.

👉 More details here

❓ Community survey

To develop a better product continuously, Sessions will ask first-time guests a set of control questions. They will help us have a more in-depth understanding of our users’ needs. 

⚙ Improvements and Resolved Issues

• Share screen issues fixed
• Copy updates
• Other minor bug fixes

Release Notes v1.7 — Christmas edition 🎄

24 December 2021

This version announces considerable improvements for Sessions, starting with the availability of our Mobile responsive version. We also implemented steps for quicker Agenda planning, the possibility of voting on public questions, a friendlier UX for when participants join the same session from multiple devices, and a more visible process for downloading recordings.

📲 Sessions Mobile responsive version

Participants can now join and engage in sessions via mobile devices. Owners can create Quick Sessions and immediately invite participants to join them or start a session previously planned via our Desktop version.

👉 More details here

⌨ Quick Menu actions with keyboard shortcuts

When creating the session’s Agenda, the Owner can now edit individual or bulk Agenda items using keyboard shortcuts.

✔ Voting on public questions

Attendees can now vote on the most relevant inquiries submitted publicly in Questions. Owners and Assistant(s) cannot vote on public questions, but they can submit questions on which participants can vote.

👉 More details here

💻 Disconnecting when joining from multiple devices

When participants join a session using the same user, either from multiple tabs/browsers on the same device or separate ones, the session’s transmission from the original tab/device will be interrupted.  Participants receive a message informing them they have already joined this session with their current account.

✅ Downloading notification bar for recordings

A notification banner appears now to inform you that the downloading process of the recording has started.

👉 More details here

⚙ Improvements and Resolved Issues

• Minor bug fixes

Release Notes v1.6

16 December 2021

The latest version of Sessions will save you even more time and energy when preparing and running a meeting. The Conference Tool now boasts a new default mode called Active Speaker, which means whoever is speaking will take the hero spot on the screen. This is available for both Quick and Planned Sessions. We’ve also redesigned the Agenda Builder to make it faster and easier to design your sessions.

🗣 Active Speaker - default feature for video-conferencing

The video feed of the meeting’s four most active speakers will automatically be promoted to the main screen, giving everybody a better view of them.  The default Active Speaker mode will automatically be deactivated if you select the Spotlight tool and if you assign at least one participant to the Spotlight.

👉 More details here

📗 Agenda enhancements

• Conference tool is now set as the default for any Agenda item in case no other tool has been selected. You can now select multiple Agenda items at once and edit them all at once.   Resources uploaded in Agenda tools are automatically selected and opened in preview mode. It’s now easier to change the duration of each item. Plus, if the time you set for your meeting doesn’t match the total duration of your agenda blocks, you can fix it with the click of a button.
• Adding and customizing tools now follows a logical step-by-step process. We’ve also organized the tools into categories.

👉 More details here

⚙ Improvements and Resolved Issues

• Spotlight: When you invite participants to join the Spotlight, they are automatically put on the main screen, without them having to accept manually.
• Quick Session: The Iframe tool has been added to Quick Session, so you can now show and discuss web pages during your meetings. 
• Iframe: Browse your embedded websites in Iframe and easily return to the initially shared page with one click (Reload button: top right corner).
• Participants audience scroll: It’s now easier to navigate through the participant list in the audience bar.
• Screen-share not loading: We’ve stabilized the share-screen feature since some participants experienced loading issues.

Release Notes v1.5.1

3 December 2021

Version 1.5.1 brings a new tool, Iframe, which allows Owners to embed external web pages into the meeting. It is now also possible to have anonymous answers in your meeting’s surveys. Additionally, improvements to the appearance/visibility of the Spotlight and Share screen controls have been made, and also for downloading the recordings locally on your device.

🔗 Iframe tool, in-house built

Iframe allows Owners to insert external web pages into their session.

📝 Form

It is now possible to make all Form answers anonymous. The Owner can change the Form setting while designing the Agenda or during the live session.

👉 More details about Form here

⚙ Improvements and Resolved Issues

• Recording: A session’s recording can now be saved to your personal device even if the file exceeds the 2GB limit. The recordings remain stored on our platform for up to 30 days. 
• Sound notifications: After a meeting starts, sound notifications for participants who later join/rejoin the session are turned off. This way, the meeting maintains its continuity. 
• Share Screen & Spotlight feature: Share screen and Spotlight window controls have now received an improved UI/UX  for better accessibility and visibility. The controls are triggered in the same way by moving the mouse on a larger area inside and outside the window for both Spotlight and share screen.
• Takeaways: Information about attachments was not displayed in takeaways and is now fixed.
• Custom branding: The reset colors button was not reverting to defaults once used and functionality is now fixed.

Release Notes v1.5

12 November 2021

Version 1.5 brings multiple new features for professional use such as 250 participants limit (previously 50), recording, custom branding, and dark mode.

🌗 Dark mode

For our users who prefer darker tones, now the UI can shift colors at the flip of a switch. Access your profile and choose between the two versions: light or dark. The Dark mode turns the background black and the text white in order to protect the eyes of those who use the platform for long periods of time.

🖋 Custom branding

This feature allows Owners to change the logo and the colors of Sessions (including buttons and invitation emails) for a personalized look. Using this feature, you can transform Sessions to match your company’s brand.

👥 Conference

A session can now support 250 participants simultaneously (up from 50 in the previous version). 

🔴 Recording a session

This feature is available for Owner and Assistants, and they need sufficient disk space on their device to save the recording locally. Participants are informed when the recording starts.The recording can be seen by everyone if it’s uploaded manually in the session’s Resources.

👉 More details here

🖥 Share screen

• The Share screen functionality is now available to all participants in a meeting, not only to those in Spotlight. The Owner and the Assistant can stop the share screen of another participant at any time.
• Sharing your screen is possible during all types of Agenda items. Regardless of the Agenda tool chosen in Designer, and displayed in Player during the meeting, you can share your screen at any time.When a video is playing, participants cannot share their screen.

⚙ Improvements and Resolved Issues

• Minor bug fixes

Release Notes v1.4

6 October 2021

Version 1.4 presents the synchronization of Sessions’ Calendar with the Google Calendar to aid Gmail users in optimizing their meeting schedules.

🗓 Sync with Google Calendar

Your Google Calendar meetings are visible in Sessions’ built-in Calendar Sessions, hence, planning your schedule is streamlined by viewing all the upcoming meetings.

👉 More details here

🖍 Figma

Now your Figma designs can be zoomed in/out. The image is always fit to its full width, while still having the ability to scroll up and down in case of larger images.

👉 More details here

🎨 Gallery & Figma

To navigate to the previous/following images or designs in these two Agenda items, press the arrow keyboard, also known as the cursor movement keys.

⚙ Improvements and Resolved Issues

• Minor bug fixes

Release Notes v1.3

17 September 2021

Version 1.3 brings improvements for multiple processes in Sessions: from the registration of first-time guests, to the registration page, to introducing a friend to Sessions.

🙅‍♀️ Participants RSVP

The Owner is now informed of the intention of the participant to accept, decline, or maybe attend a session, even if they responded from Google Calendar, Outlook, Yahoo, or other email providers. This information is available in Calendar.

👉 More details about Calendar here

✏ First-time users joining a session

Unregistered users now only insert their full name, allowing the system to remember that name for future access and can enter the session. At the end of a session, unregistered users are invited to create an account in order to receive Takeaways, Resources, or My notes via email. 

📧 Adding multiple email addresses

Owners and Assistants can add more participants faster by inserting multiple email addresses continuously in the input field in the Add participants module.

👉 More details here

🤗 Referring a friend process

A new button was added that triggers a pop-up with a link for users to introduce others to Sessions.

📄 Registration page improvements

The Full name field now accommodates a maximum number of characters of 120. The password complexity has been updated.

👉 More details here

⚙ Improvements and Resolved Issues

Minor bug fixes

Release Notes v1.2

2 September 2021

This version introduces new integrations with tools meant to help our users display content created on other platforms. Additionally, it brings improvements to our built-in functionality, Form.

🎨 Figma

The integration with this vector graphics editor and prototyping tool offers Sessions and Figma’s users the capability to export wireframes and other designs and exhibit them in a meeting.

👉 More details here

🎧 Twitch

The integration with the web-based video live streaming service offers users the ability to play videos from Twitch in a Sessions meeting.

👉 More details here

📝 Form

• It is now possible for the Owner and Assistant to vote while in Player.
• Participants can see the answers to the Form by default.
• While in Designer, by clicking on the Arthur icon on the right corner, the Audience Controller is displayed with settings available to the Owner.

👉 More details here

⚙ Improvements and Resolved Issues

Minor bug fixes

Release Notes v1.1

5 August 2021

This version introduces notifications for the Player mode. Hence, when you are Live with your team and a participant does something either you, as the owner or everyone is notified, thus, allowing the Participants to be informed. Finally, improvements have been made to Player and Calendar.

🙋 Assistant role

Sessions introduces the Assistant role, a new feature that helps the Owner stay in control of the participants’ experience. After a session has started, participants are displayed notifications that let them know key pieces of information. 

✅ Notifications

Notification seen only by the Owner & Assistant

• When you have a new question sent by a participant
• When your request towards a participant to unmute or to join the Spotlight is declined
• When a participant raises their hand
• When the time of the Agenda item is ending

Notifications seen by everyone

• When a participant entered or left the session
• New chat messages
• Uploaded resources (files or links) 
• When everyone is muted by the Owner

Notification seen by the participant

• When a participant mutes their microphone
• When the participant is muted by the owner
• When the Owner or Assistant revoked the Spotlight invitation towards the participant
• When the Owner removed the participant from the Spotlight
• When the participant has been made an Assistant
• When the participant has been removed from the Assistant role

⚙ Improvements and Resolved Issues

• Other bug fixes
• Security enhancements

Release Notes v1.0

19 July 2021

This version introduces new features, significant improvements to our existing capabilities, and a new design to our web-based application. It presents never-seen-before functionalities for the Calendar and sharing participant’s screen. The version treats security issues and bug fixes.

📕 Agenda

You can now add all the Agenda items for a session one after the other, without having to configure each item (i.e. adding a tool to it). Depending on the time allocated, add all the items with minimum information about them (title, description and timing) to fill the meeting and configure them individually later.

👉 More details here

🕘 Starting a session

It is now possible to start a session an hour before the scheduled start time.

🏃‍♂️ Publishing a session

• If you, the Owner, complete the configuration for a session and publish it 10 minutes before the scheduled time, you are redirected to the Lobby. From there, it is possible to wait or start the session.
• It is now possible to publish a session even if the Owner has created an agenda with less time configured than the selected time of the whole meeting. For example, a meeting has 30 minutes, and it contains a 20-minute slideshow, the owner is able to publish it. The session duration is adjusted to last 20 minutes.

🏠 Home

After log-in, a user is greeted with the homepage, which, beginning with this version, has new visual elements:

👉 More details here

📰 Visualizing events

Events are now displayed in a list with their respective start time and Owner. By default, after log-in, the events from the current day are displayed. To see future or past events, use the arrowheads at the top of the list to navigate between dates. Click on a specific session to see its details: participants, starting time, duration, Join the session or delete buttons. 

📅 Calendar

• The Calendar’s interface has been modified to better fit the user's needs.

Changes and improvements to Calendar layout structure and navigation:

• New action button for creating sessions. Options are: Quick session, From Scratch and From Template.
• New mini widget calendar available in the Month/Week/Day views. 
• New widget for filtering sessions.
• New Sessions color scheme.

👉 More details here

🗣 New Session

Launching a new session is now possible through the use of the New session button at the top left ribbon. By clicking it, a drop-down list is displayed with the following options:

• Quick Start
• From Scratch
• From template

🙅 RSVP

It is now possible to answer an invitation from the Calendar. Participants who have a sessions account are now able to respond to a session invitation via email. Another option to respond to an invite is in the Notifications section. Options are Accept, Decline or Maybe. For more info, see Getting Started>How to join a session.

👉 More details here

🗓 Widget

On the left panel, a new widget has been added. It depicts the month selected in the calendar with bullets marking the sessions. Use the arrowheads to navigate between months.

📑 Filters

What events are displayed in the Calendar can be modified with the use of filters found at the button on the left corner of the screen. It is possible to choose one of the three types of sessions: Published, Invited, Draft.

👩‍🏫 Miro

Miro is a simple-to-use online whiteboard built to help you collaborate with others. Miro is available in the Owner’s list of available tools for a planned session. It can be used with or without a Sessions account.

👉 More details here

🖼 Gallery

A new Agenda tool named Gallery has been added. It is the simplest tool for compiling presentations made exclusively from still images, such as lectures or portfolios.

👉 More details here

✍ User Interface

• Creating, editing and saving Agenda tools has been redesigned. The process is smooth and intuitive:
• When adding an Agenda item, it is mandatory to first insert a name (optional a description and time). Only after inserting the title the list of tools will become available.
• The pop-up window for the configuration has been replaced by a center panel displaying the tools.
• The Configure button has been deleted. Instead, after each selection, the auto-save has been implemented.

💻 New Share Screen feature

Spotlighted participants are now able to share their screens as the main container when using the Conference tool. This feature is also available when using other tools, as a picture-in-picture window that can be moved and resized.

👉 More details here

🙋 Participants’ RSVP status displayed

Session owners can now see the participant’s RSVP status in the session preview and the participants’ lists from Lobby and Player.

🔎 Platform-based features

• Navigation Bar: It has been redesigned to accommodate new features.
• Contacts: A user can access other users and groups, search for particular contacts, and add contacts. 
• In-app Notification System: There are new types of notifications with two statuses (read and unread) marked with a green dot near the icon. The number of unread notifications is now displayed. This version also contains a button Mark all as read, which changes the status of all unread notifications to read. Help section: It contains tours, templates, demos and links to Help Center.
• User Profile: The interface of the profile has been redesigned to display the membership, a Visit Help Center and a Contact us buttons, as well as Join on Slack and Notion. 
• Email: The structure of the emails announcing modifications of a session has been improved. The Attendees receive short and clear updates when being invited to a meeting or when receiving Takeaways or My Notes from a session they attended.
• Tooltips: When hovering over the icon of a tool, the corresponding tooltip is displayed.