Unmuddle 0.2.0

Helpers has a new name: Unmuddle, making sense of what you read and write. Free tools that help you read, write and think things through, especially with AI. Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit.

Install

• Unmuddle-0.2.0-setup.exe installs for your user only. No admin rights needed. Adds a Start menu entry and, if you choose, starts with Windows.
• Unmuddle-0.2.0-win-x64.zip runs from any folder. Unzip it and run Unmuddle.exe.

The app isn't code-signed yet, so Windows may say "Windows protected your PC". Choose More info, then Run anyway.

Want to check a download? Each file has a record, signed by GitHub, that it was built from this project's code by its own release workflow. They're listed on the attestations page. With the GitHub CLI you can check a file yourself: gh attestation verify Unmuddle-0.2.0-setup.exe --repo drhumphrey/unmuddle.

Coming from Helpers 0.1.0? Install this version by hand from the files above. It replaces Helpers, and the first time Unmuddle starts, your settings, your draft, your own words and the downloads move across by themselves. (The Update now button in 0.1.0 can't start the installer: it closes Helpers without updating.) From 0.2.0 on, Update now works.

What's changed

• A new name. Helpers was always a working title. Unmuddle does the same things, in the same way.
• Update now works. It downloads the new version, checks it against its published checksum, installs it quietly and starts Unmuddle again.
• The installer is for your user only. It no longer offers to install for all users, which put the app where updates couldn't find it.
• Small fixes. The Settings window no longer shows your Windows user name in the settings file's path. Avalonia 12.1.4 draws the windows, and a few small fixes came from code scanning.
• A how-to guide, with pictures of every part: docs/GUIDE.md.

This is an early version. docs/STATUS.md lists what's been tried and what hasn't. Problems and ideas are very welcome as issues.

Free software under the GNU GPL v3 or later, with no warranty.

Helpers 0.1.0

The first public version of Helpers: free tools that help you read, write and think things through, especially with AI. Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit.

Install

• Helpers-0.1.0-setup.exe installs for your user only. No admin rights needed. Adds a Start menu entry and, if you choose, starts with Windows.
• Helpers-0.1.0-win-x64.zip runs from any folder. Unzip it and run Helpers.App.exe.

The app isn't code-signed yet, so Windows may say "Windows protected your PC". Choose More info, then Run anyway.

Some parts download the first time you use them, then work offline: the voice (350 MB) on first start, the dictionary (10 MB) on the first Look up, and the local AI model (2.5 GB) only if you choose "On this PC" in Settings.

What's in it

• Hear it. Select text anywhere and press Read, or Ctrl+Alt+Space. Natural British voices on your own PC, a player that highlights each sentence and word, and sensible reading of Markdown, numbers, dates and money.
• Write it. Compose (Ctrl+Alt+C): spelling as you type, Read back, Send to chat without pressing Enter, and Edit and Put it back for text you've selected anywhere.
• Shape it. Optional AI help: Check my thinking (a reader's notes, never a rewrite), Tidy and Make a request. Runs on your PC for free, or on Claude with your own key.
• Look up a word. Syllables, how to say it, meanings and other words for it.
• Private. No telemetry. The update check is off unless you switch it on.

This is an early version. docs/STATUS.md lists what's been tried and what hasn't. Problems and ideas are very welcome as issues.

Free software under the GNU GPL v3 or later, with no warranty.