GuideConnect 1.33

What's new in GuideConnect version 2026.03

GuideConnect 2026.03 is now available.  This release introduces new tools designed to make it easier to read emails and write documents.  

• The new Writing Assistant supports you to write letters and documents with confidence. Ask the Writing Assistant to help you spot mistakes and change the tone and length of your writing. 
• The Reading Assistant makes longer emails quick to read and easier to understand, with options to summarise and simplify the text.  

This latest release also includes a wide range of improvements across GuideConnect, including enhancements for emails, websites, books and more. It is available now across all supported languages with the exception of the US.
The release will be made available for customers in the United States later this year.  

Customers with an up-to-date GuideConnect Upgrade Agreement will receive this release automatically.  

Write with confidence with the Writing Assistant 

Whether you're writing a document or an important letter, the new Writing Assistant helps you get your message across exactly as you intend. 

Designed to be simple and easy to use, the Writing Assistant can help you spot mistakes, improve clarity and adjust the tone of your writing, giving you extra confidence before you send or share it.

When writing a letter or document in GuideConnect, simply open the Actions menu and select Writing Assistant. You'll then have two options: 

• Check for Errors – Quickly review your writing for spelling, grammar and typing mistakes. 
• Rewrite Text – Improve your writing by making it friendlier, more professional, clearer or more concise. 

Once the Writing Assistant has reviewed your text, you'll be shown the suggested changes and can decide whether to keep them or continue editing yourself. You're always in control of the final message.

Designed for everyday writing 

The Writing Assistant is there to help with the writing tasks you do every day.

• Writing an important document? Use Check for Errors to remove spelling errors before you finalise it. 
• Writing a letter to your bank or council? Use Rewrite Text to make your message sound more professional. 
• Dictated a long message? Use Rewrite Text to make it shorter and easier to read. 
• Want your text to sound warmer or more friendly? Use Rewrite Text to adjust the tone in just a few clicks. 

With the new Writing Assistant, writing clear and confident letters and documents has never been easier. 

Reading Assistant - Make emails easier to read 

The new Reading Assistant makes emails easier to read and easier to understand. With just a few clicks, GuideConnect can summarise lengthy emails or rewrite them in simpler language, making them quicker to read and easier to understand.  

To use the Reading Assistant, open an email in GuideConnect, then open the ‘Actions’ menu and choose ‘Reading Assistant’. You’ll then have two options: 

• Summarise: Choose this option for a clear, easy-to-read summary of a long email. 
• Simplify: Choose this option to read the same email using simpler, more accessible language. 

Once you have selected an option, GuideConnect instantly creates an easier-to-understand version, helping you stay informed, save time and read with greater confidence. 

Available exclusively with a GuideConnect Upgrade Agreement 

The new Reading Assistant and Writing Assistant are available exclusively to customers with an active Upgrade Agreement. 

Renewing your Upgrade Agreement helps you get the most from GuideConnect with: 

• Regular updates, including new features and improvements 
• Important updates to keep GuideConnect working smoothly with changes to Windows and Microsoft services 
• Access to UK telephone and remote support from our knowledgeable team 
• Exclusive access to the latest accessibility features, including:  
  • Describe Image for rich image descriptions 
  • Ask a Question in Help 
  • The new Reading Assistant 
  • The new Writing Assistant 

Additional fixes and improvements

As well as introducing the new Reading Assistant and Writing Assistant features, GuideConnect 2026.03 includes a host of fixes and improvements for the features you use everyday. 

Books and News:

• Books now open correctly in the Reader after being downloaded from a library or selected from the My Books list. 
• The correct download progress percentage is now displayed when downloading a book in GuideConnect. 
• Selecting a heading in newspaper from NFB Newsline now moves the reading highlight to the correct article.  
• When reading a DAISY Text and Audio book, you can now use the UP, DOWN, LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys to navigate forwards and backwards as expected.  
•  If you have reached your Calibre Audio borrowing limit, GuideConnect now displays a message when you attempt to borrow additional books.  
• If a protected Calibre Audio book has been copied to a USB device, GuideConnect now displays a message explaining that the book cannot be opened. 
• Books from the Belgian library Anderslezen.be now open correctly in the Reader. 
• Books protected with Dolphin Digital Rights Management (DRM) can now be opened successfully in GuideConnect. 

Emails

• You can now open HTML documents attached to emails directly in GuideConnect. 

Documents

• Improved reliability when opening Word documents, preventing GuideConnect from closing unexpectedly when opening a DOCX file.  
• Searching within a PDF now works more smoothly and no longer causes GuideConnect to continuously load if the word or phrase cannot be found.  

General

•  GuideConnect is now 64-bit. This behind-the-scenes upgrade improves compatibility with modern computers and provides a stronger foundation for future improvements. 

Music and Radio Stations

• Music: Improved reliability when playing music from CDs, preventing GuideConnect from closing unexpectedly when selecting a track. 
• Music: The error message is now displayed correctly when your ‘My Music’ list is empty. 
• Radio Stations: Fixed an issue where an incorrect error message could appear after a radio station had successfully started playing. 

Remote Support

• Remote Support now opens correctly without displaying an "Unknown error" message.  

Settings

• An option has been added to the Advanced settings to ‘AI Disable AI features’. This option allows you to disable features in GuideConnect which use AI services. This includes Describe Image for descriptions of images and handwritten cards, enhanced Help with Ask a Question, plus the new Writing Assistant and Reading Assistant.  
• Voice dictation timeout settings now work correctly, allowing you to adjust how long GuideConnect waits before cancelling voice input. 
• The complete list of available speakers and microphones is now displayed in GuideConnect settings, making it easier to choose the device you want to use.  

Translations

• Added the ability to change the GuideConnect display language to Portuguese.  
• The new ‘Ask a Question’ Help feature is now available in the Canadian English version of GuideConnect.  

Websites

• The on-screen keyboard can now be used to enter text into forms and search boxes on websites when using a touch screen.  
• The side button for ‘Back’ on touch screen devices now correctly exits the web browser.  
• Fixed an issue where the GuideConnect highlight could remain on screen when browsing websites using a Dolphin Remote.  

If you do not have an active GuideConnect Upgrade Agreement or you are running an older version of GuideConnect,we recommend you upgrade your licence and purchase a GuideConnect Upgrade Agreement. 

If you are in the UK, please call Dolphin on 01905 754 577 to upgrade your licence and purchase a GuideConnect Upgrade Agreement.

If you are based outside the UK, please contact your the organisation you purchased your original GuideConnect licence from, and they will be able to provide you with the GuideConnect Upgrade Agreement. 
 
Learn more about the benefits of a GuideConnect Upgrade Agreement which, in addition to the latest fixes also entitles you to telephone and remote support, and regular product updates.