The long-awaited version 4.1 was released in October 2025 – finally. So far, no other new version has brought so many minor changes and fixes. But it’s not the huge number we want to focus on in this week’s article. We will focus on the top five huge changes and new features. Let’s go!
1. BACnet
BACnet (Building Automation and Control Network) is an open communication protocol designed for building automation systems. It allows devices such as HVAC controllers, lighting systems, access control, and sensors from different manufacturers to communicate and work together. BACnet is widely used in large buildings, factories, and smart infrastructures for centralized monitoring and control of energy systems.
Technically, BACnet defines standardized messages and data structures that are exchanged over the network. The new BACnet data source acts as a BACnet client and communicates with the servers and devices—both for reading and writing values of the connected devices.
We will discuss this new data source in one of the upcoming articles: Peakboard Meets BACnet – Your First Steps into Building Automation
2. Peakbot AI
The Peakboard designer gets a brand-new AI tool comparable to a copilot. We can use natural language to build the logic of a Peakboard application. The prompts are used to generate Building Blocks. The screenshot shows a simple prompt to process data that comes from an Office 365 calendar and finds the entry with the latest timestamp. Here are the prompts and the result:
Please use the calendar data source and iterate through the data. Check the timestamp and then write the newest timestamp to the text field on the screen
3. Hub Files Data Source
The Hub File data source lets us iterate over all files that are stored in the Peakboard Hub. That sounds pretty boring but actually opens a huge number of cool things to do. We will discuss this in one of the next articles: From Folder to Fame – How Hub Files Became a Dynamic Infoboard. We will build an info board that lets the end user browse through various PDF files. However, the number of files (and information to browse) is fully dynamic and simply determined by how many PDF files are uploaded and how they are named.
4. Drawing Area
More and more users build applications on tablets that need someone to sign with their fingers—these could be audits or other activities that need clear confirmation and acknowledgement from the end user. With the new drawing area control this can be built just by using drag and drop while building the application. The drawing area can also be used to let the user scribble ideas or simple drawings.
We will discuss the drawing area control in detail in one of the articles early next year: Draw, Sign, Approve – A New Interactive Drawing Area for Peakboard
5. Debug Panel
Peakboard developers have waited for this for years. Let’s assume we have a very complex project and need to better understand how the data structures evolve in the running project. So far, we often used table controls or log files to get an idea of what is happening on the data side. With the new debug panel these days are over. We can follow any data structure in real time and even call functions on the fly or reload data sources and flows manually—a real game changer for any advanced developer.
By the way, we will dive deep into the topic of advanced debugging patterns in one of the future articles in February next year: The Log Files Strike Back – A Nerd’s Guide to Peakboard Debugging