Lightwork: Neighbor Help
Ask for help. Offer help.
Free · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
Ask for help. Offer help. Neighbor help in Richmond, Lexington, and across Kentucky.
Lightwork makes it simple for a neighbor to ask for a favor — and just as simple to show up when someone needs it. Meals after a baby. A ride to the airport. Hands for a move. School pickup. In Richmond, Lexington, and across Kentucky, it is local mutual aid: neighborly help from a volunteer in your community. Post your ask, choose who sees it, and let people help.
Ask for help. Offer help.
HOW IT WORKS
- Sign in fast with Apple, Google, Facebook, or just an email
- Set the date, time, place, and how many helpers you need
- Or set a repeating schedule — weekly meals, a mowing rotation, a monthly workday — and open the next dates for sign-ups
- Make your request public, or share only with a private group you've joined
- People offer to help with a tap — you see exactly who's coming
- Real-time chat inside each request to work out the day-of details
- Push notifications when someone offers to help, joins your group, or messages you
- Photos so helpers know what they're walking into
- Map view shows nearby requests at a glance; switch back to the feed any time
WHO IT'S FOR
- Churches and small groups looking after each other through life's seasons
- Neighborhoods and HOAs offering and asking for a hand on small things
- Friends and family pitching in through the busy weeks
- Schools, sports teams, and parent crews coordinating volunteer work
- Small nonprofits running volunteer days without enterprise software
- Anyone who'd rather organize help in one place than across five group threads
more - Capture join request, approve and decline events
- Impact milestones after completing a task and in-app weekly summary
- Shareable impact card and weekly neighborhood summary
- Signed-out ask preview shows rough area and resumes "i can help" after sign-up
- Keep signed-up rounds when a series is deleted
2.104.0 Oct 24
- Show deleted user and read-only thread for deleted dm participant
- Land new series after start the series
- Occurrence edit shows local series time and series location
- Organizations can now apply to join Lightwork right from the app.
2.101.0 Oct 22
- Org-plan entitlement check behind off-by-default flag
- Notify group members of public asks; skip held asks
- Widen nearby-ask notify radius to 25 miles
- Nearby-user notifications for public asks
- Add /get smart app link, its QR, and light work keywords
- Apply ask anti-spam to recurring series creation
- Email digest fallback for users push can't reach
- Hand off asks at the org's own location
- Stop a disabled user's recurring series from posting
- Evaluate task-create anonymity gates once to stay under 1000 expressions
- Show poster on recurring ask feed cards
- Count a retried read denial once toward the rules spike
- Restore the page title after leaving a group
- Back returns to the previous group on desktop
2.98.0 Oct 21
- Ask for a place in the United States, no wider than a city
- Cap how far out an ask can start and how many helpers it can ask for
- Pause new asks after several in a short time
- Refuse a second copy of an ask that is still up
- Add draft App Store header and search-results creatives
- Enable admin view-as impersonation on /
- Follow the device language
- Key account and settings copy
- Key the admin screen strings
- Key the ask form and ask detail strings
- Key the chrome and consent strings
- Key the groups and organization strings
- Key the notifications, messages, and map strings
- Prepare sign-in, onboarding, and the main tabs for translation
- Translate notifications, emails, and error messages
- Translate the keyed screens into Spanish
- Detect spam bursts and hide a disabled user's asks
- Hold asks that match scam or spam phrases
- Review a new neighbor's first asks before they go public
- Slide the switch thumb and fade its track
- Make I can help a button you can reach
- Stop the app crashing on launch for some phones
- Show who posted and where on ask cards
- Open a saved account without waiting on a slow network
- Open the home feed after signing out on a shared device
- Ask for help. offer help. on every public surface
- Link moderation accounts to their in-app profile
- Give the empty requests ask button its padding
- Keep members of a restored group
- Leave a group by asking the server
- Name the group in the tab and leave a cold open
- Restore address suggestions on
- Stop a false alarm when a neighbor opens a repeating ask
- Highlight My Activity when you open your own ask
- Keep ask details beside the activity list
- Keep live updates working through a long browsing session
- Show the date and helper count on My Activity asks
- Hide invite-only groups from search
- Let a group be invite-only
- Let a manager remove a helper from their ask
- Show the full group in the Groups pane
- Ignore sign-in errors from the Play pre-launch check
- Remove Lexington Pride Center from public listings
- Show push as off when permission cannot be requested
- Report when taking a helper off an ask fails
- Add Requests tab to group page for signed-in members
- Ban a removed member from rejoining
- Mark your own asks in Help Out
- Make blocking remove and keep someone off your asks
- Refuse an ask that carries a payment destination
- Show the full ask in the My Activity pane
- Label the groups, notifications, and messages header buttons
- Clear AA contrast on DM timestamps and the profile version
- Hide decorative icons from screen readers
- Clear open invitations when a group is deleted
- Let every group manager remove a member
- Keep help requests and group descriptions within their length limit
- Show invites past the first page
- Remove a directory link that opens a security warning
- Remove Generations Center from the Madison County list
- Tell you when a data download was cut short
- Replay a gated home-screen shortcut's destination after sign-in
- Move the empty activity message up under the toggle
- Show a single status on past asks
- Remove duplicate 'NOTIFICATIONS' section label when notifications is the only section
- Hide back button on top-level sidebar destinations at wide viewports
- Stop offering an asker "I can help" on their own ask cards
- Use white knobs on switches
- Give the App Store support URL a page that says how to get help
- Give the zero-result group search a next step
- Raise the group public-profile switch above the 24x24 target-size floor
- Replace the paused recurring-row dim with an outline and a Paused chip
- Announce the unread count Notifications and Messages nav controls
- Take the hidden notification swipe panel out of the tab order and the AT tree
- Bound the two live org-dashboard list subscriptions
- Make the data export declare its own completeness
- Make three operator list callables report their own truncation
- Pin task card status chips to the trailing edge with no group label
...
2.94.0 Oct 18
- Pull down to refresh your feed, activity, groups, and inboxes.
- Report a conversation, or a single message, right from the chat.
- Message boxes now grow as you write longer notes.
- Start a new ask from an old one: duplicate a past request in a tap.
- The Help Out feed stays current when you leave it open.
- Notification settings now live on one screen.
- Group managers hear when someone joins through an invite link.
- Long ask, group, and series names wrap instead of getting cut off.
- The map keeps your zoom and place, and an ask's details stay in view when you tap its pin.
- You choose whether to share usage analytics, and we only ask once.
- Signing up picks up right where you left off after you confirm your email.
2.86.0 Sep 28
A lot has changed since your last update. Lightwork now works from where you actually are.
Neighbors near you
- Help Out starts from your location and widens the radius on its own until there is something to see.
- The map centers on you and shows only what is in range, with your scope and filters visible on the map itself.
- Every ask now carries a location, so neighbors can actually find it.
Organizations with standing needs
- Local organizations that always need hands now appear on the map and in their own Help Out section, scoped to your radius.
- Organization profiles carry a photo and a contact for volunteers.
- Rosters can include people who do not have an account, with skills, notes, and search.
- Hours served are recorded when a helper marks help complete. Managers can add, edit, and attest to them, and export a record their funders will accept.
Help that repeats
- Repeating asks collapse to one card per series instead of filling the feed.
- You get a reminder before an occurrence you claimed comes due, with its own setting so you can turn it off on its own.
- Managers hear when an occurrence is close and still short-handed.
Asks without a deadline
- Some needs are ongoing. You can post one with no end date, and it shows up in the feed and in My Activity.
- We check in about ongoing asks that have gone quiet, and tell you when an ask closes with no one claiming it.
Staying safe
- You can report an ask, and reports reach a real reviewer.
- An ask for a transfer is redirected to the need underneath, so the help can actually arrive.
- Blocking someone now stops messages in both directions.
Also in this update
- Group managers are told when someone joins.
- Photos attached to an ask upload reliably again.
- Messages compose above the keyboard instead of behind it.
- A clearer next step when sign-in does not go through.
- Larger touch targets, stronger contrast, and a clearer focus ring throughout.
- Fixes for deleting your own ask, expired asks, shared ask links, and the blocked-people list.
2.78.0 Aug 27
- Organizations are here. Find local nonprofits, neighborhood groups, and mutual-aid circles in a searchable directory, see the ones nearest you, and post a task on behalf of one you help run.
- Ask and offer help through direct messages. Send a request, accept the ones you want, and quietly decline the ones you don't.
- Share the load with co-managers. Add trusted people to a task or a group so no one carries it alone.
- Recurring needs got clearer. The series form previews the schedule as you build it, and each series keeps a readable history of what happened.
- Look around before you sign in. Browse and search open tasks, and share a link to what you find.
- Notifications reach you in more places now, so a request for help doesn't sit unseen.
- Tasks can name who the help is for, with details shared only once someone signs up.
2.68.0 Aug 3
This is a big one. Since you last updated, Lightwork has grown up — here's what's new.
ASK ANONYMOUSLY
Need help but not ready to put your name on it? Post a request privately and reveal yourself only when you choose to.
HELP THAT REPEATS
Set up requests that come back on a schedule — a weekly meal, a standing ride, a regular shift. Organizers can keep an eye on the whole series and adjust it as things change, and helpers can mark their part done.
MESSAGE EACH OTHER
Private messages are here. Start a conversation, react with emoji, reply in threads, see when someone's typing, and know when your message has been read. You can also mention people directly and search back through any chat.
SEE WHO YOU'RE HELPING
Tap anyone to open their profile — a short bio, the groups you share, and what they've been up to.
STAY IN CONTROL
Block or report someone, mute a group, or remove a member you added. Choose exactly which notifications reach you, then mark all read, filter, sort, and archive.
FIND WHAT MATTERS
Search across open requests and within any conversation.
A SIMPLER START
Signing in is faster now, with one account no matter how you choose to log in. New here? A short welcome tour shows you around.
YOUR DATA, YOUR CALL
Export everything you've shared, with clearer privacy controls throughout.
A FRESH LOOK
A new logo, cleaner type, a warmer palette, and smoother, calmer motion across the app.
Plus a long list of accessibility improvements, faster loading, and fixes that make everyday help feel effortless.
Thanks for being here. Ask plainly. Help freely.
2.53.0 Jun 15
- Faster, more reliable Sign in with Google and Sign in with Facebook — native account pickers instead of a browser tab
- Sign in with Apple now signs you out automatically if you revoke access in iOS Settings
- Sign Out now properly clears your Google and Facebook session — next sign-in shows the chooser
- Fixed an Android crash that affected some devices when navigating between screens
- Other reliability fixes and behind-the-scenes improvements
2.16.3 May 17
- Sign in with Apple on iOS (required for App Store compliance)
- Sign in with Facebook on all platforms
- Web performance monitoring via Vercel Analytics and Speed Insights
- iOS push notification entitlements now properly included in builds
- Apple Sign-In button hidden in Expo Go to prevent cryptic errors
2.11.2 May 14
- New onboarding tour for first-time users with four guided slides
- Account deletion with two-step confirmation on Profile screen
- Explicit Accept and Decline for group invitations in Notifications
- Tap backdrop to close invite modal
- In-app notifications for group invitations to registered users
- Show tour again option to replay onboarding from Profile screen
- New users no longer flash through home before Create Profile screen
- Group invitations now require explicit acceptance for all users
- Delete Account button moved to bottom of Profile to reduce misclicks
- Email and password validation now consistent across auth screens
- Form errors now display inline instead of popup alerts
2.5.0 May 11
v2 Completely rebuilt from the ground up!
- Groups no longer required - Groups remain useful for private, members-only tasks but are no longer required to do anything in the app.
- Public tasks - You can now create public tasks!
- Task Messaging - You can now chat with other volunteers for each Task.
- Faster app launch and smoother transitions on every screen
- Refreshed visual design throughout the entire app
2.2.10 May 9
Security updates
1.1.10 Apr 20
- Capture join request, approve and decline events
- Impact milestones after completing a task and in-app weekly summary
- Shareable impact card and weekly neighborhood summary
- Signed-out ask preview shows rough area and resumes "i can help" after sign-up
- Keep signed-up rounds when a series is deleted
more Version 2.104.0 Oct 24
Data Used to Track You The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:
Data Linked to You The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Location Contact Info User Content Identifiers Usage Data Diagnostics