Users said it only works in Chrome
Almost every change to ReadIN today started with something a user said.
The first was an "update available" banner. Some users were still on an old version and had no idea there was a new one. I had Claude come up with a plan and some mockups, and picked a bar at the bottom of the page with a "Refresh" button. I made one rule on purpose: the bar stays. There's no × to close it. It only goes away once you refresh to the new version. I want people to always be on the latest version, because that's the one with everything in it.
The same version fixed two small things. A user complained that when typing in "Ask AI", the text on the left kept getting swallowed. Now the box wraps lines. And the "I don't want to read it, just tell me what it says" button had become easy to miss after a font change. I think it's one of the most useful features, so I turned it into a big card that stands out, at least until you've tried it once, so people know how good the results can be.
Next, "Ask AI" can now read other material alongside your book. Drag in another paper or ebook, read them side by side, and it's saved to your library automatically. The feeling I'm after is having a full Claude right there in "Ask AI".
Around noon another user said that on a computer it only works in Chrome and Edge. I asked Claude how hard it would be to support Safari on the Mac. Medium, it said: reuse what we did for iPad and keep notes in the browser. That version went live in the afternoon, with every automated test passing. In the evening I tried it myself in Safari on my Mac, and right away got "Save failed". It turned out Safari quietly closes the connection used to store notes, and the app never reconnected. After fixing that, I shipped one more version so Safari and iPad are less likely to lose notes.
Other things: the mainland China edition switched its AI from MiniMax to DeepSeek, because the old one wasn't working well. I tried it myself and it works. Minimal mode got a "Notebook" button in the top left. And pro mode now has the Chinese/English switch in the top right too.
Late at night I read Paul Graham's "How to Lose Time and Money" in ReadIN. In the margin I wrote just one line: this is important.
What I figured out today: Passing every test doesn't mean it works for the people using it. The real problems only show up when you use it yourself.
Versions today: v0.46 update banner, line wrapping in Ask AI, a bigger "don't want to read" card · v0.47 read other material in Ask AI · v0.48 Safari on the computer works · v0.49 Notebook button in minimal mode, China edition on DeepSeek · v0.50 language switch in pro mode · v0.51 fixed "Save failed" in Safari · v0.52 fewer lost notes on Safari and iPad, banner follows the language
My AI reader, ReadIN, is in private beta. Want to try it? → Try it