FAQ

How much does it cost?

Nothing. Release Notes is free with a subscription to the Weekly Thing, which is free too. There are no ads.

What is the Weekly Thing?

The Weekly Thing is Jamie Thingelstad’s weekly newsletter. Release Notes is one of Jamie’s hobbies, and it comes with the newsletter.

I don’t get the Weekly Thing. Can I still sign up?

Yes. Sign up anyway. If your address isn’t on the Weekly Thing’s list, Release Notes offers to subscribe it for you, with one button. The Weekly Thing emails you once to confirm; confirm there, come back, and tap “Check again”.

Release Notes looks at the list again now and then. If you leave the Weekly Thing later, you keep everything, and Release Notes shows one quiet line offering to subscribe again.

What does a Supporting Membership add?

The Weekly Thing has Supporting Members, and membership fees go 100% to a nonprofit each year. Release Notes thanks members with:

• A badge for each year you give, on its own shelf.
• A thank-you in your birthday email, naming the nonprofits your membership gave to.
• Commentary by Claude in a book of your notes, for up to 10 books a release, if you tick the box for that book.

Everything else is the same for everyone.

Who can read my notes?

You, and Jamie. Jamie runs Release Notes and, as its operator, can read what’s stored. Nothing is sold or shared, and no one else reads your notes unless you connect an agent to them. Privacy has the details.

Does it use AI?

Only if you ask it to. Three things are off until you turn them on:

• Write out what I say: voice memos are sent to Amazon Transcribe and written out, so you can skim and search them.
• Describe my photos: each photo gets a sentence or two from Claude, so a search for “canoe” finds the canoe.
• Commentary in a book, for Supporting Members, one book at a time.

You can also connect an agent such as Claude or ChatGPT to your notes. It reads only what you approve, and you can disconnect it in Settings at any time.

What happens when I travel?

Your days follow the time zone of your city in Settings. Change the city and the email follows it, at the same time of day where you are.

Can I take a break?

Yes. In Settings, “Pause the emails” stops them for 1 to 60 days, then they start again on their own. You can still write on the web while they’re paused.

To stop them for good, use “Unsubscribe” at the foot of any email. Nothing is deleted, and “Start them again” in Settings brings them back.

My reply didn’t arrive. What happened?

Check these first:

• The next morning’s email. Its “Yesterday” shows what came in for the day before.
• The address you sent from. A reply counts only from the address the email went to. If another address sent it, it isn’t added, and Release Notes emails you to say so (a few a day at most).
• The timing. A reply counts for its day for 72 hours. A later one isn’t added. A short note comes back to say so, up to 3 of those a day, and you can add it on that day’s page.

Signed in, You, then Activity, shows each email that came in and what became of it. Still missing? Send Jamie feedback.

Can I leave and take my notes?

Yes, any time. Settings has “Keep a copy”: every note, with its day and version, every photo and recording, and your settings, in one zip. Then you can delete your account, which deletes everything in it.

Where do I start?

Getting started, or the whole guide.