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Readwise 2.0
Overview
Stage Timeline
Backlog
Shape
Build
Expedite
Ship
Learn
Done
Stage Documents
motivation.md
Motivation
Readwise 2.0 -- Motivation
Readwise's interface has aged and feels dated compared to modern apps in 2026. As part of the "Bifurcate to Bookwise" initiative, the team needs to announce three things: Reader out of beta, Reader properly split from Readwise, and Readwise completely modernized. Historically, users were told Readwise and Reader would merge into one product -- now that plan has been dropped, it's critical to show Readwise users the product is actively improving and worth staying subscribed to. Readwise 2.0 is a full visual and UX overhaul across web, mobile, and email -- a new React Native mobile app, redesigned Daily Review, Library, Stats, Settings, Add Highlights screens, and polished onboarding -- to instill confidence that users are subscribed to something awesome and continuously improving.
shape.md
Shape Deliverable
Readwise 2.0 -- Shape
Entered Shape: 2025-10-16 · Owner: @tristan · Initiative: rw-projects
Key decisions
- Start with mobile app redesign, then web, then emails
- Fedor (external designer) leads initial visual direction for mobile + desktop web
- Christina joins as dedicated designer for mobile designs, daily review iterations, and design QA
- Kait runs user research (Voicepanel unmoderated tests for new users, moderated tests for mobile)
- Information architecture changes: Review tab renamed to Home, Profile moved from tab bar to top bar, Chat gets its own tab for discoverability
- Existing features (Chat with highlights, Themed Connections, AI Themed Reviews, Audio Reviews) to be resurfaced more prominently rather than bolted on
- Horizontal card swiping for Daily Review (practical choice given internal scroll complexity)
- Reader-inspired bottom sheet pattern for highlight actions
- Success/completion screen to be "delightful af" with novel backgrounds
Scope
- Full visual "Glow Up" of Readwise across mobile app, web app, and emails
- New React Native mobile app (latest RN/Expo/routing/TypeScript)
- Redesigned: Daily Review, Stats, Library, Settings, Add Highlights, Onboarding, Upgrade, Chat, Export
- Feature flag for staff testing before rollout
- Deadline context: ship before Bookwise announcement (no later than April 30, 2026)
Appetite
- Large -- multiple engineers (Ibai + Johannes) + dedicated designer (Christina) + external designer (Fedor) over several months
- Organized into 12+ milestones in the Command Center
build.md
Build Deliverable
Readwise 2.0 -- Build (WIP)
This document is underway while the project is in Build. It will be finalized when the stage completes.
Entered Build: 2025-12-17 · Owner: @johannes, @ibai · Initiative: rw-projects
Goal
Ship a fully redesigned Readwise across mobile and web, organized into milestones tracked in the Command Center.
What's been done
- Milestone 1 (Major Mobile Webviews): Ibai ported Daily Review, Chat, Stats to new design (web)
- Milestone 2 (Mobile App New Architecture): Johannes set up new RN project, migrated app to same functionality on new stack
- Milestone 3 (Mobile Design Polished): Christina completed all mobile design rounds (Daily Review x4, Settings, Add Screens x4, success screens)
- Milestone 4 (Home Screen): Johannes migrated mobile Home to new design with native highlight elements + bottom sheet
- Milestone 5 (Settings Screens): Ibai migrated mobile settings to new design
- Milestone 6 (Signup/Onboarding): Ibai built native login, onboarding carousel, sync screens
- Milestone 7 (Daily Review Native UX): Johannes finished native daily review with card actions, finish screen, swipe transitions
- Daily Review shipped to web behind feature flag (Jan 8, 2026)
- Fedor completed desktop web translation: Library, Connect & Sync, Home (with shaders)
- 50+ PRs merged from Ibai (mobile screens, web redesign) and Johannes (mobile architecture, native components)
- Arek contributed Android notifications, OCR fixes, EAS improvements, feedback changes
- QA/feedback Linear milestone created (Mar 30); Christina converting Notion items to Linear tickets
- Cayla updated reminder emails ("Sync tab" -> "Add Highlights")
What's in progress
- Milestone 8 (Add Screen Native Tools): Johannes working on camera, text, audio input
- Milestone 9 (Add Screen Integrations): Ibai finishing last PR
- Milestone 10 (Library Screen): Johannes finishing search parity + webview book review
- Milestone X (Collect Feedback): Christina ongoing QA and design feedback
- Milestone Y (Implement Feedback): Arek + Ibai + Johannes addressing QA items
- Ibai: Chat QA, RN components, minor UI fixes (PR #8855 open)
- Johannes: last big PR almost finished (Apr 14)
What's not done yet
- Migrate full webapp (beyond Daily Review/Stats)
- Migrate Daily Review emails and other emails
- Web design fully polished and ready for devs (Fedor ongoing)
- Move to readwise.com
- Final QA and polish milestone
Open Questions (for next stage)
- When to flip the feature flag for all users vs just staff?
- Streak mechanics hardening (Dan flagged user frustration)
- How to handle the webapp migration timeline alongside mobile?
- Email redesign scope and timeline
Daily Digests 19
| Date | Summary |
|---|---|
| 2026-04-13 | Christina new mobile home screens. Johannes's last big PR almost done. Ibai ships chat QA + themed reviews. |
| 2026-04-01 | Ibai ships home carousel + upgrade flow. Tristan approves Fedor's design direction. |
| 2026-03-30 | QA/feedback Linear milestone created. Christina converting Notion items to Linear tickets. |
| 2026-03-24 | Fedor Desktop Home design with shaders. Ibai ships navbar, chat, export. Johannes fixes OTA builds. |
| 2026-03-13 | Fedor shares Library + Connect & Sync desktop designs. Johannes opens Add Highlight PR. |
| 2026-03-09 | Dan's "Last Mile" polish guidance to Fedor: design QA, elevated icons/typography, flourishes. |
| 2026-03-05 | Christina Add Screens + Themed Review design. Ibai ships import flows. Johannes native DR completion. |
| 2026-02-23 | Dan's power-user feedback. Christina creates QA doc. Major milestone updates across the board. |
| 2026-02-11 | Christina Add Screens first pass. Johannes adds agent docs. Ibai ships onboarding + settings screens. |
| 2026-01-28 | Christina DR Round 4. Johannes working on mobile DR card. Ibai stats redesign shipped. |
| 2026-01-08 | Ibai ships Daily Review + highlight list redesign behind feature flag. First major Build milestone complete. |
| 2026-01-05 | Johannes creates Linear milestone for legacy port, starts auth flow. |
| 2025-12-22 | Dan assigns Christina design priorities: Daily Review, Settings, Stats, Upgrade. |
| 2025-12-19 | First engineering PRs: Ibai base styling (#7615), Johannes new RN project (#7608). Christina first DR web design. |
| 2025-12-17 | Kickoff meeting held. Project enters Build. Johannes + Ibai + Christina begin coordinated work. |
| 2025-12-12 | Fedor desktop web update; Dan schedules RW 2.0 Kickoff for Dec 17. |
| 2025-11-25 | Dan's second interim feedback round to Fedor. |
| 2025-11-11 | Dan's first detailed feedback to Fedor: IA changes, screen priorities, B2B strategy context. |
| 2025-10-31 | Fedor's first design update: mobile app visual direction. |
Linked Documents & Assets