Updates

Two stable desktop releases shipped this week — v1.0.19 and v1.0.20. The first brings Outlook Calendar support and promotes templates to a first-class sidebar tab. The second overhauls the note editor, replaces the local transcription engine, and reworks the notification system.

Outlook Calendar and calendar reliability

Desktop v1.0.19 adds Outlook Calendar support as a public beta. Calendar sync is also more resilient now: integrations can be reconnected without losing data if a sync fails, and connected calendars expand automatically after setup. The calendar list moved to the left sidebar for quicker day-to-day access.

Templates as a sidebar workflow

Templates got their own dedicated sidebar tab in v1.0.19. Personal templates sort above Char templates in the picker, and the editing flow for personal templates is smoother. These changes make templates a quicker reach when starting a new session.

Chat and export

Chat in v1.0.19 picks up structured mention context, shared session state for new-chat hotkeys, and a polished composer and reasoning UI. The composer also hides itself when no LLM is configured, which removes a dead-end for users who haven't set one up yet. On the export side, a new Memo option was added to the export modal for PDF and text formats.

New note editor

Desktop v1.0.20 introduces a new rich note editor powered by ProseMirror. You can paste or drag images and files directly into notes, use @ mentions and linked session blocks, and right-click note tabs for actions like copy, regenerate, and remove.

Local transcription migration

The previous local transcription provider was removed in v1.0.20 and replaced with a new engine. If you use local transcription, open Settings and download the replacement model. LM Studio model detection is also more reliable in this release.

Notifications overhaul

The notification system in v1.0.20 was rebuilt with richer, more interactive calendar and meeting notifications. Notifications now include app-aware icons and nearby meeting context. Share prompts were simplified with direct social sharing to X, LinkedIn, and Reddit.

Other improvements

• Standalone note dates are now editable, and uploaded audio note dates are estimated from file metadata (v1.0.19)
• Session metadata tags render as editable chips (v1.0.19)
• Lite Plan added with synced pricing tier messaging (v1.0.19)
• Account settings auto-refresh session on open (v1.0.19)
• Improved browser handoff for sign-in, checkout, and billing flows (v1.0.20)
• Settings now open to the App tab by default (v1.0.20)
• Template quick actions to favorite, duplicate, and set as default from the preview pane (v1.0.20)

Full version details on the changelog.

Desktop v1.0.18 shipped this week, and the CLI also pushed through a rapid run of stable releases up to v1.0.15. On the desktop side, the release focused on day-to-day usability: better calendar feedback, cleaner chat composition, and manual speaker assignment in transcripts. On the CLI side, the first stable line picked up a few important commands and then spent several releases hardening shortcut handling and update checks.

Desktop: calendar, chat, and transcripts

Desktop v1.0.18 adds a proper "Syncing" state to the calendar month view, sorts events more clearly, reduces provider UI clutter, and introduces a dedicated Calendar settings area for permissions and provider management. Google Calendar also graduates from an internal-only label to a public beta label, which makes the current status much clearer inside the app.

The same release also tightens up the note and chat flow. Chat is reachable from pre-listening notes, the composer now scrolls internally instead of growing without bound, and the send button stays visible during long drafts. In transcripts, you can now manually assign speakers to segments, which is the kind of small control surface that matters when a long meeting needs cleanup before you share it.

Desktop: recording and distribution polish

There are a handful of smaller but useful changes in the same stable release. Empty-note behavior is clearer, recording controls are easier to resume at a glance, and a few rough edges in transcript rendering and mic-stop detection were cleaned up. The macOS installer is now notarized and stapled as well, which removes a lot of first-launch friction for people installing Char outside a development environment.

CLI: first stable commands, then hardening

The CLI releases this week were more incremental, but still meaningful. Stable builds added audio playback with char play, reusable workflow installation through char skill, and a self-update command. A companion char-cli-ui binary also landed as the CLI matured.

After that, the focus shifted to reliability: update/versioning issues were fixed, and shortcut support got additional event-tap and permission-handling hardening in the latest stable releases. That is the right shape for an early stable CLI line: get the core commands in, then make the edges less fragile.

Full version details on the changelog.

Three stable releases shipped this week — v1.0.15, v1.0.16, and v1.0.17. The AI assistant got a name, the app got new icons, and onboarding got out of the way.

Meet Charlie

The AI chat assistant is now called Charlie. Beyond the name, the chat panel received a visual overhaul: messages use the full thread width instead of being capped at 80%, and the right-side panel blends into the background so your notes stay front and center. A stale auth token bug that could silently break chat after session expiry was also fixed.

New app icons

Char has a fresh set of icons across macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android. The in-app chat icon was also updated — the wobbling head is gone, replaced by the new Char mark.

Onboarding without sign-in

You can now skip sign-in entirely and start using Char immediately. The microphone permission prompt is clearer, system restarts are deferred until onboarding completes, and the unnecessary system audio restart that used to interrupt setup is gone. The auth callback input also shows an example placeholder so you know what to paste.

Audio uploads are back

Drag or pick audio files directly from the note input area to transcribe existing recordings. Upload progress is shown while the file converts. On the playback side, the audio player now has a native right-click context menu with play/pause and seek controls, and text selection no longer interferes with the timeline. Recordings can also be deleted from both the audio player and the session overflow menu.

Better image handling

Images got a proper right-click context menu with copy and reveal-in-Finder actions. Resize handles stay visible inside the image frame, images without a stored width default to 80% of the editor, and selected images show a clean blue border instead of a text-selection highlight. Images from notes also now appear in session preview cards.

Transcript and notes

You can now copy speaker-labeled transcript text directly from the Transcript tab. Session preview cards prefer the AI summary over raw memo content, and a reverted save guard fixes an issue where some sessions weren't persisting. The recording waveform in the header is taller and easier to read at a glance.

Other improvements

• Toast notifications moved to the top of the screen
• Left sidebar layout and session preview cards refined
• Language preference now persists correctly across restarts
• Calendar sync no longer fails when one provider is unreachable
• Cmd+Q now uses a double-press to quit instead of hold-to-quit
• Migrated to Vite 8
• Simplified placeholder styling in raw note view
• Tab indentation fixed across split task lists

Full version details on the changelog.

Two stable releases shipped this week: v1.0.13 and v1.0.14. The biggest changes are custom storage locations, multiple Google Calendar accounts, resizable images in notes, and a stronger recording flow.

Storage and navigation

You can now choose a custom location for your Char content in Settings, and detected Obsidian vaults are offered as a quick destination. Search also moved into the left sidebar, which makes it much easier to jump between recent activity and search results without leaving your place.

Folder moves and renames are also more reliable now because filesystem changes are applied before app state updates. The Today timeline's current-time marker is more accurate as well, especially during ongoing events and in your selected timezone.

Hyprnote is now Char

This release also carries the Hyprnote-to-Char rename through the stable app. Existing users can update without changing how they work, and the app now consistently presents itself as Char.

Calendar and notes

You can now connect multiple Google Calendar accounts at the same time, and account settings show which email address each connection belongs to. In notes, images are now resizable, underline exports correctly to Markdown, and note previews are cleaner.

Recording and UI

Creating a new note now automatically starts recording, audio can stay in memory with a disk fallback when needed, and on-device transcription now returns word-level timestamps. App Settings is also now the primary settings view, and several chat and header UI issues were cleaned up.

Other improvements

• Permission detection on macOS now uses an external binary, fixing edge cases where the in-process check could hang
• Meeting countdown timer and autostart for upcoming calendar events
• Listen button styling blends with the background for a cleaner header look
• AI button now has a visible label
• Undo-delete toast positioning adjusted to avoid overlapping content
• Timeline sidebar items use clearer, more intuitive wording
• Fixed duplicate calendar attendee when the organizer was also synced as a participant
• Changelog rendering migrated to Streamdown and shared between desktop and web

Full version details on the changelog.

Two stable releases shipped this week: v1.0.11 and v1.0.12. Google Calendar sync is now in beta, chat can edit notes directly, and batch transcription is much more reliable.

Google Calendar sync

Google Calendar events now sync into Char alongside Apple Calendar. If your team uses Google Workspace, your upcoming meetings show up in the timeline automatically. Calendar sync is also more reliable when calendars are added, removed, or toggled in settings — edge cases around stale calendar state were cleaned up.

Chat edits your notes directly

Chat can now edit your summaries in place. Ask it to revise a section, reformat bullets, or expand on a topic, and it applies the changes directly to your notes. A new context indicator shows which session chat is working with, and starter prompts make common actions one click away.

Notes and export

This week also added Org mode export, proper code block support in the editor, richer session preview cards, plain-text mention export for Markdown, and short tips while AI is generating summaries.

Batch transcription reliability

Batch transcription is more reliable, especially when providers fail or you retry an existing run. Re-running a transcript no longer clears the old transcript before the new one actually starts, and Parakeet is now available as a local transcription model option in Cactus.

Other improvements

• Calendar event descriptions now render clickable links
• Search and replace behaves more reliably across notes and transcripts
• Folders get a cleaner placeholder state while we prepare a larger update
• Failed batch transcription no longer resets the in-progress work

Full version details on the changelog.

Two stable releases shipped this week: v1.0.9 and v1.0.10. The biggest changes are better AI context, Azure provider support, smarter chat and export flows, and more reliable recording and calendar behavior.

Pre-meeting notes in AI summaries

If you write notes before a meeting starts, those notes are now passed to the AI as a separate section when generating summaries. That gives the model better context about what was planned versus what actually happened in the meeting.

Azure LLM support

Azure OpenAI and Azure AI Foundry are now supported as LLM providers (beta). If your organization standardizes on Azure for AI services, you can now point Char directly at your Azure endpoints. This joins the existing lineup of OpenRouter, local models via Ollama and LM Studio, and direct API keys.

Chat refinements

Chat now stays visible as a persistent panel instead of a floating overlay, so it remains in context while you work. We also tightened up summary generation and edge-case handling around tab switching.

Notes and export

Links in the editor behave much better now. Link text edits update the underlying URL, hover-to-open replaces the old Cmd+Click flow, and inline formatting clears more predictably on empty lines. Session preview cards also got richer, showing note metadata and better snippets.

Export is now consolidated behind a single Export button where you pick the format and what to include. Playback speed is also configurable directly from the transcript view.

Calendar and recording improvements

When mic usage is detected, the notification now lists nearby calendar events so you can jump straight into the right session. This makes the common flow — start a call, get prompted to record — much faster.

Session creation from calendar events now picks up participants more reliably, calendar onboarding shows a proper Request Access to Calendar button when permissions are missing, and recordings are now saved as MP3.

Other fixes

• Auth flow fixed when the user was already logged into char.com in their browser
• Detect notifications setting is now properly respected
• Integration connections can now be triggered directly from the desktop app
• Typing @ with no query now shows default mention suggestions
• List and task items are handled more reliably in structured notes

Full version details on the changelog.

v1.0.8 stable is out this week. The headline items are local speech-to-text in beta, much stronger transcript search, better AI defaults, and a round of polish across calendar, onboarding, and contacts.

Cactus: local speech-to-text in beta

The headline feature this week is Cactus, our local speech-to-text engine. It runs Whisper small directly on your Mac, so English transcription can happen without sending audio to the cloud. We also added language-aware provider selection, so Char can choose the right transcription backend automatically based on the language you're working in.

AI and transcript search

Your default template in settings is now applied automatically to new AI-generated summaries, and summary section headings are produced in the correct language for non-English users. We also cleaned up the AI model lists so deprecated and hidden models are less confusing, and added a new Memory tab for custom vocabulary.

Transcript search also got a major upgrade. You can now replace text, match case, filter by whole word, and keep search results synchronized between the transcript and editor views.

Calendar, notes, and onboarding

Calendar got a visual cleanup, onboarding now shows a proper loading state while fetching calendars, and participant email resolution for Apple Calendar events is more reliable. In notes, Cmd+Click now opens links in your default browser, and the session menu adds a quick Reveal in Finder action.

Smaller improvements

Contact avatars now fall back to colored initials, telemetry opt-out now properly disables analytics, and the remaining Hyprnote references in the UI were updated to Char.

What's next

Cactus is still early and English-only for now, but it's a big step toward stronger on-device transcription. If you're on stable, v1.0.8 is available now.

As always, grab the latest from our changelog or let the app auto-update.

Two stable releases went out this week: v1.0.6 and v1.0.7. Search is faster, chat is back in experimental form, Mistral transcription support landed, and live transcription is much more resilient when providers fail.

Search and chat

Search now uses Tantivy, which makes indexing faster and results more accurate. The search bar also collapses to an icon by default and expands when you need it, and advanced filters now let you narrow by note type and date range.

Chat also returned as an experimental feature. It now gets richer session context, and search results inside chat include the surrounding session context too, which makes the responses more useful.

AI and transcription

Mistral is now available as a transcription provider, and summary generation can auto-run after transcript upload or batch transcription completes. We also made live transcription failures non-fatal, so the recorder keeps running and the session drops into a degraded mode instead of crashing outright.

Notes, calendar, and onboarding

You can now right-click in the main area to create notes and tabs, bulk-delete sessions from the timeline with undo, and see event descriptions in session metadata chips. The onboarding flow also moved into the main app window, which makes first-run setup feel much more integrated.

Settings and fixes

Settings got another pass with cleaner labels, better week-start and timezone controls, and a dynamic channel selector on the update download button. We also fixed a long list of stability issues around auth sessions, calendar timeline behavior, exports, and audio device handling.

What's next

We're continuing to improve search, transcription reliability, and the chat experience. If you're on stable, v1.0.7 is available now.

As always, you can download the latest version from our changelog or let the app auto-update.

Three stable releases shipped this week: v1.0.3, v1.0.4, and v1.0.5. The headline items are note recovery, a redesigned calendar, better navigation, and a stronger round of performance fixes.

Notes and navigation

This week added a lot of everyday note-management polish. You can now open notes from a dedicated Cmd+O command, keep pinned tabs across restarts, undo deletes with a five-second restore window, and jump back into recently opened notes from the same command palette. Backlink mentions for notes, people, and companies also landed in stable.

Calendar redesign

The calendar got its biggest update of the week. There's now a full calendar view with a week layout, event popovers, improved navigation, and a context menu for unignoring events directly from the sidebar timeline. We also fixed recurring event duplication and added a manual timezone override for the timeline.

Quit behavior and notifications

We changed Cmd+Q to a hold-to-quit interaction so accidental quits are much less likely. On the notification side, the experimental in-meeting reminder is now available in lab settings and can alert you when another app has been using your microphone for a while but Char is not recording.

Performance and stability

We fixed memory leaks from actor subscriptions and timer cleanup, resolved high CPU usage caused by an overly broad DOM observer, and shipped a Tauri 2.10.1 upgrade. We also fixed duplicate tabs when reopening a note and cleaned up a few markdown and UI regressions.

Other improvements

• Cmd+Shift+N now creates a new note and starts listening in one action
• Dropdown keyboard navigation is better across settings and selectors
• LM Studio errors now point to setup docs instead of failing silently
• Shortcut and tooltip labeling are more consistent across the app

What's next

We're continuing to tighten the core note-taking workflow and calendar experience. If you're on stable, v1.0.5 is available now.

You can download the latest version from our changelog or let the app auto-update.

This week was centered on one stable release: v1.0.2. It brings a much better recording stack, table support in notes, PDF export, and a round of account and settings improvements.

v1.0.2 stable release

v1.0.2 pulls a lot of recent nightly work into stable. The biggest change is Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC), which removes the old mic-only tradeoff when recording both microphone and speaker audio. Recordings are also cleaner overall, with separate stereo channels, WAV output, sleep detection, and smoother audio visualization.

Notes and attachments

The editor now supports tables, plus search and replace with case sensitivity. Attachments are also handled more cleanly: pasted images are saved as files inside the session folder instead of being embedded inline, and duplicate filenames are renamed automatically.

Export and transcript tools

PDF export now adds a metadata cover page with the session title, date, and participants. PDFs save directly to your Downloads folder and open automatically. We also added the ability to regenerate a transcript from an existing audio file, which makes recovery and cleanup easier when you already have a recording.

Settings and account improvements

The settings screen was redesigned, auth now persists across app updates, and Char stays signed in more reliably when the app is backgrounded. There are also a number of quality-of-life fixes across the timeline, metadata panel, PDF export, calendar sync, and feedback flow.

What's next

We're continuing to ship smaller stable releases more frequently. If you're on stable, v1.0.2 is available now.

You can download the latest version from our changelog or let the app auto-update.