A fresh new look. Novelist has a warm new app icon — a golden book and quill. We've also tightened things under the hood, with fixes and polish for a smoother, more reliable writing experience.

A cleaner way to create. Genre, mood, and length now sit together on one screen — no scrolling to set up your story. New genres. Bedtime and History join the lineup, and genres are ordered by what readers love most. Twain respects your cast. Characters appear only when you add them — no surprise guests. And "Let Twain surprise me" now writes a fresh story in your favorite genre and mood, starring the characters you return to.

We're now Novelist! • Fresh name and a brand-new app icon — a cleaner look for the app that turns any idea into a story. • Everything you love is still here: your personalized characters, every genre, and bedtime narration. • Polished onboarding and home screen for a smoother start. Thanks for reading with us — more stories ahead.

• A tidier Story Universe — Twain and your own characters now sit in their own clear sections, with a simpler way to add new characters. • Behind-the-scenes refinements and fixes.

NEW — Meet Twain, your AI writing companion. Adopt Twain and grow your bond: he learns your style across the stories you write, advances through relationship stages, and can even dream up a whole story for you when you're out of ideas. Deeper characters — your Story Universe cast now have personality traits, a speaking voice, and a signature line, so they come alive in every story. Plus polish and fixes throughout. Happy writing!

• New: Bedtime Story Mode — tap the headphones icon in any story to have it read aloud. The app highlights each paragraph as it's narrated and scrolls automatically so you never lose your place. Choose your narrator voice in Settings. • New: Spark Tips — stuck on ideas? Tap the lightbulb next to the Story Spark field for prompts that help you write a better starting idea. • The app is now called RYTR: AI Story Writer, and the premium plan is Story+. Same app, same stories — just a fresh name.

This release fixes a critical bug for users on iOS 26. • Fixed: Long-pressing to delete a chapter was removing the wrong chapter — Chapter 2 was deleted instead of the one you selected. The correct chapter is now always removed. • Fixed: The chapter delete confirmation appeared near the top of the screen instead of in the correct position. • Improved: When the AI returns an unexpected format, you now see a clear message explaining it's temporary rather than a generic error.

Watch your stories come alive — word by word. • Live streaming: stories now appear as they're written, with the title fading in and the body unfolding in real time • Faster feedback: see exactly what's being created instead of waiting on a spinner • Polished reader controls: easier to spot and use in light mode • Stability and reliability improvements

• Fixed: "Read Chapter N" button now reliably appears after generating a continuation chapter • Story direction field now shows a character counter and caps at 500 characters for cleaner AI results • Better error messaging when a story idea violates content guidelines