Help & FAQ
Everything you need to find your way around Marginal. If you can’t find an answer here, email us at support@getmarginal.app, a real person reads every message.
Getting started
Welcome to Marginal. Marginal is a private space for the thoughts books give you. You track what you read, write your thoughts against each book, and, only when you choose to, share a few of them with one or two people who get it. Marginal is available on the web at getmarginal.app, and as a native app for iPhone and Android: the same account and the same Thoughts follow you everywhere.
The name is a nod to marginalia : the notes readers have always made in the margins of their books. That is the whole spirit of the app. Margin space is finite, so every word earns its place. Nothing here is public. There is no feed, no follower count, no ratings. Just your reading and your mind.
The first five minutes
- Add a book. Tap the + on your Shelf, search by title or author, pick it, and set its status: To Be Read, Reading, Finished, or Did Not Finish.
- Write your first Thought. Open the book and start with Dialogue, your immediate, unfiltered reaction. Say whatever the book made you think. There are no wrong answers.
- That’s it. Your Thought is private and saved automatically. Come back whenever you have more to say.
The three things that make Marginal Marginal
- Thoughts: the record you keep against a single book. One Thought per book.
- Ideas: the five kinds of note inside a Thought (Dialogue, Analysis, and three more).
- Hindsights: short reflections the app invites you to write months later, once a book’s Thought is locked.
Free vs Premium, briefly
Everyone gets Dialogue and Analysis, up to 3 friends, and the default Hindsight schedule. Premium opens all five Idea types, up to 50 friends, and custom Hindsight timing. See Premium features for the full picture.
Common questions
Is Marginal only for serious readers?
Not at all. Marginal is for anyone who reads a book, any book at all. The person who reads one book a year and wants to remember what it meant to them belongs here just as much as someone who reads fifty. You never need to prove you read enough.
What's the difference between the Shelf and the Thoughts tab?
Your Shelf holds every book you’ve added, whatever its status. The Thoughts tab is narrower. It shows only the books you’ve actually written in (any book whose Thought has at least one Idea with content). Shelf is everything; Thoughts is everything you’ve had something to say about.
Book tracking
Your Shelf is the home for everything you read.
Adding a book
Tap the + beside “Shelf.” Search by title or author. Results come from ISBNdb, with covers pulled in automatically. Select a result and the details fill themselves in. You can also add a book manually if you can’t find it, and upload your own cover image (up to 5MB, cropped to a standard 2:3 book shape).
Every book you add gets a Thought created alongside it automatically. You never have to set that up.
The four statuses
- To Be Read: on your shelf, not started. The default for a new book.
- Reading: currently in progress.
- Finished: completed. Only Finished books count toward your reading stats and annual report.
- Did Not Finish (DNF): a first-class status, not a failure. Your Thoughts on a DNF book stay open and editable for as long as you like.
A book can move between any of these at any time. The one exception is a Thought that has been permanently locked. See The Thoughts system.
Searching for a book
Results come from ISBNdb. If a title alone doesn’t surface the book you want, add the author to your search (e.g. Piranesi Susanna Clarke). This happens with less famous books, or titles shared by many editions, and adding the author almost always narrows it down. Still nothing? Use add manually and type the details yourself.
Uploading your own cover
You can replace any cover with your own image. Open the book, edit it, and use the cover’s upload control. Specs:
- Formats: JPEG, PNG, or WebP.
- Maximum size: 5 MB.
- Best results:a portrait image in roughly the shape of a book, a 2:3 ratio, at least 600×900 pixels. We center-crop to 2:3 and save it, so anything far off that shape gets trimmed from the edges. Keep the title and key art near the middle.
An uploaded cover always takes priority over the one pulled from the web.
Currently Reading
The book you mark as Reading can appear as your “Currently Reading” on your profile, if you leave that setting on. It’s the one small, ambient signal friends see, never the content of your Thoughts.
Editing and deleting
Open a book and use the edit icon near its details to change anything, or to delete it. Deleting a book is permanent and removes its Thought, all its Ideas, and all its Hindsights. You’ll be asked to type the book’s title to confirm.
Common questions
Can I have the same book twice?
We warn you if a book looks like one already on your shelf, but we don’t hard-block it. Two editions can share a title and author.
My cover is wrong or missing.
Open the book, edit it, and upload your own cover. An uploaded cover always takes priority.
The Thoughts system
A Thought is everything you have to say about one book. There is exactly one Thought per book, and it’s created the moment you add the book.
Inside a Thought live up to five Ideas, different kinds of note, each with its own purpose and its own word limit. You don’t have to use all of them. An empty Idea simply shows nothing; its absence is the invitation to write.
Why word limits?
Every Idea type has a word limit. Not to restrict what you think, but to focus how you say it. Marginalia lived in the margin of a page: finite space, every word earning its place. Limits are the same for free and premium members, and we never use a limit to push an upgrade. Reaching a limit doesn’t lock the editor; you can always edit, cut, and rephrase what’s there.
Autosave: you won’t lose work
Your writing saves on its own about a second and a half after you stop typing. It also saves whenever you close the editor: press the X, hit Escape, or click away from it. You’ll see “Saving…” then “Saved” at the bottom of the editor. There is no manual save button; there’s nothing to forget.
One small habit: after your last keystroke, give it a moment before closing so you can see “Saved.” It’s quick, and it’s reassuring.
Locking a Thought
When you finish a book and feel you’ve said what you came to say, you can lock your Thought. Locking is deliberate and meaningful. It seals the book.
- The Lock toggle appears on a book only when its status is Finished and at least one Idea has content. An empty Thought has nothing to lock.
- After you switch the lock on, you have 48 hours to add anything left unsaid. During that window you can still edit freely, or switch the lock back off to cancel it entirely.
- When the 48 hours pass, the Thought locks permanently. Its Ideas can no longer be edited, and its status can no longer change. This is the only permanent state in Marginal, and it’s the moment your Hindsights begin.
If you lock a book by mistake and the grace period has passed, the only way back is to delete the book. Locked Thoughts are permanent by design.
Common questions
Why are locked Thoughts permanent? That feels strict.
Because that’s what marginalia is. When you write in the margin of a real book, can you truly erase it? The ink stays. Locking carries that same honesty: it asks you to mean what you wrote. Make it worthwhile, then seal it. (And if you genuinely need a way out after the grace period, deleting the book is always available.)
Do I have to lock a book?
No. Many books stay unlocked forever, especially DNF ones. Lock only when you want the finality and the Hindsight reflections that follow.
What happens to a DNF book?
Its Thoughts stay open and editable indefinitely. DNF books never lock and never trigger Hindsights. If you later mark it Finished, the lock option becomes available.
The five Idea types
Each Idea is a different lens on a book. Free members have Dialogue and Analysis. Premium opens the other three.
Dialogue: free, up to 350 words
Your immediate, unfiltered reaction. The brain-dump: emotions, arguments with the book, talking to characters, talking to your future self. The most natural place to start.
Analysis: free, up to 500 words
The closer read. Beautiful phrases worth keeping, unfamiliar words, recurring symbols and themes you want to track across the book.
Character Maps: premium, up to 700 words
Characters, relationships, lineages, who-is-who. Especially useful for big casts and books where the structure itself carries the meaning.
Personal Connections: premium, up to 250 words
Where the book touches your own life: a memory it surfaced, another book it rhymes with, a date and place you want to anchor to the reading.
Chapter Summaries: premium, 200 words per chapter, 250 for the overall summary
A running log as you read. Add as many chapters as you like, name them, and write a short summary of each, plus one overall summary of the whole book. Unlike the other Ideas, this one is built for keeping pace with a book in progress.
Common questions
What counts as a word?
The counter colours amber as you near a limit and red at the edge. Pasting more than will fit trims to what’s left rather than rejecting the whole paste.
The editor doesn't autocapitalise. Is that a bug?
No. Writing a Thought should feel like scribbling in a margin, hurried and unpolished, not like composing in a word processor. That’s deliberate.
I'm not much of a writer. Does this need to be good?
No. Don’t write to impress anyone; these are yours. Don’t reach for sophisticated phrasing. Just put down the raw idea as it arrives in your head. Get it on the page first; you can make it good later, or never. Most people find that, without trying, they end up writing better here anyway.
Friends and sharing
Marginal’s social layer is small and deliberate. There is no feed and no follower count. Sharing is always a directed act: you choose a specific person, and a specific thing.
Adding a friend
Open Friends, tap to add, and type a person’s exact username, then Search. Send the request; they’ll get a notification and can accept or decline. Free members can hold up to 3 connections, premium up to 50.
If someone declines, there’s a short cooldown before you can ask again: a gentle guard, not a permanent wall.
What a friend can see
By default a friend can see the books on your shelf and their statuses, never the content of your Ideas. You control this two ways:
- Hide a book entirely from friends with its “Visible to friends” toggle. A hidden book simply doesn’t exist as far as friends are concerned.
- Share specific Ideas when, and only when, you decide to.
Two ways to share
- Share one Idea: open the share control on a single Idea row and turn it on for a chosen friend.
- Share the whole Thought: the Thoughts-level toggle shares all of a book’s Ideas with a friend at once. Turning it back off is a complete reset: it removes every share for that friend on that book.
You can share Ideas on a locked Thought, too. The only thing that is never shareable is a Hindsight. Those are permanently private.
Requesting access
When you can see that a friend has written an Idea but hasn’t shared it, you can request access. They’ll get a notification and can approve or decline. While a request is pending it shows as “requested”; if declined it shows quietly as denied. Approving it shares that Idea with you.
You can request access to as many different Ideas as you like. For any one Idea you can have a single open request at a time, and if it’s declined, there’s a 24-hour wait before you can ask for that same Idea again. A gentle pause, not a wall.
Common questions
When can I share an Idea?
As soon as it has content. The share control appears on an Idea once you’ve written something in it. An empty Idea has nothing to share, so it shows no share option. Write first, then share when you’re ready.
Why am I limited to 3 friends (or 50 on Premium)?
On purpose. Marginal is built around privacy and intimacy, not reach. The cap is a quiet reminder to share your reading mind only with the people who are genuinely worth it, not to collect an audience. Fifty is already far more than most people will ever want here.
Can anyone see how many friends I have?
No. Your friend count and friend list are never shown to anyone else.
I removed a friend. What happens?
Everything between you is undone: the connection, anything either of you shared, and any pending requests.
Premium features
Premium opens the full shape of Marginal. Word limits are not part of it; those are the same for everyone, always.
What you get
- All five Idea types: Character Maps, Personal Connections, and Chapter Summaries on top of Dialogue and Analysis.
- Up to 50 friends, instead of 3.
- Custom Hindsight scheduling: set your own reflection intervals instead of the default 3 months / 9 months / yearly.
Pricing
- $4.99 / month, or
- $43.99 / year, about $3.67 a month.
You can upgrade from the Premium screen in Settings, or wherever a premium Idea type is shown. On the web, payment is handled securely by Paddle, our payments provider and merchant of record. In our mobile app, Premium is purchased directly through the App Store or Google Play, who act as the merchant of record for that purchase.
What happens if I downgrade
Nothing is deleted. Your premium Ideas become read-only (you can still read them, just not edit them), and friends beyond your first three become inaccessible until you resubscribe. Your custom Hindsight schedule reverts to the default. Resubscribe at any time, monthly or yearly, and everything reopens.
Common questions
Do word limits change with Premium?
No. Limits are about focus, not tier. They never change and never trigger an upgrade prompt.
Can I switch between monthly and yearly?
Yes. Manage it from the billing portal (see Billing and payments).
Billing and payments
Marginal uses Paddle as its merchant of record for purchases made on the web, and Apple or Google as the merchant of record for purchases made in our mobile app (managed and verified with us via RevenueCat). Whichever you use, we never see or store your card.
The prices shown ($4.99/month, $43.99/year) are exclusive of tax on the web. Paddle adds any sales tax, VAT, or GST that applies where you live at checkout, so your final total may be slightly higher than the listed price. On the App Store or Google Play, tax follows Apple’s or Google’s own rules for your storefront, which can also make the final charge differ slightly from the price shown in the app.
Managing your subscription
Subscribed on the web? Open Settings → Plans and choose Manage Billing. This opens your Paddle customer portal, where you can update your payment method, switch between monthly and yearly, view invoices, or cancel.
Subscribed through the App Store or Google Play? Open Settings → Plans and choose Manage Subscription. This opens your device’s native subscription settings. Apple or Google, not Marginal, own the billing relationship for that purchase, so it can’t be managed from the Paddle portal or the website.
Cancelling
Cancel any time, from wherever you subscribed (see above). Either way, your premium access continues until the end of the period you’ve already paid for; after that your account moves to free (see “What happens if I downgrade” under Premium features). Nothing is deleted.
Failed payments
For web subscriptions, if a payment fails, Paddle retries it automatically over a few days and emails you. You don’t need to do anything unless your card needs updating. For App Store or Google Play subscriptions, Apple or Google handle retries under their own billing rules.
Refunds
Our refund policy is published in full at getmarginal.app/refunds and within our Terms of Service. For a web (Paddle) purchase, email support@getmarginal.appand we’ll help. For an App Store or Google Play purchase, refunds are handled directly by Apple or Google, not by Paddle or by us. Request one through your Apple ID purchase history or the Google Play app’s order history.
Common questions
I subscribed on my phone. Can I manage it on the website?
No. App Store and Google Play subscriptions are managed through your device’s own account settings, not getmarginal.app. Your Premium status still applies everywhere you’re signed in: web, iPhone, and Android alike.
Where are my receipts?
For web purchases, Paddle emails a receipt for every charge, and you can find them all in the billing portal. For App Store or Google Play purchases, receipts live in your Apple ID purchase history or Google Play order history.
I was charged but premium didn't unlock.
It usually appears within a minute. If it doesn’t, refresh, then contact support@getmarginal.app with the email you used at checkout.
Account and privacy
Your Thoughts are private. We do not read them, and your friends cannot see them, unless you choose to share a specific Idea with a specific person. Hindsights are private always.
Your data, yours to take
- Export your data: Settings → Account → Export. We email you a complete copy of your books, Thoughts, Ideas, and Hindsights.
- Delete your account: Settings → Account → Delete. This permanently removes your account and everything in it. You’ll be asked to type your username to confirm. Consider exporting first; once deleted, it’s gone.
Privacy controls
In Settings → Privacyyou can choose whether people can send you friend requests, whether your “Currently Reading” is shown to friends, and whether your profile stats are visible.
Analytics
We use anonymous, aggregate analytics to understand how the app is used, never tied to your identity, and only with your consent. You can turn this on or off anytime with the Anonymous usage analyticstoggle in Settings → Privacy.
Notifications
In Settings → Notifications you control which emails you receive (friend requests, shares, Hindsight reminders, and more), with a master switch over all of them.
Your profile photo
Upload an avatar in Settings → Profile. Same rules as book covers:
- Formats: JPEG, PNG, or WebP.
- Maximum size: 5 MB.
- Best results:a square image, at least 200×200 pixels, with your face or subject centered. We center-crop to a square, so off-center subjects may get trimmed.
Common questions
Can Marginal staff read my Thoughts?
Your Thoughts are yours. We don’t read them, and our access controls are built so they stay private.
What's a Hindsight, and can anyone see it?
A Hindsight is a short reflection you write months after locking a book: a note from a later version of you to the reader you were. It is the one thing in Marginal that can never be shared, with anyone, ever. There’s no toggle, no request, no exception. A Hindsight is deeply personal and reflective; a thing like that isn’t meant to be handed to someone else. It’s a conversation with yourself.
Troubleshooting
Hindsights
When do they appear? Hindsights begin only after a Thought locks permanently (48 hours after you switch the lock on). By default the first arrives 3 months after locking, the second at 9 months, then once a year. Premium members can set their own intervals.
I missed a Hindsight prompt.Nothing is lost. The entry waits for you, empty, until you write it. Prompts don’t expire.
They’re capped at 100 words: intimate and considered, by design.
Sharing and friends
A friend can’t see an Idea I shared. Check that the book’s “Visible to friends” toggle is on. A hidden book hides its shares too. Confirm the share toggle is on for that specific friend.
My friend request won’t send.You may be at your connection limit (3 on free, 50 on premium), or there’s a short cooldown because the person recently declined. Usernames must be typed exactly.
Writing
My word count looks off on a book detail. Chapter Summaries store their words separately from other Ideas; totals reconcile when you reopen the book. If a number ever looks stuck, reopen the book.
The editor won’t let me add more words. You’ve hit that Idea’s limit. You can still edit, cut, and rephrase. The limit only blocks net-new words.
Cards and reports
My shareable card won’t download. Try once more in a moment. Generation is rate-limited to prevent abuse, so very rapid repeats can be briefly refused.
Where’s my annual report?Reports generate once a year, in early December, covering your reading year. If yours says it’s being prepared, check back shortly.
Account
I’m not receiving emails.Check your spam folder, and confirm the relevant toggle is on in Settings → Notifications. Verification and password emails are always sent regardless of preferences.
Found a bug?
Tell us at hello@getmarginal.app. A quick note on what you were doing and what happened (a screenshot helps) is enough. We read every message and fix what we can.
Still stuck on something else? Email support@getmarginal.app. Both addresses reach the same small team.