diff --git a/frontend/src/components/SettingsModal.tsx b/frontend/src/components/SettingsModal.tsx
index c9e5b79..96771d5 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/SettingsModal.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/SettingsModal.tsx
@@ -318,6 +318,15 @@ const SettingsModal: React.FC<SettingsModalProps> = ({ open, onOpenChange }) =>
   };
 
   // Download update
+  const handleViewReleaseNotes = async () => {
+    if (!updateInfo?.release_url) return;
+    try {
+      await invoke('open_url', { url: updateInfo.release_url });
+    } catch (error) {
+      console.error('Failed to open release notes:', error);
+    }
+  };
+
   const handleDownloadUpdate = async () => {
     if (!updateInfo?.download_url || !updateInfo?.asset_name) return;
 
@@ -726,11 +735,9 @@ const SettingsModal: React.FC<SettingsModalProps> = ({ open, onOpenChange }) =>
                       <Button className="flex-1" size="sm" onClick={handleDownloadUpdate}>
                         {t('settings.downloadAndInstall')}
                       </Button>
-                      <Button variant="secondary" size="sm" asChild>
-                        <a href={updateInfo.release_url} target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" className="flex items-center gap-1">
-                          <ExternalLink size={12} />
-                          <span>{t('settings.viewReleaseNotes')}</span>
-                        </a>
+                      <Button variant="secondary" size="sm" onClick={handleViewReleaseNotes} className="flex items-center gap-1">
+                        <ExternalLink size={12} />
+                        <span>{t('settings.viewReleaseNotes')}</span>
                       </Button>
                       <Button variant="secondary" size="sm" onClick={handleCancelUpdate}>
                         {t('settings.cancel')}
diff --git a/src-tauri/src/main.rs b/src-tauri/src/main.rs
index 5125deb..661fd38 100644
--- a/src-tauri/src/main.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/src/main.rs
@@ -436,6 +436,11 @@ async fn launch_installer_and_exit(installer_path: String) -> Result<(), String>
     updater::launch_installer_and_exit(&installer_path)
 }
 
+#[tauri::command]
+fn open_url(url: String) -> Result<(), String> {
+    updater::open_url(&url)
+}
+
 fn main() {
     env_logger::init();
 
@@ -480,7 +485,8 @@ fn main() {
             get_display_settings,
             check_for_updates,
             download_update,
-            launch_installer_and_exit
+            launch_installer_and_exit,
+            open_url
         ])
         .run(tauri::generate_context!())
         .expect("error while running tauri application");
diff --git a/src-tauri/src/updater.rs b/src-tauri/src/updater.rs
index 15168a6..195b794 100644
--- a/src-tauri/src/updater.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/src/updater.rs
@@ -296,6 +296,33 @@ pub fn launch_installer_and_exit(installer_path: &str) -> Result<(), String> {
     std::process::exit(0);
 }
 
+/// Open a URL in the system browser (release notes, project page, …).
+///
+/// Plain `<a target="_blank">` is a no-op inside the Tauri webview, so the
+/// frontend hands external links here instead of using the shell plugin.
+pub fn open_url(url: &str) -> Result<(), String> {
+    // Cheap sanity check: only web URLs may be handed to the OS opener.
+    if !(url.starts_with("https://") || url.starts_with("http://")) {
+        return Err(format!("Refusing to open non-http(s) URL: {}", url));
+    }
+
+    let status = if cfg!(target_os = "macos") {
+        Command::new("open").arg(url).status()
+    } else if cfg!(target_os = "windows") {
+        Command::new("rundll32")
+            .args(["url.dll,FileProtocolHandler", url])
+            .status()
+    } else {
+        Command::new("xdg-open").arg(url).status()
+    };
+
+    match status {
+        Ok(s) if s.success() => Ok(()),
+        Ok(s) => Err(format!("System URL opener exited with {}", s)),
+        Err(e) => Err(format!("Failed to launch URL opener: {}", e)),
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
@@ -317,6 +344,13 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(compare_versions("2.0.0", "1.9.9"), Some(Ordering::Greater));
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn open_url_rejects_non_http_schemes() {
+        assert!(open_url("file:///etc/passwd").is_err());
+        assert!(open_url("javascript:alert(1)").is_err());
+        assert!(open_url("").is_err());
+    }
+
     fn asset(name: &str) -> GitHubAsset {
         GitHubAsset {
             name: name.to_string(),