Catchlight

A private, no-account iPhone app where a note, a task and a reminder are one thing. Zero-knowledge, open source. Building in the open, launching soon.

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

I'm building Catchlight: a private notes, tasks and reminders app for iPhone, where all three are one thing.

No account. Zero-knowledge, encrypted on your device.

Open source, so the privacy can be verified.

Building in the open, launching soon.

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

How long does it take you to save a thought on your phone? Unlock, find the app, wait, tap.

More than a second or two to jot a thought and I stop using it.

A Take starts from the Lock Screen, Control Centre, the Action button, or Siri, who asks for the words. #buildinpublic

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

Where do your notes actually live?

Usually on the company's server, which, to be fair, is how they sync so smoothly.

Catchlight has no server. Each Take is encrypted on your phone, and the files go into a cloud folder you already own. #buildinpublic

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

What happens to my notes if I stop paying?

In 23,732 public reviews of 16 notes and task apps, price is a tenth of the bad ones, the sharpest about notes already written.

Catchlight's a subscription too. Stop paying and your Takes stay readable and exportable. #buildinpublic

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

I use words, rather than a password, for a fairly boring and somewhat obvious, reason.

A password you invent tends to be one you've used before. Twelve random words beat anything I'd think up, and copy onto a card without mistakes.

The catch is there's no reset. #buildinpublic

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

A reminder that doesn't go off never tells you it didn't.

An alarm clock that fails wakes you late. A reminder that fails leaves a gap you fill in later with "I'm sure I set one for that".

Here's a five-minute test that finds yours first.

https://t.co/je9D6vptIK #buildinpublic

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

@QuitVape4U Nothing deserves a spot on the home screen, so there's only ever one place to look for a setting, which itself is a simplification

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

What makes you stop using a notes app?

It's rarely a missing feature. It's the app wanting something, a type to pick, a folder to choose, a bright white page at 11 at night.

The best app is the boring one you actually use. #buildinpublic

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

@QuitVape4U Keep the choices simple and easy to access and never let the settings page need a guide just to navigate it!

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

@QuitVape4U I can't pick one area, it bends throughout. Top of my head, I can't think of a single feature you don't have some sort of option to make it work the way you want it

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

@QuitVape4U Time will tell, but I suspect everyone has their own way of working and, that's kinda the point. I'm not designing how you want to work, I'm giving you something that is flexible enough to fit your way, not fight it

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

@aksenHQ I like knowing where my words actually are, and being able to get them out without paying. Catchlight keeps everything on the phone, syncs only through a folder you own, and exports encrypted or to plain Markdown with nothing lost on the way back in.

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

From about 23,700 public reviews of 16 notes and task apps, losing notes turns up in 5.8% of the 1 and 2 star ones, and 0.5% of the 4 and 5 star.

Nobody praises an app for not losing their notes. They only notice when it does. #buildinpublic

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

@akshaj_kasliwal Good question, and honestly I didn't split it that way, so I can't say. What I can say is sync is the most praised theme and the third biggest complaint, so it's the one an app can least afford to get wrong. A backup to a file you own sounds like the right call to me

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

@park_ppuri Haha! It is a bit! Keeping your notes is the job though, so I suppose it's like thanking a bridge for not falling down. You only write about it when it does.

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

@progerallworld Agreed, and that's how it works. Everything lives on the phone first, so there's nothing to wait for. Sync is optional and goes through a folder you own when you turn it on.

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

@domrealmapps "Feels like a performance" is spot on. No notebook to pick here, and it follows your phone's light/dark setting, so at 11pm it's never shouting at you.

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

@devoxisfig One lost idea and you're done, I'm the same. That's why full-text search and a lossless Markdown export were non-negotiable for me, so your words are always findable, and always yours to take elsewhere, even though I hope you won't lol

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

@Mr_Indie_Hacker Exactly that. By the time you've picked a home for it, half the sentence has gone. Write it first, and most of them turn out not to need a home at all, well except for the trash!

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

@QuitVape4U "Decide mid-craving" is a great way to put it. Mine was deciding what a thought is before you've captured it. You can create straight from the lock screen, and whether it's a task, a reminder or just a note can wait for when you have time

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

@_arkojeet Trust is the other half, agreed. Catchlight is the same on that side, no account, no server of ours, and sync goes through a folder you own, if you want it at all. Good luck with Koru, local-first deserves more people building it and understanding why it's important!

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

@akshaj_kasliwal The choice of type. A Take starts as just words, and it only becomes a task or gets a reminder if you decide it should. 46% on paywalls doesn't surprise me at all, and it's the same thing really, the app wanting something before it's given you anything.

[Catchlight @CatchlightApp]

@zeal_m_ Pretty much, yes. Open it, type, done. There's not even a save button! No account to make, no folder to pick, no deciding whether it's a note or a task first. No need to set a reminder. You can sort all that out later, or never, which is usually what happens to me!