Our Note
The whole family writes in the same note.
Everyone adds to the same day. Later it becomes something you can read back. There is no account, and nothing leaves your family's own iCloud.
$7.99 when it ships, bought once. No subscription, and free while it is in beta.
In TestFlight now, for iPhone and iPad. Not on the App Store yet.
Today is a page, not a feed.
Everyone in the family writes into the same day. A line about school, a photo from the afternoon, a question for whoever reads it next.
An entry is capped at 200 words and one photo, and there are only so many a day each. Those limits are the point. They are what keeps this a note instead of turning into another group chat nobody wants to open.
How was your day, in two taps.
Pick a face. That is a complete answer, and for a lot of kids it is the only one you will get. If there is more to say, each one opens into a few closer words: happy becomes proud, or grateful, or content.
Sixteen to choose from. No typing, and no prompt to answer.
The part you read back.
The journal is one card per day, newest first. Today is where you write and the journal is where you look, and a year of ordinary days turns out to be worth more than anyone expected at the time.
Events and ideas.
Alongside the day, without competing with it.
Birthdays and what's coming up
A birthday you put on someone's profile comes back every year on its own. Anniversaries, trips and anything else share the same list.
Gifts, trips, things to try
The thought you have in March about a present for June, written down somewhere you will actually look in June.
A conversation per plan
Every event and idea has its own thread. No word limit there, because it is attached to something that ends.
Settle dinner
Ask, everyone taps, results show straight away. Nobody has to vote blind to see where it is going.
Grown-ups can mark an event or an idea private, which keeps it off the kids' screens so a surprise stays a surprise.
There is no server to trust.
Our Note is built on your family's own iCloud. We do not run anything your notes pass through, so there is nothing on our side to leak, sell, or be asked for.
- No accountNothing to create, no email, no password. The iCloud account already signed in on the device is who you are.
- End to end encryptedEverything anyone writes, plus photos and birthdays, is encrypted so that Apple cannot read it either.
- Your family onlyOne family shares one invitation. Nobody outside it can see any of it.
- Nothing collectedNo analytics, no crash reporting, no third party anything.
The longer version, if you want to check.
An eight year old has to be able to use it.
That was the rule the whole time. Nothing important is behind a long press, a swipe, or a gesture you have to be told about. If a thing can be done, you can see how.
Which turns out to suit the grandparents too.
Where it is up to.
Our Note is built and used by one family, ours, on real devices. The first build is in TestFlight for iPhone and iPad. It is not on the App Store yet.
It will be $7.99, bought once. No subscription, nothing to renew, and no second purchase for the iPad. The beta is free.
Email me and I will send you the link.