Álvaro Ramírez

JTR recently posted an interesting question in response to Irreal's post wondering why he feels the need to use something that is not Emacs for quick notes? While I'm in no position to speak on behalf of Irreal, I am the Ramírez building this Journelly app JTR speaks of ;-)

From my perspective as the author, I'm building this app to fill a void I have, complementing my org-mode usage. In my opinion, it's not a question of whether to use Journelly over Emacs. I freakin' love Emacs org. I don't want to give it up. If the apps speak to each other, the question I'd rather ask is: why not use both?

When I’m on my computer, nearly all my writing goes through org-mode. I’ve been an org fan for well over a decade. My blog is powered by a single org file (be warned, it's a chunky file).

It's no secret I'm also an Emacs fan. I love how this platform moulds to my needs. But when I’m on the go and on my iPhone, I want a different experience — quick mobile access, minimal ceremony, optimized for smaller touch screens. I want to capture quick notes on the go, with as little friction as possible. Optionally, I want to include photos, lists, checklists, location, weather, timestamps… I also want this experience to feel like other well-integrated iOS apps. The way I like to put it is: Journelly sorta feels like tweeting, but for your eyes only.

At the same time, I don’t want my mobile note-taking experience to live in a data island. After all, I'm still an org fan. So... why not use both apps? My goal for Journelly is to provide a mobile-optimized experience that happens to speak org and thus complement my existing org usage.

While Journelly is offline by default, you may choose a different location for your data, enabling you to access it from your beloved editor.

Back to the original question: why use another tool for quick notes other than Emacs? Journelly isn't meant to replace Emacs, but rather complement it. In a way, Journelly isn't that different from Beorg, which was mentioned in JTR's post. Both apps speak org on iOS. It just so happens the apps offer slightly different targeted experiences. While Beorg is perhaps more geared toward task lists and calendars, Journelly focuses on short and quick notes.

Journelly is still in beta, though lucky for me, Mac Observer showcased a thorough review. If keen to join the beta group, reach out at journelly/./invite/@/xenodium.com or Mastodon / Twitter / Reddit / Bluesky.

P.S. Emacs org continues to be, and likely always will be, my writing epicentre. I now have three revolving org-based apps on the App Store, with Journelly soon to become the fourth one. if interested, check out my org bundle.