📝 Simple and minimalistic journal and notes app.
Designed especially for those occasions when you just need a private place to write or to look up something you wrote down in the past.
Dislike the ever spinning spinner?
Loading... loading... and nothing happens. Annoying, right?
Simple Journal is offline-first.
Your entries are stored offline—on your device only—by default. Export through settings to backup for free.
Sync to Google Drive with Pro. This is the easiest way to backup your notes that also works across Android devices (phones, tablets, Chromebooks). Sync is end-to-end encrypted with AES-256 and your custom passphrase to keep your entries secure.
The primary copy of all your data will still be stored offline on your device, so you will never see a spinner and can use SJ even when there's no network coverage.
Possible uses
You probably won't be doing all of these, but to give you an example of what all can be done with "a simple app like this":
⦿ Journal, take notes, or keep a diary
⦿ Self reflection: goals, purpose, passion, meaning.
⦿ Understand yourself better
⦿ Manage your thoughts and emotions
⦿ Make better decisions by writing them out first
⦿ Write stories on the go—we've heard about novels being written and edited in SJ 🤯
⦿ Track stuff in your life. Home repairs, car maintenance, etc.
⦿ Draft messages and other texts—way before you accidentally hit submit
⦿ Pour your heart out. Get things out of your mind. Clear your mind.
⦿ Plan ahead, set your goals
⦿ Work related notes
⦿ Study related notes
⦿ Hobby related notes
⦿ Memory aid—there's plenty to remember in the world we live in
⦿ Wind down for night—you might sleep better if there's less to stress
⦿ Gratitude journal—write down three things you are grateful for or appreciative of
⦿ Record dreams in the morning
⦿ Set your focus and intention for the day by writing it down
...and plenty of other uses! SJ is pretty much a text editor after all, albeit built from the very specific perspective of giving you a safe and private place to write down stuff when you feel like you need to.
No specific approach is forced upon you. Manage your journals in the sidedrawer of the app and use it for whatever you want to use it for.
FAQ
🌼 Edit an entry? Long-tap the entry.
🌼 Delete an entry? In the editor, swipe down for menu. There's delete in the menu.
🌼 Change font? In the main screen, swipe down for menu and see settings.
🌼 Print notes? With Pro, a printable html included in exported zips.
🌼 Transfer notes to a new device? Either export through settings, or upgrade to Pro and use sync to transfer your notes.
🌼 Will it slow down? Should not, plenty of effort gone into keeping the app smooth even if you throw a ton of notes and images at it
Ask anything (or just say hi): hello@simplejournal.app
Free features
✅ Autosave
✅ Distraction free editor
✅ Simple clean UI
✅ Light ☀️ and dark 🌒 themes
✅ Multiple journals
✅ Images
✅ Search
✅ Location tags (enable in settings)
✅ Change font family and size in settings
✅ Formatting: bold, italic, underline, highlight, strike-through
✅ Auto-indent
✅ Lock automatically with configurable timeouts
✅ Unlock using fingerprint, password, or device credential
✅ Scrambled mode/lock - allows adding entries without unlocking
✅ Export/import system for manual backups
✅ Keyboard shortcuts for bluetooth keyboards and Chromebooks
Pro upgrade
✅ Encrypted sync to your Google Drive—for day to day backups and easy transfer of notes to a new device
✅ Printable html in manual exports 🖨️
✅ Export one journal at a time, in addition to all at once
✅ Encrypted manual exports (AES-256)
✅ Home screen shortcuts: edit entry / use entry as template
✅ Pin entries to top of list 📌
✅ Custom color themes 🌈
✅ Control font size with volume keys 🤓
✅ Remember cursor position in editor—great if you often edit very long entries
✅ Reverse sort, i.e. newest entry at the bottom
Designed especially for those occasions when you just need a private place to write or to look up something you wrote down in the past.
Dislike the ever spinning spinner?
Loading... loading... and nothing happens. Annoying, right?
Simple Journal is offline-first.
Your entries are stored offline—on your device only—by default. Export through settings to backup for free.
Sync to Google Drive with Pro. This is the easiest way to backup your notes that also works across Android devices (phones, tablets, Chromebooks). Sync is end-to-end encrypted with AES-256 and your custom passphrase to keep your entries secure.
The primary copy of all your data will still be stored offline on your device, so you will never see a spinner and can use SJ even when there's no network coverage.
Possible uses
You probably won't be doing all of these, but to give you an example of what all can be done with "a simple app like this":
⦿ Journal, take notes, or keep a diary
⦿ Self reflection: goals, purpose, passion, meaning.
⦿ Understand yourself better
⦿ Manage your thoughts and emotions
⦿ Make better decisions by writing them out first
⦿ Write stories on the go—we've heard about novels being written and edited in SJ 🤯
⦿ Track stuff in your life. Home repairs, car maintenance, etc.
⦿ Draft messages and other texts—way before you accidentally hit submit
⦿ Pour your heart out. Get things out of your mind. Clear your mind.
⦿ Plan ahead, set your goals
⦿ Work related notes
⦿ Study related notes
⦿ Hobby related notes
⦿ Memory aid—there's plenty to remember in the world we live in
⦿ Wind down for night—you might sleep better if there's less to stress
⦿ Gratitude journal—write down three things you are grateful for or appreciative of
⦿ Record dreams in the morning
⦿ Set your focus and intention for the day by writing it down
...and plenty of other uses! SJ is pretty much a text editor after all, albeit built from the very specific perspective of giving you a safe and private place to write down stuff when you feel like you need to.
No specific approach is forced upon you. Manage your journals in the sidedrawer of the app and use it for whatever you want to use it for.
FAQ
🌼 Edit an entry? Long-tap the entry.
🌼 Delete an entry? In the editor, swipe down for menu. There's delete in the menu.
🌼 Change font? In the main screen, swipe down for menu and see settings.
🌼 Print notes? With Pro, a printable html included in exported zips.
🌼 Transfer notes to a new device? Either export through settings, or upgrade to Pro and use sync to transfer your notes.
🌼 Will it slow down? Should not, plenty of effort gone into keeping the app smooth even if you throw a ton of notes and images at it
Ask anything (or just say hi): hello@simplejournal.app
Free features
✅ Autosave
✅ Distraction free editor
✅ Simple clean UI
✅ Light ☀️ and dark 🌒 themes
✅ Multiple journals
✅ Images
✅ Search
✅ Location tags (enable in settings)
✅ Change font family and size in settings
✅ Formatting: bold, italic, underline, highlight, strike-through
✅ Auto-indent
✅ Lock automatically with configurable timeouts
✅ Unlock using fingerprint, password, or device credential
✅ Scrambled mode/lock - allows adding entries without unlocking
✅ Export/import system for manual backups
✅ Keyboard shortcuts for bluetooth keyboards and Chromebooks
Pro upgrade
✅ Encrypted sync to your Google Drive—for day to day backups and easy transfer of notes to a new device
✅ Printable html in manual exports 🖨️
✅ Export one journal at a time, in addition to all at once
✅ Encrypted manual exports (AES-256)
✅ Home screen shortcuts: edit entry / use entry as template
✅ Pin entries to top of list 📌
✅ Custom color themes 🌈
✅ Control font size with volume keys 🤓
✅ Remember cursor position in editor—great if you often edit very long entries
✅ Reverse sort, i.e. newest entry at the bottom
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