About a year ago, I found myself taking notes by texting myself. I saved recipes, project ideas, links to read later, and photo inspiration. I still used my traditional notes app for things like essays and journaling, but I texted myself these “quick notes.” I wondered whether I was just being scrappy and clever or if there was some deeper reason.

I realized that quick notes don't fit in traditional notes apps. Bullet lists of website links are awkward. Document titles aren't needed. I want to scroll through my notes rather than open them one by one.

What appealed to me wasn't texting itself but its directness. I built a quick notes app called prism around that feeling. Instead of telling you my theory, let me show you how I use it. All the screenshots in this post show my own notes.

When I'm talking with someone and need to get their email, I pull out my phone, tap the prism widget, and type it out. When I'm going to bed and have a thought for the next day, I tap the prism voice widget and record it. When I find a restaurant I want to go to, I save it on... Google Maps :)

When I need to schedule a doctor appointment or check out some cool website, I make a note to myself. I'll often scroll the last 10-20 notes to make sure important things from previous days don't slip by. While Prism is not a todo list app, it can hold what's top of mind.

When I find a link I want to read later in a group chat, I copy and paste it into prism. When I find a Substack post I want to read later, I save it via the share sheet. When I'm on public transit or have free reading time, I go to my "to read" tag and choose something. Later, I'll save the good things I read to my library, maybe adding key insights or quotes in a thread.

When I see an inspiring poem or photo on Twitter, I take a screenshot and share it to prism. When a friend shares an interesting idea, I save it. I think of prism as not just a "notes app" but also a "collector app" - a place to save and engage with inspiring things from real life and the internet.** Some collector-leaning competitors are MyMind, Sublime, and Are.na. Some notes-leaning competitors are Google Keep, Redraft, and Antinote. I won't go into the pros and cons here but perhaps in another post.

When I have a new goal, such as learning how to distribute my product better, I create a tag to collect ideas and references. I pin the tag to make it more salient. I search my old notes for things that might belong. Ambiently throughout my week, I add relevant things as they come up. Then, I scroll through this tag as an “inspirational feed” whenever I have time to make progress on the goal.

I was drawn to texting largely because it lets me scroll my notes in a chronological timeline. It sounds really simple, but I think that's the most important thing about prism - particularly scrolling through notes belonging to a tag. It's sort of the opposite of doomscrolling. It's a time for remembering important insights, expanding ideas, making connections, trashing things, and starring other things - for engaging with the thoughts and references you care about.

I am committed to keeping prism private, and I will never sell your data or track you. By default, your notes stay purely on your device. If you want sync between your phone and computer, it happens through your iCloud account. If you have AI tag suggestions turned on, they are generated on-device - you do not need to worry about your notes traveling to a big model company.

Prism is a personal project. There is no outside funding. It's just me, and I plan to keep it that way. On and off over the last year, I've been iterating on prism with feedback from hundreds of users (thank you Reddit for the warm welcome). In response to everyone's feedback, I moved the sync to iCloud for privacy, added Markdown support, and built an Apple Watch app.

I live in San Francisco, a place full of ambition, smarts, and dreams but also delusion, money-chasing, and cold calculation. I know I'm not solving world hunger. I just wanted to make a useful, self-contained thing - and I wanted to craft it really well. It's called prism because you beam your thoughts in (white light) and structure and meaning come out (different colors). I hope you enjoy :)