The Catchlight Journal

Notes on privacy, focus, and building software slowly.

Field notes from building a private notes app in the open, plus practical guides on capturing thoughts, protecting them, and getting more done with less friction.

A brass key resting among dry autumn leaves
Featured
Privacy

What zero-knowledge actually means for your notes

Many claim their app is secure, but most of them don’t mean what you assume. Here’s an easy way, to tell the difference, in about 10 seconds.

Jun 30, 20263 min read
A single old key lying on a dark polished wooden surface
Privacy

Who holds the key, and why it’s the whole game

Part two of the series. Every app can say your data is encrypted and mean it. The question that actually separates them is who kept a copy of the key.

Jul 25, 20267 min read
A bundle of old letters tied with twine on a dark surface
Privacy

What encryption actually is, in plain words

Part one of a short series. The word “encrypted” is on everything now, so it has stopped meaning much. Here is how I actually think about it, no maths and no padlocks.

Jul 11, 20266 min read
An open MacBook and a notebook with a pen on a warm wooden table
Privacy

Can Apple read your notes?

The short answer is yes, in most cases. Here’s why, what “encrypted in iCloud” really means, and what to do if that bothers you.

Jul 6, 20263 min read
A weathered cast-iron gate sign reading PRIVATE
Comparisons

The best private notes apps with no account (2026)

An honest roundup of note-taking apps you can use privately, some with no account at all, and how to tell real privacy from the marketing kind.

Jul 5, 20264 min read
The Downing Street SW1 street sign, City of Westminster, beside black railings
Privacy

The UK quietly lost Advanced Data Protection. Here’s what it means for your notes

Apple pulled its strongest iCloud privacy setting for new UK users. Here’s what it did, what changed, and how to keep your notes private now.

Jul 3, 20263 min read
A leather journal and fountain pen in warm light
Product

One Take. Why notes, tasks and reminders belong together

The three-app shuffle is a habit, not a rule. What changes when a single thing can be all three at once?

Jun 24, 20263 min read
A hooded figure checking a phone at night against blurred city lights
Privacy

Your notes shouldn’t need an account

Sign-up walls are there to collect you, not to help you. A look at what “no account” is actually buying you.

Jun 18, 20262 min read
Hands writing in a notebook while holding an iPhone at a bright desk
Comparisons

Apple Notes is great, until it isn’t

An honest look at where the default starts to creak, and who should probably just stay put.

Jun 11, 20263 min read
A woman on her phone on a warm-lit underground platform
Craft

The quiet case for offline-first

Why an app that works with no connection ends up faster, calmer, and more private almost by accident.

Jun 4, 20262 min read
A macro of a camera lens aperture, its blades forming the iris
Craft

How we designed the Iris

The little mark on every Take carries more weight than it looks. Here’s how it earned its place.

May 28, 20262 min read
A warm macro of an old typewriter and its keys
Privacy

A password manager for your thoughts

Twelve words, held only by you. What a Privacy Phrase is, and why we refuse to call it a seed phrase.

May 21, 20262 min read
A close-up of an eye with a bright catchlight
Craft

Where the names came from

Catchlight and Obie aren’t words we made up. We borrowed them from people who spent a century learning to light a human face, and there’s a real person in one.

May 14, 20263 min read
Golden morning light streaming into a quiet room
Craft

The story behind Catchlight

Why Catchlight exists, from a broken privacy promise to a name borrowed from old cinema.

May 7, 20265 min read
One considered email. Whenever there’s something worth reading.

New writing, product notes, and the launch date, no more than once a month.

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