Two taps, from anywhere.

A thought lasts about ten seconds. Unlocking a phone, finding an app and waiting for it to load takes about twelve. These close the gap, and each one is set up once.

01

Put it on your home screen

It opens without browser chrome, straight into the writing field, and it stays signed in. Everything below assumes you have done this one.

Android

Chrome offers this by itself. Tap the menu, then Install app.

iPhone

Open the site in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.

02

Long-press the icon to write

It goes to a screen with one field on it and nothing else, which loads faster than the app does.

Android

Press and hold the icon. Write something is in the menu.

iPhone

iOS does not support this. Step three does the same job.

03

Share text straight in

For the message from your mother, the line in an email, the thing somebody said in a group chat. That is not a thought you compose, it is one you want to keep, and every second spent retyping it is a second in which you decide not to.

Android

Share from any app and The Other 10K is in the list.

iPhone

Set up a Shortcut once, below. Then it is in the share sheet like anything else.

The iPhone version of step three

Apple does not let a website add itself to the share sheet, so this uses Shortcuts, which is already on your phone. It takes about two minutes and you never touch it again.

  1. Open Shortcuts and tap the plus to make a new one.
  2. Tap the information icon, turn on Show in Share Sheet, and set the accepted input to text only.
  3. Add the action URL and put this in it, with your own address if you are using a custom domain:https://otk-six.vercel.app/app/write?text=
  4. Add Text, and inside it put the URL followed by Shortcut Input. Shortcuts will offer that as a variable.
  5. Add Open URLs at the end.
  6. Name it something you will recognise in a share sheet, and you are done.

The text travels in a web address, which means it is visible to your own phone and to nothing else. It is not saved when the page opens. It lands in a field, and you press save, the same as anything you type.

What is not here yet, and why

A home screen widget, a lock screen button, a watch face and a spoken phrase are all one tap or none, which is better than everything above. They also all require an app in the App Store rather than a website, and that is a different kind of work: signing, review, and a release every time anything changes.

It is being built. This page will get shorter when it arrives.

Write something now