Support
Questions, problems or ideas: write to ivan.slnnk@gmail.com. Please don't include your diary entries; a description of what happened is enough.
Getting started
recall needs a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 13 or later. On first launch it asks three things:
- Where your diary is now. An Obsidian vault on this Mac is found automatically. You can also choose any folder of Markdown files, or start a new diary.
- What to import, and where recall keeps it. recall copies the folders you choose into its library, by default
iCloud Drive/recall. Your originals are never changed. - The local model. A one-time download of about 120 MB. After that, recall works offline.
Shortcuts
⌘Nnew note ·⌘Kjump to a date or search by meaning⌘1timeline ·⌘2patterns⌘Lhide the window's contents ·⌘,settings
Where your notes live
Every note is a Markdown file in your library: recall/<collection>/YYYY/MM/YYYY-MM-DD HHmm.md. Any text editor can open them, and so can Obsidian. recall's own data (settings, the search index, theme names and the model) lives in ~/Library/Application Support/recall on your Mac.
Backups: back up the library folder, for example with Time Machine. The index is rebuilt from your notes whenever it's missing.
Echoes and patterns
Echoes are past entries that are close in meaning to the paragraph you're writing. They appear in the margin only when the match is close, so most days the margin stays empty.
Patterns are themes that come up in at least 5 entries on 3 different weeks, named with your own words. With a young diary there may be none yet. You can turn either off in Settings.
Neither interprets your writing or gives advice. recall is a journaling tool, not a medical or therapy service. If you're going through something hard, findahelpline.com lists free, confidential support.
Capture from your iPhone
In the Shortcuts app, make a shortcut called recall. Dates are formatted where they're used: insert Current Date, tap it, and set Date Format to Custom.
- Ask for Input: Text, with Allow Multiple Lines on.
- Text: Current Date as
yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm, an empty line, then Provided Input. - Set Name: name the Text Current Date as
yyyy-MM-dd HHmmfollowed by.md, with Don't Include File Extension on. - Save File: the Renamed Item, with Ask Where to Save off. Folder: iCloud Drive → recall → your collection. Subpath: Current Date as
yyyy/MMfollowed by/.
The note appears in recall on your Mac as soon as iCloud syncs it.
Something's not right
A note from my phone doesn't appear
Check its name in the Files app. It must end in .md; without the Set Name step, Shortcuts saves .txt, which recall ignores. If the name is right, give iCloud a minute to download it to your Mac.
The model download failed
It needs an internet connection once. Quit recall, check your connection, and open it again to run setup once more. Notes already copied are recognised, not copied twice.
Imported notes are on the wrong day
recall dates a note by its name when the name holds a date, and otherwise by when the file was last changed. Settings → Import → Import again restores the original dates of notes imported earlier.
Search or echoes seem wrong
Quit recall, delete index.db in ~/Library/Application Support/recall, and open recall again. It re-reads your notes; nothing in your library is touched.