Lister, Vector, and Thought Relay are three focused iPhone and iPad notes apps. Each does a different job. Each is currently a one-time purchase with no subscription. Let's talk about the design philosophy for each.
Lister: for people who only want lists
Lister: Write & Draft Notes is currently a $4 one-time purchase notes app built for list people.
With Lister, the design philosophy begins with the fact that some people really just like making lists. It works for their brain. Instead of drafting soliloquies, they can jot down the things they would otherwise forget if they did not write them down in the moment during the day. As such, Lister was born.
For example, I'm a writer. The amount of ideas I have in a day that I don't write down and therefore forget is a tragedy!
I like Lister.
Vector: On-the-Go Action Notes
Vector: On-the-Go Action Notes is currently a $4 notes app that might be for a physically active life.
Vector is more for dynamic, active days. Imagine it is 1980 and you are a trader on the stock market—or, I don’t know, you are simply getting a lot of calls. You are hustling and bustling, doing this and that. Vector is for the moment when you think, “Okay, this is an open item. I have to write it down.” That is different from simply dropping something into Lister. The Vector idea remains an open idea until closed. See below!
Each note can be marked Next, In Progress, Waiting, Decision, or Reference. Live counts show what needs attention. Search helps you return to the right context, and pinning keeps priorities visible. It works well for meeting follow-up, client context, project checkpoints, and personal decision logs.
Thought Relay: for ideas that just need to be written down without category or ceremony
Thought Relay: Fast Notes is currently a $4 app built around one urgent moment: catching a thought before it disappears. Similar to Lister, but Lister is more of a category + list of ideas. Thought Relay is more of master list of all things.
Tap Capture Now, write what crossed your mind, give it a channel, and return to your day. Later, search and pinning help important thoughts rise above the noise. Inbox, Next, Ideas, Words, and Life channels provide just enough structure without turning quick capture into a filing project.
Thought Relay works without an account. Notes stay locally in the app, and the current version has no ads, analytics, tracking, cloud sync, or third-party SDKs. It is currently $3 as a one-time purchase.
Explore more focused apps from Myworkingmemory.
A word on Apple notes
What inspired these three apps was Myworkingmemory’s date with Apple Notes. Apple Notes had become like a black hole: once ideas or language were put into it, they were lost, because it became to many things for me. So, Myworkingmemory endeavored to build something that allows you to have a more specific relationships with notes apps / tools.