The freedom of a blank page, the structure of a to-do app, and none of the upkeep. Press ⇧⌘A and write.
Made for Mac · Works offline · Your calendar stays optional
01 / Try it
The real overlay, rebuilt in your browser on invented data.
Open this page on a Mac to try the app right here in your browser. The video above is the same walkthrough.
02 / Why
You plan ten, you finish seven, and the other three follow you into tomorrow.
What you did not finish turns red and waits for you to reschedule it.
Everything you add stays there until you find the time to clean it out.
So the app gets abandoned for a notepad, and the reminders and the plan go with it.
03 / How it works
The upkeep is Diurnal's job, not yours.
Press ⇧⌘A and type. Every paragraph becomes a task, and a blank line starts the next.
Nothing needs a day, and nothing on the page ever turns overdue.
Quiet tasks ask if you are still on them, and unanswered ones move to next week.
04 / What it is
Write like you would on paper, and keep everything a to-do app is good for.
Open it and write. The first line of a paragraph is the task, the lines under it are its notes, and a blank line starts the next one. Type “pay rent friday 4pm #home” and the day, the reminder and the tag are read as you write. Bold, lists and checklists work the way they do in a notes app.
A task you have not touched for a day asks if you are still working on it. Say yes and it stays. Say nothing for two more days and it moves itself to next week, then comes back when that week starts. Nothing on the page piles up as overdue, you are told what moved, and both numbers are yours to change.
When you do want a plan, Plan shows today beside your calendar, the next seven days as columns you drag tasks between, and everything open by tag. Move to sends anything to tomorrow, next week or someday in one keystroke, and Done keeps what you finished, by the day you finished it.
05 / And the rest
The parts of the day that happen next to the page.
Hold ⇧⌘L and talk. Several tasks arrive in one breath, and nothing lands until you have checked the list.
Google meetings on a timeline, one-click Join, and /cal to book a new one.
A time on a task is its reminder, and it rings with the tone you choose.
15, 25 or 50 minute rounds with breaks between them, on a dial that shows the rest of your day.
⌘1 to ⌘3 switch between Write, Plan and Focus, ⌘M moves a task, and the mouse is never required.
Your tasks live on your Mac, so it opens on a plane, and they catch up on every other Mac you use.
06 / Data
An account, your tasks in sync, and a calendar you connect later or never.
07 / Questions
True of the app as it ships today.
No. A to-do app hands you a list to maintain. Diurnal is a page you write on: everything you write becomes a task, nothing needs a date, and the tasks you stop touching are tidied away for you.
Nothing on your page turns red. After a quiet day a task asks if you are still working on it. If you do not answer within two more, it moves to next week and comes back when that week starts. You can change both numbers, or turn it off, in Settings.
No. Diurnal is a native Mac app, built for one platform so it can be fast and feel like it belongs there. There is no Windows or web version planned.
Yes. Sign in with Google or with email, and your tasks exist on every Mac you use and keep working offline. Signing in gives Diurnal no access to your calendar.
To Apple's speech engine, the same one behind dictation, and never to Diurnal's servers. Nothing you say is filed as a task until you have reviewed the list and pressed Return.
Connecting Google Calendar is optional and separate from signing in. Diurnal asks for the narrowest scopes that work, and never the one that can delete a calendar.
One key away, all day
