Etched: Reading Journal

Etched is a reading journal for paper books: photograph a line that moves you, write it out by hand later, and reflect on it briefly at night. No account, no subscription — every record stays on your device. Don't stop reading. On the bus, or in bed before sleep, you meet a line that stays with you. Stop to underline it or copy it out, and you lose the thread of what you were reading. Etched lets you keep the line as a single photo and push transcribing and reflecting to a quiet moment. Keep → Write it out → Reflect: a ritual for reading slowly, one line a day. ■ A day with Etched · Keep — Snap the line and it files itself under the book you're reading. Focus stays centered, and you can pick the book before or after you shoot. Press the shutter and go back to the page. Quiet enough for the library or the bus. · Write it out — A little later, a single reminder. Read the line in the photo and type it yourself, character by character. No autocomplete, no auto-fill. The time it takes is the point. · Reflect — At the end of the day, a short note on how the line landed today. One reminder, only if you've transcribed a line in the last two days. Every step can wait, or be skipped. Lines you never get to are set aside quietly — no nagging. ■ A book, recorded Note what you hope for when you add a book, and leave an afterword when you finish. Then export the finished book as up to 20 images: cover and expectations, chosen lines with reflections, and your afterword (Premium). ■ Straight from your iPhone Lock Screen (iOS 18 and later) Add "Etch a Line" to the Lock Screen, Control Center, or the Action Button, and the camera opens without unlocking. It's silent and saves exactly what you saw. Lines you capture there are waiting the next time you open Etched. On iOS 16 and 17, a circular Lock Screen widget opens the camera directly. ■ Where your lines live · Your library — Lines gather under each book. Unlimited books; see the ones you're reading and the ones you've finished separately. · Three views — Gallery, list, and calendar. The days you etched a line show as dots on the calendar. · Highlight — Mark the line on the photo with a highlighter. When you transcribe, only that part is shown, enlarged. ■ When you'd like to share Turn a line into a single image card — square, portrait, or story. Include your reflection, and a long one simply spans several cards. Not to show off; just a quiet way to pass something on. ■ What Etched doesn't have · No streaks, badges, points, or rankings. · No statistics dashboard, no social feed, no endless timeline. · No notifications designed to pull you back in. It's not about how many lines you've gathered, but how deeply one line is etched. The goal isn't time spent in the app — it's getting you back to the book. ■ Your records stay with you No account, no login. Everything is stored only on this device and never sent anywhere. No ads, no tracking. Export and restore a backup file, or let Etched back up automatically on a schedule you choose. ■ Premium Free to keep unlimited books and up to 12 lines at a time. One purchase unlocks unlimited lines and book export — not a subscription. ■ Questions people ask Q. Do I need an account? — No. Install and start; records stay on your device. Q. Is it a subscription? — No. Premium is a single non-consumable purchase, with Restore Purchases. Q. Does it turn the photo into text for me? — No. You type the line yourself. That slowness is the point of Etched. Q. Does it work with e-books? — It's made for paper books, but you can pick a screenshot from your photos. Q. What if I change phones? — Export a backup file from Settings > Data, then restore it on the new device. Q. Who is it for? — People who read paper books and want to keep the lines they love, without statistics or social features. Read slowly, keep deeply — Etched.