# Fil: Folders Outside the App — Lock Screen & Home Screen

> Lock Screen & Home Screen (iPhone/iPad app by Mason Garcera.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fil-folders-outside-the-app/id6802540300 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Mason Garcera](https://appshunter.io/developer/6802438911)
- Category: Lifestyle, Utilities
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 26.4 · 14 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2026-09-09
- Data updated: 2026-10-17

## What is Fil?

Pin the thing you're in the middle of (the trip, the move, the dinner you're planning) and it lives on your Lock Screen, in your Dynamic Island, on your Home Screen, and more. Glance and it's there. Open Fil (pronounced phil) when you want to go deeper.

Five places that aren't the app:

- Lock Screen Live Activity: Your pinned folder at a glance. 
- Lock Screen Accessory: Your pinned folder, always on.
- Dynamic Island: Tap it and you're straight into what you're working in.
- Home Screen: A widget that changes depending on what you've pinned.
- Today View: The same widget, one swipe away.

And open the app in four ways, without touching the actual icon:

- Control Center: Start a voice thought or a written one from anywhere.
- Share Sheet: Send a paragraph, a link, or a photo from any app straight into Fil.
- Action Button: One press and you're recording.
- Siri: Say "New thought in Fil" and it takes what you say next.

No two thoughts look alike. Every thought arrives with its own color, its own shape, its own gradient. You don't pick it and you can't change it; it's given, the way the thought was. You don't read your folder, you recognize it.

It gets even better when you go in. A voice thought reads like a music player. Photos become a carousel. Links and to-dos each get their own function. Every action has its own sound and its own feel. Slow drifting gradients and an ambient screensaver. Fil is an app you can leave closed or open.

What you can do:

- Speak or type a thought, and your voice becomes a note transcribed on your device.
- Add a photo, save a link, write a note with to-dos.
- Attach a filament (more info) to any word: a note, a link, a photo, a PDF, or another thought.
- File what you want into folders. Pin the one you're living in.
- As many thoughts, folders, and filaments as you like. There is no limit on any of them.

Fil Extra adds:

- Smart search: Ask in your own words and Fil goes by what you meant rather than by matching words, then tells you what it found. 

- File for me: Hand it a pile of loose thoughts and it proposes which of your folders each one belongs in, and you can change any of it before a single one moves. It also organizes a whole library into folders and can write a folder's caption from what's inside it.

- Screensavers: The rest of the ambient screensavers open up, each one made out of your own thoughts (with more arriving over time).

- App icons: A set of alternate icons, the same word rendered in different materials (with more arriving over time).

No ads, no tracking. Your thoughts stay on your phone. Anything that leaves, you send: smart search passes the relevant text to our AI provider, and the feedback form sends what you type into it. Search text is never used to train the model and is deleted within 30 days.

(Fil Extra is an optional auto-renewing subscription, monthly or yearly, and it starts with a free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple Account and renews unless canceled at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage it in iOS Settings.)

Terms: https://smidgecraft.com/fil/terms
Privacy: https://smidgecraft.com/fil/privacy

Questions, ideas, or feedback? mason@smidgecraft.com

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fil Extra (Monthly) | $2.99 | per month |
| Fil Extra (Annual) | $24.99 | per year |


## Is Fil safe?

Not enough ratings yet to assess Fil.

## Is Fil legit?

Fil: Folders Outside the App is no longer available in the App Store. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for Fil is 35 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.


## Version history (last 2 releases)

### 1.1 — 2026-09-16

Export and import thoughts:
- Export everything from Settings as a .filbox. Import it on any iPhone with Fil, or unzip it in your regular file browser to save your contents.

Cleaner composer
- Collapse the Bin using the chevron.

Cleaner folder list
- Pinned folder now gets the spotlight without it staying in the overall list.

Legibility
- Changed typeface for higher legibility.

Photos
- Portrait photos taken from the composer fill their card in full screen view.

Text selection
- Selecting text no longer swipes to the next thought by accident.

Thank you for using Fil! Feedback: mason@smidgecraft.com

### 1.0 — 2026-09-10

No release notes.

## More apps by Mason Garcera

- [Weeklite](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/weeklite/id6578425716)
- [Sphere: Sky Schedule](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sphere-sky-schedule/id6808669135)

All apps by Mason Garcera: https://appshunter.io/developer/6802438911

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-10-17.*