ThoughtRecorder vs Cairn

there is no server we run. RECORD ANYWHERE • Tap the mic on any device to start capturing • Apple Watch: record directly from your wrist, syncs back automatically • Lock Screen widget for one-tap recording • Live Activity shows recording status while you work in other apps CATEGORIES THAT WORK LIKE YOU DO Sort your thinking however makes sense — Ideas, Meetings, To-do, Manuscript, or anything you invent. Categories sync across all your devices, so a category made on Watch appears on Mac. Filter your library in one tap. No folders to manage, no rigid hierarchy — just labels that follow your mind. SHARE PRIVATELY, WITH ONE PERSON Send a specific recording or note to a specific person. No public feed, no discovery, no "everyone with the link." The recipient sees exactly what you sent, opens it in their own Thought Recorder, and can reply with comments. You'll see when they've viewed it. Perfect for interviews handed to a producer, ideas passed to a co-writer, or a private voice note to a friend. TRANSCRIBE ON-DEVICE Enhanced transcription runs entirely on your device — no audio ever leaves it. Powered by state-of-the-art open models compiled to Apple Neural Engine. Prefer cloud accuracy? Bring your own OpenAI Whisper or AssemblyAI key — your audio goes directly to your account, billed to you, never through us. AssemblyAI adds automatic speaker labeling. ORGANIZE THE DETAIL • Flags in five colors for triage • Markers within long recordings • Notes alongside recordings — plain text with location, date, and title • Search across everything with Ask Archive using plain-language questions SYNC ACROSS YOUR DEVICES iCloud sync uses your Apple account. Everything syncs automatically — recordings, notes, categories, flags, transcripts, sharing state. BACKUP TO WHAT YOU ALREADY USE • iCloud Drive: automatic, organized by year and category • Google Drive (optional): connect your own account, files stored only in a folder Thought Recorder creates BUILT FOR PRIVACY • No third-party SDKs • No analytics • No tracking • Nothing leaves your device unless YOU turn on a cloud feature under YOUR own account Thought Recorder is made by a small independent studio in Trondheim, Norway.

Focus that leaves something behind.Cairn is a calm Pomodoro and deep-work timer. Finish a focus session and it forges a small, one-of-a-kind keepsake — a piece of generative art that's yours to keep, forever.No streaks to guilt you. No trees that die. No ads, no subscription, no tracking. Buy it once.Plant a focus. Grow a garden of your work.Every completed session blooms into a unique keepsake and joins your terrarium — a quiet, growing record of the time you gave your attention. Each one is deterministic and permanent: the same focus always grows the same object, and it never withers.Why Cairn feels different• A keepsake, not a chore. Reward without the gamified guilt — nothing dies if you stop.• Buy once, keep forever. One purchase unlocks everything. No subscription, ever.• Private by design. 100% on-device. No account, no ads, no tracking, works offline.• Calm, not hustle. Built for deep work, study, and reading — not dopamine loops.Everything you'd want in a focus timer• Pomodoro and custom-length sessions for study, work, and reading• A living garden/terrarium of everything you've grown• A diary calendar and honest stats — hours, rhythm, materials• Home & Lock Screen widgets, Live Activity & Dynamic Island, Control Center• Apple Watch app with complications — start a focus from your wrist• Full iPhone + iPad, light & dark, and accessibility supportCairn Pro — one purchase, foreverUnlock every material, palette, and the full garden with a single buy-once purchase. No subscriptions, no upsells.Focus is fleeting. What you make of it doesn't have to be.