One note was the whole product

Designed, built, and shipped a one-note app for iOS in six weeks. Solo. No team, no client, no handoff.

shipped · usebarely.com Product design & development SwiftUI · iOS 2026

01: problem

Notes apps compete on features. Folders, tags, databases, backlinks, AI summaries. Bear has nested tags. Notion has 50+ block types. Apple Notes keeps adding drawing tools, scans, tables, shared folders.

Every app in the category assumes that more organization means more clarity. But most people open a notes app to write one thing down, and the interface makes them think about where to put it first.

The problem wasn't a missing feature. It was 100 features in the way of one.

02: strategy

Instead of competing on features, remove them. One note. No folders. No tags. No second note until the first is archived. The constraint is the product.

Three layers, each one barely enough:

One note. Open the app, start writing. Archive when done. Blank slate.
Time-aware tone. The background shifts through the day: warm parchment in the morning, clean neutral at midday, deep ink at night.
Weekly surface. Archived notes live for seven days, then disappear. No records haunting you. Just this week.

03: the product

One note

Barely Notes empty state: warm parchment background, 'note...' placeholder, archive and delete buttons dimmed at bottom — empty state

Barely Notes with keyboard open, camera and Done buttons in toolbar above keyboard — keyboard with camera + Done

Barely Notes with text: 'Write down your ideas.' Archive, share, and delete buttons active at bottom — bottom bar: archive, share, delete

No title field. No formatting toolbar. Tap and write. Camera and Done sit above the keyboard. The bottom bar appears when the keyboard dismisses: archive, share, delete. All three disabled when the note is empty.

Time-aware themes

Theme picker showing three time-of-day tones (Morning, Midday, Evening) and five Bokashi gradient themes (Sakura, Matcha, Sumi, Kumo, Akatsuki) — automatic time shifting + Bokashi themes

Barely Notes settings screen showing This Week, Live Activity toggle, Widget instructions, Theme picker, Tutorial, and Contact — settings

Automatic mode shifts the palette through the day. Manual override locks a tone. Five premium Bokashi themes (Japanese colour gradients) open up with a one-time purchase. Each theme changes the app icon to match.

Widgets and Live Activity

Barely Notes home screen widgets in large and medium sizes, showing note text on a glass background — home screen widgets

Three home screen sizes, three lock screen formats, and a Live Activity on the Dynamic Island. Your note is visible without opening the app. Every keystroke syncs in real time.

Onboarding

Onboarding screen 3: 'barely enough.' exactly right. start button. — barely enough.

Three swipeable screens that double as the pitch: one note, archive when done, barely enough. Shown once, resettable from settings.

Demo

type, archive, theme shift, widget sync

04: outcomes

scopedetail

TimelineDesigned and shipped in six weeks

RoleSolo: design, SwiftUI, App Store submission

PlatformiOS 26, SwiftUI, SwiftData

Features shippedWidgets (6 sizes), Live Activity, Dynamic Island, camera, share sheet, onboarding

AccessibilityWCAG AAA contrast on all three tones, 44pt+ tap targets

MonetizationFree + one-time Bokashi purchase. No subscription.

Stress tested36 design checks, 85 user flows — all pass

05: lessons

Drawing was the hardest cut

Tested it. Theme conflicts, gesture conflicts, broke widgets. The strongest version of the app is the one that doesn't have it.

140 names, three rounds

Barely won because it describes the product and the philosophy in one word. "What notes app do you use?" "Barely."

Ship the whole surface

Widgets, Live Activity, Dynamic Island, onboarding, share sheet, camera. A notes app that only lives inside itself doesn't feel like a tool. Shipping every iOS surface made it feel native on day one.

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