Because I Couldn't Find a Suitable Memo App, I Classicly Built One Myself

Preface

A few months ago, I dug out my Raspberry Pi, which had been gathering dust for a long time. Dusting it off, I thought about using it to steal some electricity from my school dorm, so I decided to install some web services on it. Network drives, bookmarks, transfer stations, widgets—I thought about it for a long time but couldn't decide what to install, so I decided to start with my own needs.

Looking back at my life, the lack of a free, open-source, instant-use, multi-device synced memo app has always been a pain point. Sometimes, walking down the street, an inspiration would suddenly hit me, and I'd want to jot it down immediately. So, I would open my phone and write it into a memo app. However, when I needed to put that inspiration into practice at my computer, I either had to keep my phone unlocked and prop it up next to me, or copy and paste the text from the memo to my computer. So inconvenient!

To replace my current workflow, I could choose a paid subscription-based app, but it's unnecessary. I can easily self-host it, so why should I pay someone every month for less than 1MB of content? There are also free syncing apps like Notion, but most of them are too bloated, making it hard to quickly write things down. Open-source projects seemed like a good direction. I browsed through a few well-known open-source memo/note apps, but felt none of them quite suited me... That endless browsing and picking was honestly just too frustrating. In the end, out of sheer frustration, I made a decision: I'll write it myself!!

So, after designing it this way and that, tweaking it through conversations with an LLM, and letting an AI Agent do the heavy lifting, my memo project was born after a few rounds of review and testing.

What is MemoDump Like?

My memo project is called MemoDump. It is a web application built with a Vue.js frontend and a Go backend, distributed as a single binary file (of course, you can also compile it from source yourself). It supports PWA (meaning you can save it to your desktop like an app and use it without opening a browser). Additionally, there is a desktop version wrapped in Wails (no server deployment required!), but for various reasons, you can only download the code and compile it yourself for now.

The absolute core feature of MemoDump is Instant Logging! Aside from the login interface, the very first thing you see when you open the page is a completely blank editor. This design is perfect for capturing sudden sparks of inspiration or events, eliminating the need to click around to create a new note after opening the app—by which time the thoughts in your head would have leaked away... T T

In addition to quick startup logging, being privacy-friendly is another subtle touch in the design. I don't mean security in terms of virtual data (you need to be responsible for your own server data...!), but rather... Ma'am, you wouldn't want your notes to be seen by everyone, right?! You just want to note down a meeting time, but opening the memo interface accidentally exposes a bunch of other notes...?! A colleague happens to see "Buy some lamb on the way home from work, gonna feast on hotpot tonight yum 😋"... This kind of thing absolutely cannot happen!!

Next is the application's waterfall view design. After ensuring no one is peeking and quietly opening the memo, you can use the sidebar or the button in the top left of the editor to navigate to the "All Notes" interface. For information visibility, a portion of each memo's content is displayed. You can view the full text by clicking a button, or copy/download it via the three-dot menu without actually opening the memo. The goal of this design is to allow information to be fully displayed. I don't know about others, but when I'm at home frantically looking for something in despair, I often think wistfully: How wonderful would it be if all the drawers in the house were made of glass! Imagine someone writing something like "Never use the second restroom, there's a %$#@ inside", only to immediately forget it and repeat the mistake upon entering the bathroom—that would be too tragic. But if, while viewing other notes or editing a memo, your eyes inadvertently brush past this note, you'd think, "Oh my gosh, thank goodness I didn't forget!"—doesn't that sound wonderful?

Of course, I know that if all memos were scattered across a single page like that, it would be a bit too messy. To make up for this, I added a "Storage" section. Here, you can create new folders to build your preferred hierarchy and structure. Once inside a folder, you can see the memos stored there, which are no longer included in "All Notes" (I must apologize for choosing the word "All"; this page actually refers to all unarchived memos. My bad...!). If you have an archiving/organizing obsession, this is a very satisfying feature to play with.

Having covered the interface, let's head back to the editor. MemoDump uses the Milkdown editor with WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) real-time rendering, which is highly visually friendly. Typing / at the beginning of a line lets you quickly select Markdown syntax, and selecting text brings up a toolbar to change styles. Thanks to real-time rendering, you can enjoy the convenience of Markdown without needing to master its syntax beforehand.

Beyond that, a feature I personally love is that you never have to stress over creating a file name. Pensively summarizing your content or typing placeholders like 12312321 won't happen in MemoDump! Titles are optional, not mandatory! Just write whatever you want, cleanly hit the Save button, and you're done—minimal cognitive load! In addition to optional titles, you can also enter tags, which help with searching and categorization.

Why is MemoDump Built This Way?

The above is an introduction to MemoDump itself; what follows are some of my rambling thoughts. Having pulled off a project, it shouldn't hurt to show off a bit of my ego!

In designing MemoDump, what I cared about most was being neurodiversity-friendly. Using this as a foundation, the design philosophy can be simply split into ASD and ADHD parts:

• For ASD: I thought it best not to have too much visual noise, as sensory overload is awful. The interface is mostly white with some blues and purples, trying to be simple without being too boring. Aside from a few floating buttons, I barely added any animations, so it won't cause dizziness.

• For ADHD: I put a bit more thought into this group because I feel they rely more heavily on memos. Frequently switching interfaces can cause ADHD users to forget content (working memory already out of memory...). To avoid this, I tried not to use too many submenus. The editor has absolutely no submenus; titles, locations, and tags are all embedded right in the header. There's no need to click into separate screens to edit them—highly friendly to a small brain's memory! The design where opening the app takes you straight to the editor is, in a sense, to maintain flow; deciding on a waterfall style for All Notes is also to combat poor working memory.

In the open-source community, there are all kinds of projects, both mainstream and niche, where experts show off their skills and code flourishes everywhere. However, I personally feel that there aren't many projects optimized specifically for "neurodiversity-friendliness". Though it was mostly for my own satisfaction, I still hope my project can become a unique little flower adding a different splash of color~~~

Conclusion

If you are interested in MemoDump, feel free to head over to the project's Releases to download and deploy it. For detailed deployment instructions, please check the README.

This little project is still young, and there is plenty of room for improvement. If you have any questions or suggestions, feedback is highly welcome!