Essays

Essays is a native macOS client for the Memos self-hosted note-taking service. It provides a seamless and lightweight experience for capturing thoughts, logging daily activities, and organizing inspiration.

Features

• 📴 Offline-First Architecture: Redesigned sync layer allowing you to compose, edit, and delete memos without an internet connection.
• 📬 Sync Queue View: Monitor pending local changes and background synchronization status directly from the sidebar.
• 📱 Universal App: Full native support for macOS, iPadOS, and iOS, providing a seamless experience across all your devices.
• 🔀 Three-Column Navigation: A responsive, standard NavigationSplitView ensuring optimal use of screen real estate (Sidebar, Timeline, and Details).
• ✨ Premium Native UI: A "LiquidGlass" aesthetic with glassmorphism, thin materials, and subtle micro-animations.
• 🤖 Apple AI Assistant: Integrated Foundation Models for on-device text processing and intelligence.
• 🚀 Quick Capture & Global Shortcuts: Record thoughts instantly from anywhere on your Mac using customizable global hotkeys.
• 🖼️ Attachments Gallery: A dedicated grid view in the sidebar to easily browse all your image memos.
• 🔍 Rich Media Previews: Native Apple Quick Look for image attachments and interactive MapKit popovers for location tags.
• 📅 Interactive Calendar: A reactive Monthly Calendar directly in the sidebar to filter your daily logs.
• 🕒 Timeline View: A beautifully organized chronological feed of your memos, grouped by date.
• 🌍 Fully Localized: Complete support for English and Simplified Chinese.
• 🔒 Privacy First: Direct connection to your self-hosted Memos server via Access Tokens.

Screenshots

Apple AI Assistant

Leverage the power of Apple's on-device Foundation Models to enhance your brainstorming and note-taking:

• ✨ Summarize: Generate concise summaries of long memos.
• ✏️ Improve Writing: Polish grammar, tone, and clarity.
• 📝 Expand: Elaborate on brief ideas with more detail.
• 🏷️ Generate Tags: Automatically suggest relevant tags.
• 💡 Related Ideas: Unlock new perspectives with AI-generated connections.

All AI processing happens locally on your Mac, ensuring your thoughts and data remain completely private.

Installation

Direct Download

Download the latest .dmg or .app from the Releases page.

Homebrew

Install via Homebrew tap:

brew tap SteveShi/tap
brew install --cask essays

Build from Source

1. Clone the repository.
2. Install XcodeGen (brew install xcodegen).
3. Run xcodegen generate in the project root.
4. Open Essays.xcodeproj and run.

Configuration

On the first launch, you will be prompted to enter:

• Server URL: The address of your Memos instance (e.g., https://memos.example.com).
• Access Token: Your personal access token from Memos settings.

License

This project is licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0.

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