Keep the small moments of your day.

lightbugs is a private journal for iPhone and Android. Jot a line, snap a photo, record your voice or add a song. Every day gets its own page, and the pages fill notebooks that stay on your phone.

Free. No account, no ads, no cloud.
2:15 pmfound the good pen again. writing everything with it today.
start with a questionwhat made you laugh today?
BSM
thursday, oct 296 moments today
on this day · a year agolong walk before work. counted six dogs.
“toast”3 notes found

Here’s one day, kept.

Open lightbugs whenever something happens. Each moment lands on today’s page with the time beside it.

6:48am
3 photos
woke before the alarm. the hills were still asleep under the fog.
Early light on the sea6:48 am
Orange flowers in the morning6:48 am
Hills under thick morning fog6:48 am
8:15am
a line
a few words is enough to keep it.
8:15 amfirst coffee on the front step. the neighbour waved with her whole arm.
12:40pm
2 photos
lunch outside. a husky decided my foot was his pillow.
A lunch platter of grilled food12:40 pm
A husky lying on the ground12:40 pm
5:30pm
a voice note
rain on the tin roof. recorded it so i can fall asleep to it later.
0:12
6:12pm
3 photos
pulled over on the way home. the whole sky went orange for six minutes.
Sunset over the hills6:12 pm
A person watching the sun go down6:12 pm
An orange and purple sunset over the sea6:12 pm
9:40pm
a song
windows down on the drive back. played this one twice.
a song for the driveApple Music · 0:00 / 0:30
10:55pm
a line
the quiet ones count too.
10:55 pmtired in the good way. nothing big happened, and i want to remember it anyway.
11:58pm
the page
and that was the day. every moment, on one page in your notebook.

Tomorrow starts a fresh page. Turn back to this one whenever you like.

Your days fill notebooks. (10)

Keep one for everything, or one for each part of your life. Each notebook has its own paper, type and cover.

01the desk
scroll to flip through
  • The desk, where all your notebooks sit together
  • Book
  • Old book
  • Autumn
  • Cat days
  • Typewriter
  • Letter
  • Studio
  • Studio dark
  • Mono
  • Workspace

Go back to any day.

A journal is for reading too. lightbugs gives you four ways back.

  1. 01

    Turn the pages

    Swipe back a day at a time. The paper curls like a real book.

  2. 02

    Pick a date

    A calendar with a photo on every day you kept.

  3. 03

    Fan the month

    Spread the days out like the edge of a book and pull one.

  4. 04

    On this day

    See what you kept a year ago, and two.

The calendar with a photo on each day The contents page with on this day

Make it yours.

Decorate a page with stickers. When a day deserves it, turn a few moments into a card to share.

Stickers

Drop them on any page and drag them where they belong. Or cut your own from a photo.

Only you can read it.

Your notes, photos, videos and voice notes are stored on your phone. Here is what lightbugs leaves out.

  • accounts
  • the cloud
  • ads
  • a feed
  • streaks
  • tracking

There’s no lightbugs server for your notes to go to, so nobody else can read them.

They’re kept on your device, and in your phone’s own backups if you use them. The app never asks for your name, email or location.

Read the full privacy policy · on Android lightbugs goes online for two things only: checking whether a newer version is out, and finding and playing Apple Music songs you add to a note. Without a connection, everything else works the same.

And the small things.

Home-screen widgets, a lock-screen button that opens straight to capture, search across every notebook, an evening reminder if you want one, questions for the days you don’t know what to write, and save to Photos.

Questions.

What is lightbugs?

A private journal and diary app. You keep small moments from your day as text, photos, short videos, voice notes and songs. Each day gets its own page inside a notebook.

Do I need an account?

No. lightbugs never asks for your name, email or location. Open it and start writing.

Where are my notes stored?

On your phone, and in your phone’s own backups if you use them. No lightbugs server receives your notes.

Does it work offline?

Yes. Without a connection everything works the same, except finding and playing songs.

Is it free?

Yes. lightbugs is free on the App Store and Google Play, with no ads.

Today’s page is still empty.

App Store Google Play