Backtalk

Backtalk is an Android application that takes the interface of a messaging client and points it at the user. Notes are entered the way messages are: typed, sent, and left sitting in a thread with everything sent before them. The habit it formalises is one many people improvise already, using a chat app to send themselves links and reminders because the input box is quicker to reach than a document.

A thread reads in the order things were added, which suits short and unstructured capture better than long-form writing or nested organisation. Reminders, addresses, half-formed ideas and things to look up later all fit the format; a structured outline or a multi-page document does not.

kys0ff publishes it under the MIT licence, one of the more permissive options, allowing reuse with few conditions. Android is the only platform listed, so the thread is read and written on the device where it was created.