Simple Diary is a personal journaling application designed for people who want to record their day without navigating a complicated collection of notes. Its emphasis is on writing and reading entries through a straightforward graphical interface, rather than offering project planning or a full personal knowledge management system.
The application uses GTK4 and libadwaita, giving it a GNOME-style interface that adapts to narrow screens as well as ordinary desktop windows. The layout is designed to keep the process of creating, browsing and revisiting entries simple, with few distractions from the writing itself.
Journal content is stored locally in ordinary files, so entries remain accessible independently of the application. This approach also makes it straightforward to include personal writing in an existing file backup routine without depending on a dedicated cloud service.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Create diary entries with a title and date, selected through an integrated calendar.
- Save entries as standard Markdown files rather than using a proprietary database format.
- Write entries in an integrated Markdown editor with syntax highlighting.
- Read entries in a separate view that renders Markdown formatting.
- Browse existing entries through a chronological list, with the most recent entries appearing first.
- Add photographs from local files or the clipboard using the built-in image picker.
- Preview selected images before adding them to an entry.
- Store associated images in separate directories alongside the journal files.
- Rename existing diary entries, automatically updating associated image paths and references.
- Delete unwanted entries together with their associated image files.
- Choose between light and dark appearance modes or follow the desktop’s colour scheme.
- Use an adaptive interface that accommodates desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smaller displays.
- Keep diary content in a configurable local directory, separate from application settings.
Website: github.com/johan-bjareholt/simple-diary-gtk
Support:
Developer: Johan Bjäreholt
License: GNU General Public License v3.0
Simple Diary is written in C. Learn C with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
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Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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