Plain Org 4+

gorgeous implementation of org-mode on iOS

This is a gorgeous implementation of org-mode on iOS. It is rather spartan in functionality and options, which may be a draw for long-time Emacs users used to customizing everything under the sun, but makes org-mode more accessible and user-friendly for everyone else. Even I, the world's best Emacs user, very much appreciate the elegance and cleanness of the interface, and all of the features that the developer chose to implement work really well. I am also impressed by how closely the developer listens to feedback and how quickly changes are implemented. Kudos!

Developer Response ,

Thank you. Glad you like its design! Lots of thought and iterations put into it.

Not what I hoped

First I appreciate the work the developer did on this app. What it does, it does well. But based on other comments I hoped it would fill in gaps with the beorg program. For example, when I refile in beorg I can’t select specific headings.

Well, plainorg works fine with a single file but does not appear to do well with multiple files. For example, I see no easy way to see an agenda which gives a summary of all your org files. This is perhaps one of the most critical features in org mode. I also don’t see an easy way to refile. It seems to ignore all the header information in a file so I don’t see the task tags I’ve created (TODO, PROJECT, INPROGRESS) etc.

I’m sure this is a work in progress and perhaps I haven’t explored all the options but for me I’ll be sticking with beorg for now.

A breath of fresh air

Plain Org is the first time I’ve been genuinely excited about any iOS software in a while. The commitment to an iOS-native feel is greatly appreciated, and the developer has been pretty successful in sticking to it despite the complexity inherent to Org. Keeping to best practices also makes for a strong focus on reading and writing Org rather than having to manage externalities such as file backend implementations. It keeps the app small and free of unnecessary feature duplication. Combined with Working Copy, it’s an unmatched task management experience on iOS, and iCloud works too if you’re not much of a Git guru.

The developer is very active on the app’s community page and is frequently testing new features. He’s also responded to every one of my emails. It won’t be long before I uninstall Beorg, I think 🤫.

Worth every penny, highly recommend.

Tiny request: it’s time for a proper settings screen. The context menu trees are getting a bit disorienting :)

Developer Response ,

Thank you!