PenCake - simple notes, diary 12+

I downloaded the app recently, and this is the most relief i've felt in so long. I've been looking for a note-taking / journaling app for months that actually makes me want to use it; pleasing to the eye, simple and elegant-ish format, and easy to use. This is everything I want it to be, and the layout of having different "stories" with articles under each, and then each story having its own page that can be easily reached by swiping, it's literally a dream. I have nothing but praise for it. The design, format, and concept, it all gives me such a calming feeling and doesn't create any of the anxiety and pressure i've felt trying to use other notes or journaling apps. I don't know if what I'm trying to express comes through the way I want it, because reading this again it sounds overdramatic, but i'm just so grateful i've found an app that doesn't make me feel obligated or overwhelmed. I've never ever found one that I've been able to stand for longer than a week. Whatever. This app is great. Good job!!

I browsed, downloaded, and tried a handful of writing apps before finding this one. Many of the other apps available become bloated in both features and aesthetics, whereas PenCake focuses on the innate beauty of text and writing. This allows you the space to simply focus on writing. It’s a wonderful and welcomed break from the attention-grabbing methods in most apps these days. My only wish is for the ability to set up a daily reminder to write, but that’s solved easily enough with third-party apps I already have. 100% recommended.

Simple, clean, and fairly easy to use, however, I would never actually use this app exclusively because it considers Dark Mode as a “premium’s feature” and not a necessity.

Most people, including myself, aren’t using Dark Mode for aesthetic purposes, but as an accessibility option, as Light Modes can be genuinely painful and headache inducing to look at.
Dark Mode is required for those with visual disability or impairment, as well as for those who work with writing at night.

Without that, this app is nothing to me but the dream of what could have been.
Ideal in that it’s free to use, easy to navigate, has basic markdown, a decent amount of functionality.
Impossible to give a good review, because it’s actively hurting me every time I try to look at it.

Dark Mode is an Accessibility feature, and shouldn’t be behind a paywall, having it stay like that is a huge slap in the face to night owls and the visually impaired.

2 stars given for being free and good at it’s job.
3 stars withheld for having all that and being rendered unusable to me and an entire demographic by mere virtue of considering accessibility a paid privilege.