Field notes
The story of how Xale was built, one release at a time, and practical notes on thinking, remembering and planning with less friction.
Latest
- Release notePeople: keep track of the people who matterPersonal CRM · 18 October 2026
- Release notePlan your day on your phoneMobile day planner · 2 October 2026
- Release noteIn-app guide: help when it's useful, not when you're busyHow to use Xale · 26 September 2026
- Release noteWelcome: no more blank page on day oneNo more blank page · 20 September 2026
- Release notePROGoogle integration: plan your day with everything in one viewPlanner that syncs with Google Calendar · 14 September 2026
- Release noteFour looks: pick the one that feels at home on your deviceFour looks · 12 September 2026
Release notes
How Xale was built, one release at a time.
People: keep track of the people who matter
A personal CRM for the people in your life: one page per person, with what you're doing for them, what they're doing for you, and every note, plan and habit you share.
Plan your day on your phone
Xale's Day Planner menu now has a new mobile UI - the new mobile day planner helps you see everything weighing you down, think through transitions to get you into tasks and build that muscle turning habit dreams into daily discipline.
In-app guide: help when it's useful, not when you're busy
How to use Xale, shown inside Xale: a Guide in the header of every page, a setup list that ticks itself, and short tours you start when you're ready, never when you're busy.
Welcome: no more blank page on day one
Tell Xale what you're working on, and your first day starts with a week of examples to keep, change or remove: a way past the blank page problem, not a template to live inside.
PRO
Google integration: plan your day with everything in one view
Your Google meetings and tasks beside the things you chose, on one day: a planner that syncs with Google Calendar and Google Tasks, without touching the events already in your calendars.
Four looks: pick the one that feels at home on your device
Signature, Studio, Lucid and Monet: four looks for the same calm place. Pick the one that feels at home on the screen you're using, and a different one on your next device.
PRO
Suggest actions: find the next step in a messy page
Ask AI to read a messy note, list, mind map, capture, meeting or event, and it suggests the tasks, habits, events and projects hiding inside. An AI to-do list that asks first: nothing is added until you say so.
PRO
Meetings: one home for minutes from every tool
Minutes from Gemini, Otter, Granola, Teams and the rest, kept in one place. Xale finds the action items from meeting notes, with their owners and dates, by reading the notes' structure, not by sending them to an AI.
PRO
Projects: big goals, small steps
Name a big goal, a trip, a launch, a room to sort out, and break it down into steps you can start today. Projects keep the tasks and habits for one outcome together, with progress you can see.
E-ink mode: easy on the eyes, still easy to read
Stronger contrast, larger type and no motion: an e-ink productivity app that behaves on slower, monochrome screens, so your tasks and calendar are there when a thought pulls you away from the book.
PRO
Captures: stop texting yourself
The links, screenshots and files you'd otherwise send yourself on WhatsApp or Slack, kept in one inbox: a notes to self app that turns what you save into tasks, habits, events or projects when you're ready.
Xale on every device: your thoughts, on every screen you own
Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android and e-ink tablets: install Xale from the browser, keep a quick note or a whole mind map, and pick up where you left off on the next screen.
PRO
Events: use important moments to feel, think and plan ahead
Mark the moments that matter, a launch, a trip, a big meeting, and give each one a page to prepare, think, connect and follow through. A milestone planner that grows out of your notes.
Your personal operating system: memories, intentions and focus
Remember freely, choose what matters, then give it your attention. Xale is now a personal operating system in three words: memories for what you think, intentions for what you mean to do, and focus for where your attention goes.
Thursday, July 9 TODAY SUBSCRIBED: 2/3 DAY WEEK MONTH 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 Standup Draft the Q3 planning doc 11:00 – 12:00 Lunch with Mum 12:30 – 13:30 · Family Activity Quick block Search All areas TASKS 3 Book the dentist Health · 15 min Renew the car insurance Work · 15 min Subscribed: on Work Family School term dates Subscribed calendars: see what's booked, and make room for what matters
See your Google, Apple or Outlook meetings beside your own plans, and find room for what matters around what's already booked. An ICS calendar subscription that's read-only: Xale never changes them.
Lists Packing list · Tokyo Bulleted 1. Numbered Kanban Passports Chargers Phone Laptop Rain jacket Yen for the train Snacks for the flight Add item Lists: not every list is a to-do list
Packing, ideas, pros and cons, the things to remember: a simple list app for lists that aren't to-do lists, with nothing due and nothing overdue.
Now one thing, right now. What deserves you this moment. Auto TASK · NOW Draft the Q3 planning doc 24:13 10:00 – 11:00 · 60 min Mark done Dismiss UP NEXT 🚶 Walk 11:05 – 11:25 · 20 min Activity 5 min free first Skip REST OF TODAY 2 of 6 done Lunch with Jenny 12:30 – 13:30 Reading 14:00 – 14:30 Pick up the kids 15:30 – 16:00 Morning walk 07:30 – 08:00 Reply to the landlord 08:30 – 08:45 Now: one thing, right now
Now shows the one block you planned for this moment, with a big countdown to when it ends and what comes next: a visual timer that already knows your day.
Library Morning brain dump H1 H2 H3 B I S Couldn’t sleep past six, so it’s all going here before the day starts. Today Call the dentist, the tooth thing again Mum’s birthday: book the restaurant this week Find that podcast about sleep, the one Sam sent On my mind Still thinking about what Jenny said in the review. I don’t think she meant it the way it landed. I’ll ask her. Library Morning brain dump H1 H2 H3 B I S Couldn’t sleep past six, so it’s all going here before the day starts. Today Call the dentist, the tooth thing again Mum’s birthday: book the restaurant this week Find that podcast about sleep, the one Sam sent On my mind Still thinking about what Jenny said in the review. I don’t think she meant it the way it landed. I’ll ask her. Dark mode: the same calm place, in gentler light
Choose Light, Dark or System in Settings, and every screen follows, mind maps included. Dark mode keeps the same calm workspace in a gentler light.
Saturday, June 13 TODAY Drag a tray item onto a slot — or tap to arm + tap a slot. DAY WEEK MONTH Today 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 🧘 Meditation 08:00 – 08:45 Lunch at Mum’s 12:00 – 13:00 · Family Call the plumber 13:30 – 14:15 Activity Quick block Search All areas TASKS 3 Book swimming lessons Family · 30 min Renew the car insurance Work · 15 min 🌳 Saturday park with the kids 10:00 – 11:30 Activities: plan the good parts of the day too
Fill the gaps in your day with what actually happens in it: a walk, family time, reading, or just a break. A time block planner for the parts of life a calendar leaves out.
Saturday, June 6 TODAY Drag a tray item onto a slot — or tap to arm + tap a slot. DAY WEEK MONTH Today 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 Team planning 10:00 – 11:00 · Work Lunch 12:00 – 12:45 Draft the Q3 planning doc 08:30 – 09:30 Walk outside · 30m Activity Quick block Search tasks + projects… All areas TASKS 0 DUE TODAY 0 No tasks due today. 2 🏃 Health Walk outside Health · 2 of 3 · 30 min 🌱 Growth Japanese practice Growth · 1 of 3 · 20 min Walk outside Health · 2 of 3 · 30 min Habits that fit into the day you actually have
A flexible habit tracker: set a soft target like three times a week, and plan each habit into your day when it suits you. Missing a day doesn't break anything.
Sunday, May 31 TODAY Drag a tray item onto a slot — or tap to arm + tap a slot. DAY WEEK MONTH Today 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 Standup Send Jenny the review summary 10:00 – 10:45 Design review 11:30 – 12:30 · Work Book the restaurant · 30m Activity Quick block Search tasks + projects… All areas TASKS 2 DUE TODAY 2 Book the restaurant Family · 30 min Call the dentist Health · 15 min NEXT WEEK 4 Book the restaurant Family · 30 min Day: choose your day before your invites do
A day planner with tasks and calendar in one view, for choosing your day on purpose: place what matters to you beside what's already booked, and leave room for the rest you need.
Person details Name Jenny Tan Relationships Spouse Child Parent Friend Colleague Contact Areas 💪 Health 🏠 Family 💼 Work 🌱 Growth 👥 Social Notes Leads the design review. Prefers a short written summary before a call. Assigned to Share the updated review mockups 2026-05-27 Deliver to Send Jenny the review summary 2026-05-25 People: “I owe this to someone” is a useful filter
Keep the people in your life beside your work. See, for each person, what they're doing for you and what you owe them, and track tasks by person across your to-do list.
Xale set down the chaos .Xale turns the swirl in your head into clarity. — take a breath. set down the rest. — welcome. Sign in or sign up — we’ll figure it out from your email. Email you@example.com Continue with email or Continue with Google Continue without an account Free guest access: one click to your first idea
Free guest access to Xale for anyone: a free mind map app with no sign-in. Start mapping, writing or planning straight away, and sign up with Google or email when you're ready to keep it.
Taxonomy Areas Manage Areas Drag to reorder. Double-click a name to rename. Click the color swatch or emoji to change them. Delete cascades items to Inbox. 💪 Health 🏠 Family 💼 Work 🌱 Growth 👥 Social 💰 Money 🎨 Hobbies 🗂️ Misc Add area Areas: give your thoughts somewhere to belong
Group every note, map and task by the parts of life that matter to you, like Health, Family and Work: a life areas planner you can rename, recolour and make your own.
Library The next six months School forms Saturday swimming Kids Fix the balcony door Sort the storeroom Home Work 6 A weekend away See Mum in December Us The next six months Rename Space Add child Tab Add sibling Enter Duplicate ⌘D Collapse Add link… ⌘L Set colour… Make task ⌘. Make event Reflect on this node Delete Del A to-do list that lets most things wait
Turn a line in a note, or a node on a mind map, into a task. Then priorities and the Today, This week and Overdue views keep a calm to-do list showing only the few that matter now.
Library The next six months School forms Saturday swimming Kids Fix the balcony door Sort the storeroom Home Work 6 A weekend away See Mum in December Us The next six months B I S The mind map I kept wishing existed
Mind maps were great for thinking, but the next step never became real work. This mind mapping app was built to connect the two, with a keyboard that keeps up.
Library Morning brain dump H1 H2 H3 B I S </> 1. “ Couldn’t sleep past six, so it’s all going here before the day starts. Today Call the dentist, the tooth thing again Mum’s birthday : book the restaurant this weekFind that podcast about sleep, the one Sam sent On my mind Still thinking about what Jenny said in the review. I don’t think she meant it the way it landed. I’ll ask her. Notes: a place to put the thought down
Open a note and start typing, whether it's a brain dump, a half-formed idea or a list. It saves itself, and it's there on every device you sign in to.
Articles
Practical notes on memory, planning, and turning a crowded head into useful next steps.