Org Mode Apps

Search for a mobile Org Mode App

A few years ago I discovered Org Mode. I had even already been using Git for many years at various intensities and various forms. I used emacs briefly, so I was never directly exposed to Org Mode.
Also, I never used Markdown until about 4 years ago. I heard of it, never interested me as I just wrote my notes in the comments of code or just in plain text or whatever BRD (Business Requirements Document) that was required of me at the time. Four years ago, my manager at the time was obsessed with markdown. Anytime there was a user field for something he asked if it should be markdown. He didn’t know markdown, and neither did the other devs I was with, and no one else in the company knew it either. I decy to learn it then, and I ended up loving it and using it for everything. Org Mode is just the next natural extension.

What is Org Mode (quickly)

Org Mode uses Markdown to make an organized list and keep yourself organized. Originally as a “mode” in the Linux text editor EMACS. The text editor allowed any file to be edited, but org mode was a specific mode to make creating the list easy. Org files end in .org, and markdown is just regular text but some simple notations to denote certain things. In the case of Org Mode, a line beginning with a hyphen - denoted a bulleted list item. Then you can indent the hyphen to make a sub item. Additionally, you can use other standard Markdown notations. Org Mode also extended this to have notations for a reminder, due dates, frequency, Todo status, and more. In EMACS you could get reminders and notifications based in this.

Requirements for Mobile / Personal Preferences

Using Git for storing the documents that are Org Mode / ending in .org, I wanted something that can sync to and from a Git repo. These notes are also used at work and personal projects, meaning they would need to sync on a work laptop/desktop and a personal laptop/desktop. The other part connecting to another laptop/desktop is not something I will focus or worry about here, but I mention it as some appd and IDEs require an app that syncs files from device to device and this is not always possible. More on that later Writing in markdown, is not required in the mobile app, but it has to transfer and convert nicely so that I could use it on my desktop. I wouldn’t mind a markdown writer for this either way. There are some people that want to use a sync drive like NextCloud or Google Drive or DrooBox. This is a a good option, especially for syncing purposes, but I can’t always use those options due to connecting the document to a work computer that may be behind a firewall or a vpn. I also just want to stick with Git as much as possible. I would greatly enjoy if the mobile app had Git management built in, or can connect to a Git remote repository. A markdown viewer / org mode viewer is not necessary. However, after using these apps and others I see some great benefit in having a viewer for interaction. Quick check box list…

Orgzly

This is a great app. Very robust, and a great design. I have used this for a couple years now, since I first started to use org mode really. Built in, it has many simple features for working with the markdown of org mode. It’s easy to set reminders, great UX for tasks, and very straightforward with everything. The display is more of a viewer mode, but interactive. I am not entirely certain what the “sync” is doing, but it doesn’t really connect to a Git repo at all.
To rate this app with the ability to connect to Git and sync with a Git repo would not be fair. That is one of my personal requirements though. Maybe that ‘sync’ mode somewhow does that, or could eventually do that, but currently it does not. That ‘sync’ mode seems to only be for WebDav and local directories, both options seem silly have a ‘sync’.
Orzly has a light mode, dark mode, and a black mode, which are some great options for a theme. At the same same time, you can customize the font and the size of the font.
Using this, one thing I do like about this is that I can have multiple Git repos locally, import them to the app, and the app will just have a single centralized list of all the org files. This is great when when I need or want to maintain the git repos of some separately than others. I did try using a WebDav account and had great success with it. WebDav is not something that I am all about currently, but that might change someday. There was no issues with WebDav, I was even able to sync up 2 different WebDav accounts and a local repo. No issues with setup, and no issues with syncing. The only issue was my own ‘brilliance’ as all of those accounts had the same initial files and it made it hard for me to keep organized later. So just make sure you keep your files nice and clean and organized.
The list of in-app options for Orgzly are numerous. Just with a click you can check a list item as complete.

SyncOrg

This seemed very promising, however as of 2021 I could not get this to work. I can’t justify to even write a full review on it, but I will update this if I get it to work. If anyone has any suggestions or currently has it actively working, please let me know. The last update I see was 5 years ago. The main issue seems to be with write permission for the app. Creating a “parent folder” or even a new file ends in a silent non-responsive error.
The main place I am stuck is getting the SSH+git working as I can’t select a folder for the “parent folder” option. This sounds like an Android issue where Android started to lockdown folder permissions and the app hasn’t been updated since.
The screenshots are inspiring that it would work how I want. In theory, this would connect to an SSH server, including git hosted places as there is an example in the help. SyncOrg would the read from the SSH server and sync things locally while writing and syncing to the remote. No need, possibly, to store locally, as it appears to write over SSH. Based on screenshots and the screen I can load up, the theme is flat and looks like there is much to be desired. Its not bad, but I am spoiled with custom themes and dark mode, which this does not have. The files are displayed in nice index card like clickable buttons, hiding the right amount of info, while also keeping lists neat and organized.
This might become a side project for me, to fork and update this, however I see this is forked from another app that is no longer maintained, and I am seeing about 240 forks of this with many of those having forks, yet no updates since 2017.

Orgro

This is a great app, but is a read only org mode. You can’t create files or edit them, but it’s easy to add a file that is on you mobile device. There is a “reader mode” and I’m not sure what the difference is with it on or off. As a reader / viewer, this is great. I will admit, when I first installed this I did not read the full description, but re-read it after messing with the app for a while. The app is intentionally designed to be a read only viewer and it does a great job at that. The developer wrote in the description that they wanted to see the notes they had from work or other places on their phone, such as a grocery list in the go. Each item can be expanded for more details or to see sub-items and notes. You can also long press the item to focus on the details. There is a zoom for font size that is separate from the phone that works great. Additionally, you can also change the font from a very extensive list, many of with support ligatures. As a viewer it doesn’t necessarily change certain markdown into a more UI/UX friendly item for mobile, but it does a great job in conveying the levels and items with colors and styles.
While this does not meet all my needs, I think I might use it.

Git Journal

I am including this one here simply because that is what I am using to write this. It’s not specifically an org mode app. However it meets much of the other qualifications.
GitJournal will allow you to write simple markdown files, notes, and even have a Todo list. Quickly, GitJournal does not edit or write to “org” mode or “org” files. It does have the ability to write everything in Markdown, and on a simplistic scale, org mode is an extension of markdown. There is more to Org Mode than just Markdown, and this is not the place to argue about the semantics here. However, for intents and purposes of this article, Git Journal can be used for some simple Org Mode. The versatility with the Markdown editor for Git Journal is where this shines.
When you setup the app, you can sync it to any repo you want. Possibly a downside if you are like me and want a repo for notes, a repo for tasks, a repo for journal, and so on. Different organization for different people. This app is 1 repo for the whole collection. If I was to change and recommit to a different organization, this would be it though.
There is an option for having different folders, as well as tags. These are nothing new and earth shattering, and do help greatly with the orgnization. Additionally, there is also a night mode and a day mode. Having a night mode is huge in my opinion for any app. Its always nice to have more theme options, but the great minimalistic design of the app doesn’t need more themes other than the dark and light modes.
The built-in ability to sync to any Git repo from pretty much any git remote is a awesome, and something that I look for in so many apps. The app automtically syncs as write, so there is now multiple step process (write - save - sync - git push). Just write and when you are done, it automagically saves & synce. Setup of a Git repo is the easiest I have seen for any app. Just point to the Git repo, generate an in-app SSH key, or provide your own SSH key, and you are done.
The downsides aren’t many for this very well polished app. Typically, I see the downsides being the “auto-naming” of the new files. Personally, I would like to have more control over what these are named and how they are names. Nothing is too wrong with them being named based on the date and time they were created, yet this can get confusing when you have multiple entries and you are trying to sync these with your laptop or another device. In theory, this app is more for journaling, and even for notes, for how long dow you need a note file? So the naming convention makes sense. Within the app, you do see the first line as the document title and the next couple lines to help differentiate the various documents. For my purposes though, this is not enough.
The other downside is along the same line. Challenging myself to write this using GitJournal was a good challenge, and I proved it could be done. The editor was a great experience. The issue was moving this file my blog to publish. It took me longer than I would ike to admit to do that, some because of the difficulty in finding the apporpriate file, some because of my own laziness while writing and on vacation.

Obsidian

This is a late entry for all of this.
Similar to GitJournal, it does not necessarily do org mode, but it does markdown and its markdown is extremely robust. The options for tasks and orgization are great. The markdown had easy click options for tasks, todo and status, while also giving you the ability to write it in individually. The todo-list abilities make this simple markdown editor stand out far from all othe other markdown editors. This is why I would include this markdown editor in the list and not other markdown editors.
I tried to use this and fell in love with the featrues and how easy it was to use. There is an app for iOS, Android, web, Widnows, and more. It was easy for me to setup on any of my machines and use it there. Each environment, distinct, seemed just like the others though in a good way, without forcing anything.
The downside is that you are responsible for syncing and transferring your files. If an edit was made on the web version, it would be saved, but then that edited file would need to be transferred and synced to the mobile device, laptop or other computer. This is just a workflow process to overcome.
The options are plenty and very well refined.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a great note taking, todo-list, journal all-in-one app that syncs to a Git repo, Git Journal is the app for you. It does not explicitly do Org Mode, but you can fake it very well with Git Journal. I don’t think I can sing the praises of GitJournal enough. Highly recommend everyone try it.
If you are looking to try something different, and still willing to do some of the syncing yourself, then I would definately Obsidian. The UI/UX is great and has a great experience in general.
If all you want or need is a local Org viewer, than Orgo is a great option, but I feel that Orgzly is better.
If you are like me and looking for more still…then Orgzly is probably the way to go. With some searching around, I was able to find a great Git client that I now use for all my other git functionality. More on that in another post. The abilities of Orgzly though far outweight anything it might lack. There is a small learning curve, but nothing that you need to know right away, and nothing that you can’t learn in the future quickly.