Tagebuch: Digital Journaling on the Go

For those who have the burning need to confess dark secrets, the options for digitally recording thoughts are practically limitless. Besides the plethora of text editors and word processors, there are a fruitful number of Mac journaling applications. Joining this party is Tagebuch from developer MOApp.

What sets Tagebuch apart is the ability to work portably. Because all of the entries you write are self-contained inside the application bundle, and the application uses no cache or preference files, you can even run Tagebuch from a USB flash drive. And, like many journaling applications, everything you write in Tagebuch is automatically saved, so there’s no need to worry about losing data.

While Tagebuch has some cool features, specifically it’s free-standing nature and minimalist interface, Tagebuch falls short of a satisfying experience due to annoying usability issues. For example, inputting tags is more burdensome than it should be. After typing a tag into Tagebuch, the tag is automatically selected. So, if you want to enter multiple tags, instead of simply entering the words one after another, you must deselect each tag before entering the next. Also, the tag input box is only 1 line high. This effectively limits posts to only 3 or 4 tags, unless you want to blindly arrow around in the tagging box.

There are still more shortfalls. There’s no way to search for more than one tag at once, nor is there a way to visually browse through the tags you’ve already used. There’s no confirmation dialog box to prevent you from accidentally deleting entries, nor is there an undo command when you mistakenly do. Searches only work for the title of entries, not the body of text. The list goes on. Download the application and run it, you’ll see what I mean.

If you’re looking for a simple journaling app, and can live with the shortcomings mentioned above, Tagebuch is free and available from MOApp.