GuideNotesiPhoneMac
The daily note
One note for each day, created only when you start writing, shared between iPhone and Mac, and reachable from Calendar.
Every day has one note. It is where the day's loose thoughts go: the standup, the thing your daughter said, the sentence you want to remember. Kept creates it when you start writing and not before, so a quiet day leaves nothing behind.
Open today's note
- iPhone. In Notes, today's note has its own row at the top of the library, marked Today, once it holds any writing. Before that, open the title menu and choose Daily notes, then tap today and Start this day's note.
- Mac. On Today, the daily note is the writing surface, headed Today's note. In Notes, the library's Today row opens it, and entering Notes for the first time in a session opens it by default.
On iPhone, past days are headed by their date. On Mac's Today, a past day is headed Daily note with the date beside it.
Browse other days
Open the title menu and choose Daily notes on iPhone; on Mac choose Browse by date from Notes, or click the date in Today's note header. A month grid opens, from a year ago through the next thirty days, in your Mac's or iPhone's language. A small dot under a day means that day already holds writing. On Mac, arrow keys move by day and week and ↩ opens the selected day.
An empty day shows a calm empty page. Start this day's note creates it and puts the caret in place. Browsing alone never creates anything.
On Mac, while you are reading another day, the header offers Back to today and Open Notes.
Where else it appears
Turn on Daily notes under Show in calendar in the iPhone calendar's source menu, or click the Daily notes pill in the Mac calendar, and a small note mark sits beside any date that already holds writing. Tap it to keep writing, then come back to Calendar. Calendar opens notes that exist; it never creates one.
The assistant can read today's note and append to it: "Add to today's note: the plumber comes Thursday." A connected agent can do the same with your permission.
Keep it honest
Daily notes with no writing in them are hidden from All notes, from tag lists, and from counts, on both devices. Nothing is deleted; they simply do not clutter the library. A note with even one heading, image, or table counts as writing and stays visible.
Next: Notes on Mac.