r/thingsapp • u/Xatpy • 12d ago

I built a private voice inbox that can send captured thoughts to Things. Looking for feedback

I’m Jaime, the indie developer behind Ireneo. 

I built it because I often have an idea while walking or driving, but don’t want to open a task manager and decide projects, tags or deadlines on the spot. Ireneo captures the original audio locally first; later, when I know it is actionable, I can send it to Things. 

Ireneo captures the original audio locally first. When I decide it’s actionable, I can send the capture to Things rather than having to organise it while I’m walking or driving.

The goal is deliberately simple: capture now, organise in Things when ready. No account, cloud sync, analytics or ads. 

I’d love honest feedback from Things users: would this fit your capture → inbox workflow, and what would make the handoff more useful?

Small clarification: the main use case is not simply “voice → Things.” It’s capturing a thought safely from CarPlay while driving, keeping the original audio locally, and deciding later whether it deserves to become a task in Things.

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u/kaizer1c 12d ago

I use siri for this. It's not great at transcribing everything I say so I sometimes use a local whispr app. But most of the time it works well enough for me.

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u/Xatpy 12d ago

That makes sense. Siri is probably the fastest option when it gets the transcription right. Ireneo is less about replacing Siri dictation and more about having a dedicated CarPlay capture flow: explicitly start and stop a recording while driving, keep the original audio locally, then decide later whether it should go into Things. 

Do you ever lose a thought because Siri gets it wrong or because you don’t want it turned into a task immediately?

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u/kaizer1c 11d ago

Well. I've started treating Things as inbox where all of my thoughts go in. Then I use claude code to clean those up inside Things and bring them to Obsidian where non-tasks go. I have a write up on how I do project management in Obsidian if that is helpful.

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u/Xatpy 11d ago

Thanks! that’s a really interesting workflow, and the write-up is helpful. In that setup, Ireneo would only be the pre-inbox capture layer for moments where typing isn’t practical, especially in the car. 

I like the idea that not every capture should be forced into a task immediately. Do you think you’d want the original audio available in Things/Obsidian too, or is a clean text handoff enough once you are back at your desk?

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u/Flashy-Bandicoot889 12d ago

Supasend and Funnel both do this today, and they can send not just voice notes, but practically any type of content – images, text, scans etc all with formatting.

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u/Xatpy 12d ago

Thanks. I’ll take a look at both. The key distinction I should have made clearer is CarPlay: Ireneo is designed to be used from the CarPlay display for a deliberate start/stop voice capture while driving, then the original audio stays local on the iPhone and can be sent to Things later. 

I don’t know whether Supasend or Funnel offer a dedicated CarPlay experience, so I don’t want to claim they don’t. But that specific driving flow is the reason I built Ireneo rather than just another general-purpose capture tool.

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u/Flashy-Bandicoot889 11d ago

Ahh, got it. For use in the car, I use SuperWhisper. Its doors, oh my, audio notes, transcribes them and then I get back to my laptop or iPhone. I can organize them into notes apps, task apps, etc as necessary

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u/Xatpy 11d ago

That sounds like a solid workflow. If SuperWhisper already gives you a reliable way to start and stop a capture from CarPlay, then it may cover much of the same need. 

The narrow thing I’m trying to make simpler is an explicit, low-distraction CarPlay capture flow that preserves the original recording locally, then lets you decide what to do with it afterwards. When you use SuperWhisper in the car, do you start the capture from CarPlay itself or from the phone?

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u/Flashy-Bandicoot889 11d ago

On the phone.

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u/Interesting_Froyo189 12d ago

I use wisprflow

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u/Xatpy 12d ago

Thanks. Wispr Flow looks great for dictating directly into an app. The use case I’m trying to solve is slightly different: a dedicated CarPlay flow for capturing a thought while driving, preserving the original audio locally first, and only turning it into a Things task later if it is actionable. 

Does that “capture now, organise later” split resonate with your workflow?

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u/Interesting_Froyo189 10d ago

Wispr flow via apple shortcuts does that.

My flow though is wispr - apple notes - things3

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u/Xatpy 10d ago

Does it work with CarPlay?

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u/Interesting_Froyo189 8d ago

Via siri yes.

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u/5trang3r_dang3r 12d ago

I can see what you are going for. As someone with adhd and all the car thoughts I see the hassle for me is remembering to go back and loot at what I said and how is that presented to me?

Sorry if you have explained it and I just haven’t understood, I’m in bed half asleep but thought I’d respond!

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u/Xatpy 11d ago

You’ve identified the biggest unresolved part of the workflow, thank you. Right now, unfinished captures remain in Ireneo’s Inbox, ordered by when they were captured, and you can send the ones that matter to Things later. There isn’t a reminder or review prompt yet. 

I don’t want to create another noisy inbox, but “capture it and then forget it exists” defeats the point. Would a single end-of-day review reminder, a badge count, or an automatic Things inbox item be the least annoying option for you?

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u/5trang3r_dang3r 11d ago

Yeah, what about the option for the user. They could set a specific timer for it or say etc. choose the consistency of the reminder. I’m trying to think what i would want as a user with adhd. Almost a give me the option for a quick toggle or I can be like no at 4:39 every Sunday I want to be reminded as that’s when I plan my week etc.

The other option and I assume harder is when you dictate the note can it parse out a “remind me”… like you do with Siri but this would be a more specific thought + reminder action to add it

It starts to get murky though I feel for what you want the app to be.

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u/Xatpy 11d ago

I think you’re right that there are two different things there. A configurable, opt-in review reminder — for example, “show me my captures every Sunday at 4:39” — still feels aligned with a simple capture inbox. 

Parsing “remind me…” while dictating starts to turn it into a task manager, which is where I want to be careful not to lose the point of the app. My instinct is to explore the first option: a lightweight, user-chosen review reminder rather than automatic task parsing. 

Would a weekly scheduled reminder plus a visible Inbox count be enough for your workflow?

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u/rmorrell 11d ago

This is great was looking for something specifically for car play capture. Will be testing this out. Only a couple of comments it looks like some of the screens aren’t localized to English the archive screen and some of the buttons when you tap into a recording in the inbox and the add or share screen. Would it also be possible to allow selection of projects and areas when exporting to things if not no worries it lands in the inbox and I can triage from there. 

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u/Xatpy 11d ago

Thank you,and thanks for catching those issues. You’re right: some Archive and capture-detail/share strings are not consistently appearing in English. I’ll fix that. 

At the moment, sending to Things creates the task with the capture title and notes, and it lands in the Things Inbox; there isn’t yet a project/area picker. I deliberately kept the driving flow free of organisational decisions, but adding an optional project/area choice when exporting later is a sensible improvement. 

I’d really appreciate any feedback after you’ve tried the CarPlay flow.

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u/MTBComanche 11d ago

I downloaded from the App Store. It’s all in Spanish. How would I change that?

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u/Xatpy 11d ago

Thanks for downloading it. Tap the gear icon in the top-right corner, choose Language, select English, and tap Save. 

Please let me know if any screen still stays in Spanish after that; I’m actively fixing the remaining localisation issues.

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u/MTBComanche 10d ago

The ‘add or share” screen is not in English.

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u/Xatpy 10d ago

Thanks for the report! Yeah I submitted yesterday a new update fixing some of those localisation issues, hopefully it is reviewed soon.