The captain says devices to Airplane Mode. The world goes quiet. Your brain, finally, does not. This is when good lines arrive. You should not have to trade the moment for a signal. You do not.
Brain Dump runs on your device. That means you can record and see text even when you are a mile in the sky or three floors down with no bars.
A plane ride that sold a habit
Nadia is a designer who swears that her best ideas prefer seat 18A. For years she wrote half notes and promised to fix them when she landed. Most of them died in the gap between intention and baggage claim.
On a trip to Denver she tried Brain Dump offline. She said a title and three short sentences. She watched text appear in real time without the cloud. When the wheels touched down, the note synced to iCloud by itself. She pasted lines into her deck while the jet bridge beeped. No more lost ideas.
How offline capture works
- Transcription happens on your iPhone. There is no round trip to a server during capture.
- The app writes a Markdown file to local storage.
- When you reconnect, iCloud syncs the file to your other devices.
- You can open and edit the note while still offline.
Use this 60 second talk track
Hook. No bars. Clear head. Journal anyway.
Steps. Title first. Then three short sentences.
Mic. Hold the phone 15 to 25 cm from your mouth.
Finish. Stop after the third sentence. Tag one emotion if you like.
Save. The file will sync when the network returns.
Example:
Title. Journal - quiet window.
The project finally makes sense after I drew the flow on paper.
It means I will cut the wizard and ship a single page.
I will check error states tomorrow with Ben.
Emotion. calm.
Where offline shines
- Flights, subways, elevators.
- Late nights when you want privacy by default.
- Places where the network is slow or pricey.
Two common gotchas and easy fixes
- Proper nouns bend out of shape. Add them once to the custom dictionary.
- Rambles get fuzzy. Use short sentences and a small pause between them.
What happens to my file
You do not have to babysit sync. The file exists locally now. When the network returns, iCloud moves the file to the same folder on your other devices. If you open Obsidian later, the note will be there.
Privacy you can explain to a friend
During capture, audio stays on your device. Optional polish is off unless you turn it on later. If you do, only the content you choose will be sent for polish. Read the straight details here: How we handle privacy.
If you want to practice before a trip, turn on Airplane Mode at home and try one minute. The confidence you gain on the ground pays off at 30,000 feet.