Mainichi Notebook is an iPad-first Japanese learning app that brings handwritten notes, vocabulary study, handwriting practice, spaced-repetition flashcards, and daily study planning into one cohesive workspace.
It was designed around a simple idea:
Studying Japanese should not require jumping between five different apps.
🌸 The Story Behind Mainichi Notebook
Mainichi Notebook started as an anniversary gift for my partner, who has been studying Japanese.
While watching their study routine, I noticed how fragmented the experience could become: lecture notes in one app, flashcards in another, handwriting practice somewhere else, and pronunciation tools scattered across different services.
I wanted to design something that felt more personal and more focused.
The result is an all-in-one Japanese study environment built around the iPad — combining Apple Pencil note-taking, vocabulary management, handwriting practice, spaced repetition, and everyday study planning while keeping the visual experience warm and approachable.
Mainichi Notebook (毎日ノート) is a native Swift application designed primarily for Japanese learners using iPad and Apple Pencil.
Rather than treating note-taking, vocabulary review, handwriting, flashcards, and study tracking as separate activities, the app connects them inside one study environment.
The interface uses a warm Japanese-inspired visual language built around soft paper tones, cherry-blossom pink, muted green, dark navy, and wooden bookshelf elements.
| Module | Purpose |
|---|---|
| 📝 Lectures | Handwritten notebooks and imported study material |
| 📚 Vocabulary | Browse, search, save, and create Japanese vocabulary |
| ✍️ Writing Practice | Practice Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji |
| 🗂 Simple Vocabulary | Study themed vocabulary collections |
| 📊 Daily Summary | Track study activity and daily goals |
| 🧠 Flashcards | Review vocabulary with spaced repetition |
The application is iPad-first and designed around larger-screen study sessions, while supporting the iOS target as well.
Apple Pencil is treated as a core input method rather than an optional extra.
The notebook workspace combines PencilKit with custom UIKit gesture handling for drawing, panning, and zooming.
Vocabulary can move into flashcard review, handwriting practice contributes to daily progress, and the dashboard brings multiple study activities together in one place.
The UI intentionally avoids the typical productivity-dashboard aesthetic.
Bookshelves, paper textures, muted colors, Japanese typography, stickers, and physical notebook references are used to make the app feel closer to a personal study desk.
The current app does not require an account or remote backend.
Notes, progress records, preferences, and study state are designed around local device storage.
The Lectures module is the main handwritten notebook workspace.
Instead of displaying notebooks as a standard file list, Mainichi Notebook presents them on a visual wooden bookshelf.
- Custom notebook covers
- Japanese and English notebook titles
- Subject categories
- Page counters
- Recently opened notebooks
- Add, delete, and reorder pages
- Collapsible page-thumbnail navigation
- Apple Pencil handwriting
- Pinch-to-zoom and canvas panning
- Multiple writing tools
- Persistent notebook storage
The notebook supports multiple PencilKit-based writing styles, including:
- Study Pen
- Fountain Pen
- Calligraphy Brush
- Pencil
- Highlighter
- Eraser
A custom SwiftUI/UIKit bridge coordinates the drawing canvas with the surrounding zoomable workspace.
Not every type of Japanese study works well on blank paper.
Mainichi Notebook includes several study-oriented paper templates that can be applied directly to notebook pages.
-
Genkouyoushi (原稿用紙) Traditional Japanese manuscript-style grid paper.
-
Cornell Notes Structured layout containing cue, note, and summary sections.
-
Kana Practice Grid Character boxes with alignment guides.
-
Kanji Practice Grid Quadrant-based writing guides for character proportions.
-
Grammar Pattern Sheet Structured areas for grammar rules and conjugation notes.
-
Ruled Paper
-
Classic Grid
-
Dot Grid
-
Blank Paper
Templates are drawn as scalable vector-based layouts so they remain sharp at different zoom levels.
Users can also import their own paper backgrounds and study materials from device storage.
Notebook pages support more than handwriting.
Study material can be arranged directly on the page using several annotation types.
Included decorative elements feature themes such as:
- 🌸 Sakura
- ⛩️ Torii
- 🗻 Mount Fuji
- 🏮 Chōchin
- 🦊 Kitsune
- 🍵 Matcha
- 🍣 Sushi
- Study achievement stamps
Typed Post-it-style notes can be placed around the notebook page for:
- reminders
- grammar explanations
- vocabulary notes
- translations
- study questions
Reference images can be imported from the photo library and positioned alongside handwritten notes.
PDF handouts and lecture documents can be imported and used as page backgrounds for handwritten annotation.
Notebook pages can be rendered into a flattened image combining:
- paper template
- handwriting
- stickers
- images
- sticky notes
The result can then be exported through the native iOS Share Sheet.
The Home screen acts as the central overview for the learner's day.
It combines quick navigation with study progress, upcoming work, and personal planning.
- Japanese greeting
- User profile
- Daily streak
- Best streak
- Today's study progress
- Study-time tracking
- Mood check-in
- Recent lecture notebooks
- Upcoming flashcard reviews
- Today's study plan
- Quick access to every study module
- Japanese proverb of the day
Four core activities contribute to the dashboard's daily progress indicator:
- Lectures
- Vocabulary
- Writing Practice
- Flashcard Review
Today's Plan provides a lightweight checklist for organizing study sessions and estimating how much time is planned for the day.
Mainichi Notebook includes a searchable vocabulary library for studying Japanese words across multiple JLPT levels and everyday categories.
The bundled library contains 528+ vocabulary entries with information such as:
- Kanji
- Hiragana reading
- Romaji
- English meaning
- Thai meaning
- Part of speech
- JLPT level
- Example sentences
- Furigana information
Vocabulary can be browsed and filtered using different study criteria.
Selecting a word opens a dedicated detail view containing its available linguistic information and study actions.
From here, vocabulary can be:
- bookmarked
- added to flashcards
- reviewed with pronunciation
- inspected through example sentences
Pronunciation uses Apple's native speech synthesis through:
AVSpeechSynthesizerwith Japanese language output using ja-JP.
Users can also create their own vocabulary entries with:
- Japanese term
- reading
- romaji
- English / Thai meaning
- JLPT level
- part of speech
- example sentence
The Writing Practice module focuses on learning character shape and stroke order through repeated handwriting.
An interactive 50-sound layout covers the main Hiragana and Katakana rows:
- A
- Ka
- Sa
- Ta
- Na
- Ha
- Ma
- Ya
- Ra
- Wa
Character strokes are represented using vector paths and displayed step by step.
The interface can show:
- stroke sequence
- directional movement
- stroke numbers
- writing guides
Learners can write directly over character guides using Apple Pencil or touch input.
The canvas supports clearing and repeating characters as many times as needed.
Characters can be pronounced using native Japanese speech synthesis for simultaneous writing and pronunciation practice.
Simple Vocabulary provides smaller, focused collections for shorter study sessions.
Instead of browsing the entire vocabulary database, learners can work through vocabulary grouped by topic.
- 500 Essential Words
- JLPT N5 Beginner
- Japanese Word Builder
- Daily Life
- Greetings & Everyday Conversation
- Food & Dining
- Shopping
- Classroom Survival
Each pack can display study progress such as:
- cards viewed
- completion progress
- memorized words
- bookmarked words
The Daily Summary screen gives learners a lightweight view of their study activity.
The interface tracks several activities, including:
- study minutes
- flashcards reviewed
- bookmarked vocabulary
- custom vocabulary created
- kana / character practice
- vocabulary pack progress
Study time can be added using quick controls such as:
+5 min
+10 min
+15 min
+30 min
A checklist provides a simple way to mark common study goals such as:
- reviewing flashcards
- practicing writing
- studying vocabulary
- completing notebook work
Mainichi Notebook includes a custom SM-2-inspired spaced-repetition scheduler for vocabulary review.
The implementation borrows the core idea of adjusting future review intervals according to recall difficulty, but it is not a verbatim implementation of the original SuperMemo-2 formula.
Cards can move through states such as:
- New
- Learning
- Review
- Relearning
The Flashcard dashboard organizes study material into groups such as:
- Due Today
- New Words
- Learning
- Review
- Saved
After a review, the learner can rate recall using four levels:
| Rating | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Again | The card was forgotten |
| Hard | The answer was difficult |
| Good | The card was recalled normally |
| Easy | The card was recalled easily |
For a card being reviewed for the first time:
| Rating | Next Review |
|---|---|
| Again | 10 minutes |
| Hard | 1 day |
| Good | 2 days |
| Easy | 4 days |
Existing cards use their current interval and ease factor to calculate the next review.
Conceptually:
Again → return to relearning and review again after 10 minutes
Hard → interval × 1.2
Good → interval × ease factor
Easy → interval × ease factor × 1.6
The ease factor is adjusted according to review difficulty and is clamped to prevent it from becoming too small.
This keeps the scheduler predictable while still allowing easier cards to gradually receive longer review intervals.
Mainichi Notebook includes six quiz configurations:
-
Preloaded Prompts Hand-authored study questions.
-
Japanese → Meaning See the Japanese word and identify its meaning.
-
Meaning → Japanese Start from a meaning and identify the Japanese word.
-
Reading → Meaning Practice recognition from Kana without relying on Kanji.
-
Meaning → Reading Recall the correct Japanese reading.
-
Mixed Practice Combine multiple question types within the same session.
Depending on the study mode, the interface can display or hide:
- Furigana
- Romaji
- Example sentences
- Audio pronunciation
Question order can also be shuffled for less predictable review sessions.
Mainichi Notebook includes personalization options for both study preferences and appearance.
The visual system is based around reusable semantic colors such as:
- Sakura Pink
- Sage / Matcha Green
- Warm Paper
- Wood tones
- Deep Navy
The application contains dedicated light and dark appearance values so the same study interface can adapt to different environments.
Sound and haptic feedback can be enabled or disabled for supported interactions.
Local notifications can be configured for study reminders without requiring an external notification server.
Mainichi Notebook is built using Apple's native development stack.
| Area | Technology |
|---|---|
| Language | Swift |
| Primary UI | SwiftUI |
| Drawing | PencilKit |
| UIKit Integration | UIViewRepresentable / UIScrollView |
| PDF Support | PDFKit |
| Speech | AVFoundation / AVSpeechSynthesizer |
| Notifications | UserNotifications |
| Persistence | JSON / local application storage |
| Platform | iPadOS / iOS |
| External Runtime Dependencies | None |
The project intentionally avoids requiring a remote backend or third-party UI framework.
One of the more difficult parts of the project was combining:
- Apple Pencil drawing
- finger-based scrolling
- pinch-to-zoom
- page positioning
- SwiftUI layout
inside the same notebook workspace.
PKCanvasView works naturally for drawing, while UIKit's UIScrollView provides more direct control over zoom and gesture coordination.
The notebook therefore uses a custom UIViewRepresentable bridge around a UIKit scroll view.
The gesture coordinator uses UIGestureRecognizerDelegate to allow compatible gestures to operate together instead of forcing the entire editor into a SwiftUI-only gesture system.
This provides a practical separation:
SwiftUI
│
├── Notebook UI
├── Toolbars
├── Page navigation
│
▼
UIViewRepresentable
│
▼
UIScrollView
│
├── Zoom / Pan
│
▼
PKCanvasView
│
└── Apple Pencil Drawing
Notebook content is persisted locally rather than depending on a server.
The storage layer is responsible for maintaining notebook metadata and page content inside the application's sandbox.
Native Codable types such as:
JSONEncoder
JSONDecoderare used for structured data where appropriate.
This keeps the application usable without an account and makes the notebook data model easier to inspect and maintain.
The SRS implementation is intentionally separated from the quiz interface.
Given:
Current card state
+ Review rating
+ Current time
the scheduler returns:
Updated card state
+ Review record
+ Next due date
+ Updated interval
+ Updated ease factor
This makes scheduling logic independent from how a quiz screen happens to present the card.
Review history can also preserve information such as:
- previous interval
- next interval
- previous due date
- next due date
- previous ease factor
- updated ease factor
- selected rating
Kana and Kanji stroke guides are represented using normalized coordinates rather than fixed-size bitmap images.
Coordinates can therefore be mapped into the current writing area and scaled for different screen sizes.
Conceptually:
Normalized Point
(x: 0.0 ... 1.0, y: 0.0 ... 1.0)
↓ scale
Canvas Point
(x: screen width, y: screen height)
This allows character paths and guides to remain sharp when rendered at different sizes.
Instead of scattering colors throughout individual screens, the application defines shared theme values for:
- backgrounds
- cards
- typography
- shadows
- Sakura accents
- green accents
- paper colors
- dark-mode surfaces
- spacing
- corner radii
This helps keep the different study modules visually consistent even though they serve very different purposes.
Mainichi Notebook uses a pragmatic SwiftUI structure based around:
- Models
- Screens
- Reusable Components
- Storage Services
- Study Services
- Environment-injected application state
Services manage areas such as:
- SRS state
- daily summaries
- vocabulary
- study planning
- user profile
- application settings
- lecture storage
SwiftUI screens consume these services to render and update application state.
The project does not attempt to enforce a strict architectural pattern everywhere; the focus is on keeping feature logic and persistence reasonably separated as the application grows.
A simplified view of the project:
MainichiNotebook/
│
├── App/
│ ├── MainichiNotebookApp.swift
│ └── ContentView.swift
│
├── Theme/
│ ├── AppTheme.swift
│ └── AppThemeMode.swift
│
├── Models/
│ ├── VocabularyItem.swift
│ ├── FlashCardModels.swift
│ ├── LectureBook.swift
│ ├── PageAnnotation.swift
│ └── StudyProgress.swift
│
├── Services/
│ ├── SRS/
│ │ ├── SRSScheduler.swift
│ │ └── SRSService.swift
│ │
│ ├── LectureStorage/
│ │ └── LectureStorageService.swift
│ │
│ ├── PaperTemplates/
│ │ └── PaperTemplateRegistry.swift
│ │
│ ├── WritingPractice/
│ │ └── StrokePathRepository.swift
│ │
│ └── AppSettings/
│ ├── AppSettingsService.swift
│ └── LocalNotificationService.swift
│
├── Screens/
│ ├── HomeDashboardScreen.swift
│ ├── LecturesOverviewScreen.swift
│ ├── LectureBookEditorScreen.swift
│ ├── VocabularyLibraryScreen.swift
│ ├── WritingPracticeScreen.swift
│ ├── SimpleVocabularyPacksScreen.swift
│ ├── DailySummaryScreen.swift
│ ├── FlashCardsScreen.swift
│ └── Settings/
│ └── AppSettingsScreen.swift
│
├── Components/
│ ├── ZoomablePaperScrollView.swift
│ ├── PencilCanvasView.swift
│ ├── SidebarView.swift
│ └── PaperTemplates/
│
└── Resources / Study Data
The application is organized primarily by responsibility rather than forcing every feature into a single architectural abstraction.
- A Mac capable of running Xcode 16 or later
- Xcode 16+
- iPadOS 16+ or iOS 16+
- iPad Simulator or physical Apple device
- Apple Pencil recommended for the intended notebook experience
The app is designed primarily around iPad-sized layouts.
git clone https://github.com/Propose34/MainichiNotebook.git
cd MainichiNotebookopen MainichiNotebook.xcodeprojFor the intended experience, choose an iPad simulator such as:
iPad Pro
iPad Air
A physical iPad with Apple Pencil can also be used.
Press:
⌘ + R
or use Xcode's Run button.
No third-party package installation is required.
Mainichi Notebook was designed as a local-first personal study application.
Study-related data is stored inside the application's sandbox, including data such as:
- notebook metadata
- drawings
- study progress
- flashcard state
- custom vocabulary
- preferences
- daily summaries
The application does not require users to create a Mainichi Notebook account.
The project does not include third-party analytics or advertising SDKs such as Firebase Analytics.
Features such as Japanese pronunciation and study reminders use native Apple frameworks.
Content only leaves the app when the user intentionally performs actions such as exporting or sharing notebook pages through the system Share Sheet.
Mainichi Notebook is both a personal product-design project and an experiment in modern AI-assisted software development.
The following areas were designed and directed by me:
- product concept
- feature scope
- information architecture
- UX flow
- visual direction
- screen layouts
- interaction ideas
- Japanese study workflow
- feature prioritization
- iterative product decisions
AI coding tools were used extensively during implementation.
Rather than treating generated code as the product itself, development was driven through repeated cycles of:
Idea
↓
Product / UX specification
↓
AI-assisted implementation
↓
Run & inspect
↓
Debug / adjust behavior
↓
UI iteration
↓
Integration
This project represents my approach to using AI as a development tool while retaining ownership of the product direction, design decisions, feature behavior, and final user experience.
Mainichi Notebook is currently a personal / portfolio project.
The primary goal of the project was to explore the complete process of designing a focused application around a real user workflow — from product concept and interface design to native iOS implementation and iteration.
The current version is optimized primarily for iPad usage.
Potential areas for future development include:
- deeper notebook organization
- improved adaptive layouts
- stronger automated testing
- accessibility improvements
- richer handwriting feedback
- optional cross-device synchronization
- additional Japanese study datasets
This project is open source under the MIT License.
See LICENSE for details.
毎日、少しずつ。
A little every day. 🌸
Mainichi Notebook (毎日ノート)