# Recall

> Source: https://www.joinrecall.com/
> What Recall is: a quiet macOS app that remembers what you were doing across apps and tabs, then hands the thread back after an interruption.

Recall remembers your work across apps and tabs. After a meeting, message, or browser detour, it shows you where you stopped and what to do next. No tasks to manage, nothing to set up, local-first.

Platform: macOS 14 or later on Apple Silicon (M1 or newer). Windows is in active development.
Setup: five short steps and two macOS permissions (Screen Recording and Accessibility).
Model: Recall Core v1.1, our own model. It runs entirely on your Mac: about 1.9 GB, a one-time download that setup asks for first.
Price: $14 / month, or $9 / month billed annually at $108 / year. 30-day free trial with every feature, no card to start.
Billing provider: Paddle (Merchant of Record).
Testers: join the Telegram group to try new builds and share your context-switching cases: https://t.me/+MihInvJ2p_NjOTEy

## What people are saying

"Recall is one of those products you get the first time it saves you. You’re buried in calls, tabs and messages, then it quietly brings you back to the exact thing you were trying to finish. No tasks to manage, no setup, no babysitting. Just a very useful “oh right” moment."
Adam Robinson, CEO @ MoltSets & RB2B & Retention.com

More quotes from people using Recall, on Reddit, X and Product Hunt, run below it.

## The problem it solves

The interruption takes two minutes. Getting back takes twenty. The apps are still open. What disappears is the goal, the decision, and the next thing you meant to do.

A customer message changes your priority, and an hour later the original plan is gone. A meeting breaks a half-finished decision, and you return knowing the options but not the choice. A browser detour becomes six new tabs, and none of them is the one you came for.

What Recall does at each of those moments: ⌥⌘B leaves a note before you switch, Smart Return shows your note when you return, and a drift reminder's Recall me takes you back.

Two numbers the page cites: ~23 min to resume an interrupted task ([University of California, Irvine](https://www.ics.uci.edu/~gmark/Home_page/Publications_files/CSCW%202015%20Focused.pdf)), and 15.5M U.S. adults have a current ADHD diagnosis, about 6% ([CDC, 2024](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/73/wr/mm7340a1.htm)). Context switching is expensive for everyone. We're building for messy, interruption-heavy workdays, including the kinds of work patterns many people with ADHD recognize.

## Your apps remember where you were. Recall remembers what you were doing.

After a break, Smart Return opens with where you left off: the thread, the note you left yourself, the newest project note, and exactly what will reopen (Opens Figma, Google Chrome and Notion · Choose). Done, show next, or Return to where you were in one click.

## How it works

You work. Recall keeps the thread and hands it back.

**Capture.** Follows the work on your screen, on your Mac. Nothing to start or tag.

**Understand.** Sorts it into threads, and into projects named after the repo, doc or site.

**Hold.** Keeps each thread, the note you leave with ⌥⌘B, and who is waiting on you.

**Return.** Shows what will reopen, ticked. Untick anything, then go back in one click.

More: https://www.joinrecall.com/how-it-works

## Smart Return

The thread, your note, and exactly what reopens. A small panel at the bottom right shows where you left off, and it never takes your keystrokes. Return to where you were reopens everything ticked, in one click.

- **Where you left off.** Your note, then exactly what will reopen.
- **Choose what comes back.** Untick anything before you go back.
- **Done, show next.** The next note you left takes its place.
- **All caught up.** Nothing left to return to. The list stays.

When it appears: after a break, when you drift far, or when you press ⌥⌘R or click Smart Return in the tray.

Waiting on you: one list under the card, one action per row: the tasks from your chats in Slack, Teams, Telegram, WhatsApp or Mail, and coding agents that need you.

Your agent chat comes back: using Claude Code or Codex? Return brings back the exact chat you had open, right where it runs.

More: https://www.joinrecall.com/smart-return and https://www.joinrecall.com/docs/smart-return

## Inside the app

Your day, in the menu bar and one window. Recall lives in the menu bar. Open Recall for the main window: Today, Loops and Settings.

- **Menu bar.** Your day from the icon: active time by project, what is waiting on you, and what you worked on.
- **Today.** Your day as a timeline, one lane per project, with the thread to return to and what you owe.
- **Loops.** Lists, like Reminders: Waiting, People, Agents and Notes, plus one list per project.
- **Thread.** Each thread keeps its summary, your note, the windows it used and what returning will reopen.
- **Settings.** Ten sections, from Permissions to About, and every shortcut is yours to change.

The user guide, screen by screen: https://www.joinrecall.com/docs

## Quiet by default

It speaks up in three cases. Each time it is one small card at the bottom right of your screen. Nothing pops up over a Smart Return or a restore checklist you already have open.

- **Drift reminder.** A clear detour gets one gentle card after about five minutes. Research gets a longer leash, and Recall learns from how you answer. Recall me shows the restore checklist. Not now dismisses it.
- **Something you owe.** Someone asked you for something in a chat and it is still open. At most once a day for each ask, and never while you are still in that conversation. Recall me takes you back to the chat.
- **A blocked agent.** With the optional Claude Code or Codex hooks on, a session that has waited five minutes for your approval gets one nudge. A session that only finished its turn never nags. Recall me takes you to the session.

Settings → Nudges has three switches: Drift reminder, Smart Return after a break, and Breadcrumb prompt. ⌥⌘R opens Smart Return either way.

How nudges work: https://www.joinrecall.com/docs/nudges-and-reminders

## It gets sharper every week

Day one, it covers everything. Day three, it's learning how you work. Recall picks up the shape of your work as you do it, on your Mac. Nothing to connect, nothing to label. In your first days, the tray may say Recall is learning your work.

It learns from every move you make. Recall finds projects in the work itself (a repo, a document, a site) and names them the way you would. Move something once: if one repo or document made up that work, it files itself there from now on.

- **Move to project.** One picker for threads, tasks, asks, agent sessions and notes. Recall learns from each move.
- **Tidy up.** Two projects that look like one, or a task grown too big: Loops suggests a merge or a split, and never asks twice.
- **Your names stay.** Rename a project or a thread and Recall never renames it after that.
- **Start a project (⌥⌘P).** Opens the launcher with the project setups Recall learned from you. Pick one and its apps open where you left them.

How projects and threads work: https://www.joinrecall.com/docs/projects-and-threads

Our own model, on your Mac. Recall Core is trained for one job: reading a screen and telling what you are working on. It runs entirely on your Mac. Version 1.1 came with Recall 0.43: it reads unfamiliar screens better and keeps labels and summaries to what was on screen.

Recall Core v1.1 · about 1.9 GB · setup asks before the download

Recall Core v1 in Recall 0.42.0, against the previous release, on the same screens and the same Macs: 2x faster per screen, thread names right 88% of the time (up from 56%), detours told from real work 93% (up from 53%), and new work filed under the right topic 90% (up from 22%).

Release notes: https://www.joinrecall.com/whats-new#v0-43-0 and https://www.joinrecall.com/whats-new#v0-42-0

## Works with all of it. Connects to none of it.

Recall follows your work as it happens, so there is nothing to connect. No APIs, no accounts to link: nothing to break, expire, or grant. Integrations required: none.

Chrome, Arc, Claude Code, Codex, Obsidian, GitHub, Linear, Figma, Slack, Telegram, Notion, Gmail, Jira, ClickUp, and everything else in your stack. Nothing on this list is connected. Nothing has to be. What it learns stays on your Mac.

What comes back, app by app. Every way back to a thread lists what it will open first, all ticked. Untick anything you don't need. Cancel opens nothing and changes nothing.

| Apps | What comes back |
| --- | --- |
| Chrome, Safari, Arc, Firefox, Brave, Edge | The tab you were on, only that tab |
| VS Code, Cursor, Windsurf | The workspace folder you were in |
| JetBrains IDEs | Your project, or the IDE itself |
| Xcode | The file you had open |
| Terminal, iTerm2 | A new window in the folder you were working in |
| Obsidian | The vault and the note |
| Claude Code, Codex | The exact chat you had open |
| Figma, Slack and other apps | The app opens, you pick the file or channel |

The app you were last on is marked "left off here". It opens last, so it ends up in front.

## Privacy

Local by default. You stay in control. Recall reads your screen and keeps what it learns in a folder on your Mac. What is on your screen stays there, unless you choose to send it with a bug report.

- **Read, then discarded.** About every 15 seconds, Recall Core, our own model, reads your screen on your Mac. Then the image is gone.
- **Captured content stays local.** Short descriptions, app names, window titles, timings and your notes, kept in a folder on your Mac.
- **Never the mic or camera.** No keystrokes, no clipboard. Content that looks private is dropped automatically.
- **Pause or exclude.** Pause from the menu bar, from 15 minutes to the rest of the day, or until you resume. Exclude any app in Settings → Excluded apps.
- **Analytics, one switch.** Usage analytics and crash reports are on by default and never include anything from your screen. Settings → Privacy turns them off. Diagnostics sharing starts off.
- **Forget anytime.** Forget history in Settings → Data deletes everything Recall captured on this Mac, plus your analytics data and feedback conversations on our servers.

How privacy works: https://trust.joinrecall.com · Privacy and your data: https://www.joinrecall.com/docs/privacy

## Pricing

One place to return, not another tool to manage. One plan. It replaces the stack of focus tools you stitched together to hold your day, with nothing new to manage.

| Billing period | Price | Billed as |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly | $14 / month | $14 each month, cancel anytime |
| Annual | $9 / month | $108 / year, save 36% |

30-day free trial, no card to start, cancel anytime.

- **Follows your work by itself.** What is on your screen, grouped into threads and projects. Nothing to create, tag or start.
- **Your day, in the menu bar.** Active time split by project and what is waiting on you. Today shows the full timeline. Time away never counts.
- **Smart Return, one click back.** Your note and exactly what will reopen, then Return to where you were. Every way back shows what it opens first.
- **Loops, for what is still open.** Claude Code and Codex sessions waiting on you, the notes you left, and unfinished work, in lists.

Every plan includes 1 connected device, all Recall features, Apple Silicon (M1+) and macOS 14+, captured content that stays on your Mac, all future updates, and locked-in early pricing.

Recall may replace Todoist Pro, Rize, RescueTime, Timing, and Sunsama, plus other trackers, session logs, and tab or session recovery tools. It does not replace Notion, Figma, Linear, Slack or VS Code. It remembers what you were doing inside them and brings it back, down to the browser tab, the VS Code workspace or the Claude Code chat. No migration. No tagging. No new system to maintain.

Recall is also live on AppSumo as a lifetime deal, from $49, while the campaign lasts.

## Why we built it

We built Recall from real life, not ideal conditions. Work does not happen in one clean block. It gets split by calls, context switches, family, and everything else the day throws at you. A meeting lands at the worst moment. A message pulls attention sideways. By evening, the file is still open, but the thread is gone.

Recall is built by Vitaliy V. (GTM) and Alex G. (Engineering). Every report and idea you send shapes what comes next. Send Feedback… in the menu bar starts a conversation with us, and our reply comes back inside the app. Reddit is the open room at r/joinrecall, where builders tell their context-switching stories. Telegram is the smaller one: power users who see builds early and argue out what ships next.

## Get your thread back

A quiet app that follows your work, holds the thread and hands it back, with its AI running on your Mac. Try Recall free for 30 days, with every feature and no card to start. Download it for macOS, use it in real work, and help shape what it becomes.

## Links

- Home: https://www.joinrecall.com/
- How Recall works: https://www.joinrecall.com/how-it-works
- Smart Return: https://www.joinrecall.com/smart-return
- AI agents: https://www.joinrecall.com/ai-agents-mcp
- Docs: https://www.joinrecall.com/docs
- Pricing: https://www.joinrecall.com/pricing
- Machine-readable pricing: https://www.joinrecall.com/pricing.md
- What's New: https://www.joinrecall.com/whats-new
- Roadmap: https://www.joinrecall.com/roadmap
- Community: https://www.joinrecall.com/community
- Invite a friend: https://www.joinrecall.com/invite
- Trust Center: https://trust.joinrecall.com
- Site overview for AI agents: https://www.joinrecall.com/llms.txt