.Ember

What is .Ember

.Ember (technical name: DotEmber) is an all-in-one productivity app for macOS. Journal, todos, calendar, timer, RSS reader, and stats — every part of your day in one minimal interface. It’s local-first (Markdown in a folder you choose), with optional iCloud sync, optional Google Calendar overlay, optional Obsidian Sync, and optional bring-your-own-key AI features.

Where does my data live

On your Mac, in a folder you pick during onboarding (default suggestion: ~/Documents/DotEmber). Everything is plain Markdown — open the same folder in Obsidian, VS Code, or any other text editor and you’ll see the same files. The SQLite database next to it is a search-index cache that .Ember can rebuild any time.

Can I use .Ember with Obsidian

Yes — .Ember ships an optional Obsidian Sync feature, with one important rule: the .Ember vault and the Obsidian vault must live in separate folders. Pointing .Ember directly at a folder that already contains an .obsidian/ workspace is not supported.

When enabled in Settings → Sync → Obsidian, the engine mirrors Markdown between the two folders on a schedule you set. You configure which side is the source of truth (.Ember or Obsidian), and the first run is a dry-run preview that shows every action before any file moves. If both sides change between syncs, the conflict-loser version is preserved automatically as {filename} (conflict {timestamp}).md rather than overwritten — you reconcile by opening both in your editor of choice. The engine ignores .obsidian/ (Obsidian’s workspace config) and .app/ (.Ember’s metadata) on both sides, so neither tool’s bookkeeping bleeds into the other.

How does AI work in .Ember

AI is off by default. To turn it on, go to Settings → AI, flip the master toggle, and paste an API key for the provider of your choice (Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, or OpenAI). The key is encrypted into the macOS Keychain — never stored in plain text, never sent anywhere except the provider you chose. When the master toggle is off, every AI surface in the app disappears and zero AI calls are made.

Does it sync between devices

Yes, optionally, via Apple CloudKit. Settings → Sync → Enable iCloud Sync writes your vault to your private CloudKit database. Other Macs you sign into with the same iCloud account pull the same data. Your data lives in your own iCloud account; NilToDev has no servers and no copy of your data.

Will there be a mobile companion

Planned for 1.1+. The build pipeline is set up for cross-platform extension, but the 1.0 release is desktop-only — shipping a polished mobile experience takes its own dedicated build cycle.

Refund Policy

DotEmber is sold through the Mac App Store. All refunds are handled by Apple under its standard refund policy — NilToDev does not process purchases or refunds directly. To request a refund, sign in to reportaproblem.apple.com within Apple’s eligibility window and submit a request for the DotEmber purchase.

If a future release of DotEmber ships through a non–App Store channel, that sale will document its own refund handling at the time. The current release ships exclusively through the Mac App Store. NilToDev’s general Terms of Use live at /terms.