Web vs desktop
Last updated 2026-10-15
Memlore Web is an optional companion to the desktop app. It opens a vault you already created on the desktop and synced to Google Drive. On the web you can read, search and write in your journal; your desktop app imports what you write on its next sync.
Feature by feature
| Feature | Desktop | Web | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform | macOS | Any modern browser | Windows and Linux desktop builds are planned. If a browser blocks a feature Memlore Web needs, such as storage in some private windows, Memlore Web shows a message instead of opening. |
| Reading and writing | |||
| Read and search entries | Web search runs in your browser and fetches entries as needed. Results are sorted by date instead of the desktop's ranked full-text index. | ||
| Write and edit entries, assign existing tags and journals, use templates, add photos and video | Web video uploads are capped at 100 MB. Memlore desktop 0.2.2 or later imports these edits; with an older desktop they wait safely in Google Drive. | ||
| Create tags and journals, edit templates | (needs Memlore desktop 0.2.3 or later) | With an older desktop, these changes wait in your browser. | |
| Rename, recolor or delete tags and journals | (needs Memlore desktop 0.2.5 or later) | On the web, a journal can be deleted only once it is empty. If your desktop changed the tag or journal since the web read it, your desktop keeps its version and Memlore Web shows a sync note. | |
| Delete entries | Moves to Trash, restore within 30 days (Memlore desktop 0.2.3 or later) | (needs Memlore desktop 0.2.3 or later) | On the web, deleting moves the entry to the Trash on your desktop. |
| Restore from the Trash, delete forever, empty the Trash | (needs Memlore desktop 0.2.5 or later) | Your desktop applies these on its next sync. Until then, restored and deleted entries leave the web Trash list; a restored entry shows again once your desktop has restored it. Deleting forever and emptying the Trash ask you to type DELETE first, and the web empties up to 1,000 entries at a time. | |
| Set or clear an entry's location, show a pasted photo inline or as an attachment | (needs Memlore desktop 0.2.5 or later) | On the web you type a place name or address, and can drop a pin once map tiles are on in Locations. There is no address search or current location on the web. If your desktop changed the location since the web read it, your desktop keeps its version. | |
| Attach files and audio files (WAV, MP3, M4A), remove attachments | (needs Memlore desktop 0.2.5 or later) | Up to 20 files at a time, 50 MB each. Photos and videos go through the image and video pickers. Your desktop adds or removes them on its next sync. Attached PDFs open in the browser. On the web, attachments over 32 MB and downloading a file that has no preview stay on the desktop. | |
| Record audio memos | Desktop only | ||
| AI | |||
| Daily chat | Read past chats | Starting a new chat stays on the desktop. | |
| Memory and persona | View, delete memories, edit persona (needs Memlore desktop 0.2.5 or later) | Your desktop applies a web change on its next sync, and keeps its own version if the memory or persona changed there since the web read it. Scanning memories, rebuilding the persona, interview answers and editing a memory's text stay on the desktop. | |
| AI writing tools, semantic search | Desktop only | ||
| Looking back | |||
| Streak | Current streak | ||
| Home | (needs Memlore desktop 0.2.3 or later) | On the web, the card layout lasts for the session. | |
| Stats, calendar | (needs Memlore desktop 0.2.3 or later) | On the web, calendar dots, the emotion heatmap and journal and tag counts cover your whole journal, not only the entries loaded in the tab. | |
| Map | Places list; map tiles optional with your own MapTiler key (needs Memlore desktop 0.2.3 or later) | ||
| Media library | (needs Memlore desktop 0.2.3 or later) | ||
| On this day | (needs Memlore desktop 0.2.3 or later) | ||
| Version history | (needs Memlore desktop 0.2.3 or later) | Restoring on the web replaces the current text; your desktop keeps the current text in version history when it imports the restore. An entry with web edits your desktop has not imported yet can be restored once your desktop syncs. | |
| Vault and device | |||
| Export | One entry as Markdown | Exporting the whole journal stays on the desktop. | |
| Import, reminders, iCloud Drive sync, key rotation and device management, create a vault, Touch ID | Desktop only | ||
| Locked entries and the invisible vault | Never shown | Their content is discarded right after opening. | |
| Auto-lock, lock, themes, languages | On the web, auto-lock is 1 to 30 minutes, and reloading the tab keeps it unlocked until then. Lock, or auto-lock after inactivity, in one tab locks every open tab. | ||
| Several tabs at once | Not applicable | One tab syncs for all of them. If you edit the same entry in two tabs, the edits merge instead of overwriting each other. | |
| Browser storage | Not applicable | Unsent web changes live only in this browser until your desktop imports them, so avoid clearing site data or closing a private window before then. Memlore asks the browser to protect this storage; Settings → Media → Cache shows how much it uses. If storage is full, your text stays in the open tab while that entry is open, and syncing a desktop frees space. |
Why some features stay on desktop
- Zero-knowledge. The web never sends your writing, passwords, or keys to a Memlore server, so features that would need one are left out.
- No server. Your journal travels only between your browser and Google Drive. A small Memlore sign-in service handles the Google token exchange and never sees your writing or keys, so there is nowhere to run AI, build an index, or send reminders.
- Lazy reads. The web fetches and decrypts entries on demand instead of holding the whole journal, so features that scan every entry stay on the desktop.
- Deletion safety. Deleting an entry on the web only moves it to the Trash on your desktop. Deleting forever and emptying the Trash from the web ask you to type DELETE first, a journal can be deleted from the web only once it is empty, and your desktop applies a web delete only to what is still as the web saw it: an entry restored or changed on your desktop since then is left alone. Anyone with your unlocked web session can still queue these, so lock or sign out before you leave a shared or borrowed computer.
- Operating system only. iCloud Drive, Touch ID, and reminders depend on the operating system and have no browser equivalent.