Show HN: New Ensō – first public beta

Very nice, I've been wanting to build something like this myself but haven't gotten to it. The coffee shop mode is great! My biggest feature request would be changing the font and cursor. The blinking cursor is both distracting and unnecessary as you should assume that you are at the end anyway (since you shouldn't edit)!

I've always felt that the best part of writing on a computer is the ability to edit while you write, however, I also understand that doesn't work at all for a lot of people, so I think this app is neat even though I personally wouldn't use it.

Although, I don't think that Enso as a whole will work for me (I have a very different approach to writting); I love the idea of the coffee shop mode. Want to implement something like this for Obsidian now.

Oh man, I saw this once but forgot the name. Tried Googling, asked some LLMs—but alas, couldn’t find it again. Even an HN search didn’t turn up anything useful.

So glad to come across it again!

Looks a lot like https://flathub.org/apps/org.gnome.gitlab.somas.Apostrophe for anyone on Linux

This reminds me of https://github.com/maebert/themostdangerouswritingapp

Fantastic work. This is great example of how good execution is what really matters - not just good ideas. I’m sure I’m not the only one who had an idea similar to this at some point - mine was called “nanowriter” and was meant for NanoWriMo (RIP)[0] but I lacked the coding ability and executive function to actually make it.l at the time. Enso is gorgeous and… exists, and therefore is infinitely better.

0: https://storyempire.com/2025/04/28/nanowrimo-closing-what-we...

Huge kudos for omitting analytics tracking for an app like this. Your reasoning totally resonated with me, and I hope more app devs follow suit!

There used to be a really neat application launcher called Enso. Is this related in any way?

The name brought me back to the PS Vita hacking times, I thought it would be something to jailbreak the PS5 or the switch 2. A bit disappointed :(

This has its uses. However, I tend to use writing for reasoning about stuff, where you can’t keep everything relevant in your head simultaneously, and then it’s pretty crucial to be able to read what you wrote, even if you have no need to edit it.

Longtime Ensō user here. Your update to query interest in a Linux version has given me hope. The last thing someone actively trying to avoid distraction needs is an open browser window!

Interesting tool. I do something similar when I think it's important to focus on just getting the words out: I close my eyes, or look away from the screen.

The imagery on the spalsh page reminds me of Moomin.

Nevertheless looking forward to following this project!

Looks really neat. Took me a few minutes to figure out what it was. A description above the fold (or here!) would be great.

Very nice! Looks like OmmWriter. Is it open source?

I appreciate the artistic and programming skills of the developer but not the "cleverness" and "quirkiness" of their announcement post. It took me too long to figure out that this is some sort of distraction-less writing app only for iOS and so of no value to me. Less snappy memes, more empathy for me as a visitor, please.

Just want to say beautiful website and product. Ensō looks well designed. And your "digital garden" is gorgeous as well.

imo it's more of a thinking constraint journaling tbh.. friction like edit lock, coffee noise, fullscreen etc just makes me stop editing while thinking lol not letting me kill the raw draft midway.. more tools shud do this subtractive ux

For a second I thought it was the Enso analytics tool I worked with for a short while (as in “migrating away from it”). I’m glad it’s not.

pretty great work and exploring the OP/author's work is a major Monday morning pleasure

I laughed at the Keanu pun gonna try

Very interesting take on writing

Very playful website - I love it.

Excellent!

I made something similar inspired by this few times in the past.

I think this is already quite perfect, ambient music I can provide myself.

While I did thought of new features, they are really not needed. I especially like coffee shop mode. I often feel self conscious about things I am writing, so hiding text is fantastic.

Oh this is gonna be terrible for me, I love it

i love this

I dont know what Enso is. This page doesn't tell it in first few paragraphs. I wasn't to homepage of this website. That also mentions Enso but without a link. There is a link to roadmap but that doesn't answer this question either. Please describe what Enso is in few lines in a easily discoverable place.

It’s a note taking app, for anyone else wondering.

Now if only someone would invent a tool to do the opposite. I have too easy a time of forgetting what I wrote, and penning new lines in obliviousness. It's a habit from many years of stream-of-consciousness writing a la The Artist's Way and https://750words.com.

The hard thing, I find, is structuring text so that each paragraph has a purpose in relation to the others. I was once taught this in school, but I haven't kept up with my practice.

So, maybe a tool that takes previous paragraphs and--contrariwise to letting them recede into obscurity--shoves them repeatedly in my face?

Anyway, very elegant and pleasant. Like a foggy quayside cafe.

To the OP: Great product, at least can you update the description text to guide newcomers with some user persona.

We don't know what it is based on the description, so even the simplest "Try xyz" or even some goal would help us discover what it is.

Got excited for a second, I thought this was about HENkaku Ensō [1] for the PS Vita.

[1] https://enso.henkaku.xyz/

Appears to be Apple only, for anybody spending time on the page trying to work out what it's about.

> Note: if you remove the Edit menu and call it Write, MacOs won't add its AI crap to your settings.

Good to know.

[flagged]

Unfortunate naming collision with Enso Analytics (formerly Luna compiler).

I didn't understand what this was from the link posted; why choose cute over clear?

But when I clicked around I found what the app was and I liked it. Here the cuteness was charming. Great work!