Twelve Two Labs

iPhone app

Outside Today

A private outdoor journal. Keep the first swallow, the sound of the river and the light on the field, by season and place, on your iPhone with no account.

  • Tap Notice something and keep a photo, a short sound clip or one sentence; any one is enough
  • Firsts of the season: the first swallow, frost or hatch, with the date, the place and a photo
  • A seasonal timeline as a list or a calendar, filtered by what it was or where
  • Places you name yourself; location is read only when you ask, at the precision you choose
  • Photos stored without GPS, and shared photos stripped of location, date and camera details
  • This week in past years, only if you turn it on
  • Works in airplane mode with every permission off, with encrypted backups and a readable export

Coming soon. Outside Today is not released yet. This page is published early so its support and privacy information is available. Choose Notify me to get one email when it launches, and nothing else.

Screens

Select a screen to see it larger.

  • Today: notice something, or look at recent moments
    The Outside Today home screen: a Notice something card inviting a photo, a sound or a sentence, buttons for Seasons and Firsts, and recent moments at a river bend.
    Today: notice something, or look at recent moments
  • A photo, a sound or a sentence; any one is enough
    The Notice something screen with a sentence field, Take photo and Choose photo buttons, Record a sound, an optional question, and chips for what it was: bird, flower, hatch, leaf, insect, fish, sky, frost.
    A photo, a sound or a sentence; any one is enough
  • A moment, with its place and season
    A saved moment at Mad River, upper bend: a photo of the river, the sentence Same bend, a year on, water much lower, and what-was-it chips.
    A moment, with its place and season
  • Seasons: everything you kept, by season and place
    The Seasons timeline as a list, Autumn 2026 and Autumn 2025, each moment with a thumbnail, place, sentence and whether it has a sound clip.
    Seasons: everything you kept, by season and place
  • Or as a calendar
    The Seasons view as a calendar for October 2026, with dots marking the days that have moments.
    Or as a calendar
  • Firsts of the season, with last year's date beside them
    The Firsts of the season screen listing Frost on October 5 at Grandma's garden, Puffballs on September 18, and Barn swallow on April 1 with last year's date.
    Firsts of the season, with last year's date beside them
  • Places you name yourself
    A place page for Mad River, upper bend showing its exact location, photos from autumn, and options to merge into another place or split off into a new one.
    Places you name yourself

Outside Today is a quiet place to keep what you notice outdoors. Tap Notice something and keep a photo, a short sound clip or one sentence. Any one of them is enough. If you would like a question, there is one waiting: three sounds you can hear, what the light looks like, what has changed since you were last here. Skip it any time.

Over the seasons

Firsts of the season are the first swallow, frost or hatch, with the date, the place and a photo. They are your own observations, and you can see when you noticed the same thing last year. A seasonal timeline shows everything as a list or a calendar, filtered by what it was or where. This week in past years appears only if you turn it on, with places, kinds or dates you never want to see again.

Your places stay yours

Places are names you give. Location is read only when you tap Add location, and you choose how much to keep: about 10 km, about 1 km or exact. Lower it later and the extra detail is erased. Photos are stored without their GPS location, and shared photos have their location, date and camera details removed. Places you mark private are left out of anything you share or export. The map is optional and off until you turn it on.

Private by design

No account, no ads, no analytics. Nothing you keep leaves your iPhone unless you share or export it. The app works in airplane mode and with every permission turned off. Backups are encrypted files protected by a passphrase you choose, and there is a readable copy of your journal you can keep anywhere. An optional app lock uses Face ID.

Nothing to keep up with and nothing to collect. Outside Today is not a fitness tracker or a species identifier. It is a record of the places and seasons you were there for. See the support page and the privacy policy.

Can’t afford it right now?

Write to hello@twelvetwolabs.com and say it is Outside Today you want. We will make sure you have it. No questions, no judgment.

Accessibility and standards

What Outside Today is built and checked against, in plain words. These are our own checks, not third-party certifications. About these standards.

Dynamic Type and large text
Text follows the size you set in iOS Settings, up to the largest accessibility sizes, and screens rearrange themselves instead of cutting words off.
VoiceOver
Apple’s screen reader can use the whole app: every control has a spoken name, screens read in a sensible order, and nothing is image-only.
Reduce Motion
When you turn on Reduce Motion in iOS, animation is toned down or removed. Nothing in the app depends on seeing something move.
WCAG AA color contrast
Text is at least 4.5 times brighter or darker than what is behind it, so it stays readable in sunlight, on a dim screen, or with low vision.
Works offline
Every main task works in airplane mode after the first install. Nothing waits on a server to let you do your work.
No data collection
The app gathers nothing about you: no analytics, no advertising identifiers, no tracking, and no server of ours. Its App Store privacy label is Data Not Collected.
Apple privacy manifest
A file Apple requires inside every app that states what data it collects and why it uses certain system features. Ours declare no tracking and no collection.
Encrypted backups
Backup files are encrypted on your device with a passphrase only you know, using the same family of encryption that banks use. We cannot open them, and cannot recover a lost passphrase.
Multiple languages
The interface is translated, and dates, plurals and layouts adapt to the language. Each product page lists its languages.
Photo metadata removed
Photos you share or store lose the hidden details a camera embeds, such as GPS location, date and camera model, so a picture never gives away where you were.
Your data in open formats
Exports come out as CSV, JSON, Markdown, PDF or RSS: files any spreadsheet, text editor or reader can open, with no need for our software.

Questions about Outside Today

Is Outside Today a fitness tracker or a species identifier?

No. It is a record of the places and seasons you were there for. There are no counts, badges or leaderboards, and a first of the season is your own observation, not a verified identification.

Does the app know where I am?

Only when you tap Add location, and only once. You choose beforehand how much to keep: about 10 km, about 1 km or exact. The reading is rounded on your iPhone before it is saved, and you can lower it later, which erases the extra detail. A place can also be just a name.

Does sharing a photo reveal where I was?

No. Stored photos never keep their GPS location, and a shared photo has its location, date and camera details removed. Places you mark private are left out of anything you share or export.

Why is the map off by default?

The map loads its pictures from Apple Maps over the internet, so it stays off until you turn it on. Everything else works offline, including in airplane mode.