Cling

Cling is a passion project, a macOS desktop app that gives digital sticky notes one thing they have always been missing: the ability to stick to things.

Built with TypeScript, React, and the Glaze SDK, the app lets users create notes that can remain attached to a specific app, file, document, project, or webpage. They can be used as conventional digital sticky notes or linked to a particular context, allowing reminders and reference material to reappear exactly where they are needed.

I designed Cling to feel simple, familiar, and unobtrusive. The interface needed to support quick note-taking without competing for attention, while still offering a pleasant visual and interactive experience. The challenge was to make the contextual behaviour feel useful and intuitive without making the app feel technically complex.

Digital sticky notes are useful because they are quick and visible, but they are usually disconnected from the work they relate to. A note might contain a reminder about a document, a task related to a project, or a reference to something on a webpage, yet the user still has to remember where that note came from.

Cling addresses this by allowing notes to be linked to their source. A user can create a note while working in another app, attach it to that app, file, or webpage, and have it reappear whenever that source is in focus.

This makes the note more specific without limiting how it can be used. It can remain a regular sticky note or become a contextual reminder that belongs to a particular part of the user’s workflow.

The interface is based on the visual language people already associate with sticky notes: lightweight windows, clear text, and a simple paper-like form.

Small interactions, such as the note’s top bar and paperclip control, provide access to its contextual features without overwhelming the basic writing experience. The result is an interface that remains approachable for someone using Cling as a simple notes app, while offering additional functionality for users who want to connect their notes to specific sources.

Cling’s central offering is that its notes can be linked to almost any digital or online source.

For example, you might be researching a topic in your browser and come across something you want to remember. Instead of creating a general reminder and later trying to recall where it came from, you can create a Cling note and attach it directly to the webpage you are viewing.

When you return to that page later, the note appears alongside it. When you switch to another window or tab, it disappears from view, staying connected to the context where it was created.

This allows notes to follow the user’s workflow rather than remain permanently visible. A project to-do list can appear beside the relevant file, a reference note can return when the user opens the material it relates to, and a reminder can surface when the associated project is back in focus.

The interaction is deliberately simple: like a real sticky note, Cling stays where it matters and remains out of the way everywhere else.

Cling was built with TypeScript, React, and the Glaze SDK. Its notes are stored locally as standard Markdown files, keeping the content accessible and lightweight.

The app currently supports a wide range of sources, including browsers, local files, Microsoft Office, iWork, Adobe Creative Cloud, Visual Studio Code, Xcode, Figma, Affinity, Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Obsidian, and Notion.

This integration-based foundation allows Cling to work across different types of creative and productivity workflows while leaving room for further app support over time.

Cling extends the familiar sticky note without changing what makes it useful.

It remains quick to open, simple to write in, and visually unobtrusive. The difference is that each note can now remember what it belongs to. By connecting notes to the apps, files, and webpages where they matter, Cling turns a general-purpose reminder into a more contextual part of the user’s workflow.