A Feature Can Be Good on Its Own but Not as a Daily Requirement

An early version of Inks had a complete envelope sequence.

When someone opened a finished letter, the paper first folded, moved into the envelope, and was sealed. The user then tapped the envelope, opened it again, pulled out the paper, and unfolded it to read.

The sequence could be skipped. On its own, it felt complete and matched the sense of ritual I wanted in the beginning. Going through it every day felt different.

Looking back, the app was putting an already finished letter back into its envelope, then asking the user to take it out again.

I wanted the ritual to feel complete

When I first built Inks, I cared about what “writing a letter” should feel like. I did not want the flow to be just opening a text box, writing, saving, and leaving. I wanted paper, an envelope, sealing, and opening.

I spent a lot of time on how the paper folded, how it moved into the envelope, and how the envelope closed. I still do not think that direction was wrong. If Inks were reduced to only a text box, there would be little reason for it to look and work as it does today.

The problem was that I liked the complete sequence, so I made everyone go through it every time.

Something that looks good in a demo is not necessarily something I want to watch every time.

I removed the first half

I later removed the part where the paper folds, enters the envelope, and gets sealed.

Opening a letter now begins with the envelope already sealed. Someone can rotate it, tap to open it, and watch the paper come out and unfold. If they only want to read, they can skip directly to the letter.

The envelope and opening interaction remain. The app no longer asks everyone to watch it put the letter away first.

I did not remove the animation because it was broken. It took a great deal of work and ran properly. But I found it slow in my own daily use, so it had to go.

The time I had already spent was not coming back. Keeping the animation would only make every future opening slower, so I removed it.

A skip button did not change the default path

At the time, I thought the skip button might be enough. Anyone who found the animation slow could tap it.

After using the app every day, it still felt wrong. I had to see the animation first and decide whether to skip it every time. The skip button was only a way out. What shaped daily use was what the app showed by default.

If I often wanted to skip it myself, it should not have stayed in front of the letter.

I also required Full mode the first time

There was another early decision that now looks even more obvious.

The first time someone tapped Write, they still could not begin immediately. They had to long-press and enter Full mode, choose the paper, write the letter, configure pauses, the envelope, effects, and music, and seal one complete letter. Only then did quick writing become available.

My reason was simple. I wanted a new user to see how Inks differed from an ordinary note-taking app before deciding that it was only another text box.

Put simply, I wanted to finish introducing the product before letting the user get on with what they came to do.

I later removed that requirement entirely.

Tapping and long-pressing now lead to different paths

Today, tapping Write lets someone start writing immediately and save when they are done. If they want to choose paper and spend more time on pauses, the envelope, and effects, they can long-press to enter Full mode and make a more complete letter.

Light mode is not an incomplete version of the product. It is the path meant for everyday writing. If the only difficulty is finding someone to write to, How to Keep a Letter Journal offers a few practical ways to begin.

Full mode was not removed or hidden. It changed from a required step into an optional path.

Reading works the same way. A letter opens to the finished text. If someone wants to revisit where they paused and what they deleted or rewrote, they can choose Replay. I wrote more about that choice in Why Preserve the Writing Process.

I still have design boundaries

Of course, this does not mean removing everything whenever someone finds a step inconvenient.

I still make design decisions of my own. Paper, envelopes, the writing process, and replay are staying. But the fact that I like them does not mean everyone has to go through them every time.

Looking back, I really did want people to experience the ritual I had designed. After changing the flow this much, I think it matters more to help people get their words down smoothly.

The envelope, opening interaction, and replay are still there when someone wants them. Some features are good on their own, but not necessarily when everyone has to go through them every day.

6 min read · 2026-08-31 · 2026-08-31

By Wenpeng Wang, Developer of Inks.