As promised, I open-sourced the app.

Introducing Inka: AI Daily Journal for BOOX devices

→ http://inka.page ←

It started as an experiment: a simple screen where you can write anything and the page writes back.

I showed it to my son and he absolutely loved it. Then I realized I could turn this into a daily journal app, where you can write down your thoughts and get answers back.

It’s low-bandwidth communication, yes. But that’s a feature, not a bug. I find myself focusing much better while drawing random things on paper.

And so I turned the one-screen experiment into a full app. You can configure the AI provider, persona, writing animation, handwriting font & style and even an experimental handwriting synthesis for a more realistic feel.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Inka: write with the pen, the page writes back

Source: https://inka.page/ Inka

https://boltai.com/https://github.com/BoltAI/Inkahttps://x.com/daniel_nguyenxInka is a pen-first AI journal for BOOX e-ink tablets. Write on a blank page, rest your hand, and a reply flows onto the paper in handwriting, word by word, like the notebook is thinking with you.

→ free, open source, bring your own AI key

Your browser can’t play this video.Download the demoinstead.18 seconds of the page writing back ↑

①How it works

1. **Write.**Use the BOOX pen like you would in any paper notebook.
2. **Pause.**Rest your hand for a moment. On-device handwriting recognition reads what you wrote and sends the text to your chosen AI provider, with your own API key.
3. **Read.**The reply is written back onto the page, word by word, in a handwriting-style script tuned for e-ink.

②What’s in the box

• Pen-first writing on BOOX tablets
• Handwritten replies, right on the page
• Word-by-word reply animation
• Ink fade & dissolve after you finish
• Local notebook history
• Built-in writing personas
• Reader-style UI made for e-ink
• On-device handwriting recognition
• Bring your own OpenAI, Anthropic, or Groq key
• Phone-assisted QR setup for API keys
• Adjustable reply handwriting style
• Experimental neural handwriting synthesis

a few pages from the app (tap one to open it full size) ↓

③Why?

Hi, I’mDaniel. Inspired by Maxime Rivest’sRiddle, I built Inka as an experiment: what does it feel like to talk to an AI when there’s no keyboard, no chat bubbles, no glowing screen, just a pen and a quiet sheet of e-paper?

You write a question, a worry, or a diary entry. You pause. Inka reads your handwriting on-device, asks the AI model you configured, and the answer appears on the page in a flowing handwritten voice. Then the ink of the old thoughts can gently fade away.

Honestly? It mostly exists because it was fun to build, and because I get to wow my son with a magic notebook. This is a tinkering project, not a startup.

④Privacy first

Your notebook lives in private storage on your tablet. Your API key is stored in encrypted Android preferences. When you ask for a reply, the recognized text goes directly from your device to the AI provider you picked.

This website uses Simple Analytics to measure aggregate visits without cookies, personal data, or visitor profiles.

→ the boring details live in theprivacy policy

⑤What you’ll need

• A BOOX e-ink tablet.Built and tested on the BOOX Note Air 5C. Other Android tablets may open it, but the pen feel and e-ink refresh are the whole point.
• Android 10 or newer.
• An API keyfrom OpenAI, Anthropic, or Groq. Set it up in a minute by scanning a QR code with your phone.
• Network accessfor the AI replies. Handwriting recognition itself runs on the device.

Daniel Nguyen (@daniel_nguyenx): Inspired by Maxime, I built the same app for my e-ink tablet (Boox Air Note 5c)

Fable for the initial design and codex for implementation.

It’s magic 🪄