Questions or suggestions? Email wdhsieh99@gmail.com. We usually reply within 2 business days. Including your phone model, OS version (iOS or Android), and a screenshot helps us find the problem faster.
NianFlow is free to download and use.
On iPhone, the interface follows your iPhone’s language: English or Traditional Chinese. To use a different language for NianFlow only, go to iPhone Settings › NianFlow › Language.
Settings › Recording & AI Language (in NianFlow) chooses the language for speech recognition, AI processing, and article writing. By default it matches the interface language. Switching doesn’t rewrite flows you already have: refreshing, listening, and adding thoughts while listening keep each flow’s original language. When you write an article for a flow in the other language, NianFlow asks whether to translate it or keep the original language.
The Android app is currently Chinese only.
Transcript cleanup, Converge, refreshing flows, and writing articles all run on your iPhone with Apple Intelligence. No account or API key is needed, and your thoughts are never sent to an AI service or the developer. You need an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence, turned on in Settings › Apple Intelligence & Siri. Right after you turn it on, the model needs to download; NianFlow’s Settings › AI shows the current status. Text in photos is extracted on your iPhone.
Yes. Recording, transcription, photos, organizing thoughts, and listening all work. Under Write an Article, choose Discuss in ChatGPT (or Claude; you can pick in Settings) to take the flow to your AI assistant, then paste the result back into NianFlow to save it as an article. The first time, NianFlow explains what will be shared and asks for your consent.
Recordings are transcribed on your phone and are never sent to an AI service or the developer (when iCloud is on, your thoughts sync to your own iCloud). On iPhone, AI also runs on your phone. On Android with your own API key, only text is sent to the AI service (plus photos if you use OpenAI to read them). See the privacy policy.
No unlocking needed. While recording, the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island show the recording; tap Done or trigger it again to stop.
There are four ways, none of which take you out of your reading app. The same steps are in NianFlow’s Settings › Quick Capture While Reading.
Screenshot + recording in one step (recommended)
The screenshot and what you say are saved as one thought. Once your note is transcribed, NianFlow reads the screenshot along with it.
Recording only: create a shortcut with just NianFlow’s Record a Thought action, and assign it to Double Tap in Back Tap. Double-tap to start recording.
Share a screenshot
The iOS share sheet can’t use the microphone, so you can only type here. To talk while you read, use Screenshot + recording above.
Bring in your latest screenshot from NianFlow: touch and hold Photo on the Capture tab and choose Latest Screenshot. NianFlow takes your most recent screenshot and starts recording a voice note right away. Set Photos access to Full Access; NianFlow only reads that latest screenshot.
Screenshots are handled the same way as photo thoughts. On iPhone, text is extracted on your phone with Apple’s text recognition, and screenshots aren’t sent to an AI service. On Android, a screenshot is sent to OpenAI only if you’ve set up an OpenAI key and agreed to send data.
Your watch sends recordings automatically when it’s near your iPhone, and the watch shows how many recordings are waiting to send. Make sure your watch and iPhone are paired, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are on, and open NianFlow on your iPhone once. Recordings are transcribed after they arrive.
While a flow is playing, tap Add a Thought, or press Next Track on your earbuds (for example, double-press on AirPods). Say your thought; it’s saved to the flow, and playback picks up from the sentence you were on.
Make sure your iPhone is signed in to iCloud and iCloud is turned on for NianFlow in Settings › Apple Account › iCloud. Syncing stops when your iCloud storage is full; NianFlow’s Settings › iCloud Sync shows the reason.
Deleting a thought, flow, or article in NianFlow also removes it from iCloud. Deleting the app removes the data on your phone; data in iCloud can be deleted in Settings › Apple Account › iCloud › Manage Account Storage. For data already sent to an AI service, request deletion under that service’s policy.
The Android app is currently available in Chinese only. See the Chinese support page for Android help.