Create your own 8-bit-style animations, pictures, and effects on a square pixel display with bits of code the size of a text message. Copy and paste them into messages, emails, or social networks; save them to your Photos; even upload them and get a link to share online.

Animated GIFs created in PixelNote; click to start animation
cls:pix0,ymin:anim:copy:paste0,1:x=xmin..xmax:pix x,ymin,(pix(x-1,ymin+1)+pix(x+1,ymin+1))mod2
Example PixelNote code for one of those GIFs; can you guess which one?

Inspired by classic home computers and modern text-messaging apps, PixelNote gives you a 101×101 pixel, 256-color canvas which you control from a one-line command input field. PixelNote defines its own, compact, unique scripting language which supports taking photos, drawing shapes, manipulating pixels, looping and animating, and performing math.

PixelNote comes with several examples to get you started. Take one and modify it, or build your own; play around, try different things, see how they look. As you work, PixelNote keeps a history of your code. I’d love to hear from you if you make something fun you’d like to share, or if you have any questions or feedback.

PixelNote is free on the App Store, and has no in-app purchases, no ads, no sign-ups, and collects no data for anybody. It’s just free.

Documentation

The PixelNote programmer’s reference manual covers all of the commands in the language. (It’s also included in the app itself.)

Yes, but why?

For fun and for the challenge of it. PixelNote gives you a small number of pixels, a small number of colors, a small space to program in, and a unique programming language. I first learned to program on 8-bit microcomputers with built-in BASIC and limited capabilities, and I thought it was fun. PixelNote is an experiment in bringing that kind of fun to our modern pocket computers, and making it something we can share with each other.