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Preparing for Launch

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Hey everyone 👋 I'm Atul, a software engineer and grad student in Computational Science at the University of Vienna.

I've always had this problem with studying with AI: it hands me the answer, I nod along, and a week later I can't do the problem myself. The struggle is where the learning happens, and AI skips it. On top of that, I was constantly juggling screens, from my notes to the chat and back.

So I've been building Pen Buddy, the note-taking app for the AI era. It's a notebook for Mac and iPad with an AI tutor inside it. You write with Apple Pencil or open a PDF or coding problem, and just talk. Buddy reads your page and your handwriting, then gives you hints instead of answers, so you work it out yourself. Every session turns into notes and flashcards.

I'm preparing to launch here soon. Until then, I'd love to hear from you:

- How do you study with AI today, and what annoys you about it?

- Would you want a tutor that holds back the answer, or does that sound frustrating?

Feel free to check out at

Happy to answer anything, and to check out what you're building too 🙌

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The "I nod along and a week later I cannot do it" problem is real, and not only for students. I build software with an AI agent every day, and the parts I let it do end to end are the parts I understand least a month later. A tutor that holds back is a good idea as long as it has an exit: let me ask for the answer when I am truly stuck, but make me say so, and then show me where my attempt went wrong rather than the clean solution. A hint that sits on my own wrong line teaches more than any perfect answer. Good luck with the launch, Atul.

 That makes perfect sense, and that is exactly what we're trying to solve here. Pen Buddy keeps track of your progress live as you solve it, notices when you're really struggling, hands you hints, and also just gives the answer with an explanation when you're truly stuck!

I really appreciate your feedback, would be great if you could check us out!

 Noticing the struggle on its own is the hard part, so I'm curious how Pen Buddy decides it. Time on one step, the same mistake twice? The more it can tell "stuck" from "thinking", the less it needs the student to ask. I'll take a look at the launch.

 


Thank you for your interest! Pen Buddy looks at and reads your handwriting on iPad, and on Mac sees the screen when it is turned on (for example solving a coding question). When you ask Buddy something, it knows your progress, your approach, mistakes, and then provides an adaptive answer.

When you don't ask it, but are stuck in the same topic for a long time, making mistakes, erasing, our engine recognizes that pattern and gives you a nudge or proactively asks you if you would like some help.

I would also be happy to hear all your ideas!