---
title: Meet the companion
description: Set up Octarine on your iPhone and activate your license
---

Octarine is a local-first, privacy-focused note-taking app built around Markdown. Your notes are plain `.md` files stored on your device — you own them completely. Octarine layers a rich editing experience, daily journaling, tagging, linking, and powerful search on top of that simple foundation.

This guide walks you through your first few minutes in the app.

## Activating Your License

When you first open Octarine, swipe through the note-card tour of Notes, Daily Desk, Editor, Command Bar, Search, Properties, and Themes. **Get Started** appears on the final card.

On the sign-in screen, enter:

- **Email** — the address you used when you purchased Octarine.
- **License key** — the key from your purchase confirmation email. Tap the paste button next to the field to paste it from your clipboard.

Tap **Sign In**. The app validates your license with the Octarine server. Once confirmed, you're in.

Each activation counts towards your license's **3 device limit** (across all platforms — macOS, iOS, etc.). If you hit the activation limit, deactivate one of your existing devices from within the app, or manage your activations via the [Octarine Dashboard](https://octarine.app/dashboard) or the [LemonSqueezy dashboard](https://app.lemonsqueezy.com/my-orders) (linked in your purchase receipt).

If you need more than 3 devices, you can purchase additional seats from the [Octarine Dashboard](https://octarine.app/dashboard) to expand your license.

> You may hit the activation limit even if you only have one device in hand. Upgrading, wiping, or reinstalling doesn't auto-deactivate the previous install — each reactivation counts as a fresh one. Open the [Octarine Dashboard](https://octarine.app/dashboard) or [LemonSqueezy dashboard](https://app.lemonsqueezy.com/my-orders) to review every activation tied to your license and remove any stale ones.


Your license is re-validated periodically in the background. If you're offline, the app continues to work normally — validation is deferred until you're back online.

After activation, Octarine guides you through a three-step workspace setup:

1. Choose **Start from scratch** or **Clone from Git**. You can also look for a workspace Octarine already knows about.
2. For a new workspace, enter its name, choose its color, and select iCloud Drive, On this iPhone, or Dropbox when available.
3. Review the destination and create the workspace.

A workspace created from scratch then opens in [Library](../iOS/notes.mdx) with starter notes ready. See [Workspaces](../iOS/workspaces.mdx) for storage restrictions, switching, cloning from Git, and bringing existing notes to iOS.

#### Quick Answers

### How do I activate Octarine on iPhone?

Enter the email and license key from your Octarine purchase confirmation, then tap **Sign In**.

### Does iOS activation count toward my device limit?

Yes. Each iOS activation counts toward the 3-device limit across platforms.

### Can Octarine for iOS work while offline?

Yes. The app continues to work offline, and license validation is deferred until you are back online.