Forgn: Prior Art Search
Research an idea. Keep the evidence. Decide what to test next.
Get Forgn on the App StoreFrom a question to a test
Version 1.3 is available on the App Store. Actual app screens with an example research project.
Available in 1.3: project research notebooks, previewed sharing cards and recovery exports. The current app interface is English.
Planned for 1.4: preview and export a private research PDF. Not yet available; release depends on App Store approval.
Your work is stored locally. No account or developer-operated backend is required. Literature searches send the words you choose to Crossref and arXiv; web clipping contacts your chosen website. In 1.3, sharing and recovery export send only what you explicitly choose to a destination you select.
An empty result is not a green light. Forgn searches Crossref and arXiv live and prepares patent queries for you to run; it does not hold a patent database on the device. A missing match is not evidence that an idea is new. Version 1.3 also identifies sources that could not be checked because of a connection or response problem.
Questions, bug reports and refund questions: brkekahraman@icloud.com — usually answered within two business days.
What Forgn does
Prior art, first
Start by checking related work. Forgn recognises established mechanism combinations with its local rules, searches Crossref and arXiv, and prepares browser queries for Google Patents, Espacenet and Lens. Literature records and preprints are starting points for investigation, not an exhaustive patent search.
Research notebooks
Save selected literature sources to a project, record the date and scope of each search, and write down the shared mechanism, the unanswered question and your next measurable experiment. Notes save on the device as you edit. Each notebook holds up to 30 selected sources and 20 recorded searches; nothing is silently evicted.
Private research PDF · planned for 1.4
Preview a private document containing your project title and three working notes: what seems shared, what remains uncertain and the next experiment. It also includes your selected source bibliography, with DOI or arXiv links where available, and saved search queries, timestamps and each provider's search coverage. This is a record of your research, not an automated synthesis or a novelty verdict.
Review all included content before exporting. The PDF is created on your device and sent only to the location or app you choose in the system share sheet. It is separate from the public progress card below and contains private notes. After sharing completes or is cancelled, Forgn attempts to remove its temporary cached PDF; copies you save or send remain at your chosen destination. This free feature is planned for version 1.4; not yet available. Release depends on App Store approval.
Share progress without publishing the idea
Write an optional public takeaway and preview a progress card before opening the system share sheet. The card includes only that takeaway and source/search counts. Private project titles, queries, sources and notebook notes are excluded.
Cross-pollination · Pro
It takes a distinctive term from one of your notes and applies it to a real mechanism in another — only when the two share genuine common ground. Every suggestion says what moved, where it came from, and what connects them.
Risk-ordered plans · Pro
Not a build manual. Forgn turns an idea into the order in which it could die: prior art first, then each known failure mode, most fatal and cheapest-to-test first. Every step says what to measure and asks you to write the threshold down before you run the test.
Reality walls
Documented failure modes, each triggered by an actual design choice, each with alternatives and a reason. These are free, always.
Town
A map of your own archive: buildings are the mechanisms your notes use, and the figures walking between them are the notes themselves. When two meet you get a real transfer candidate.
Common questions
Why is there no sign-in?
Because there is nothing to sign in to. Your archive lives in this app on this device. Protect your device and keep an external recovery copy of important work; we do not hold a server copy.
Does it work offline?
Local notes, saved research and the rule-based engine work offline. Literature searches, web clipping, external links and App Store purchases or restoration need a connection. The sharing destination may also require internet access.
How do I get my notes out?
In 1.3, Profile → Your data → Export recovery copy creates a JSON file containing your archive, projects, research notebooks and original stored data needed for recovery. Save it to a private location using the system share sheet. Recovery export is free and stays available after a subscription ends. It is not automatic cloud sync.
How do I scan a printed page?
Archive → Scan Page → tap the text box, then choose Scan Text on the keyboard. Your iPhone's own text recognition reads the page and writes it into the box. The photo is never saved and never sent — the app never receives an image at all.
What is free and what is paid?
Free: up to 25 archive entries, literature discovery, reality walls and the coverage map. Version 1.3 adds free project research notebooks, sharing cards and recovery export. Pro: cross-pollination, full risk-ordered plans and an unlimited archive. Existing notes remain accessible if a subscription ends.
Forgn Pro is an auto-renewable subscription, monthly or yearly; the price for your region is shown in the app before you buy. Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm, and the subscription renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Terms of Use (EULA) · Privacy Policy
Is this legal advice?
No. Forgn screens for prior art; it does not give legal advice, and no result in the app is a legal opinion on patentability, freedom to operate or infringement. Before you file, license or invest on the strength of a search, talk to a patent attorney.
The engine says my idea already exists. Now what?
That is the most useful thing Forgn can tell you, and it is not a stop sign. It moves the question: find the published limit of the known version, and make your contribution the specific thing you add to it.
Why did nothing appear in Town?
Town is built from mechanisms your notes describe. A note that says what something is but not how it works has no place to stand yet. Add a sentence about the mechanism and it appears.
Cancelling a subscription
Subscriptions are managed by Apple, not by us: iPhone Settings → your name → Subscriptions. Cancelling there stops future charges. Your archive and your export stay with you.
Contact
Berke Kahraman
brkekahraman@icloud.com
Istanbul, Türkiye
Forgn screens for prior art. It does not give legal advice. Forgn is an independent app; Crossref, arXiv, Google Patents, Espacenet and Lens are independent services and are not affiliated with Forgn.