android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/thoughtsync/ui/BoardViewModel.kt

@@ -263,11 +263,11 @@ class BoardViewModel(
             }
             EditorAction.DismissError -> dismissError()
             is EditorAction.SaveText -> createFromDraft(action.body)
-            // Starting a checklist is the one toolbar action that means something on
-            // a note with no text: a note whose whole content is its items is a note
-            // this app already has (it is named from its first item). So it may
-            // create an empty one — anything else needs words first.
-            EditorAction.AddChecklist ->
+            // The first checklist item is the one toolbar action that means something
+            // on a note with no text: a note whose whole content is its items is a
+            // note this app already has, named from the first of them. So it may
+            // create a body-less one — anything else needs words first.
+            is EditorAction.AddItem ->
                 createFromDraft(draft.body, allowEmpty = true) { created ->
                     onEditorAction(created, action)
                 }
@@ -386,10 +386,6 @@ class BoardViewModel(
                     null
                 }
 
-            // An empty first item: the checklist editor appears the moment the note
-            // has one, and an empty row is what someone can type straight into.
-            EditorAction.AddChecklist -> mutate { it.addItem(id, "") }
-
             is EditorAction.AddItem ->
                 action.text.trim().takeIf { it.isNotEmpty() }?.let { text ->
                     mutate { it.addItem(id, text) }

android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/thoughtsync/ui/EditorAction.kt

@@ -29,15 +29,6 @@ sealed interface EditorAction {
         val color: String,
     ) : EditorAction
 
-    /**
-     * Give this note a checklist.
-     *
-     * Not a conversion — a note HAS a checklist rather than BEING one (M13 step 2),
-     * so nothing moves and nothing is swapped: the body stays exactly where it is and
-     * the note gains a first, empty item for someone to type into.
-     */
-    data object AddChecklist : EditorAction
-
     data class SetPinned(
         val pinned: Boolean,
     ) : EditorAction
@@ -52,6 +43,16 @@ sealed interface EditorAction {
 
     data object DeleteForever : EditorAction
 
+    /**
+     * Add an item, given its text.
+     *
+     * There is deliberately no "add an EMPTY item" action. Starting a checklist used
+     * to be one, and it wrote a blank row to the store the moment the toolbar button
+     * was tapped — so the note grew an empty item that had to be typed into while the
+     * add-row sat below it, also empty and also asking to be typed into. Showing the
+     * checklist is now UI state, and the store hears nothing until there is an item
+     * with words in it.
+     */
     data class AddItem(
         val text: String,
     ) : EditorAction

android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/thoughtsync/ui/EditorChecklist.kt

@@ -13,12 +13,15 @@ import androidx.compose.material3.Icon
 import androidx.compose.material3.IconButton
 import androidx.compose.material3.MaterialTheme
 import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable
+import androidx.compose.runtime.LaunchedEffect
 import androidx.compose.runtime.getValue
 import androidx.compose.runtime.mutableStateOf
 import androidx.compose.runtime.remember
 import androidx.compose.runtime.setValue
 import androidx.compose.ui.Alignment
 import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier
+import androidx.compose.ui.focus.FocusRequester
+import androidx.compose.ui.focus.focusRequester
 import androidx.compose.ui.focus.onFocusChanged
 import androidx.compose.ui.res.stringResource
 import androidx.compose.ui.text.input.ImeAction
@@ -45,6 +48,7 @@ import com.fabledsword.thoughtsync.core.Note
 fun ChecklistEditor(
     note: Note,
     readOnly: Boolean,
+    focusAddRow: Boolean,
     onAction: (EditorAction) -> Unit,
 ) {
     Column {
@@ -52,7 +56,10 @@ fun ChecklistEditor(
             ChecklistRow(item = item, readOnly = readOnly, onAction = onAction)
         }
         if (!readOnly) {
-            AddItemRow(onAdd = { onAction(EditorAction.AddItem(it)) })
+            AddItemRow(
+                autoFocus = focusAddRow,
+                onAdd = { onAction(EditorAction.AddItem(it)) },
+            )
         }
     }
 }
@@ -116,10 +123,23 @@ private fun ChecklistRow(
  * through — "milk ⏎ eggs ⏎ bread" — rather than costing a tap between each. That
  * is the same speed the capture sheet's one-item-per-line field buys, carried into
  * the editor so refining a list never feels slower than making one.
+ *
+ * [autoFocus] is set when the toolbar was just asked for a checklist, which is the
+ * one moment this row is certainly what someone is reaching for. Keyed on `Unit`
+ * rather than on the flag: the row only enters the composition when the checklist
+ * opens, so once is exactly right, and re-requesting later would yank the caret out
+ * of whatever was being typed.
  */
 @Composable
-private fun AddItemRow(onAdd: (String) -> Unit) {
+private fun AddItemRow(
+    autoFocus: Boolean,
+    onAdd: (String) -> Unit,
+) {
     var text by remember { mutableStateOf("") }
+    val focus = remember { FocusRequester() }
+    LaunchedEffect(Unit) {
+        if (autoFocus) focus.requestFocus()
+    }
     Row(verticalAlignment = Alignment.CenterVertically) {
         Icon(
             Icons.Filled.Add,
@@ -130,7 +150,7 @@ private fun AddItemRow(onAdd: (String) -> Unit) {
         PlainTextField(
             value = text,
             onValueChange = { text = it },
-            modifier = Modifier.weight(1f),
+            modifier = Modifier.weight(1f).focusRequester(focus),
             hint = R.string.editor_add_item,
             singleLine = true,
             keyboardOptions = KeyboardOptions(imeAction = ImeAction.Done),

android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/thoughtsync/ui/EditorChrome.kt

@@ -18,14 +18,17 @@ import androidx.compose.foundation.shape.CircleShape
 import androidx.compose.material.icons.Icons
 import androidx.compose.material.icons.automirrored.filled.ArrowBack
 import androidx.compose.material.icons.automirrored.filled.List
+import androidx.compose.material.icons.filled.Check
 import androidx.compose.material.icons.filled.Close
 import androidx.compose.material.icons.filled.MoreVert
 import androidx.compose.material.icons.filled.Notifications
 import androidx.compose.material3.DropdownMenu
 import androidx.compose.material3.DropdownMenuItem
 import androidx.compose.material3.ExperimentalMaterial3Api
+import androidx.compose.material3.FilledTonalIconButton
 import androidx.compose.material3.Icon
 import androidx.compose.material3.IconButton
+import androidx.compose.material3.IconButtonDefaults
 import androidx.compose.material3.MaterialTheme
 import androidx.compose.material3.Text
 import androidx.compose.material3.TextButton
@@ -76,7 +79,9 @@ fun EditorTopBar(
     note: Note,
     readOnly: Boolean,
     tint: NoteTint,
+    showAddChecklist: Boolean,
     onClose: () -> Unit,
+    onStartChecklist: () -> Unit,
     onPicker: (Picker) -> Unit,
     onConfirmDelete: () -> Unit,
     onAction: (EditorAction) -> Unit,
@@ -115,12 +120,13 @@ fun EditorTopBar(
                         contentDescription = stringResource(R.string.editor_reminder),
                     )
                 }
-                // Adds the first checklist item, which is what makes the checklist
-                // editor appear. Hidden once the note already has one — there is
-                // nothing left to add that the checklist's own "+" row doesn't do
-                // better.
-                if (note.items.isEmpty()) {
-                    IconButton(onClick = { onAction(EditorAction.AddChecklist) }) {
+                // REVEALS the checklist; it does not write one. This used to add an
+                // empty item so the section would have something to render, which
+                // left a blank row above the add-row — two empty fields, and the
+                // caret in the lower one. Hidden once the checklist is showing, since
+                // its own "+" row does the rest better.
+                if (showAddChecklist) {
+                    IconButton(onClick = onStartChecklist) {
                         Icon(
                             Icons.AutoMirrored.Filled.List,
                             contentDescription = stringResource(R.string.editor_add_checklist),
@@ -179,9 +185,12 @@ fun EditorTopBar(
  * back gesture and TalkBack all expect of a full-screen surface, and removing it
  * would strand the reflex to strike a duplicate that costs one icon slot.
  *
- * A WORD rather than a checkmark, like the overflow menu below and for the same
- * reason. A tick in a notes app is a checklist item to anyone who has used one, and
- * "Done" cannot be misread — including aloud.
+ * A checkmark, at the operator's ask. I had shipped the word "Done" here on the
+ * argument that a tick in a NOTES app reads as a checklist item; overruled, and the
+ * filled treatment is what settles it — a tonal button in the note's own colour is
+ * plainly a control, where a bare glyph beside a checklist would not be. It carries
+ * "Done" as its content description, so the reasoning survives where it actually
+ * mattered: read aloud.
  *
  * [DateUtils] rather than a hand-rolled formatter: it is localised, it already
  * knows the difference between minutes, hours and yesterday, and getting plurals
@@ -191,9 +200,11 @@ fun EditorTopBar(
 fun EditorFooter(
     updatedAt: String?,
     saving: Boolean,
+    tint: NoteTint,
     onClose: () -> Unit,
     modifier: Modifier = Modifier,
 ) {
+    val dark = isSystemInDarkTheme()
     Row(
         modifier =
             modifier
@@ -204,9 +215,9 @@ fun EditorFooter(
                 // inset down.
                 .imePadding()
                 .navigationBarsPadding()
-                // Asymmetric: the button brings its own padding, the text does not.
-                .padding(start = 16.dp, end = 4.dp),
-        horizontalArrangement = Arrangement.End,
+                .padding(horizontal = 12.dp, vertical = 4.dp),
+        // The gap is what keeps the timestamp from reading as the button's label.
+        horizontalArrangement = Arrangement.spacedBy(12.dp, Alignment.End),
         verticalAlignment = Alignment.CenterVertically,
     ) {
         Text(
@@ -214,8 +225,17 @@ fun EditorFooter(
             style = MaterialTheme.typography.labelSmall,
             color = MaterialTheme.colorScheme.onSurfaceVariant,
         )
-        TextButton(onClick = onClose) {
-            Text(stringResource(R.string.editor_done))
+        FilledTonalIconButton(
+            onClick = onClose,
+            // The note's own colour rather than the scheme's secondaryContainer,
+            // which would be the one element on a tinted card ignoring the tint.
+            colors =
+                IconButtonDefaults.filledTonalIconButtonColors(
+                    containerColor = tint.chipBackground(dark),
+                    contentColor = tint.chipForeground(dark),
+                ),
+        ) {
+            Icon(Icons.Filled.Check, contentDescription = stringResource(R.string.editor_done))
         }
     }
 }

android/app/src/main/java/com/fabledsword/thoughtsync/ui/NoteEditorScreen.kt

@@ -91,6 +91,14 @@ fun NoteEditorScreen(
     var picker by remember(sessionKey) { mutableStateOf(Picker.NONE) }
     var confirmingDelete by remember(sessionKey) { mutableStateOf(false) }
 
+    // Whether the checklist is SHOWING, which is not the same as whether the note has
+    // one. Asking for a checklist used to write an empty item, purely so the section
+    // would have something to render — which left a blank row with the add-row beneath
+    // it, both empty, and the caret in the wrong one. Nothing reaches the store now
+    // until an item has words in it. Saveable so a rotation does not close a list
+    // someone is halfway through typing.
+    var checklistOpen by rememberSaveable(sessionKey) { mutableStateOf(false) }
+
     // A note in the trash is a record, not a document: editing one would silently
     // resurrect work that was meant to be thrown away. It renders read-only, with
     // Restore and Delete forever as the only things to do with it.
@@ -177,7 +185,9 @@ fun NoteEditorScreen(
                         note = note,
                         readOnly = readOnly,
                         tint = tint,
+                        showAddChecklist = !checklistOpen && note.items.isEmpty(),
                         onClose = leave,
+                        onStartChecklist = { checklistOpen = true },
                         onPicker = { picker = it },
                         onConfirmDelete = { confirmingDelete = true },
                         onAction = onAction,
@@ -191,6 +201,7 @@ fun NoteEditorScreen(
                     EditorFooter(
                         updatedAt = note.updatedAt,
                         saving = saving,
+                        tint = tint,
                         onClose = leave,
                     )
                 },
@@ -231,11 +242,17 @@ fun NoteEditorScreen(
                         modifier = Modifier.focusRequester(bodyFocus),
                     )
 
-                    // Below the body, not instead of it, and only once the note has
-                    // items — the toolbar's add-checklist action is what puts the
-                    // first one there.
-                    if (note.items.isNotEmpty()) {
-                        ChecklistEditor(note = note, readOnly = readOnly, onAction = onAction)
+                    // Below the body, not instead of it. Shown once the note has
+                    // items, or once the toolbar has been asked for a checklist — in
+                    // which case the add row takes focus, because being asked for a
+                    // list means being about to type one.
+                    if (note.items.isNotEmpty() || checklistOpen) {
+                        ChecklistEditor(
+                            note = note,
+                            readOnly = readOnly,
+                            focusAddRow = checklistOpen && note.items.isEmpty(),
+                            onAction = onAction,
+                        )
                     }
 
                     if (note.labels.isNotEmpty()) {