Simple Notes Sync

SHA-256 hash of the signing certificate:
42:A1:C6:13:BB:C6:73:04:5A:F3:DC:81:91:BF:9C:B6:45:6E:E4:4C:7D:CE:40:C7:CF:B5:66:FA:CB:69:F1:6A

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Notes for Android that work offline and sync with your own WebDAV server. No account, no cloud, no tracking.

I built this so my notes would sync with the WebDAV server at home on their own, as soon as I get home. That is still the core idea. Everything else grew around it, and the app works just as well without any server.

Highlights

• Your server, no account. Notes live on your phone and sync with any WebDAV server: Nextcloud, ownCloud, a NAS or the small Docker server in this repo. Without a server the app works just as well.
• No silent overwrites. If a note changed on two devices, you compare both versions side by side and pick the one that stays.
• Markdown that pastes well. Live highlighting, tables and a preview. Pasting from a web page, Word or Google Docs keeps headings, lists, links and tables. Share a note as a PDF with formatting and images.
• Images in notes. Paste or pick them, resize them, place several side by side.
• Fast checklists. Drag an item across the divider to check it, unchecking puts it back where it was, and a read mode turns a list into tap to check.
• Widgets you can write in. Edit a note in a small card over the home screen and check items right in the widget.
• Obsidian and desktop. Optional Markdown copies of every note on the server, edits made there come back into the app. Simple Notes Desktop for Windows and Linux uses the same folder.
• Coming from Google Keep? Import a Takeout export, checklists and colors included.
• Private by design. Local only folders that never leave the phone, app lock, encrypted backups, no analytics and no Google services. 12 languages.

All features: docs/FEATURES.md

Quick start

Server (any machine with Docker):

1. Get the server files:

   git clone https://github.com/inventory69/simple-notes-sync.git
   cd simple-notes-sync/server

2. Create the config and set a password under users::

   cp config.yml.example config.yml

3. Start it:

   docker compose up -d

App:

1. Install it from one of the stores above.
2. Open Settings → Server Settings, switch off Offline Mode and enter URL http://SERVER-IP:8080/, username noteuser and the password from config.yml.
3. Tap Test Connection. From now on your notes sync on their own.

Already running Nextcloud or another WebDAV server? Skip the server part. The quick start guide covers that, HTTPS and when the app syncs in the background.

What's next

Optional end-to-end encryption for the sync folder is in the works (#9). There is no release date yet. Ideas and votes on what comes after that live in Discussions.

Documentation

• Quick start: server, app, background sync, self-signed certificates, updates
• Features: everything the app does, and the permissions it asks for
• Sync: what lands on the server, conflicts, deletions, Markdown files and the desktop app
• Backup: backup files, encryption and restore modes
• Troubleshooting: ordered checks for the common problems
• Server: the Docker server in detail
• Changelog

Contributing

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome, see CONTRIBUTING.md. Feature ideas go to Discussions.

Translations happen on Weblate, which hosts this project for free. Thank you!

If the app is useful to you, you can support it on Liberapay.

License

GNU Affero General Public License v3.0, see LICENSE.