The BEST Private Notetaking Apps Explained
Summary
TLDRThis video script explores five privacy-respecting digital note-taking apps that prioritize data ownership and security, offering alternatives to mainstream options. It emphasizes the importance of end-to-end encryption and user control over data. Apps featured include Craft, Notally, Apple Notes, Joplin, and Standard Notes, with honorable mentions to Signal's Note to Self, Crypti, and Nextcloud. The top pick is Obsidian, lauded for its customization and data ownership as a personal knowledge base.
Takeaways
- 🔐 Digital note-taking apps vary greatly in their approach to privacy and security, with many popular apps lacking adequate protections.
- 📜 Note-taking can reveal intimate details about a person's beliefs and preferences, making privacy a critical concern.
- 🔒 End-to-end encryption is essential for keeping digital notes secure, similar to locking physical journals in a safe.
- 📂 Data ownership is a key issue; if your data is on a server you don't own, the server owner can potentially claim ownership.
- 📱 Craft is a mainstream app with a strong stance on data ownership and a user-friendly interface.
- 📝 Notally and Apple Notes are recommended for basic, offline mobile note-taking, with Notally available on both Android and iOS.
- 🧪 Joplin is a privacy-respecting, open-source app that supports Markdown and offers end-to-end encryption for cloud syncing.
- 🔗 Standard Notes is a fully open-source, freemium app with end-to-end encryption and extensive features for paying users.
- 🧠 Obsidian is a highly customizable, cross-platform note-taking app that supports local storage and end-to-end encryption for cloud syncing.
- 🌐 Honorable mentions include Signal's Note to Self feature for basic encrypted notes and Crypti and Nextcloud for private cloud storage with note-taking capabilities.
Q & A
What is the primary concern regarding note-taking apps in terms of privacy?
-The primary concern is that many popular note-taking apps do not adequately protect user privacy and security, potentially exposing intimate details about a person's beliefs, preferences, and struggles.
Why is data ownership and safety important when discussing digital note-taking?
-Data ownership and safety are important because they ensure that the user has control over their data and that it is protected, similar to how a physical journal or document is secured with a lock.
What does end-to-end encryption mean in the context of digital note-taking apps?
-End-to-end encryption means that the data is encrypted in such a way that only the user has the key to decrypt it, ensuring that the data remains private and secure even when stored on a cloud server.
What is Craft, and why is it included in the list of privacy-respecting apps?
-Craft is a mainstream note-taking app that is included because of its strong public stance on data ownership and accessibility, offering a clear explanation of these concepts and a commitment to ensuring the end user owns their data.
Why are Notally and Apple Notes recommended for offline mobile notes?
-Notally and Apple Notes are recommended for offline mobile notes because they provide a simple and clean user interface, support for essential features like labels and archiving, and do not require syncing with a cloud service, thus maintaining privacy.
What is Joplin, and how does it differ from other note-taking apps?
-Joplin is an open-source note-taking app that serves as a privacy-respecting alternative to mainstream apps like Evernote. It supports markdown, rich text, and web clipping, and offers end-to-end encryption for syncing notes to cloud services.
What is unique about Standard Notes, and what does its extended upgrade offer?
-Standard Notes is a fully open-source, freemium note-taking service that emphasizes longevity and offers end-to-end encryption, web and offline access, and syncing between devices. The extended upgrade offers additional features like themes, multiple editors, encrypted backups, and 2FA support.
What are the honorable mentions mentioned in the script, and what do they offer?
-The honorable mentions are Signal's 'Note to Self' feature and the combination of Crypti and XCloud. Signal's 'Note to Self' offers basic note functionality with end-to-end encryption. Crypti and XCloud are private cloud storage services that also include note-taking options, with features like end-to-end encryption and support for various document types.
What is Obsidian, and why is it considered the top choice among the apps discussed?
-Obsidian is a cross-platform app that serves as a personal knowledge base or 'second brain.' It is considered the top choice due to its focus on privacy, data ownership, customization options, and strong community support, including access to community themes and plugins on GitHub.
How does Obsidian handle data storage and privacy?
-Obsidian stores all files locally on the user's device in the universal markdown format, making them private and portable. It also offers cloud syncing services with end-to-end encryption to ensure data privacy.
What are the key features of the apps mentioned in the script, and how do they contribute to privacy and data ownership?
-The key features include end-to-end encryption, offline functionality, data ownership policies, and customization options. These features contribute to privacy and data ownership by ensuring that user data is secure, under the user's control, and can be easily managed and protected.
Outlines
🔒 Privacy in Digital Note-Taking Apps
This paragraph introduces the importance of privacy in digital note-taking, highlighting the intimate nature of notes and the need to protect them from prying eyes. It emphasizes the lack of privacy and security in many popular note-taking apps and introduces the concept of end-to-end encryption and data ownership as key to safeguarding personal data. The paragraph sets the stage for a discussion on five privacy-respecting note-taking apps that prioritize user data security and ownership.
📝 Exploring Privacy-Respecting Note-Taking Apps
The second paragraph delves into the features and benefits of five specific digital note-taking apps that prioritize privacy. It starts with Craft, which is praised for its clear stance on data ownership and accessibility. The paragraph then mentions Notally and Apple Notes as excellent options for offline mobile notes, with Notally being minimalistic and Apple Notes offering rich text and multimedia support. Joplin is introduced as a veteran open-source app supporting markdown and rich text, with end-to-end encryption for syncing. Standard Notes is highlighted as a fully open-source service with end-to-end encryption, offline access, and no device or note limits. The paragraph concludes with honorable mentions of Signal's 'Note to Self' feature for basic functionality and Crypti and Nextcloud for those seeking more comprehensive cloud storage and note-taking solutions.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Digital Note-Taking
💡Privacy
💡Encryption
💡Data Ownership
💡Craft
💡Notably
💡Apple Notes
💡Joplin
💡Standard Notes
💡Obsidian
💡End-to-End Encryption
Highlights
The importance of privacy in digital note-taking and the risks of mainstream apps not protecting user data.
Encryption and data ownership are key to keeping notes secure, with end-to-end encryption being the digital equivalent of a locked safe.
Craft is highlighted for its commitment to data ownership and accessibility, despite being a mainstream app.
Apple Notes and Notally are recommended for offline mobile notes, with Notally offering a minimalist UI and Apple Notes improving with rich text support.
Joplin is praised as a privacy-respecting alternative to Evernote, supporting markdown and rich text with end-to-end encryption for cloud syncing.
Standard Notes is an open-source, freemium service with end-to-end encryption and no limits on devices or notes.
The extended upgrade for Standard Notes offers additional features like themes, multiple editors, and encrypted backups.
Signal's 'Note to Self' feature is an end-to-end encrypted, minimalist note-taking option for those who prefer fewer apps.
Crypti and Nextcloud are both private cloud storage services with integrated note-taking capabilities and end-to-end encryption.
Obsidian is introduced as the top pick, a cross-platform app for building a personal knowledge base with extensive customization.
Obsidian's files are stored locally in markdown format, ensuring privacy and portability.
Obsidian Sync offers end-to-end encryption for cloud syncing, providing an alternative to iCloud.
The community support for Obsidian is highlighted, with themes and plugins available on GitHub for maximum functionality.
Craft is commended for its user-friendly interface and strong stance on data ownership.
Notally and Apple Notes are recommended for basic, offline mobile note-taking needs.
Joplin is recognized as a veteran in private note-taking with support for markdown and rich text.
Standard Notes is noted for its longevity focus and the additional features offered by its extended upgrade.
Obsidian's flexibility is emphasized, allowing it to be as simple or as feature-rich as the user desires.
Transcripts
digital note-taking unless you're a
productivity nerd this topic probably
sounds just as sexy as an unsolicited
background from a stranger true story
note-taking is an intimate activity that
can reveal endless details about a
person's beliefs preferences and
struggles so keeping this information
safe from curious eyes is critical to
protecting your privacy yet so many
popular note-taking apps do nothing to
protect your privacy and security
[Music]
this video will cover five privacy
respecting digital note-taking apps that
offer better privacy than mainstream
applications with a few creative
honorable mentions the order is
subjective so just make sure to try each
app yourself to see what suits you best
first though it's important to cover
encryption and data ownership in yield
in times people kept physical journals
and paper documents these items are the
property of that person and it's their
job to keep them safe which may have
involved an actual safe with a lock fast
forward to 2021 where most of these
notes have migrated to the digital space
here data ownership and safety of said
data is more convoluted than zuck's
senate hearing answers in short ends and
encryption is the equivalent of locking
your journal or documents inside a safe
that you own the only key to only this
key can decrypt your data and losing the
key means your data becomes inaccessible
most apps don't utilize this form of
encryption so the safety of your data is
up in the air at best there's also the
issue of data ownership if your data
lives on a server you don't own the
owner of said server can claim ownership
of your data no system is foolproof but
as a general rule of thumb you want to
make sure any data you're uploading to
the cloud is protected with end-to-end
encryption and the company has clear
policies on data ownership something we
are prioritizing for this video with
that said let's jump into the apps app
number five is craft which is the most
mainstream app on this list so why is it
here in the first place if it's
mainstream it's because of craft's
strong public stance on data ownership
and accessibility this page is just
awesome it explains these concepts in
everyday language and why it's a
priority to them to help deliver on this
principle they recently released a web
version of craft in addition to their
apple apps and intend to create one for
android in the future you better while
the app itself may not be open source we
still applaud kraft for working hard to
ensure the end user owns their data even
if that means moving it away from craft
entirely if you want a mainstream app
with a beautiful ui and lots of features
this is our top pick at number four hold
your comments is a two for one special
you're welcome notably in apple notes
yes stay with us these apps are both
excellent for offline mobile notes we
generally do not recommend icloud if you
couldn't tell so if all you need is a
basic notes app for simple tasks like a
grocery list these are both great for
that use case notally can be found on f
droid and the google play store and
apple notes ships with all iphones
notably has a clean minimalist ui with
support for labels archiving and a few
settings to customize note viewing it's
basic and if that's what you need this
app is good over on ios apple notes has
improved a lot over the years now
supporting rich text note sharing
sketching photos documents etc since it
natively ships with iphones and as long
as you turn icloud syncing off this is
not a bad out-of-the-box solution for
offline mobile notes on ios app number
three is joplin a veteran in the private
note-taking space joplin is a foss
kraft's platform note-taking app that
serves as a privacy respecting
alternative to digital notebook apps
like evernote it supports markdown and
rich text web clipping via their browser
extension and can be customized with
various themes and plugins to suit your
needs it can be used offline without an
account or you can sync your notes to
cloud services like dropbox normally
this would be a privacy concern but
joplin offers end-to-end encryption to
mitigate this for a fee you can use
joplin cloud which allows for quicker
syncing collaboration and publishing
notes to the web if you can live without
those features joplin is 100 free and is
an excellent fast digital note-taking
alternative to mainstream offerings app
number two is standard notes standard
notes is a fully open source freemium
note-taking service with apps for every
major platform the free version includes
end-to-end encryption web and offline
access and syncing between devices with
no device or note limit standard notes
emphasizes longevity so the extended
upgrade is available for 2.48 per month
if you commit to a five year plan it
does have a 30 day money back guarantee
though for that price you get a lot
additional themes multiple editors for
everything from markdown to code editing
a token vault extension note history
encrypted backups 2fa support and more
though we are not fans of 2fa being
paywall it's like it took a page from
microsoft's book here but otherwise you
get everything you need in the free plan
with the extended upgrade offering to
cake icing
who made that mistake offering the icing
on the cake to support development
before revealing our number one service
let's go over those honorable mentions
the first honorable mention is signals
note to self feature my favorite if you
want as few apps on your phone as
possible and you don't need any of the
features supported by other apps we've
mentioned this might be what you're
looking for just like when you start any
other signal message note to self
supports end-to-end encryption by
default and it's what it sounds like
it's a message slash note you send to
yourself these pile up just like any
other message thread and can provide
basic functionality across your devices
with signal if that's all you need the
second honorable mention is another two
for one special crypti and xcloud are
both private cloud storage first
services that also include note-taking
options crypti is the new kit on the
fastblock with lots of charm and a
universal progressive web app that runs
on any device supports documents photos
and more with neat features like ghost
albums everything is ends and encrypted
and you get 100 megabytes of storage for
free with three paid upgrade options if
you need more gigabytes next cloud is
the go to foss recommendation for cloud
storage but it also has an entire suite
of apps that you can install including
next code notes mind map quick notes and
more the next cloud notes app
specifically supports markdown offers
organization through categories and has
mobile apps for both android and ios the
main draw here is the amount of trust or
lack thereof that's needed since next
cloud is generally self-hosted both of
these services are phenomenal options if
you need or want more functionality than
an app that focuses just strictly on
note-taking and finally we present to
you app number one obsidian a
cross-platform powerhouse limitless
possibilities obsidian's primary purpose
is to serve as a personal knowledge base
a concept that's been recently
popularized as a second brain the app
has improved rapidly in 2021 now with
apps for all major platforms and a
strong helpful community backing
obsidian has quickly become a gold
standard for privacy and data ownership
in the note-taking space all files are
stored locally on your device in the
universal markdown format making them
both private and portable obsidian is
completely free to use locally or with
cloud syncing services like icloud if
you want to avoid icloud as we strongly
do you can subscribe to obsidian sync
which supports end-to-end encryption of
your files obsidian natively supports
several plugins like bi-directional
linking a knowledge graph tags and more
the real power though is the community
support within the settings you'll find
community themes and plugins for maximum
customization and functionality and the
best part all community contributions
are available on github obsidian might
seem like overkill to some of you but
the beauty is it can be as overkill or
as minimal as you want so definitely
check it out to see if it works for you
and that's our list to summarize craft
has a mainstream ui with lots of
functionality as well as a strong stance
on data ownership and portability
notally and apple notes are great
offline mobile note apps joplin is the
tried and true og fast digital note
taking app standard notes is a simple
yet powerful app with a focus on
longevity and obsidian is the king of
customization and data ownership let us
know what your favorite note-taking or
writing app is in the comments below we
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