Local-first notes for iPhone, Android, and the web
Private thoughts, quietly yours.
PocketNotes is a calm, private notes app. It works fully offline, needs no account, and everything you write stays on your device — unless you choose to sync.
The Obsidian alternative that isn’t stuck in markdown
Obsidian is superb for markdown power users. PocketNotes keeps the same principles — local-first, private, yours — and wraps them in an editor anyone can use.
| Capability | PocketNotes | Obsidian |
|---|---|---|
| Editing | True WYSIWYG blocks — what you see is the note | Markdown-first, syntax on screen |
| Media | Photos, collages, and PDFs as first-class blocks | Attachments and plugins |
| Getting started | Open the app and write — no account, no setup | Vaults, settings, and plugin configuration |
| Related notes | A semantic map of your notes, private to you | Graph of manual links |
| Sync | One switch, one plan | Paid add-on or DIY |
Everything a notes app should do. Nothing it shouldn’t.
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A real editor
Blocks for text, checklists, lists, quotes, tables, and callouts. No syntax to learn — the note on screen is the note.
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Media that belongs
Photos, carousels, and collages sit inside your notes. PDFs open and render entirely on your device.
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Works offline. Always.
Not “offline mode” — offline first. Planes, basements, dead zones: your notes never notice.
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Finds what you meant
Full-text search across everything, plus a private map of related notes — connections you didn’t hand-link.
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Tidy by default
Folders, tags, pinning, and archive. Deleted notes wait in the trash for 30 days before they’re gone.
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Never locked in
Import your existing Markdown. Export any note — or everything — as Markdown in a ZIP.
Private by design, not by promise
- Your notes live on your device by default. No account required — the app never asks who you are.
- Sync is opt-in and yours to switch off. Nothing leaves your device until you say so.
- Sharing will always be a deliberate act: share links are created by you and revoked by you — never public by default.
- The semantic map of your notes lives only on your device. It is built with your explicit consent, and the map never leaves your device.
- End-to-end encryption for your most sensitive notes is on the roadmap.
Start writing. That’s the whole setup.
PocketNotes on the web arrives first — free to try, no account needed. The iPhone and Android apps follow at launch.
Open the web app