Nextcloud Notes for Secure Note-Taking

Nextcloud Notes is a powerful tool for taking and organizing your notes securely. It allows you to sync your notes across all your devices, making it easy to access them wherever you go.

With Nextcloud Notes, you can create notes with various formats, including text, images, and audio recordings.

You can also collaborate with others on notes, making it a great tool for team projects or group work.

Nextcloud Notes is designed with security in mind, encrypting your notes with a password or two-factor authentication.

Nextcloud Notes is a sustainable and open-source option that allows you to write and note-take with reassurance that your data remains yours.

The Notes app is integrated into Nextcloud, which is a significant step forward in promoting more people to use open-source options.

You don't have to compromise your privacy with Nextcloud Notes, which is a big plus for those who value their data's security.

Nextcloud always aims to move people to more sustainable, open-source options, and integrating the Notes app is another way to achieve this goal.

By choosing Nextcloud Notes, you can rest assured that your notes, ideas, plans, and data remain in your control.

A different take: Nextcloud Alternative

Nextcloud Notes offers a range of features that make it an excellent note-taking tool.

With Nextcloud Notes, you can create notes in various formats, including plain text, rich text, and even Markdown.

The app also allows you to organize your notes using tags, making it easy to categorize and search for specific notes.

You can also add images and other media to your notes, which can be useful for keeping track of visual information.

The Nextcloud Notes app is free to use on both iOS and Android devices.

You can easily take notes on the go with a mobile-friendly note-taking experience.

The app has a beautiful, simple, and modern UI that makes it easy to use.

Seamless integration with Nextcloud is also a key feature, especially when using the Notes server app built into most public Nextcloud providers.

The specification of this feature is quite straightforward. It's completely free to use, with no hidden costs or fees.

The current version of the feature is 1.4.4, which suggests that it's been regularly updated and improved over time.

It's designed to work on Mac platforms, which is great news for users who prefer a Mac-based experience.

To use this feature, you'll need to have a few specific requirements in place, including OSX, Nextcloud, and the Nextcloud Notes App.

The developer behind this feature is Duncan Midwinter, who has clearly put a lot of thought and care into its creation.

The feature supports multiple languages, including English, Italian, German, Spanish, and French, making it a great option for users who speak different languages.

Here's a quick rundown of the feature's specifications:

Markdown support makes it easy to take notes in Nextcloud, as it's similar to using it on GitHub, where I already use Markdown. Markdown is a great format because it's easy to learn and use.

You can enable Markdown edit mode to edit your notes, which is a big plus over poorly designed WYSIWYG editing. Markdown takes very little effort to learn.

To create a code block in your notes, you can use triple backticks: ````. This is super helpful for taking notes on code.

For headings, you can use a line of equals signs or hyphens to create a heading. Unfortunately, the preview mode doesn't support HTML, which is a bit of a limitation.

To install and configure Nextcloud Notes, start by navigating to the "Apps" section in your Nextcloud, then enable the Notes app from the "Office" category.

In the Setup process, you'll need a NextCloud Server, which can be hosted yourself or used through existing services. You'll also need to install the NextCloud Client on any device you want to synchronize your notes, such as a laptop or smartphone.

The NextCloud Client allows you to select which folder to synchronize, so choose only the necessary ones, like the Notes folder. I recommend keeping both your laptop and smartphone in sync, especially if you want to take notes in the field easily.

Related reading: Nextcloud Setup

On your smartphone, you'll need to instruct the Client which folder to synchronize from the NextCloud server. This involves going to the "All Files" section, clicking on the Notes folder, and selecting "Sync" from the 3-dots menu.

To use Obsidian with Nextcloud Notes, you'll need to set up a vault that points to the folder where Nextcloud Client synchronizes the Notes. The location of this folder varies depending on your platform, but here are some examples:

Remember not to configure any Auto upload on top of the Sync setting, as this is enough to keep your files in sync.

Running your own hosted NextCloud is a great way to maintain control over your private assets, and it's not too much of a hassle. I've chosen to do it myself for that very reason.

NextCloud has a web-based note-taking app that's simple and gets the job done. It's a nice combination of being able to edit content online and having it stored in a folder.

The NextCloud Client is a tool that allows you to synchronize your notes and still keep them stored on your own server. I was pleasantly surprised to discover it, especially after having a bad experience with Google Drive synchronization in the past.

Synchronisation isn't always real-time, but it's not a deal-breaker. You can force the sync process manually by going to the Client and pressing Sync.

On a smartphone, if you create a new note, you need to let the Client know of its presence and upload it within the On device section. This isn't an automatic process.

The good news is that plugins installed in Obsidian on desktop are synchronised and used on Obsidian on mobile. This means you can enjoy the benefits of Markdown typing on mobile, while still having the overview and relations available on desktop.

Everything is stored in the same folder structure with plain Markdown files. This makes it easy to manage your notes across devices.

If you're experiencing issues with synchronisation, you might need to manually sync your notes. This can be done by pressing Sync in the Client.

Additional reading: Markdown Important Note