anotepad

Anotepad

Anotepad is a simple Android note app that works with real text files in a folder you choose on your device. Notes stay as plain .txt files, so they are easy to open, copy, back up, and edit outside the app.

Get it on Google Play

What the app is for

Anotepad is built for people who want fast plain-text notes without a closed database format.

You choose one folder on your phone, and the app works directly inside it:

• create notes
• create subfolders
• browse files and folders
• search through notes
• optional sync with Google Drive

The app works locally even without an account or cloud sync.

What you can do in the app

Organize notes in folders

• Pick your main folder once and change it later if needed.
• Create new notes in the current folder.
• Create subfolders and move deeper into them.
• Delete, rename, copy, move files and folders.

Work with plain text files

• Notes are stored as .txt files.
• Only text files are shown in the app.
• Files stay readable outside Anotepad in any editor or file manager.

Browse notes in two ways

• List view for a compact file list.
• Feed view for reading note previews one after another.
• Change the note list font size.
• Sort files from A to Z or from Z to A.

Open and edit notes quickly

• Create a note from the top toolbar or the floating action button.
• Auto-save while editing or save manually.
• Save when the app goes to the background.
• Undo and redo changes.
• Show links inside notes:
  • web links
  • email addresses
  • phone numbers
• Open notes in read mode if you do not want the keyboard to appear immediately.
• Change the editor font size.

Let the first line become the file name

• New notes get a file name automatically.
• The app can keep the file name synced with the first line of the note.
• Shared notes keep a timestamp-based file name until you edit them.

Use date and time templates

• Insert the current date or time into a note with one tap using templates.
• Manage your own date/time templates.
• Automatically insert a chosen template when creating a new note (on by default)

Search inside notes

• Search through notes in the current folder and its subfolders.
• Use normal or regex text search.
• Open a note directly from the search results.
• See a short text snippet for each match.

Share text into Anotepad

• Send text from another app to Anotepad through Android Share.
• The app creates a note in the Shared folder automatically.
• If the Shared folder does not exist yet, Anotepad creates it for you.
• Shared notes start with a timestamp-based title on the first line and keep the timestamp-based file name until the first edit.

Share notes out of the app

• Share a note with other apps.
• Share folders through the Android share menu when supported by the device.

Get help inside the app

• On first use, the app shows short toolbar tips so the main actions are easier to discover.
• If folder access is lost, the app asks you to choose the folder again.

Google Drive sync

Google Drive sync is optional and mainly meant for backing up your notes and keeping them available across devices that also use Anotepad.

If you enable it, you can:

• sign in with your Google account
• let the app find or create its Drive folder
• connect to an existing Drive folder
• disconnect the current Drive folder
• run sync manually
• enable auto sync on app start
• pause sync temporarily
• ignore deletions that come from Drive

How sync works

Why this approach? Due to Google’s API limitations, the app was designed to request access only to the folder you choose, not all your files.

Here’s how it works:

• Limited scope: The app can only access the folder you explicitly select on Google Drive.

• Only sees its own files: The app only tracks files it created or synced. If you add new files to the Drive folder from another device or manually, Anotepad won’t sync them.

• Syncs existing files: You can modify existing files directly on Google Drive (including from another device with Anotepad installed), and the app will see and sync those changes.

• Conflict handling: If the same file changes both locally and on Drive since the last sync, the app creates a copy with a conflict ... prefix to prevent data loss. You can then decide which version to keep.

Settings overview

Storage

• Main folder
• Change folder

File browser

• File list font size
• File sorting: A to Z or Z to A

Editor

• Auto-save
• Editor font size
• Autolink web
• Autolink email
• Autolink phone
• Open notes in read mode
• Sync title with file name

New note

• Auto-insert template
• Template text or date/time pattern for new notes

Date/time templates

• Open template manager
• Add templates
• Edit templates
• Delete templates

Sync

• Enable Google Drive sync
• Sign in / sign out
• Connect or disconnect Drive folder
• Sync now
• Pause sync
• Auto sync on start
• Ignore deletions from Drive

Privacy and permissions

Anotepad is local-first. Network access is only needed for Google Drive sync and Google sign-in.

Useful links:

• Privacy Policy
• Account deletion

Limitations

• The app works with plain text notes only.
• Other file types are ignored.
• There is no encryption built into the app.

Android version

• Android 10 and newer

License

Licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.

Trademark policy: see TRADEMARK.md.

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