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Notes (PFA)

(SECUSO) Notes App with minimal permissions and without advertising
Privacy Friendly Notes allows you to take and manage notes on Android devices. It belongs to the Privacy Friendly Apps group developed by the research group SECUSO at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. More information can be found an secuso.org/pfa

The following four types of notes are available:
1. Simple text notes
2. Checklist notes
3. Audio notes
4. Sketchnotes

Furthermore, the notes can be grouped into categories, reminders can be assigned to notes and the notes can be exported to the device storage.

How does Privacy Friendly Notes from other similar apps?

1. Minimal Permissions
The permission "RECORD_AUDIO" (Category "Mikrofon") is required to record audio notes. In case this permission is not granted by the user (in Android versions higher than 6) it will not be possible to record audio notes.

"WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" (Category "Speicher") is used to export notes to the device storage. In case this permission is not granted by the user (in Android versions higher than 6) it will not be possible to export notes.

Beside the permissions above the permission “RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED” (Category “Normal/non-critical”) is required to reschedule notifications after a reboot. This permission cannot be modified by the user.

For comparison: The Top Ten of similar apps from the Google Play Store , die im Google Play Store requires an average of 11,7 permissions (in December 2016). These are for instance the location permission or the permissions to access, modify or delete storage.

2. No advertisement
Moreover, Privacy Friendly Notes distinguishes from many other applications in the way that it completely relinquishes advertisements. Advertisement might track a user's actions. It could also shorten battery life or use mobile data.

You can reach us via
Twitter - @SECUSOResearch https://twitter.com/secusoresearch
Mastodon - @SECUSO_Research@bawü.social https://xn--baw-joa.social/@SECUSO_Research/
Job opening - https://secuso.aifb.kit.edu/english/Job_Offers_1557.php
  • app screenshot
  • app screenshot
  • app screenshot

Versions

Although APK downloads are available below to give you the choice, you should be aware that by installing that way you will not receive update notifications and it's a less secure way to download. We recommend that you install the F-Droid client and use that.

Download F-Droid
  • Version 2.0.2 (21) suggested Added on Oct 30, 2024

    This version requires Android 5.0 or newer.

    It is built by F-Droid and guaranteed to correspond to this source tarball.

    Permissions
    • show notifications
      Allows the app to show notifications
    • run at startup
      Allows the app to have itself started as soon as the system has finished booting. This can make it take longer to start the phone and allow the app to slow down the overall phone by always running.
    • record audio
      This app can record audio using the microphone while the app is in use.
    • Schedule precisely timed actions
      This app can schedule work to happen at a desired time in the future. This also means that the app can run when you're not actively using the device.
    • org.secuso.privacyfriendlynotes.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION

    Download APK 6.2 MiB PGP Signature | Build Log

  • Version 2.0.1 (20) - Added on Sep 25, 2024

    This version requires Android 5.0 or newer.

    It is built by F-Droid and guaranteed to correspond to this source tarball.

    Permissions
    • show notifications
      Allows the app to show notifications
    • run at startup
      Allows the app to have itself started as soon as the system has finished booting. This can make it take longer to start the phone and allow the app to slow down the overall phone by always running.
    • record audio
      This app can record audio using the microphone while the app is in use.
    • Schedule precisely timed actions
      This app can schedule work to happen at a desired time in the future. This also means that the app can run when you're not actively using the device.
    • org.secuso.privacyfriendlynotes.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION

    Download APK 6.2 MiB PGP Signature | Build Log

  • Version 2.0.0 (19) - Added on Sep 12, 2024

    This version requires Android 5.0 or newer.

    It is built by F-Droid and guaranteed to correspond to this source tarball.

    Permissions
    • show notifications
      Allows the app to show notifications
    • run at startup
      Allows the app to have itself started as soon as the system has finished booting. This can make it take longer to start the phone and allow the app to slow down the overall phone by always running.
    • record audio
      This app can record audio using the microphone while the app is in use.
    • Schedule precisely timed actions
      This app can schedule work to happen at a desired time in the future. This also means that the app can run when you're not actively using the device.
    • org.secuso.privacyfriendlynotes.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION

    Download APK 6.0 MiB PGP Signature | Build Log