Being a quiet software company A user on our Slack, and some on reddit, have asked us why we've been sort of quiet on progress. Why no new blog posts? Why no new major releases? Why the seemingly dismissive attitude towards feature requests? Here was my response, and here's
The 120 Day Update A little bit of sunshine has graced us this week, and after a few months of heavy bunkering in our winter den, we emerge energized and with news. Here are things we've released or have been working on over the last 120 days: The
Why is X feature paid and not free? To better answer that question, we'll take a small look back at our history, and alternatives we could have entertained. In terms of achieving sustainability by collecting payment from our users directly (instead of say, advertisers), two popular models come to mind: a. The
The 3.0 Update Standard Notes 3.0 for desktop and web introduces a more refined experience, combined with quality-of-life improvements that are sure to delight. Here's what's new: Introducing Privileges.Privileges allow you to require your account password or local passcode to perform certain actions in the
Encrypt your Dropbox and Google Drive with Standard Notes FileSafe Users depend on Standard Notes for their most important creations, from notes on projects, to credentials and passwords, to thoughts, ideas, and the entire spectrum of output from their life’
Bye-Bye Mailchimp Some time ago, a user, in response to an email we sent out to everyone outlining some new app updates, said that he did not feel comfortable with us using
Editors on Mobile and Desktop Highlighting Some said this day would never come. Others have doubted its overall feasibility. But it's here. And it's great. Editors are now available on mobile. No more unrendered Markdown, HTML, or tasks. Your favorite Extended editors are automatically available in the latest version of
Introducing two-factor authentication and offline extensions Let's get right to it: we have a new update (v2.1), and it's probably our most important one yet. Here's what's new: 1. Two-factor authentication. 2FA will have you
Automatic Backups, Simple Task Editor, and a Solarized Theme. A quick few announcements: 1. We added automatic local backups in Desktop v2.0.3. Backups are an important part of our 100-year plan. They protect you and us from the unexpected and catastrophic. Now in the latest version of the Standard Notes desktop
Enhanced security with Device Storage Encryption Last week we introduced a new security feature called Device Storage Encryption (DSE) for iOS, Android, Web, and Desktop. We mentioned briefly how in addition to the already end-to-end encrypted sync Standard Notes provides, DSE can further safeguard your data by making sure unencrypted
Introducing our new Android, iOS, and Desktop apps. A letter to our users: Dear note lovers and encryption lovers, We know you love notes. And the secure feeling a private online life gives you. So, we made something for you. I think you're going to like it. A powerful new notes app
The Unexpected Benefits of Encrypted Writing Let's admit, shall we, that freedom has to have its own space. I've spent about the last decade of my life developing tools for note taking and file management, the most important of which is an encrypted note-taking app. And when I talk to
Announcing Our Security Audit Results A few months ago, we hired an independent security research firm to conduct an audit on the encryption specification used by Standard Notes. In building out our product, we spent a lot of time making sure our encryption is as strong and fool-proof as
Introducing Components for Standard Notes We're excited to announce the launch of four new powerful extensions that take your simple Standard Notes experience to a new level. We decided early on that simplicity is the
Don't be fooled: Metadata is the real data In a crime case, investigators don't have access to "the truth"—the data, if you will. All they have are clues which can be put together to make as perfect a guess as possible as to what the nature of the truth is. Metadata.
Building Standard Notes to be long-lasting It's the greatest love story of all: you find an app that you absolutely love. It solves all your problems. And it makes your life better. It's a fairytale and the both of you live happily ever-after. Except, it never quite happens like that
In Silicon Valley, Software Uses You Microsoft announced recently that it would be shutting down Wunderlist, a popular todo app it acquired just two years ago. Millions of users who have depended on the intricacies of
VPNs Are Absolutely a Solution to a Policy Problem The internet is simply a series of computers connected through wires. The computers are owned by everyone—you, me, companies, and governments. When I access a website, my computer routes
Why simplicity is the only way forward Engineering Standard Notes to be "un-elaborate" was anything but easy for us. In an era where software degrades by the day and the life expectancy of the apps we use is anything but ideal, getting our software simple took time. We were slow pokes
Encryption Makes a Better World Changing the nature of governance through encryption. The newest revelations about the extent of CIA hacking tell us one thing: encryption works. The spy agency has had to resort to
The Privacy Revolution That Never Came There is a war waging today, and shots are being fired through the wire. You make your move. They make theirs. Who’s winning? The ones trying harder of course.
Privacy is Power Why the fight for privacy matters. The desk I’m typing this on is a little wobbly. I adjusted the legs yesterday to be a little shorter after noticing the
Moving beyond localStorage It’s hard to believe that as of 2016, the best method for offline storage in a web app was localStorage, a simple string-only key value store with a 5mb
