
Ask HN: Does anyone else, other than myself, need a secure note app? - VuongN
Hi friends,<p>I&#x27;m working on a secure note taking&#x2F;saving app. Think Evernote + Wunderlist + 1Password with a hardy layer of encryption combined with a unique(?) way of note discoverability&#x2F;consumption.<p>I&#x27;m an engineer so I tend to just dive in, prototype and code.  I&#x27;ve been focusing on the core key management system, pretty far along (I think).  Then for some reason, today, I woke up and realized: &quot;shoot! do people really want this stuff?&quot; Because, not to offending anyone here, but good key management stuff is pretty hard core work and requires a little bit more time &amp; attention than the usual engineering project (at least for me).<p>My wife and I need this for our own purpose and I promised my wife I&#x27;d build it for her (heh!).  So I guess, I&#x27;ll ask an honest question, without any ulterior intention here: does anyone else need this? I would love and appreciate any thought one way or another about this.<p>Thanks,<p>-V.
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kjksf
I also work on a note-taking application and my thoughts are: ability to have
secure notes is somewhat important but it's not important enough to make it a
primary benefit.

Your app would have to be great at non-secure notes AND have an option to add
secure notes.

Evernote, btw, does support secure (encrypted) notes. They have a lousy UI for
them but the option is there.

If you don't think that your app is better in at least some ways than existing
note-taking apps, that having secure notes will not make a difference.

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VuongN
EDIT: You did launch your note app. Congratulations! I would to hear more
about QuickNotes if you have a chance.

You make a good point. Having worked in consumer & enterprise security space,
I can definitely confirm that security is indeed a very VERY difficult thing
to sell. It's a chronic pain killer often-time conceived as a vitamin. I
wasn't planning on pushing the security aspect of it, but yeah, engineering
habit--I get excited about tech and forget that most people don't find it as
as fascinating hah.

I sincerely hope you launch your note app. I think there's a reason why there
are so many of them out there. No one has gotten it right yet. I thought
Evernote did a pretty good job as conquering the market, but I think there's
enough individuality, because I think that's what it is, everyone captures and
consumes notes differently. We can certainly carve out a niches :)

Good luck!

-V.

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duncan_bayne
Yes. But I rolled my own out of pre-existing software:

* Emacs (desktop / laptop editor)

* Orgzly (Android editor)

* org-mode (the note mechanism itself)

* Unison (for file sync)

* Ubuntu LTS + OpenSSH (on the file server)

Happy to provide more detail if you're interested.

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VuongN
Hi Duncan. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Yeah, I currently use multiple
tools to manage my stuff as well but it's starting to feel like playing lego
with tools. As much as I love to play around with lego, I'm getting tired of
jumping from app to app to just handle a couple of "seemingly related" tasks
to me. Not to mention usability and collaboration isn't without much friction.
If anything, I need a tool that I can tell my wife: "here, use this, write
your note and secure your passwords here" instead of scattering them
everywhere.

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vldx
Slightly different, but however - I've been journaling daily for the past 4
years. It turned out it's a healthy habit. I'm writing to myself and I would
be really happy knowing that my thoughts are secure. There's nothing to hide,
but knowing that probably helps you being more direct and upfront with
yourself. As far as I know, Day One are planning to roll out encryption this
year.

~~~
VuongN
Thanks for getting back to me. Wow, Day One looks like an amazing app. I would
certainly use it if my needs were simply journaling AND I can read their key
management system specs. For some reason, I'm stilling writing on a notebook
when it comes to private thoughts--just a force of habit I suppose. I think
I'm like you, I would probably be more honest if I know what I write is going
to be for my eyes only.

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CiPHPerCoder
I've always just used encrypted pastebins, e.g.
[https://defuse.ca/b/](https://defuse.ca/b/)

