AbelNotes

AbelNotes is a handwriting notes app built for people who write equations — and who want full control over their data.

Your notes are local-first: everything works seamlessly offline, then syncs to the destination you pick — a WebDAV or Nextcloud server you run, or your own Google Drive. There is no AbelNotes account and no cloud of ours in between: your data stays on your device and on the service you chose. No tracking, ever.

Built for technical work
Real-time LaTeX math rendering: Search your equations directly by their source code.

PDF annotation: Import PDFs with selectable text and draw directly on top of pages.

8 paper types: Includes Cornell, isometric, music staff, and more.

Symbol library: Quick insertion of frequently used symbols.

A real drawing engine
Shape recognition (Shape Guessing): Draw freehand and the app automatically transforms your imperfect strokes into precise lines, circles, polygons, and geometric shapes.

Advanced tools: Multiple pen types with pressure sensitivity, highlighter, and lasso select.

Palm rejection: Native stylus support and "stylus-only" mode to prevent unwanted marks.

Total flexibility: Infinite canvas mode or paged notebooks.

Sync that respects you
Local-first: Write offline, sync begins as soon as you reconnect.

Delta sync: Only modified pages are uploaded to save bandwidth and time.

Conflict resolution: Real handling of simultaneous edits across multiple devices.

Your choice of destination: Your own Nextcloud, ownCloud, or any WebDAV server — or your own Google Drive.

Keep a notebook off the cloud: Any notebook can be marked to stay on this device and is never uploaded, while the rest keep syncing.

Free up space: Take a notebook off one device without leaving your account, and bring it back with a tap.

Private by design
No account required: No AbelNotes account, no sign-ups, no developer-hosted servers.

Zero tracking: No analytics, no cookies, no ads.

Advanced security: Your server password is saved in the device's secure Keystore and WebDAV connections use TLS with certificate pinning. Google Drive sign-in never gives the app a password, and it asks for one permission only — drive.file — so it can see the files it created and nothing else in your Drive.

Open Source
AbelNotes is released under the AGPL-3.0 license. You can inspect exactly how your data is handled or build the app yourself.

Source code: github.com/abelnotes/abelnotes

Your notes. Your cloud. Your rules.