Notes (Privacy Friendly)
(SECUSO) Notes App with minimal permissions and without advertising
- Developer
- SECUSO - Security Usability Society
- License
- GPL-3.0-or-later
- Package
org.secuso.privacyfriendlynotes- Category
- Note, Writing
- Latest version
- 2.2.2 · Jun 18, 2026
- Minimum Android
- Android 5.0
Screenshots
Description
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 require 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
Bluesky - @secusoresearch.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/secusoresearch.bsky.social
Mastodon - @SECUSO_Research@bawü.social https://xn--baw-joa.social/@SECUSO_Research/
Job opening - https://secuso.aifb.kit.edu/english/Job_Offers.php
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 require 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
Bluesky - @secusoresearch.bsky.social https://bsky.app/profile/secusoresearch.bsky.social
Mastodon - @SECUSO_Research@bawü.social https://xn--baw-joa.social/@SECUSO_Research/
Job opening - https://secuso.aifb.kit.edu/english/Job_Offers.php
All versions
| Version | Released | Minimum Android | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.2.2 | Jun 18, 2026 | Android 5.0 | 8.1 MB |
| 2.2.1 | Jun 1, 2026 | Android 5.0 | 8.1 MB |
| 2.1.1 | Nov 7, 2025 | Android 5.0 | 8.1 MB |
| 2.1.0 | Nov 3, 2025 | Android 5.0 | 8.1 MB |
| 2.0.5 | Aug 10, 2025 | Android 5.0 | 8 MB |
| 2.0.4 | Apr 25, 2025 | Android 5.0 | 8 MB |
| 2.0.3 | Dec 9, 2024 | Android 5.0 | 6.2 MB |
| 2.0.2 | Oct 30, 2024 | Android 5.0 | 6.2 MB |
| 2.0.1 | Sep 25, 2024 | Android 5.0 | 6.2 MB |
| 2.0.0 | Sep 12, 2024 | Android 5.0 | 6 MB |
| 1.4.5 | Jan 15, 2024 | Android 5.0 | 5.7 MB |
| 1.4.4 | Nov 5, 2023 | Android 5.0 | 5.7 MB |
| 1.4.2 | May 12, 2023 | Android 5.0 | 5 MB |
| 1.4.1 | Dec 3, 2022 | Android 5.0 | 5 MB |
| 1.4.0 | Nov 24, 2022 | Android 5.0 | 5 MB |
| 1.3.0 | Aug 29, 2022 | Android 5.0 | 4.9 MB |
| 1.2.5 | Aug 11, 2022 | Android 5.0 | 4.9 MB |
| 1.2.4 | Aug 11, 2022 | Android 5.0 | 4.9 MB |
| 1.2.3 | Aug 9, 2022 | Android 5.0 | 4.9 MB |
| 1.2.2 | Aug 7, 2022 | Android 5.0 | 4.9 MB |
| 1.1.1 | Aug 4, 2022 | Android 5.0 | 4.9 MB |
| 1.1.0 | Jul 28, 2022 | Android 5.0 | 4.9 MB |
| 1.0.2 | Feb 3, 2021 | Android 5.0 | 3.6 MB |
| 1.0.1 | Dec 15, 2016 | Android 4.2 | 2 MB |
| 1.0 | Nov 26, 2016 | Android 4.2 | 2 MB |
How to install an older version of an Android app · How to install an APK file on Android
From the developer (GitHub)
APK files published by the developer on GitHub. They are signed by the developer and may not install over the other builds on this page (different signature). Links open github.com.
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