There are a lot of writing and note apps, and their feature lists look alike. In practice the choice comes down to two questions: where what you wrote physically sits, and how far the app gets out of your way. The rest is detail you stop noticing after a week.
Below is a comparison with the three apps people most often weigh Loknot against: Obsidian, Simplenote and iA Writer.
The comparison that matters
The table sticks to stable traits. Pricing and feature sets change often; "does it need an account" and "whose files are these" almost never do.
| Loknot | Obsidian | Simplenote | iA Writer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where notes live | On the device only, database encrypted | Markdown files in your folder | On the service's servers | Files in a folder or cloud you choose |
| Account | Not required | Not required for local use | Required | Not required |
| Price | Free | Free for personal use, sync is a paid add-on | Free | Paid app |
| Platforms | Android | Android, iOS, desktop | Android, iOS, web, desktop | No Android; iOS, Mac, Windows |
| Notes encrypted | Yes, database and backups on device | No, plain files | No | No, plain files |
| Open source | No | No | Yes, the clients | No |
| Writing tools | Focus mode, typewriter, word goal, timer | Through plugins | None | Focus mode, parts-of-speech highlighting |
If you're looking at Obsidian
Obsidian is the closest to Loknot in spirit: the files are yours, everything works offline, notes link to each other. The difference is what the interface was built for.
Obsidian grew up on the desktop, and the mobile app mirrors the desktop one. On a phone you feel it: pick a vault, wait for indexing, work out the plugins.
Loknot was built from the other end, starting at the phone. It opens straight into an empty note with the keyboard already up: focus mode, a word goal, a timer, and an encrypted database — which plain files in an open folder cannot give you.
Pick Obsidian if the desktop is where the work happens and
you want the graph, the plugins and full control of the files. Pick Loknot
if you mostly write on a phone and want what you write shut away. Moving later is fine:
export to .md preserves wiki links in the
same syntax.
If you're looking at Simplenote
People pick Simplenote for the same reason they pick Loknot — minimalism. But minimalism there means an absence of features: it is a plain text field. There are no writing tools — no goal-tracking counter, no timer, no typewriter mode. And no links between notes.
The second difference matters more: Simplenote is built around a cloud. An account is required and notes sit on the service's servers without end-to-end encryption. Loknot is built the other way round, around the device: notes go nowhere, no account is needed, and the database and backups are encrypted.
Pick Simplenote if you want short notes everywhere plus web access. Pick Loknot if you write long-form rather than two-line notes, and want what you wrote to stay on the phone.
If you were looking for iA Writer on Android
The short answer: there is no iA Writer for Android. It ships on iOS, Mac and Windows, so you can't use it on an Android phone — which is exactly why people who tried it on another device come looking.
What's worth carrying over is not the program but the approach: writing with nothing on screen except the text. Loknot is built on the same principle. The status bar disappears while you type, typewriter mode keeps the current line centred, and a word count, a goal and a 1–60 minute timer help you finish a session rather than abandon it.
Pick iA Writer if you write on an iPhone, a Mac or Windows and are happy to pay. Pick Loknot if you write on Android: it's the closest thing in spirit, and it's free and keeps drafts protected.
What Loknot does not include
- iPhone or iPad version. This is planned for the future.
- The work happens on a computer. The desktop version for Windows is in development and hasn't shipped.
- Web version. Notes don't open in a browser, preserving the principle “your notes — on your device”.
- Plugins and a graph view. Neither exists.
- You need collaboration. No sharing and no comments: this is a personal notebook.
How to move your notes across
Nothing needs retyping: Loknot imports notes from Obsidian, Simplenote and other apps, folders and tags included. The per-app steps are in Move in from another app.
A sensible way to try it: bring a copy across, use it for a week, then decide. Your notes stay in the old app — importing deletes nothing from it.
Common questions
Which one is best for writing on Android?
Of these, only Loknot, Obsidian and Simplenote run on Android — iA Writer has no Android version. For long-form writing on the phone itself, Loknot fits: focus mode, a word goal, a timer and typewriter mode. Simplenote has no writing tools at all, and Obsidian is more powerful but its mobile app mirrors the desktop one, so it takes longer to start writing.
Can I use Loknot and Obsidian together?
There's no direct sync, but file exchange works: Loknot exports to .md with the same double-square-bracket wiki links, and its import reads Obsidian notes. Plenty of people work that way — capture on the phone, process on the computer.
What happens to my notes if Loknot stops being developed?
The notes stay on the device and keep opening: there is no server the app depends on. At any point you can export everything to .md, .txt or .html and take a file backup.
Test mode. To install the app, first join the Loknot testers group.
There's an overview on the features page, and the settings are covered in the guide.
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