Frequently asked questions

Yes — the core app is free on macOS, iOS, iPadOS, Windows, and Linux. A paid plan adds features such as internet sync.

Not necessarily. Choose Use on this device only the first time you launch the app and you start right away with no account, and devices on the same Wi-Fi can still sync using the key phrase.

A memost account is what you need to Log in and sync — picking up the spaces kept on your account from another device — or to use a paid plan. Even with an account, your notes are never uploaded to our servers.

A space is the store on your own device that holds all your notes and attachments. Note contents are kept encrypted; attachments are kept as the original files. The first time you launch the app you create one by giving it a name and a space password, or bring in a space from another device through your account or its key phrase.

The space lives only on your device and is never uploaded to any server.

There is no way to recover it. memost keeps your data only on your device and never sends your password anywhere, so no server exists that could unlock the space for you. Without the password the space cannot be opened on an owner device, and anything that needs it — approving a new device, removing one — can no longer be done. Participant devices that are already approved open with device authentication instead of the password, so they keep working.

That is also what guarantees nobody else can open your records. When you create a space, store the password somewhere safe, such as a password manager.

In the folder on your own device that you chose when creating the space, and nothing is uploaded to a cloud. Note contents are kept encrypted. Attached files are not encrypted — they stay in the space folder as the original files, which is what lets another app open and edit a PDF or Word document in place. For sensitive files, use your device's own disk encryption as well.

Since there is no cloud backup, backups are up to you. Copy the whole space folder to an external drive or a backup tool such as Time Machine.

Keeping sync enabled across several devices also leaves you with multiple copies.

No. Your notes are never transmitted to us, and we run no server that stores them.

Between devices on the same Wi-Fi, just the space's five-word key phrase — you'll find it under Sync key phrase in the space's info page. The new device asks to join with it, and an owner device approves the request with the space password.

A device that joins as a participant never has the space password typed into it. Once approved it opens with that device's Touch ID, Face ID, Windows Hello, or device passcode, and on Linux with a device key kept in the keyring. If you have a memost account, you can also log in on the new device and pick up the spaces kept on your account. No server setup is required. See Syncing devices in the manual for the details.

Check these in order:

• Both devices are on the same LAN or Wi-Fi network
• memost is running on both devices
• Both devices run the same version of memost — 0.26.0 does not sync with anything earlier
• For a shared space, every device runs 0.38 or later — an earlier device is treated as unverified and does not receive note contents
• The new device's join request was approved on an owner device — if it is still listed under Devices waiting for confirmation in the space's info page, confirm it there
• No firewall or public Wi-Fi client-isolation setting is blocking device-to-device traffic

If that doesn't help, please get in touch.

A device joins as one or the other. A participant sends the key phrase with an email and waits for an owner to approve it. It doesn't need the space password, and once approved it opens the space with device authentication. An owner supplies the space password alongside the phrase, and another owner device that is already running verifies it, so the join completes without an approval step.

Each space has one space password, and only its owners know it. The app never transmits it, so it has to be handed to a co-owner in person, and only an owner can change it, with Change space password in the space's info page. And keep two or more owner devices — if every owner device is gone, the remaining devices go on syncing but no new owner device can be added.

No. Joining and syncing changed in 0.26.0, and it does not sync with earlier versions. If one side is older the connection is refused and you are told to update the other device.

Please update all of your devices together. Your notes stay on each device, so once they are updated and meet again they bring each other up to date.

From 0.38 only devices signed by an owner receive note contents. For a shared space, update every device to 0.38 or later, starting with the computer you use as the host.

That device locks the space and asks whether to move its copy to the trash or leave it alone. Moving means the trash, not a permanent delete, and emptying it is up to you.

Only that device's copy moves; the space on your other devices is untouched. If the device is approved again later it picks its original folder back up instead of downloading every note over again.

No. Devices exchange data directly with each other, and everything sent is encrypted.

There is no restriction on file type. Images appear right inside the note, and a PDF opens in the note where you can highlight and draw on it, with your markings saved into the file.

Documents such as Word or PowerPoint files open in their own apps for editing and saving, and any other file can be attached and opened whenever you need it.

You can import Markdown (.md), PowerPoint (.ppt/.pptx), and memost's own format (.mmp).

Right-click a folder in the sidebar and choose Import…, or use File ▸ Import… on the Mac. One file becomes one note. See Importing in the manual for the details.

Support for more formats is on the way.

Right-click a folder in the sidebar to import and the file lands in that folder. With File ▸ Import… on the Mac it goes into whichever folder is selected in the sidebar, or the folder holding the note you have open if none is.

One file always becomes one note, named after the file. No folders are created.

A PowerPoint file is brought in by drawing each slide as an image, and LibreOffice is what draws them. It is free — install it and try again.

This is also why PowerPoint import works only on Mac and Windows. LibreOffice cannot be installed on iPhone or iPad, so those files cannot be imported there.

An image in a Markdown document is not the file itself — it points at a web address or a path in another folder. That is not an attachment in your space, so it cannot come across as an image and arrives as a link on its alt text instead.

If you want the image in the note, drag it in yourself once the note is imported. HTML written directly into the document is dropped too.

No — an exported .mmp is not encrypted. It is built to be opened by someone else, or in another space, without your space password. That also means it loses the space's protection the moment it leaves, so treat it like any other document when you send it or store it.

The file carries the body together with every attachment the note uses. If an attachment has not synced to this device yet, the export fails and says so rather than quietly leaving it out.

Yes — notes can be exported as .mmp files and imported again, which is useful for archiving a note or moving it to another device.

Native apps for macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, plus apps for Windows and Linux. An Android version is in the works.

The iPhone and iPad version is on the App Store. It runs on iOS and iPadOS 17 or later.

Mac supports up to four panels and iPad supports two. iPhone does not support multi-panel view because of the narrow screen.

Please write to support@memost.app. You'll find instructions in the manual and per-version changes in the changelog.