nextcloud / notes-android

✎ Android client for Nextcloud Notes app.

Nextcloud Notes for Android

An android client for Nextcloud Notes App.

▶️ Access

👀 Screenshots

_	_	_

🚀 Features

• Multiple accounts
• List, create, edit, share, search and delete notes
• Share text and links as new note into the app
• Toggling checkboxes in view mode
• Mark notes as favorite
• Bulk delete
• In-note search
• Single note widget and note list widget
• Render Markdown (using Markwon)
• Translated in many languages on Transifex
• Context based formatting (#363)
• Password protection (#354)

🏁 Roadmap

• We usually focus on pinned issues in our issue tracker
• Since this is an Open Source freetime project, there is no guarantee when and if and how we implement new features

👪 Join the team

• Test the app with different devices
• Report issues in the issue tracker
• Pick a good first issue 📓
• Create a Pull Request
• Help translating this app on Transifex 🌎
• Buy this app on Google Play Store
• Send me a bottle of your favorite beer 🍻 😉

🔗 Requirements

• Nextcloud instance running
• Nextcloud Android app installed (≥ 3.9.0)
• Nextcloud Notes app enabled

📓 License

This project is licensed under the GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE.

notes-android's Issues

Line breaks ignored

It seems that line breaks are ignored, or turned into simple spaces sometimes.

Empty state for no notes

When there are no notes, there should be a nice empty state, just like in the ownCloud Files web app for empty folders.

(Notes icon)
No notes yet

Quite simple for the beginning.

Local Search

• In the ListView top right should be a search icon
• Clicking it should expand it to a searchbar.
• Typing should directly search in the background and display search results in a list

Most important issues for first basic release and further promotion

When these issues are fixed, I’d say the app can be promoted further like on the user at owncloud mailinglist, Twitter etc and be put on F-Droid. :)

• Problems during log in process #21 / Autoload notes list on first connection #32
• Make note directly editable #3
• Line breaks ignored #24
• New note gets sorted all the way down in the list #30
• Autosave #26

What do you think @stefan-niedermann @davivel @tobiasKaminsky @AndyScherzinger @stoyicker @Kernald @LukeOwncloud?

@stefan-niedermann maybe create a milestone here on Github for »0.1« – that helps a lot with development planning and prioritization. :)

wrong url error -> crash

Hi, i tryed to build your app in Android Studio.
Maybe i did something wrong:

I opened it in Android Studio, and had simply built it with a self created Key.
Than i simply installed it in Android 5.1.1 and tryed to connect to my ownCloud 8.2.0.

In the first try, there will happen nothing if i click on ok.
Than, i re-open the App, the ok-Button is still dead, but the enter-Button on the Keyboard works.
There come a Toast-Notify with invalid Url (no sure if its called so in english) and the App crashes.
I had tryed the base Url of my instance and the one, called in the Api documentation also.

The base Url is working fine in MyOwnNotes.
...maybe you want to host us an .apk File?
Not anyone interested on your app, have the experience or pleasure to figure out how this works... :-)

Widget look

Just as a comparison, here’s how our widget (bottom) looks vs the Jot widget (top):

• Seems that the background for ours is a tad blue? Should probably be just black/grey and 50% (or 70%) opacity.
• Font-size could be decreased a bit to make more of the note readable. It’s quite important that the last visible line gets visually cut in half so it’s clear that the note continues.
• The font-weight should be a bit thinner too. But maybe that’s just because of the size.

Handle internationalization

Currently translations are only available for English and German. I think we should open a transifex-repo for translations. If anyone speaks another language native, he is welcome to create a pull-request until this is done.

Performance on opening a note

Opening a note takes a tad too long when tapping on it. Is there any way to make it faster?

As a first step, it would be good to at least give feedback that the app registered the tap. Currently there’s no row highlight or anything as one is used to with other apps.

Sort by recently modified

The current sorting is a bit strange. Initially it seems to be alphabetically, but then it’s not lower down.
Should simply be sorted by most recently modified up top, just like in the Notes web app. :)

Show Excerpt instead of Modified Date in List-View

Right now the modified/creation date is focused a lot, in the list and in the header.

In the list it would be cooler to show the next line of the note (maybe even the next 2) to see more of the note. It’s sorted by date anyway so it’s not as important.

New note gets sorted all the way down in the list

When you create a new note from the app and go back to the list, it’s nowhere to be found. Then you scroll all the way to the bottom and se the »Updated recently« section all the way down. To make it appear up top you have to manually refresh.

Instead it should automatically be sorted up top as it has the newest date.

Background color should be white everywhere

Currently the background is only white in the notes list. In the other screens however it’s greyish (connect, about, note view, note editing). It should be white everywhere.

Pressing enter when finished writing in the password field should automatically connect

In the initial connection screen, pressing the enter button on the keyboard (which has a checkmark in it) should automatically trigger the connect button. Right now you need to manually click it when you are done.

Spinner as feedback on initial notes load

Now that the notes load initially (#32), there should be feedback about that.

Just display a loading spinner centered in the content area, and below that a short »Loading notes …«

Date sometimes wrong

On some notes from the server, the time shown in the detail view is 01.01.1970 12:00. This should of course show the correct time.
Even better: Show the relative date, like »yesterday«, »2 days ago« etc.

Problems during log in process

I have yet to successfully log in because the process is a bit opaque. Here’s some first feedback :)

• »URL« should be called »Server address« (less technical)
• not sure if I need to type in http/https – it should work without any protocol prepended, and try with https by default
• the OK button should be called »Connect« and have a spinner after clicked, and say »Connecting«. Also the input fields should be disabled to give better feedback that the process is running
• I once got a checkmark right next to the server address field. Not sure if that meant the connection was then established?
• hitting the back arrow on the top left causes a strange animation and all the fields to be deleted –> highly annoying
• I found out you need to press the bottom »back« button to get the notes view! :D When the connection is successful, of course you should automatically be directed there
• there was an error at the bottom (obscured by the Back/Home/Apps buttons) saying »URL Malformed«. Very strange technical message which doesn’t tell me what exactly the problem is. Can the server not be reached? Is http/https missing (again, add that automatically), what else?
• then going to Settings presents me with again completely empty credential fields … instead the server address, username, and stars for the password (use existing one if not changed) should be preset so I don’t have to remember and put it in all over again – typing is the worst on mobile.
• again here – pressing the back button should lead me back to the notes view

Maybe @David-Development @tobiasKaminsky @AndyScherzinger can help a bit? :)

On initial start, deactivate connect button initially

At least the server address and the username field should have a value before the Connect button is enabled.

Open Note on Click on Single Note Widget

Clicking the Single Note Widget should open an Activity displaying the configured Note.

Mention Material Design Icons on About-Page

Because they are CC-BY-Licensed and even if Google says "It would be nice but it is not necessary to mention us" we should do it.

In edit view, text alignment should be the same as in note view

Currently when switching to the edit view, the text is squished too far to the edges. It should have the same margin as when you view the note.

Notes app crashing on open

The notes app is now continuously crashing for me on opening and I can not do anything at the moment. This is what I did last and what I think might have caused it:

1. Create a note
2. Add widget for it
3. Change note (including first line, title line)
4. Widget doesn’t get updated, clicking on it also leads to old note. But the list is updated
5. Then the app just starts crashing on opening.

@stefan-niedermann any idea?

Date and date header improvements

• The first date header doesn’t need to be shown – it creates too much visual clutter which takes away focus from the first notes.
• The word »Updated« in each header is redundant. It’s enough to write »Yesterday«, »This week«, »This month« etc.
• Because we have these date headers and the sorting by date, I would not even show the relative dates or time in this list. It takes away focus from the notes, creates overflow problems with the note title if it’s long, and if one wants to know the exact date they can just open the note.

Change App-Icon to ownCloud Notes Logo

The App-Icon should be identical to the ownCloud Notes Logo.
@jancborchardt - would you like to take this one?

Mention license, source code and call to contribution in the »About« section

That would be cool to underline this is open source and contributions are welcome. :)

Provide Preview Images for Widgets

Make a widget for all Notes

Hey @stefan-niedermann, cool app.

Would be awesome if you could enhance this app with a widget. Then I would start using it as my new standard app for Notes. :)

On initial start, directly open keyboard alongside focusing server address field

Initially starting the app, the »server address« field is automatically focused, which is good. However, the keyboard is not open and hence you need to click the field again anyway.

It would be best to directly open the keyboard too so one can immediately start typing.

Headlines rendered as normal text

First of all, I don't know if this is a bug or a feature.
All my headlines are formatted as normal text, except for extra spacing.
This negates the benefit of multiple level of headlines, as they all look the same.

Greetings,
X4fyr

ownCloud is incorrectly capitalized

It’s »ownCloud« with small o at the beginning, not »OwnCloud«. ;)

Links in About-Page not clickable

The Links in the About-Page are currently not clickable. I had two ideas, but none of them worked for me:

• Use String Resources with Hyperlinks (Markup)
• Use WebView with String Resources

Tablet Layout

New note from mobile doesn’t use first line as title

This looks strange in the notes list as well as in the header, where the titles are simply missing.

Autoload notes list on first connection

As you also said @stefan-niedermann, on first connection (pressing »Connect« and being redirected to the notes list) should automatically fetch the notes from the server.

Replace Anddown with Bypass

Fixed in b1a24fd and f9a2efc

Render markdown inline

Just like the Notes web app, Markdown should render inline. Not with a dedicated view, but like iA Writer does with the special characters still showing (although subdued in grey).

cc @Henni who implemented this for the web app side.

Card layout prototype

@stefan-niedermann I just checked out the card layout prototype. On a smartphone at least the layout makes it very difficult to have an overview. The cards have variable height, it's very difficult to scan, and you always have to switch left-right. :/

No obvious way to get out of edit mode

Apart from the fact that there should be no »Edit« mode – see #3 – currently there’s no obvious way to get out of the mode. You can only do it via the main back button.

In addition there should be a back arrow on the top left, just like in the other views.

Time Headers in List-View (Today, Yesterday, ...)

Maybe headers in the list between the notes make sense like:

• Today
• Yesterday
• This week
• This month
• Earlier

Originally reported from @jancborchardt.

Improve animations

Currently when opening and closing a note, there’s this strange up-and-down animation. This is quite jarring and doesn’t make a lot of sense spacially.

What people are used to more is a left-right animation. The more detailed view slides in from the right. Pressing the back button slides back to the left to the list.

Simple widget for individual note

Currently one of the main reasons I use my phone is the very simple Jot notes widget unfortunately it’s not being developed anymore and doesn’t sync …

It would be great if it’s possible to add a widget to the homescreen which looks similarly simple as Jot, but can be connected to a note synced with ownCloud Notes. One could choose the note which to show at widget setup time.

Make connection process easier by using Nextcloud-Account-Importer

Currently on first run, you need to manually put in your credentials to the app. However it’s very likely that you already have the Nextcloud app installed and hence the account can be reused there. This will dramatically ease the first run experience.

@David-Development of the Nextcloud News app for Android built an awesome library for that: https://github.com/David-Development/ownCloud-Account-Importer

Username field is multiline

Filling out the server address, you can use the »enter button« of the keyboard to continue to the next field for typing in the username. There however, using the enter button creates a new line. This makes little sense as usernames can not be multiline. ;) Instead, it should work the same and continue to the password field.

Make sure it properly works offline

It’s very important that taking and reading notes works flawlessly even when in a train, on a plane or when just generally offline. All changes can then be synced when online again.

Editing a note makes it show up above a »today« date divider

There should never be a »today« date divider, since that is implied. When you edit a note, that note should just be at the top of the list.

Autosave

Currently you need to explicitly press the confirmation checkmark in the top right. Much better would be autosave how we do it in the online Notes app and the texteditor. Save on exiting a note, or 1 second after typing has stopped (right @Henni @tomneedham?)
That would eliminate the need for the confirmation checkmark completely. Additionally we should scrap the cancel X because it is quite close to the confirmation checkmark.
We can simply show the title in the middle, the back button in the top left and the menu in the top right. Like the detail view is right now – except the floating edit icon will go because this view will already handle editing, see #3 (directly edit)

Publish App on F-Droid

Would be great if someone could help me with F-Droid Publish. I already tried it, my results are here: https://f-droid.org/forums/topic/owncloud-notes/
Thanks for Contribution.

Align text of date dividers with the note text

Currently the text of the »yesterday«, »this week«, »earlier« headers is too far to the left. It should be left aligned with the text of the notes to look nicer. :)

Make note directly editable

Currently it looks like when you are in a note you have to click the edit icon in the bottom right to edit it. This complicates the flow. Instead the note should be in edit mode directly, just like the web app.

When first date header is not »today«, show it

The »today« date header does not need to be shown of course. But if the first note is older, say »yesterday«, that date header should be shown. :)

Note »Copy« function really needed?

In the note detail actions there’s a »Copy« function. @stefan-niedermann did you build that in because you need that regularly? Because next to Share and Delete it seems a rather uncommon action for a whole note. And it would be cool if we start with the bare minimum in this app and only add stuff if really needed.