I built a cross-platform, local-first note app with E2EE and BYOK AI (Tauri + Expo)

Liran — Sat, 16 May 2026 19:13:21 +0000

Hi, I've been working on a note taking app called Annota. It started as a fun hobby project but I kept adding more and more features and it became a very refined product with many features.

I’m building it as a monorepo, and I just released the Windows .exe and an iOS/MacOS TestFlight beta. I'm looking for some early feedback from other developers before I try to launch it officially.
It's also open sourced if you want to check the code-base.

Here is a quick look at the stack and the features :

Desktop (Windows & MacOS) : Tauri + React
Mobile (iOS, Android soon) : React Native + Expo
Local Database : SQLite with SQLCipher for local encryption
Backend : Supabase

Under The Hood: Security & Data

Privacy is a big deal for me, so the architecture is designed around owning your data:

Local-First E2EE: Your database is encrypted locally using SQLCipher. If you choose to use the upcoming cloud sync, your data is AES-256 encrypted locally before it ever leaves your device.
File Optimization: I implemented a double-hashing file duplication recognition system. If you copy-paste the same image or file multiple times, it only saves it once under the hood.
FTS5 : Lightning-fast full-text search across all notes.
Safety Net : Local version history for your notes, just in case you mess something up.

The Editor

I wanted an editor that could handle everything a dev throws at it without feeling bloated.

Supports Code blocks, Mermaid diagrams, and LaTeX.
Custom components built-in, like Flashcards for studying.
Fully customizable: tweak the fonts, sizing, spacing, and UI to your liking.
Standard folder structure and tagging system for organization.

AI Integration (Ollama & BYOK)

I didn't want to force users into a proprietary AI subscription.
Local AI: Full integration with Ollama so you can run models entirely locally.
BYOK (Bring Your Own Key): Plug in your API keys for OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google.
Clever Context: The AI is token-minimized by default to save you money on API calls.
Features: You can chat with your notes, highlight text for a quick rewrite, ask questions about specific selections, and even toggle on web search or "thinking" modes for supported models.

Pricing

All the local features are 100% free.
When I officially launch, the only thing that will cost money is the cloud sync (to cover server costs), but there will be a limited free tier for that as well.

Try it out!

I’d love for you to try it out and try to break it. I'm actively adding features and improving it day after day.