Skerry — the notes app that can't read your notes

The problem

Your notes app is a guest that never leaves.

Notion, Evernote, Apple Notes, even Bear once it syncs. Your words sit on someone else's servers, in a format only their app can open, under terms they can change. They can read them, lose them, or be made to hand them over. Skerry is built so none of that is possible.

The cloud notes app

Skerry

Where your notes live

Their servers

Your device

The format

A database you can't open

Plain Markdown, in your folder

Who can read them

The company and whoever compels it

Only you, with your key

Account required

Yes

None

If the company folds

Your notes are trapped

They were always your files

Plain files

Yours forever

Every note is a real Markdown file in a folder you control. Delete Skerry and your words are still there, readable in any editor.

Sealed

Locked with your key

Encrypt a note or the whole library with a master key only you hold, plus a recovery code only you keep. Title, file name, and body all become ciphertext.

No server

No account, no cloud

Nothing to sign up for. Your notes and your key never touch our machines, because we do not have any.

How it works

Three steps, then it is yours.

1

Open a folder

Point Skerry at any folder and it becomes your library. Every note is a real Markdown file inside it, readable with or without Skerry.

2

Seal what matters

Encrypt one note or the whole library with a key only you hold. The title, tags, and file name are sealed along with the body.

3

Back it up anywhere

Send an encrypted snapshot to iCloud, a NAS, or your own bucket. Nothing touches our servers, because we do not have any.

What it does

Everything a notes app should, none of the leash.

01

Markdown that stays out of the way

Live highlighting, syntax that hides around the cursor, tap-to-check task lists, and wiki links between notes.

02

Find it instantly

Full-text search and a jump-to-anything palette across every note, from the first keystroke.

03

Encrypt a note or lock it

Choose ciphertext with a passphrase, or a simple gate behind Face ID when you only need a lock.

04

Encrypted backups anywhere

Sealed snapshots to iCloud Drive, a NAS over WebDAV, or S3 storage like iDrive e2. What leaves your device is always ciphertext.

05

Export and print

Markdown, HTML, Rich Text, or PDF, or copy straight to the clipboard. Print from your phone.

06

One format, forever

An open, documented file format any future app can read. The format is the contract, not the app.

07

Move in from anywhere

Import from Bear, Obsidian, or Apple Notes. Your Markdown, your #tags, and your titles come across as plain files.

08

A recovery code, only yours

Turn on encryption and get a one-time code that unlocks your notes if you forget the passphrase. Lose both and no one can help, by design.

09

Locks itself

Auto-lock re-seals the vault after a set idle time, so stepping away never leaves your notes open on screen.

Backup

Your notes go straight to your own storage.

Point Skerry at storage you already have and it keeps encrypted snapshots there. Every backup is sealed before it leaves your device, so the server only ever holds ciphertext, even for notes you never encrypted yourself. Restore pulls a snapshot back and decrypts it in place.

Files & iCloud

Any folder you can reach

iCloud Drive, a Dropbox folder, an external disk, or anywhere in the Files app. Pruned to the newest snapshots automatically.

Network

Your NAS over WebDAV

Synology, a home server, or any WebDAV endpoint on your own network. Your box, your bytes, your control.

Object storage

S3 and iDrive e2

iDrive e2, Backblaze B2, Amazon S3, or any S3-compatible bucket. Your keys, your bucket, sealed before upload.

Always encrypted · Automatic or on demand · Newest snapshots kept, the rest pruned

The moat

An encrypted note gives up nothing.

Seal a note and the file becomes an opaque envelope. Its title, tags, dates, and body are encrypted together, the file takes a random name, and it drops out of the search index. On a synced drive or a stolen backup, all anyone learns is that a note exists.

AES-256-GCM with a PBKDF2-derived key
Passphrase held in the Keychain behind Face ID
Title and file name are ciphertext, not just the body
No plaintext ever written for a sealed note

ferry-notes → on disk

---
id: 7A0E38D2-4CBB-4E30-9A57-2A9F3D1B6C11
encrypted: true
---

c2FsdG5vbmNlY2lwaGVydGV4dGFuZHRhZ2Jhc2U2NGtl
eXNhbmRzZWNyZXRzc3RheW9ubGx5b25kaXNr...

Don't trust us. Read the code. The encryption and the file format are open source and documented, byte for byte. The app stays ours; the security you rely on is public.

Read the crypto on GitHub →

The key hierarchy

One key, wrapped by your passphrase

A random 256-bit key encrypts your notes. That key is sealed by your passphrase with 600,000 rounds of PBKDF2, so guessing is punishingly slow.

Change your passphrase and only the wrapper changes, never the notes. Your recovery code is a second, independent way to the same key.

What we can see

Nothing at all

No account, no server, no analytics. Skerry has no way to see your notes, your key, or that you exist.

Your passphrase lives in the Keychain behind Face ID and never leaves your device.

The threat model

Built for the worst day

A lost or stolen device. A synced drive someone else can reach. A breached backup. A subpoena to a company that holds nothing.

In every case a sealed note is an opaque envelope. All anyone learns is that it exists.

Questions

The things people ask first.

How do I sync between my Mac and iPhone?

Use any file sync you already trust: iCloud Drive, Dropbox, or a NAS. Skerry rides on top of it and never needs its own account. Encrypted notes stay encrypted the whole way, at rest and in transit.

What if I forget my passphrase?

You get a recovery code the moment you turn on encryption. It is shown once, held only by you, and unlocks your notes on any device. Lose both the passphrase and the code and no one can help, because that is the point.

What happens if Skerry the app disappears?

Nothing happens to your notes. They are plain Markdown in an open, documented format. Open them in any editor, forever. There is nothing to export and nothing to rescue.

Is my backup really encrypted, even on someone else's storage?

Yes. Every backup is sealed on your device before it leaves. iDrive, Backblaze, a NAS, or iCloud only ever hold ciphertext, even for notes you never encrypted one by one.

Do you track me?

No. There are no accounts, no analytics, and no servers anywhere in Skerry. It could not track you if it wanted to.

The name

A rock, and the bird who stands on it.

Skelly, the Skerry puffin, standing on his rock

A skerry is a small rocky island. Too little to build a house on, big enough to stand on and weather a storm. Across the North Atlantic they are where seabirds nest, out of reach of the tide.

That is the whole idea: your notes live on a rock that is yours. Plain files on your own device, not adrift in someone else's cloud.

And the puffin? Meet Skelly. Puffins come back to the same rock every year, carry everything they need, and answer to no one. Skelly stands watch on the skerry and holds the only key. Fitting, for an app whose one job is keeping your words yours.

Coming soon

Be there when Skerry lands.

No spam, no account. One note from Skerry when it is ready to stand on.