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Would Appreciate Recommendation For Editor

startac4

startac4

Well-Known Member
I need a simple and safe editor that I could use for jotting down notes, thoughts etc. where I don't have to go through pages of "Terms of Use" that I have to read and understand before using the program (as is necessary to do before using LG Quick Memo). It would be nice, though not a requirement, if the files produced were in a format that I could download to my computer and read with my computer editor (Kedit, or Word, Wordperfect or even Notepad).

Phone (primary) LG K20
Phone (travel) Samsung J2
 
Thank you puppykickr for your three suggestions. But when I read that I'm giving a bunch of permissions - modify/delete shared storage, read contents of shared storage, openintents shopping/Access - I have to ask just what am I doing by giving these permissions? I'm sure everyone here is experienced enough to know when giving permissions is safe and what they mean but I'm not and I don't know.
 
Well, to store the files and retrieve files, it needs storage permission.
It has to be able to read and write to storage, and you are deleting and modifying files when you make, edit, add to, or change files in any way.

Opening intents is so that it can allow other apps to open files.

None of the notepads I suggested have internet permissions.

I have used all of these at one time or another, and my old devices still have them on them.

Now I put them onto my newer ones as well, first to check if they still worked on Android 9 & 10, and second because they are small enough to not worry about space.
Third, now I can transfer the notes from my old devices to my new ones without difficultly or worry about them being able to be read.

I started out with the Panagola one, it is small, fast, and simple.
But the free version is limited to a small number of notes.
This is fine for some things.

Later on, I wanted FOSS, and more room.
So Ol' NotePad became my favorite for years.
It is really nice, and simple to use.

Now I have been using Simple Notes, mostly because I have the entire suite of Simple Mobile Tools installed on both of my modern devices.

As much as I like it, it is not as compact or simple as the other two.

But, as I have the entire app suite, it works great with the other Simple Mobile Tools Apps.

In your case, I would download all three, and play with them all before making a decision.

They are all small in size, especially Panagola and Ol' NotePad.
 
FWIW, years ago I made an instruction sheet for Lightning Browser.

I used Ol'NotePad to do this.

When I was done, I sent the note directly to the G-Mail app to be e-mailed to a friend.

Pretty sure that is what the open intents permission is for- using another app to perform a function while in a different app.
 
Simple mobile tools, as mentioned abive, has a notes app, and I have really come to like many of their "simple" apps. However, I'm kind of old school, and I like to know exactly where things are and have control. Simple mobile tools' file manager's built in text editor works well, and the file manager itself very easily creates directories and text files, which is not the case with so many other file managers that just assume that the user is ******** and only wants to find pictures.
 
Thank you both for your clear explanations. I appreciate your taking the time to explain what are probably basic Android concepts that I was lacking. Now I understand that these permissions are perfectly safe and will try out the editors.
 
This is all probably un-necessary but I just need to confirm I'm doing this correctly. The F-Droid site for Simple Notes [Pro] (from above) says not to use the APKs for the Simple Notes but to download the F-Droid client. Selecting that I see that it itself is an APK.

I also saw a warning about downloading APK's from sites other than google play (grrr..) as they may not be safe. Just confirming that this F-Droid APK is OK to download.
 
F-Droid is fine.

'Nooooooo!
Scary message from Google, telling me not to go somewhere besides Google!'

Yeah, we all fell for that at first.
Look at it this way:
Google spreds more malware than anyone else on the planet, and do the least for security.
One look at all the thousands of anti-virus, boosters, cleaners, battery savers, and other worthless tripe on the Play Store- and the insidious permissions these apps 'require'- it soon becomes obvious what a sham Google is perpetrating.

Millions of devices have been infected from apps downloaded from Google, that Google had deemed 'safe'.

F-Droid?
Never a single issue.
Why?
Because the folks at F-Droid take every single app sent to them and decompile it entirely.
This ensures that nothing screwy is going on.
Then they recompile it themselves before it is even available on their site.

This does slow down the release of updates, but it also insures the integrity of F-Droid and the apps therein.

No other appstore that I know of goes to this extreme.

Another benefit of having the F-Droid app is that it will automatically get the correct versions of apps for your device.

Any utility apps, I look to F-Droid first.
Other apps as well.
Some apps are available on both Play Store and F-Droid, and I will still take the F-Droid version.

This is because although the apps may function the same for me, the Play Store version will almost always include Google spyware (Firebase, Services, etc.) that I have no interest in allowing on my devices.

Here is the legitimate link for F-Droid.
Let me know if you need help setting it up, however, it is pretty simple.

https://www.f-droid.org/

Once you get the app settled in, you will enjoy it more (~900 apps more) if you tap this link and allow it to be added/shared with F-Droid.

https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/repo...7B6D966BE743BF0EEE49C2561B9BA39073711F628937A

If you already have NewPipe, there is also a repository from them as well.

https://archive.newpipe.net/fdroid/...97DB914A2751FDA1D02FE2039CC0897A462BDB57E7501

Do you use Bitwarden?
Ditto as above.

https://mobileapp.bitwarden.com/fdr...CC47C561C5726E1C3ED7E686B6DB4B18BAC843A3EFE6C

Adding these to F-Droid allows F-Droid to display these apps which are not a part of the basic F-Droid experience.

It also allows for faster updates of some apps, especially NewPipe.
(This is important because at certain times Google will try to make things so that NewPipe (and apps like it) will no longer work. The devs can quickly respond (usually within hours) with an update to fix the issue.)
 
I use "Google Keep" for taking notes, writing down thoughts, and ideas. There's and android app and it also opens in your computer browser.
 
GameTheory said:
I use "Google Keep" for taking notes, writing down thoughts, and ideas. There's and android app and it also opens in your computer browser.
Click to expand...

OP requested an app that was both simple and safe.
Generally nothing from Google fits into either of those categories.
 
GameTheory said:
That's your opinion, not a fact. Not everyone shares your view on Google or Keep.
Click to expand...

Actually, it is quite true.
Just because one does not agree, does not change facts.

Google uses these devices to spy on users- fact.
Millions of people are affected by malware on Google Play Store- fact.
Google allows thousands of malware apps to remain on the Play Store- fact.
Any and all information a user stores on any Google service is able to be seen and used by Google as they see fit- fact.

Google is literally the definition of exactly what the OP did not want, considering that safe was stipulated in the requirements.

This does not even go into the numerous endeavors that Google has suckered people into, then decided afterwards to charge for less or do away with it altogether.
Hang Outs, free unlimited storage, Google Music, etc.
You may not remember, but Pepperidge Farms remembers.
 
I use Keep and Evernote (and a bit of Notion)
Keep is good for simple checklists, quick thoughts, TODOs.
Evernote I use for blogging because it has very good integration with Zapier (for free). You can automate a workflow to publish your notes to your blog or social media or spreadsheet.
Notion I started using for blogging as well, but the lack of proper Zapier integration made me switch to Evernote. At the same time, on Notion, you can expose its content online as a website if you have a use case for that.
 
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I had trouble getting to F-droid - easy on my computer but difficult on phone. Now that I'm on when i go to the link you gave it says best not to use APK but that's the only option here.

It says to donwload F-droid but I already did that - or at least its aid that it was doing that.
 
I've just been going in circles.Apparently F-Droid finally got downloaded. But I can't get it to download the Simple Notes unless I use the APK. It also downloaded two things that I didn't ask for and don't want - TalkBack and UnifiedNIP (no GAPPS). And I can't find how to delete them - they don't show up on the Apps screen.
 
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.simplemobiletools.notes.pro/

Direct link is above.
Yes, I know about that warning.
I gave never had an issue with downloading right from the site.

A big benefit of having the F-Droid app is that it will always get the right version for whatever device- but I think Simple Mobile Tools are basically universal anyway.

Just tap the above link, scroll down to where you get to the download area for the newest version, and go for it.

It will be downloaded with your browser as an apk, and in your downloads folder.

You will find it with your file manager and then install it.

If you have issues doing that, here is an excellent installer.
(You will need to grant install permissions for any app to do this, including your file manager.)

https://m.apkpure.com/xapk-installer/com.apkpure.installer
 
This took two or three attempts to get it download. Finally it did - then it had updates to download which I did. but it's in Downloads, not in File Manger. How can I tell which version is really installed?. And how do I get this to "Apps" so I can see it and run it? Sorry if this is simple to everyone but I've downloaded a couple of things from google play only - and those went right into Apps where I could find them.
 
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