Prevon

Features

Everything it does, in one place

The whole feature list, including the small settings people actually change. This page lists what is in the app in the current beta build, and where something is off by default, it says so. Features can change as the beta develops.

The short list

The six things that make it different

  • 01

    Files your notes for you — on your device

    Save a note and it lands in the right folder, decided by a model running on your own machine. The filing step does not use a server or upload your note, and needs no prompt.

  • 02

    No account, no cloud, built so we can’t read it

    There is no sign-up, and by default your notes are not sent anywhere: sync and sharing are off (AI model files are downloaded from huggingface.co). Your vault is encrypted on your device. In a Normal vault the key is derived from a 12-word phrase you keep; a Key Chest vault uses a random key, with the words as one way in. We do not hold your words. Not independently audited yet.

  • 03

    Search by meaning, not just keywords

    Type what you remember. Keyword search and semantic search run together, both on your device (the search-by-meaning cache is stored as plain text inside the app’s private storage), so "that trip with the broken car" can find the note that doesn’t use the word "trip".

  • 04

    An AI assistant that works offline

    Ask questions, get summaries, find related notes, suggest a title. The local model works with your Wi-Fi switched off.

  • 05

    Bring your notes from anywhere

    One-tap import from Obsidian, Evernote, Apple Notes, Notion, Bear, Google Keep and plain text — and re-running it updates what changed instead of duplicating.

  • 06

    Deleted means recoverable

    Deleted notes go to a Trash first. Restore one, or empty the lot when you are sure. Emptying the Trash removes the note from your vault, but traces can linger in the database log and upgrade backups for a while, so it is not a shredder.

Writing

The editor, from the basics to the small conveniences.

  • Markdown as you type

    Headings, quotes, bullets, numbered lists and links are parsed and styled as you write.

  • Formatting toolbar

    Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, inline code, three heading levels, lists, quote, text colour, highlight, link, note link, table and divider.

  • Tables

    Insert and edit tables, starting from a 2×2 grid.

  • Checklists

    Toggleable to-do rows, and a keyboard command to move a row up or down.

  • Choose what ticking does

    When you check an item: cross it out, sink it to the bottom of the list, or delete it outright. Your call, and it sticks.

  • Nested lists

    Indent and outdent list items and quotes as you write.

  • Link between notes with [[ ]]

    Type two square brackets to open a note-and-folder picker and insert a link.

  • Slash commands

    Type a forward slash to bring up the command menu without leaving the keyboard.

  • Colour a note

    Seven-colour swatch on any note, so a glance down a list tells you what is what.

  • Voice dictation

    Off by default

    Speak instead of typing, transcribed on your device. The English voice model (about 44 MB) downloads once from huggingface.co; audio is not saved.

  • Editor focus options

    Choose whether a note opens with the cursor at the title or already in the body.

Organising

Folders, stars, and the AI that does the filing.

  • Nested folders

    Folders inside folders, with room for deep nesting, with a breadcrumb back up.

  • Colour-coded folders

    Eleven tints, so a busy sidebar stays readable.

  • Pin and favourite anything

    Pin notes and folders to the top, or star them into Favorites.

  • Trash with real recovery

    Restore a deleted note, delete one permanently, or empty the trash. There is a separate trash for scratchpad buffers.

  • Auto-filing as you write

    On by default

    The on-device AI decides which folder a new note belongs in and files it — no interruption.

  • Auto-organize loose notes

    Notes that have piled up unsorted get grouped into suggested folders with suggested names. You approve each one.

  • Re-filing suggestions

    When a note has outgrown its folder, the app suggests a better one. It proposes; you decide.

  • Drag to arrange

    Drag folders to reorder them, or drop one onto another to nest it.

  • The Scratchpad

    A tabbed, encrypted notepad for things that are not notes yet, saving itself three seconds after you stop typing. Convert a buffer into a real note when it earns it.

  • Home blocks you control

    Seven blocks — recent, all notes, scratchpad, favorites, pinned, folders, shortcuts — each reorderable or hideable.

The AI, in detail

AI features run on your device. Cloud AI providers are not part of the app; you can only connect an AI server you run yourself, and nothing is sent unless you do.

  • Ask your notes questions

    A chat panel that answers from your own notes using the on-device model.

  • Note summaries

    On by default

    A short summary per note, refreshed when the note changes. Anything you write yourself is left alone.

  • Folder summaries

    On by default

    What is in this folder, in a sentence, updated as its notes change.

  • Suggested titles

    One tap to have a title proposed from the note. It is a button, not automatic — Prevon does not rename your titles for you.

  • It does things, not just answers

    The assistant can create, edit, file and delete notes — essentially anything you can do to a note, under the same permission rules. This is your local model acting on your vault, not a chat window.

  • Permissions per action

    Decide, for each kind of AI action, whether it may act, must ask first, or is blocked outright.

  • Exclude a note from AI

    One note can be hidden from AI on its own — separately from AI overall.

  • Exclude a note from sync

    Needs sync

    For when sync is available: keep one note off the relay and purge any copy already there, so a single note can stay local while the rest sync.

  • A log of what the AI did

    A recent-actions list on your device, so an automatic change is not invisible.

  • Advanced limits

    Advanced mode

    Rate limiting, a tool-call depth cap and a circuit breaker for the local model — for people who want them.

Privacy and security

Not a mode you switch on. It is how the vault is designed.

  • Encrypted at rest

    Notes, attachments and the database are encrypted, so a copy of the vault files on its own is unreadable. Exceptions are listed in our security model: reminder and widget words (on by default, switchable off), a plaintext copy of note titles in metadata, the search-by-meaning cache, and a lecture recording until you next unlock.

  • Argon2id key derivation

    In a Normal vault, a deliberately slow, memory-hard function turns your phrase into the key, so guessing is slow and costly. Key Chest vaults use a random key instead.

  • A 12-word recovery phrase

    Shown once when you create your vault. We do not store it. If you lose it and have no backup, we cannot recover your notes.

  • Rotate your key

    Re-key the vault to a new recovery phrase whenever you want, without losing your notes.

  • Air-Gap Mode

    Off by default

    One switch blocks the app’s outbound network connections, including local device transfer.

  • Unlock with your face, finger or PIN

    Off by default

    Biometric unlock, or a quick-unlock PIN. A PIN is the weaker option: someone who copies your phone’s secure-storage entries could test PINs offline, so prefer a long one. Biometric strength depends on your phone.

  • Lock when you walk away

    Off by default

    Lock the app about a minute after you switch away. The timer lives in the app, so it may not fire while the phone has suspended it.

  • Block screenshots

    Off by default

    Ask the OS to block screenshots and screen recordings on Android, iOS and Windows 10 or later (nothing on macOS or Linux). Screenshots stay allowed on the lock screen and the 12-word screens.

  • Clipboard that clears itself

    Sensitive copied text is cleared from the clipboard after 60 seconds by default; the timer cannot fire while the phone has suspended the app.

  • Destroy the vault

    A deliberate two-step wipe, for when you want the vault gone from the device. Treat it as deletion, not forensic shredding.

  • No account, no telemetry

    No sign-up, and the app itself includes no analytics, ads or crash reporting. It does go online for AI model downloads from huggingface.co (Air-Gap Mode stops that); Android builds made by Google Play also carry Google’s own licence check.

Bringing notes in, moving them out

Your notes are yours to move.

  • Import from seven sources

    Obsidian, Evernote, Apple Notes, Notion, Bear, Google Keep and plain text, with source auto-detection. Point it at a folder or a zip.

  • Re-import without making a mess

    Run the import again after writing more in the old app and it updates what changed instead of duplicating everything.

  • It tells you what it could not use

    The import report names the files it skipped and why, so a messy export doesn’t fail silently.

  • Move a vault device to device

    Transfer a whole encrypted vault to another device over your own local Wi-Fi, by QR or pairing code, without going through a cloud relay. This transfer path has not been audited.

  • Encrypted vault export

    Take a portable encrypted snapshot with you.

  • Restore from your phrase

    The 12 words are a way back in. Enter them on a new device together with a vault backup or transfer, and your notes are back. The phrase alone does not contain your notes, and in a Normal vault the words plus a copy of the files open everything.

Making it yours

The small settings people actually change. Layout here is genuinely deep; appearance is deliberately simple.

  • Light and dark

    Two themes, dark by default.

  • Folder and note colours

    Eleven folder tints, seven note colours — colour as a personal index.

  • Customise the home screen

    Reorder, hide, add and remove home blocks, and cap how many rows each one shows.

  • Customise the sidebar

    Reorder, show or hide sidebar items, and collapse the header.

  • Customise the write button

    Its shape, size, what a tap does, and how long a hold takes.

  • Shortcuts row

    Choose which four shortcuts sit on your home screen.

  • Folder-tree detail

    Connector lines, indent depth, note icons and how long titles overflow — all tunable.

  • Sorting

    Separate sort orders for folders and notes.

  • Scroll and section behaviour

    Independent scrolling per home section, and per-section visibility.

  • Compact scratchpad

    Collapse the scratchpad down to just its header and tabs.

  • 24-hour clock

    For everyone who reads 18:00 faster than 6pm.

  • Search the settings

    A search box inside Settings that finds any row by name — forgiving of typos and half-remembered wording — and jumps straight to it.

  • Reset any setting

    Every single settings row has its own reset-to-default button.

  • Learn what each setting does

    Most rows carry a Learn more link that opens a plain-language explanation of exactly what it changes. A ? in the panel can show every one of them at once.

  • Customise the bottom bar

    Choose which items sit on the home navigation bar, and in what order.

  • Dividers in the sidebar

    Drop a visual divider between sidebar items to break a long list into groups.

  • Show or hide block titles

    Turn the title header off any home block, for a quieter home screen.

  • Autocorrect, your way

    Autocorrect can be turned off entirely, for anyone who types faster than it corrects.

  • More than one vault

    Keep separate vaults and switch between them — a work vault and a personal one, each with its own key.

  • Advanced mode

    Off by default

    Reveal the deeper settings when you want them, and keep them out of the way when you do not.

Platforms and access

Where it runs, and how you reach it.

  • Five platforms

    iOS, macOS, Android, Windows and Linux are the release targets, with the same vault design. None has had an independent audit; our security model lists the iOS, macOS, Windows and Linux builds as unaudited.

  • Keyboard shortcuts

    Navigate back, save a note, and dismiss search from the keyboard.

  • Native desktop window

    An in-app title bar and window controls on desktop, so it feels like a desktop app rather than a phone app in a frame.

  • Local device discovery

    Devices find each other on your own network for transfer, without a cloud directory service.

Accessibility

Designed in from the start, and still being refined.

  • Screen-reader labels throughout

    Buttons, rows and controls carry spoken labels, including a search field that names TalkBack and VoiceOver directly.

  • Reduced motion

    When your system asks for less animation, the app cuts instead of animating.

  • Text scaling

    Your system text size flows through the editor rather than being overridden.

  • Comfortable touch targets

    A minimum tap-target size applied across the app.

  • Colour is not the only signal

    Folder colours are decorative, so meaning is not carried by colour alone.