outice2025/HiNotes: An open source, 100% FOSS Markdown notes app for Android, built with Jetpack Compose and Material 3…

--- title: "HiNotes: A 100% FOSS Markdown notes editor for Android built with Jetpack Compose" description: "HiNotes is an open-source Android notes app: Markdown, SQLite, no INTERNET permission, with a Jetpack Compose and Material 3 Expressive interface." tags: [Android, FOSS, Markdown, Jetpack Compose, HiNotes] ### ⚡ The gist in 5 seconds - What it is: HiNotes is a simple Android notes app with Markdown support, fully free (100% FOSS, Apache License 2.0), with notes stored locally in SQLite and settings in DataStore. - Where to get it: the project is published on GitHub as outice2025/HiNotes; it can be built from source — requires JDK 17+ and the Android SDK with platform 37 and build-tools 36+. - Limitation: the app does not request the INTERNET permission and makes no network requests of its own — data stays on the device, and there is no cloud sync. ### 🔍 What was found HiNotes is a project the author describes as "a simple, easy-to-use 100% FOSS notes app for Android." At its core is a local model: notes live in SQLite, settings in DataStore, and nothing is sent out. The app doesn't request internet access permission, and the "Check for updates" option simply opens the project's releases page in a browser. The interface is built on Jetpack Compose and Material 3 Expressive, supporting seven Material 3 accent colors (blue by default), each with full light and dark schemes. On Android 12+, dynamic color adjustment to wallpaper and an OLED dark theme are available. Functionality includes creating, editing, and deleting notes, searching by title and content, and sorting by update date, creation date, or title. You can switch between a single-column list and a two-column staggered grid. Markdown is rendered in the list and in the editor preview, and the source editor offers buttons for bold text, italics, checkboxes, and lists, plus in-note search. Autosave every 20 seconds is optional; on exit with unsaved changes, the app will ask and save anyway. For protection, it uses a password with PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA1 and face unlock via androidx.biometric. Backups are manual: settings are exported as JSON, and notes as a ZIP archive of Markdown files via the system "Share" dialog. Building requires JDK 17+ and Android SDK platform 37; release builds are unsigned by default unless keystore.properties is configured. ### 💡 Why it matters HiNotes is a clear example of a modern open-source Android app that gets by entirely without network permissions, analytics, tracking, or accounts, while remaining a functional Markdown notes editor. For geeks, it's a practical case study of using Jetpack Compose and Material 3 Expressive in a real project. Users get an offline tool they can build themselves, audit the source code, and adapt to their needs, while developers get a ready-made reference with detailed documentation on the

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