Typically, when you open a note-taking app, you’re immediately met with menus, toolbars, and settings panels waiting for your attention. Notally doesn’t bother with any of that. The first time I opened it, I landed on a blank field with just two options: add a note or add a list. Choosing either one takes you straight into an almost empty space with nothing more than a title field and a note field.
There are no distracting buttons crammed along the edges of the screen, no ribbon interfaces tucked behind tabs, and no floating action menus jumping out at you. The focus stays entirely on your notes or to-do lists, which are productivity methods that work. Yet Notally’s minimalism doesn’t feel restrictive, even if it might seem so at first glance.
- OS
-
Android, Open-Source
- Price model
-
Free
Simplicity that actually works
A minimalist approach that still gives you power
The interface of the Notally app feels almost Zen-like. You write directly in the note field, rely on the same gestures and keyboard shortcuts you already use in other apps, and that’s it.
For instance, if you want to bold text, you simply highlight it and press the usual shortcut. The same applies when you want to add links or italicize a line. Notally also includes rich text formatting options like strikethrough and monospace, though these appear only after you’ve tapped the three dots.
Just as the formatting stays simple and straightforward, so does creating an organized collection of notes. If an idea or something you’ve captured is super important, you can pin it so it always stays at the top of your homepage, or attach a label so you can quickly filter through the Labels view. On the Notes screen, you can even highlight a note, tap the three dots, and change its color. These organizing tools feel intuitive enough that you rarely need to think about structure while using the app. It naturally falls into place as you capture your ideas.
Adding context to your notes is just as effortless. Notally lets you embed images and record audio directly inside your entries, which means you can drop in photos of items you want to buy or add sketches after a brainstorming session. As mentioned earlier, clickable links work in Notally as well. You can paste in emails, URLs, or phone numbers, highlight them, tap Link, and Notally will automatically format them as actionable links.
Notally doesn’t offer account creation or cross-device syncing, but exporting your notes is still easy. You can save them in TXT, JSON, HTML, or PDF formats, whichever you prefer, with your formatting preserved. This means that you can move your notes into another note-taking app or word processor whenever you want, whether you’re switching tools entirely or collaborating with people who use a different workflow.
I found this minimal writing app so good, I uninstalled Word
I didn’t know it would feel so good not having to wrestle with menus and ribbons every day.
Built for actual use, not bloat
Speed, stability, and thoughtful extras
Under the hood, Notally is very lean. The APK weighs less than 2MB, which is far smaller than what most apps need to pack in dozens of flashy features. As a result of its light footprint, Notally launches instantly, runs smoothly even on older devices (it supports Android Lollipop and up), and never stutters. If you’re holding onto an older phone or trying to manage the limited space on your device, this level of efficiency definitely matters.
To make sure you don’t lose your notes because you dropped your phone or your storage got corrupted, you can enable the auto-backup feature or export backups to your preferred cloud storage service. All of these options live on the Settings page, where you can also import backups you’ve stored on your device or on any external or cloud-based drive.
According to the creator, Notally was built to be beautiful, light, and useful. As a result, there’s no plan to introduce subscription tiers, especially since the app is open-source, with no tracking and definitely no algorithms trying to predict what you want. It’s simply a tool designed by someone who grew frustrated with the bloated alternatives and decided to build the kind of note-taking app they wished already existed.
I can’t believe these 9 Android apps are free and open-source
Make everyday tasks on Android faster and easier with these apps.
A reminder that simple tools can be the most powerful
Notally is proof that a tool doesn’t need to be complex to be useful. After spending just a week with it, I’ve barely touched my other open-source note-taking apps. Its simplicity is so refreshing. You get an app that respects your time, doesn’t demand lofty learning curves, and stays out of your way while helping you capture your ideas.
If you’re tired of bloated apps that do too much and end up complicating something as basic as note-taking, give Notally a try. You may find that its zero-button philosophy works far better than you’d expect.