A task list may look simple, but it often contains more personal information than it seems.
One task can reveal who you plan to meet, how your body feels, what exam you are preparing for, or which habit you are trying to repair. Tags, focus records, and planet progress may look lighter, but together they can describe the shape of a day.
DottieNote 2.0 starts from a plain principle: data that can stay on your device should stay there by default.
Core data stays on device by default
Tasks, tags, the planet atlas, focus records, and most settings are stored on your device by default. This is not just a privacy phrase; it changes the everyday experience:
- The app can stay fast without waiting on a server for every basic action.
- Core task and focus flows can still work when the network is poor.
- Your daily plans do not automatically enter our servers.
There is also a boundary. If you rely only on local storage, you should confirm sync or backup before uninstalling the app, changing devices, or clearing system data. Local-first does not mean data can never be lost; it means the default control starts with the device and the user.
iCloud is an optional cross-device layer
If you want your data on multiple Apple devices, you can enable iCloud sync. When enabled, related data syncs across your devices through your Apple ID and iCloud/CloudKit.
We treat iCloud as an extension of the local-first experience, not a requirement to create another DottieNote account. Your Apple ID, iCloud status, network environment, and device settings can all affect whether sync works smoothly.
That is why the help center explains iCloud sync separately. It is not a black-box toggle; it is a cross-device Apple service, and users should know what it depends on and when it is useful.
Cloud services should serve the current action
Voice task creation needs to turn input into editable task information. To improve usability, DottieNote may use cloud services to support parsing; when cloud services are unavailable, the app tries to keep the flow recoverable.
The important boundary is this: we do not store your recordings, recognized text, or parsed task content. Cloud processing exists to complete the current task creation request, not to build a task profile about you.
Why this deserves to be explicit
The closer a productivity tool gets to daily life, the clearer its data boundaries should be. Users should not have to guess whether an app uploads tasks, stores voice input, or binds data to another account.
Local-first is not about sounding more technical. It is about making a daily tool easier to trust: the core experience does not require an account, core data does not leave the device by default, cloud use is explained when it is needed, and user choice remains available where it matters.
That will continue to be DottieNote's direction after 2.0.
It also constrains our own choices
Local-first is not a sentence we put on a privacy page and forget. It limits product decisions in practice. Which data can support customer troubleshooting? Which analytics should not be collected by default? Which experiences should not require login just because it would be more convenient for operations?
Those limits can slow some things down, but they also make the product clearer. When users give tasks and focus records to DottieNote, they are hoping their daily life becomes easier to begin. That trust should not be turned into a default dataset for analysis.
We would rather explain more, process more on device, and keep some choices in the user's hands than turn someone's daily rhythm into background data by default.
Trust matters more than cleverness
DottieNote will continue adding more intelligent capabilities. Voice parsing, natural language tasks, image or content understanding may all help users organize tasks faster.
But those capabilities need clear data explanations around them. Users should know when data leaves the device, why it leaves, whether it is stored afterward, and whether they can review the result before it enters the system.
A productivity tool should not become less understandable just because it becomes smarter. The better direction is lighter input, clearer confirmation, and data handling users can understand.