IdeaMemo is a free, open-source Android quick-capture memo app written in Kotlin with Jetpack Compose under the GPL-3.0 licence, for Android users who want to record short ideas in a local database and optionally sync them to their own WebDAV cloud.
What it is
IdeaMemo is an Android note-taking application written in Kotlin and built with Jetpack Compose, released under the GNU GPL v3.0 and developed in the open on GitHub, where it has gathered 1,158 stars and 164 forks. Its README describes it both as "a quick record app written with Jetpack Compose" and as "an Android lightweight note-taking app". It belongs to the Productivity & Utilities / Note Taking & Knowledge Management category of this registry, is tagged android, compose, jetpack, kotlin and notes-app, and ships through two channels: Google Play under the application id com.ldlywt.note, and the latest release on GitHub.
The problem it addresses is the friction and exposure of cloud-bound memo apps. IdeaMemo requests no permissions at all, and the README states that all runtime data is stored firmly in the local database or can be uploaded to the user's own WebDAV private cloud. Notes are organised by #TAG and support mixed text and graphics, so a sudden idea can be captured quickly and filed without a vendor account standing in the middle. The README adds a caveat that, as a card note, the app is not intended for recording long text.
Key capabilities
- Privacy-first storage with no permission requests; runtime data stays in a local database unless the user uploads it.
- Optional synchronisation to a self-hosted WebDAV private cloud rather than a vendor-operated backend.
#TAG indexing for recording and organising sudden inspirations.- Mixed text and graphic notes, intended for short card notes rather than long-form writing.
- Review at any time through a calendar view, a heatmap and a random walk through past notes.
- Fully open source under GPL-3.0, free to use with no content fees, and distributed through Google Play and GitHub releases.
Who uses it and how
- Android users who want to capture an idea in seconds and file it with tags instead of a folder hierarchy.
- Privacy-conscious users who avoid apps that request device permissions and prefer notes kept on the device or in storage they control.
- Self-hosters who already run a WebDAV endpoint and want memos synchronised to it without adopting a separate note server.
- Reviewers who use the calendar view, the heatmap and the random walk to revisit older notes rather than search for them.
- Contributors and translators: the README invites issues for bugs and feature ideas, notes that multi-language translation is done by AI and asks readers to report errors, though it asks contributors not to submit simple fix code.
Getting started
Install IdeaMemo from Google Play using the package com.ldlywt.note, or download the latest build from the GitHub releases page. There is no server component to deploy, and WebDAV sync is an optional setting the user configures.
How it compares
No list of paid products is provided in the facts, so comparison runs along open-source lines: the README credits ReadYou, MoeMemosAndroid, Animius, SaltUI and memos as open-source projects from which some of its code is derived. Those credits place IdeaMemo alongside other Compose-based Android note and reading clients, while its own documented storage path keeps notes in a local database with WebDAV as the optional sync route.
When to use it — and when not to
There is no database, mail server or container stack to operate here: the app holds notes locally and only needs a WebDAV endpoint if synchronisation is wanted at all. It is a poor fit for anyone who needs long-form writing, since the README explicitly discourages long text, and for users outside Android, as no other platform is documented. Two weaknesses are visible in the facts: multi-language translation is done by AI and may contain errors, and the maintainer describes the project's capacity as limited by being one person's effort while asking contributors not to submit simple fix code.
