SilentNotes

There are a lot of note taking applications out there, so finding one that suits your particular needs is mostly a matter of patience and study.

If you're not particularly into feature-packed note apps and you want a simple solution for your computer that can keep your notes both locally or on a cloud-based server, then SilentNotes might be worth a look at.

Before we dive a bit deeper into details, it's worth pointing out that there's also an Android version of SilentNotes available, of course, on Google Play.

Getting back to the Windows version of SilentNotes, the app can be installed and run without requiring much configuration or intervention on your part. Once launched, you're met by a non-impressive main window with a run of the mill UI that emulates the look of a sort of classic bulletin board.

As mentioned at the start of our review, you can store your notes locally or to a cloud-based service such as WebDAV, Dropbox, and GMX. It's also worth mentioning that you should be able to even use your own website as an online storage since SilentNotes also comes with support for FTP.

Since we're on the subject of cloud synchronization, you should know your notes are automatically encrypted before leaving your computer by default (this feature can be disabled from the Settings section).  Better yet, you can choose one of two provided algorithms such as AES256-GCM and Twofish256-GCM.

Regarding typical features, things are not exactly stellar. You can add new and edit or delete already existing notes, change their color, and add various old-school emojis/smileys. You're also provided with a swift and efficient search function that allows you to quickly locate even the most complex notes, and that's really about it.

SilentNotes is nothing to be impressed about, however, it's also a useful application. It's very light on system resources, intuitive so that even the most novice of users can use it without problems, and it allows you to keep your notes on your local machine or the cloud.

Of course, we would have preferred it even more if it had provided its users with more organization options (like the possibility to organize your notes in folders or with the help of tags), but then again, these things might very well be entirely beyond the needs of day-to-day users.