Local-first notes, plainly explained
Local-first means your notes live on your machine as the source of truth — not as a cached copy of someone's server. Here's why that matters for a notebook, and the seven tests worth applying to any notes app that claims it.
Local-first notes are notes whose source of truth is a file on your own device — readable without the app that made them, usable without a connection, and owned without an account. The cloud, if involved at all, is a copy; your machine holds the original.
A notebook is a decades-long relationship. The notes you take this year should be readable when the company that made the app has pivoted twice and sunset three sync services. Cloud apps ask you to rent access to your own thinking; local-first apps let you own it. The difference shows up in four places: longevity, privacy, speed, and exit.
Seven tests for a local-first notes app
01The airplane test
Does everything work with Wi-Fi off — not a degraded mode, but everything? Local-first apps don't have an offline mode; offline is the mode.
02The no-account test
Can you use it forever without signing up? An account means a server; a server means your notes have a second home you don't control.
03The plain-file test
Can you find your notes in Finder and open them with something else? Databases you can't read are just private clouds on your own disk.
04The shutdown test
If the developer disappears tomorrow, do you still have everything? With a local file and standard export formats, the answer stays yes.
05The export test
Markdown, HTML, PDF — can you leave at any time, with formatting intact? Lock-in is the opposite of ownership.
06The latency test
Does the caret move the instant you type? Native, local software has no excuse for lag — there's no round-trip hiding in every keystroke.
07The backup test
Does your existing backup habit protect your notes automatically? If Time Machine already covers it, the app respects your system.
How Locus answers
Locus passes all seven by construction: no account, no networking code, a readable JSON workspace, Markdown/HTML/PDF export, native Swift speed, and backups that ride your existing Time Machine habit. The full picture is on the private notes app page — and if you're coming from a cloud workspace, the honest Notion comparison covers the trade-offs without the marketing squint.
Questions people ask
Where does the term “local-first” come from?+
It was popularized by a 2019 essay from the research lab Ink & Switch, which laid out ideals for software where data lives on your device first and the cloud, if any, is secondary. Locus takes the strictest reading: your notes live on your Mac, full stop.
Is local-first the same as offline-first?+
Close cousins. Offline-first apps still assume a server and sync when they can. Local-first makes your device the source of truth. Locus goes one step further — there is no server at all.
What do I give up?+
Real-time collaboration and automatic multi-device sync. That's a real trade, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest — local-first is for the writing you do alone, in exchange for ownership, speed, and privacy.
How does Locus store notes, concretely?+
One human-readable JSON file in your Application Support folder, images alongside it, a daily backup next to that, and up to 60 version snapshots per page. Open it in any text editor and your words are just... there.
Free while in development · macOS 14 or later