A notes app with password protection, done the Mac way
No invented passwords, no recovery emails. Locus App Lock gates your workspace behind Touch ID, Apple Watch, or your Mac login password — the credentials you already guard with your life.
Most searches for a password-protected notes app end at the same discovery: Apple Notes will lock a note, but nothing locks the notes app— and third-party options ask you to invent yet another password, then quietly become the weakest place you've ever stored one. Locus refuses both premises: your Mac already knows how to verify you. App Lock leans on that — biometrics when your hardware has them, your login password when it doesn't — while your notes stay in a local file that never touches a server.
How App Lock works
01Your Mac vouches for you
App Lock uses LocalAuthentication — the same system that guards your login. Unlock with Touch ID, Apple Watch, or your Mac password. Locus never invents, stores, or transmits a password of its own.
02Lock the moment you step away
Turn on “lock when switching to another app” and Locus covers itself the instant it loses focus — an opaque lock screen, not a blur you can squint through. Screen-share and coffee-shop safe.
03Every door, not just the front one
While locked, the menu bar quick-capture is covered too. There is no side entrance that shows your notes without authentication.
04Configurable, not mandatory
It's one toggle in Settings → Privacy. Writers at home can leave it off; anyone on a shared or travelling Mac can turn the key.
The lock is the second layer, not the first
Honest security talk: an app lock is about presence— who's at your unlocked Mac right now. The deeper layer is where notes live at all. Locus keeps them out of every cloud by construction, in a readable file on your own disk that FileVault encrypts along with everything else you own. The full privacy architecture is on the private notes app page, and the ownership philosophy in local-first notes.
Questions people ask
Is there a way to lock the Notes app on Mac?+
Apple Notes can lock individual notes, but not the app itself — your note list, titles, and everything unlocked stays visible to whoever's at the keyboard. Locus locks the whole app: one Touch ID gate in front of every page, every title, and even the menu bar capture.
Is it safe to keep passwords in a notes app?+
Honestly: no notes app — Locus included — should be your password manager. Use a real one (with per-item encryption and breach monitoring) for credentials. A password-protected notes app is for keeping drafts, journals, and plans away from casual eyes, and that's the job Locus App Lock does.
How do I password-protect notes on a Mac?+
Two honest layers: FileVault (System Settings → Privacy & Security) encrypts everything on disk, and an app-level lock keeps eyes off your notes while the Mac is unlocked. Locus ships the second layer built in — App Lock in Settings → Privacy — and inherits the first from macOS.
Is a password lock the same as encryption?+
No, and any notes app that blurs that line is selling something. App Lock controls access to the app while your Mac is running. Encryption protects bytes on disk — that's FileVault's job, and it covers your Locus workspace the moment you enable it. Lock for the room, encryption for the safe.
What if I forget the password?+
There's nothing extra to forget. App Lock rides your Mac's own credentials — if you can log into your Mac, you can unlock Locus. No recovery emails, because there's no account.
Does the lock sync or phone home?+
Nothing in Locus phones home — the app contains no networking code. The lock state, like your notes, is a purely local affair.
Free while in development · macOS 14 or later