Sinote In pilot use

Sinote turns speech into a note: you record, Sinote writes the text with time stamps, and photos land in the right place. Speech recognition runs on the Sinote server, without cloud services and without translation – you get the text in the language you speak.

Sinote is available in the browser, as an Android app and as a Telegram bot. The same account works everywhere.

1. Signing in

• Open Sinote in the browser or the app and sign in with your user name and password.
• The operator creates your account. Forgot your password? Ask the operator.
• At the top right, the circle with your initial opens the menu: interface language (Deutsch, English, Slovenščina, Русский), colour scheme (Light, Dark, System), data & storage, Telegram, guide, app version and sign out. The language can already be switched on the sign-in page. The device remembers both.
• First start: Sinote introduces itself with a picture (link “More about Sinote” to the product page on sintaris.net). After signing in a short wizard asks for the interface and note language, where memos live and the colour scheme. On a new device or after reinstalling, Sinote only asks whether to keep the previous settings or set up anew. Run the setup again in the menu opens the wizard at any time; Open on the web shows this guide on sintaris.net.

2. Recording a memo

1. Tap New memo at the bottom – the memo is created. Recording starts only when you tap Record; Sinote then shows a calm recording screen with a clock.
2. Pause and Resume interrupt the recording, Stop finishes it. Take a photo there with the camera on the left.
3. After stopping, the text appears with time stamps such as [00:01:23].

• Add a recording: record again in the same memo – the new text goes below the old one, separated by a line.
• Transcribe a file: on the list, ⬆ Transcribe a file (wav, m4a, mp3) turns a finished file into a new memo titled after the file; inside a memo ⬆ Upload recording adds it (also ogg, opus, aac, webm, mp4). On a PC you can also drop the file onto the recording area. In the Android app you pick the file in the file manager; it travels through the upload queue like a recording and is sent later after a dead spot. Other file types are refused right away. While it is transcribed you can pause or cancel; the text recognised so far is kept.
• Several memos: every new memo is a note of its own. ‹ Memos goes to the list; search and filters (kind, private/company) help there.
• Original recording: the recording itself stays with the memo (while “Keep the audio” is on): a player under the date line of each recording. In the storage it sits as recording-1.m4a etc. beside the note – also in the cloud folder and the ZIP. Shared PDF, Word and Markdown files do not contain it.
• Groups (folders): put memos into groups, e.g. customers, projects, topics. In a memo, ⋮ → Groups … tick groups or add a new one; a memo can be in several groups. In the list, the group buttons above it filter; Groups there renames or deletes (the memos stay). The groups are also in the note’s header (groups:), visible e.g. in Obsidian. In autonomous mode the groups stay on the device.
• While a recording runs, buttons that would interfere are greyed out.

3. Photos and files

• The round buttons at the bottom of a memo: Camera, Picture or PDF, 📎 Attach a document and Upload recording.
• 📎 Attach a document: any file – PDF, Word, Excel, text … It appears in the note under its own name, is stored with the note (also in the cloud folder and the ZIP) and opens with a tap. Added during a recording, it sits under the paragraph of that moment.
• A photo taken during a recording is placed automatically under the paragraph that was spoken at that moment.
• ＋ Picture here under a paragraph puts a picture exactly there.
• While editing: place the cursor, then 🖼 Picture at cursor or 📷 Photo at cursor.

4. Editing the text

• The pencil at the top of a memo opens the note as text (Markdown). Save keeps your changes.
• Later recordings are appended at the bottom – your changes stay.
• ⋮ at the top right of a memo: rename, new memo, save to device (ZIP), delete.

5. Where your data lives – menu → Data & storage

You decide. The choice applies to new memos; existing ones stay where they are.

Mode	What happens
Sinote store	Memos stay on the Sinote server. Access from phone and PC, search, Telegram.
Autonomous (local)	The server only writes the text. Memos live on your phone (app) or in your browser. Nothing stays on the server. No Telegram.
Own cloud folder	Note and pictures go to your folder (Nextcloud, Yandex Disk, Google Drive, OneDrive/SharePoint …). Then the server deletes its copy.

• Keep the audio: when switched off, Sinote deletes the recording as soon as the text is ready. The text stays.
• Allow Telegram: Telegram runs through the Telegram cloud. In autonomous mode it is always off.
• Transcription: the default is the Sinote server (no cloud services). Under Transcription → Own service (OpenAI-compatible) you can connect your own service – e.g. OpenAI (whisper-1, gpt-4o-transcribe), Groq or your own Whisper server: enter the API address, API key and model, Check connection, save. Your recordings then go to that service; costs and data protection depend on it. The key stays on the Sinote server.

6. Autonomous: memos on the phone or in the browser

• In the Android app memos live in the app's protected storage. Only the recording goes to the server, the text comes back, the job is deleted. Photos never leave the phone.
• In a browser without the app memos live in this browser. If you clear browser data they are gone – make backups. If you prefer to pick up a file, choose "Pick up as ZIP" (the server then holds the memo for up to 24 hours).
• ⋮ → Save to device (ZIP) stores a memo as a ZIP (note, pictures, text, recording) – in the app under Download/Sinote.
• 📁 Choose folder for a copy (app): Sinote also writes every change to a folder of your choice, e.g. one your Nextcloud app syncs. The folder opens in Obsidian.
• 🔐 Create backup: all memos of this device in one file, encrypted with your passphrase. Without the passphrase the backup cannot be opened – nobody can recover it. Recordings are not included (they are in the ZIP).
• Restore: choose the file, enter the passphrase. Newer memos win, nothing is deleted. A backup from the browser opens in the app and vice versa.

7. Own cloud folder

• WebDAV – for Nextcloud, ownCloud, Yandex Disk, storage boxes, on-premises SharePoint. Enter address, user and an app password, Check connection, save.
• Nextcloud: https://<your-cloud>/remote.php/dav/files/<user>/Sinote/
• Yandex Disk: https://webdav.yandex.ru/Sinote/
• Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive / SharePoint Online: choose the service, 🔗 Connect, sign in at the provider. For SharePoint enter the site (e.g. company.sharepoint.com/sites/Team). Google Drive: Sinote only sees the files it created itself.
• Jurisdiction: Google and Microsoft are US providers, Yandex a Russian one. The choice is yours.
• If the cloud folder is not reached, the memo says so – the server never deletes anything that has not arrived.

8. Android app

• Install: on the Android phone open Sinote in the browser and tap 📱 Android app – or open https://apps.sintaris.net/sinote/download/sinote.apk directly (with another operator: their Sinote address + download/sinote.apk). Open the file, allow "install from this source" once. Updates install the same way; your memos stay.
• The app records even with the screen locked. Pause and stop are also in the notification.
• 🔋 Switch battery optimisation off (menu → Data & storage, or the question before the first recording): some makers stop background apps otherwise – then the recording breaks off.
• Record without unlocking: swipe down the Quick Settings → pencil → add the tile Sinote record. A tap starts a new memo, another tap stops. Or put the widget ⏺ New memo on the home screen.
• Call during a recording: Sinote pauses by itself and continues after the call.
• Navigation and alert sounds: Sinote only listens and takes no sound away from other apps – navigation prompts and notifications stay audible. With a car or Bluetooth headset connected, Sinote records through the phone's microphone so that it does not switch to call mode.
• No network? The recording is sent later automatically.
• Share with Sinote: in another app (recorder, WhatsApp, Telegram, file manager) share a recording and choose Sinote – it becomes a new memo; several files at once give one memo each. Signed out or offline, the file waits and is sent later. In a file manager Open with → Sinote works too. Sinote missing from the list: check the app version in the menu (0.3.0 or later) and scroll the share list or tap “More”.
• Choose the Sinote server: under menu → Data & storage → Sinote server tap a server in the list – the app switches right away, then sign in again. An Own address (e.g. your own Sinote server) can be entered there and is then in the list too. If the server cannot be reached, the app shows the same list to choose from.

9. Telegram

1. In the menu tap Connect Telegram.
2. In the bot tap Start – or send it /link CODE. The code is valid for 15 minutes.

Then: - Voice message, audio, video → transcribed and added to the current memo; the text comes back as a reply. - Photo → picture in the current memo. Text → appended to the note. File (PDF, Word …) → attached to the current memo. - Commands: /new title new memo · /list memos · /open 2 open · /note show the note · /title text rename · /search words search · /guide this guide · /unlink disconnect. - Telegram hands bots files up to 20 MB only – upload bigger ones in the app.

10. Share, save and delete

• The share symbol at the top of a memo opens “Share or save the memo”: PDF (to read and print), Word (to keep editing) or Markdown (for Obsidian, Nextcloud), with or without pictures and time stamps. Share … opens the device’s choice (mail, Telegram, Drive …), Save stores the file – in the app under Download/Sinote. In autonomous mode the server only converts the file briefly and keeps nothing.
• ⋮ → Save to device (ZIP) – the whole memo with pictures and recording.
• ⋮ → Delete – this memo.
• Menu → Data & storage → Delete all my data – all memos on the server, the cloud access and the Telegram link. Type your user name to confirm.

11. Frequent questions

• Which language? Sinote detects it and writes the original. Nothing is translated.
• No text after recording? Very short or silent recordings have nothing to write. Otherwise open the memo again – long recordings need some time.
• Who sees my memos? Only you. In autonomous mode they exist only on your device.
• Can I store my data on my own server? Yes: an own cloud folder (e.g. Nextcloud on your server) or your own Sinote server, whose address you enter in the app.

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