Android

The Android app is the same Scaffold as on Windows: the same editor, links, graph, canvas, databases and properties, with an interface adapted for touch. It is built from one shared codebase. It is a preview: it works, and the limits below are real.

Install

Scaffold for Android is distributed as an APK file from the download page, not through an app store. The page lists the file’s size, the required Android version (Android 7.0 or newer) and its SHA-256 checksum. In short:

1. Download the .apk on the phone and, ideally, check its checksum.
2. Open it. Android asks you to allow installs from that source (Install unknown apps). Allow it for the browser or file manager you opened it with, and only for that one.
3. Tap Install. Play Protect may say the app is from an unknown developer, because it is not in the Play Store: tap More details, then Install anyway.
4. If you like, turn Install unknown apps off again afterwards.

The APK is release-signed. A later version installs over the existing one and keeps your notes. It contains code for 64-bit ARM phones (arm64-v8a) and for x86_64 (emulators, some Chromebooks).

Updating from 0.1.x: download 0.2.0 and install it over the app you have. Do not uninstall first: uninstalling deletes the notes stored in the app. From 0.2.0 on, updates install from inside the app (see Updates).

Where your notes live

For now, vaults on Android live in the app’s own storage:

• On first start Scaffold creates a vault called My notes with a welcome note and lists it on the start screen.
• Create new vault makes another one, also in app storage.
• Try the demo vault opens a ready-made set of linked notes to explore. Nothing in it is saved.

Opening an existing folder on the device (for example one a sync app writes to) is not supported yet, so other apps cannot see these files and Scaffold cannot see theirs. The app asks for no storage permission.

Uninstalling the app deletes the vaults in its storage, and they are excluded from Android’s cloud backup on purpose. Export a backup first (Settings, Backup and restore) if you want to keep them.

Using it on a touchscreen

• Controls are large enough to tap and nothing depends on hovering.
• The app keeps clear of the status bar, notch and gesture bar, and the editor toolbar sits just above the keyboard.
• A floating bar at the bottom gives you back, forward, a new note, tabs and the menu. The file list opens from the left.
• The Android back button closes panels first, then goes back through the notes you opened; press it twice to leave.
• The graph and canvas respond to drag and pinch.
• Turning the phone sideways just resizes the layout.
• With a hardware keyboard, shortcuts work too.

Sync and backup

Because vaults live in app storage for now, folder-sync apps cannot reach them on Android yet. Use Backup and restore in Settings to move notes between devices. Optional sync between your devices is coming in a later update. See Sync your notes.

Reminders

Reminders are off on Android until you turn them on in Settings, Reminders. Only then does Android ask for permission to show notifications. They arrive while the app is in the background or closed, may come a few minutes late, and are set up again after the phone restarts. See Plan your day.

Permissions and the internet

From 0.2.0 the app asks for four permissions, each for one job:

Permission	Why
Internet	The optional daily update check (and, later, optional sync). Nothing else uses it.
Show notifications	Reminders. Asked only when you turn reminders on.
Run at startup	Sets your reminders up again after the phone restarts.
Install apps	Installs Scaffold updates. Android shows its own install prompt.

No storage, camera, microphone, contacts or location access, and no analytics. Versions 0.1.x requested no permissions at all.

Stuck? See Troubleshooting.