The day I lost to 4,000 notes
How OopsMemo was born
Let me start with a confession: I am a note addict.
Meeting notes, client phone numbers, 3 a.m. ideas that would “change the world” (by morning, most of them had no such plans), and the milk I keep forgetting to buy. After a few years of this, my phone was holding about 4,000 notes.
Then the day came. I opened a note and the app went quiet, deep in thought. So did I. Neither of us reached a conclusion.
We live in a fend-for-yourself era
Look around and it’s a little frightening. Wars on the news, zombies in every other game, and more and more people saying that, in the end, you have to protect yourself and your family on your own. Some even keep a survival backpack by the door.
So what about notes, the information that lives deepest in our everyday lives?
Notes are strange things. We ignore them for months, then the moment we think we’ve lost one, our heart drops. Note apps know this, and they say: “Don’t worry. We’ll sync everything to every device. Forever.”
So we sync. Phone, tablet, laptop, the office computer. And then we witness a small miracle: a note we deleted rises again on another device, like a zombie. You definitely deleted it. It walks back in anyway. Honestly, I never needed to buy a zombie game.
Years later, when you finally come to your senses, you realise two things.
- First, most of that syncing was never needed.
- Second, a subscription fee has been quietly leaving your account every single month.
If you’ve been there, you know. I know. My wallet knows best of all.
So I decided to be honest
My notes. I even paid to keep them. Yet when I wanted to take them somewhere else, it was strangely hard. Like a storage company that happily charges you rent, then asks “Which boxes?” when you come to collect.
So I built my own, for myself and for anyone as tired of it as I was. Just four rules:
- Notes stay on your phone. Nothing goes to a server. The safest note is the one in your own hand.
- No sign-up. No account, no password, no “please verify your email”.
- Take everything, any time. Your notes are yours.
- Only what matters, done well. Write fast, star what’s important, get reminded of what you mustn’t forget, and share a plan with one link.
Backups? No more lazy excuses
“But what if I lose my phone?”
Good question. The answer is almost boring.
Every now and then, tap “Export backup” in Settings. Your notes and photos come out as a single ZIP file. Email it to yourself, put it on your computer or a USB stick, or tuck it into the old phone in your drawer. Where it lives is your call. That’s the whole point.
Lose your phone, drop it in a river, or have it eaten by the dog (not based on a true story), and on your new phone just choose “Restore from backup” and open that file. Your notes come straight back. Already started writing new ones? No problem. Nothing gets wiped; they merge peacefully.
No complicated syncing, no monthly fee, no “your session has expired”.
It’s like keeping a torch in your survival backpack. Nothing fancy, but that one thing is enough. Mind you, a torch only helps if it’s actually in the bag. So please back up once in a while. The one thing OopsMemo can’t do is remember it for you, though we do plan to send you a friendly reminder.
Today’s phones handle tens of thousands of notes without breaking a sweat. Light but precious memories like notes are something you can now keep and protect yourself.
One last thing
I made OopsMemo to use every day myself. It isn’t perfect yet, and there’s plenty I still want to add (it’s all listed honestly on the roadmap page).
But I can promise you one thing: I will never hold your notes hostage.
Oops! Write it down before you forget. OopsMemo will take care of the rest.
— Woojung Joo, developer of OopsMemo