SideNote – Sidebar Notes, Tasks & Quick Scratchpad

Clean notes and voice memos right in your Chrome side panel. 100% private and local-first.

📝 SideNote — Notes & Voice Memos in Your Chrome Side Panel Never lose reading context again. SideNote is a fast, local-first note-taking and voice recording companion built natively into Google Chrome’s side panel. Say goodbye to tab-switching fatigue and fragmented bookmarks. With SideNote, you can capture spontaneous thoughts, format rich notes with Google Keep-style pastel swatches, dictate hands-free voice memos, and manage your entire web knowledge base side-by-side with your browsing. ══════════════════════════════════════════════ ✨ WHY CHOOSE SIDENOTE? ══════════════════════════════════════════════ Most note apps (Notion, Google Keep, Apple Notes) force you to constantly switch windows or juggle separate tabs, breaking your reading flow. Many modern extensions gate basic utility behind aggressive paywalls and cloud trackers. SideNote re-imagines web research with a clean, unified workspace docked directly beside your active webpage: • 100% Free Core Utility: Unlimited notes, rich text formatting, and voice recordings. No paywalls, no subscriptions, no ads. • 100% Local-First: Your data stays strictly on your machine in chrome.storage.local. Zero external tracking. • Zero Cloud Latency: Instant opening, instant searching, and instant offline availability. • Chrome-Native Design: Seamlessly blends with Chrome's native light and dark window frames. • Respect for Privacy: Zero third-party analytics, zero ad trackers, zero telemetry, and zero remote scripts. ══════════════════════════════════════════════ 🚀 DETAILED FEATURE WALKTHROUGH ══════════════════════════════════════════════ 📌 1. NATIVE CHROME SIDE PANEL DOCKING • Docks cleanly beside any webpage without obstructing page text, opening popup overlays, or forcing new windows. • Context-Aware Binding: Notes automatically bind to the specific webpage URL and domain you are visiting. Return to a page weeks later, and your notes will be waiting right where you left them. • Safe Protocol Safeguards: Automatically detects internal browser protocols (chrome://, edge://, about:, devtools://, view-source:) and gracefully disables note creation on restricted pages to ensure browser stability. 🎙️ 2. HANDS-FREE VOICE MEMOS WITH LIVE WAVEFORMS • In-Card Audio Dictation: Don't feel like typing? Click record to dictate voice notes directly into your note cards. • Web Audio API: High-fidelity audio recording using native browser media streams. • Live Audio Meter: Real-time visual waveform feedback confirms your microphone is capturing cleanly. • Embedded Playback Chip: Every recorded memo includes a custom audio playback bar with playback controls, duration metrics, and waveform animation. • Private & Local: Voice audio is encoded and stored directly on your hard drive as an audio data URL. Audio is never transmitted to remote servers. 🎨 3. GOOGLE KEEP-INSPIRED TONAL PALETTES & PINNING • Expressive Pastel Tones: Color-code cards instantly using authentic Google Keep-style swatches: - 🟡 Sand Yellow: Primary insights and essential takeaways - 🟢 Mint Green: Actionable steps, resources, and tasks - 🔵 Storm Blue: Reference data, statistics, and definitions - 🔴 Coral Pink: Critical warnings, questions, and priority items - 🟣 Dusk Purple: Personal reflections, summaries, and creative ideas • Card Pinning: Pin essential notes to the top of your list so critical project instructions are always immediately visible. • Visual Attachments: Add screenshots and images directly to cards to visually organize your research. ✍️ 4. TIPTAP RICH TEXT EDITOR • Comprehensive rich text formatting: Bold, italics, strikethrough, headings, bullet lists, ordered lists, and blockquotes. • Monospace Code Blocks: Clean code snippet boxes with whitespace preservation and horizontal scrolling that won't distort your cards. • Familiar Keyboard Shortcuts: Format instantly using standard shortcuts (Ctrl+B, Ctrl+I, Ctrl+Enter to save). 🗂️ 5. ALL-NOTES MASONRY DASHBOARD & INSTANT SEARCH • Panoramic Dashboard: Open the All-Notes dashboard in a full tab anytime for high-level research synthesis. • Responsive Masonry Grid: Multi-column responsive layout displaying all your notes across every website you've researched. • Real-Time Client-Side Search: Instant full-text search across titles, note bodies, and domain names. • Interactive Filter Chips: Filter your entire collection with one click: - "All Notes" - "Text Notes" - "Voice Memos" - "By Domain" (e.g., github.com, arxiv.org, wikipedia.org) 🛡️ 6. 100% LOCAL-FIRST & ZERO ACCOUNTS REQUIRED • Complete Privacy: Your notes and audio recordings never leave your machine and are never uploaded to any remote server. • No Sign-Up Friction: No account creation, no email verification, no passwords, and zero login popups. • Storage Transparency: Settings panel includes live storage calculation (bytes used, note counts, audio memo counts, image counts). ══════════════════════════════════════════════ ⚔️ FEATURE COMPARISON: SIDENOTE VS. ALTERNATIVES ══════════════════════════════════════════════ Feature │ SideNote │ Traditional Bookmarks │ Cloud Clippers ─────────────────────────┼──────────┼───────────────────────┼─────────────── Side Panel Docking │ ✅ │ ❌ │ ❌ Voice Memo Dictation │ ✅ │ ❌ │ ❌ TipTap Rich Text & Code │ ✅ │ ❌ │ ⚠️ (Complex) 100% Local-First Storage │ ✅ │ ✅ │ ❌ Zero Required Login │ ✅ │ ✅ │ ❌ Google Keep Color System │ ✅ │ ❌ │ ❌ 100% Free Forever │ ✅ │ ✅ │ ❌ (Paywalled) Zero Ad Trackers │ ✅ │ ✅ │ ❌ ══════════════════════════════════════════════ 🛡️ PRIVACY & SECURITY FIRST (CHROME LIMITED USE COMPLIANT) ══════════════════════════════════════════════ SideNote is built on the belief that personal notes should remain strictly personal. We adhere completely to the Google Chrome Web Store Developer Program Policies and the Limited Use Requirements: ✅ 100% Local Storage: All notes and voice recordings are stored exclusively in your browser via chrome.storage.local. ✅ Zero Third-Party Trackers: No Google Analytics, no telemetry SDKs, no Mixpanel, and no advertising scripts. ✅ No Data Brokerage: We will never sell, transfer, or monetize user data. ✅ Zero Remote Code (Manifest V3): All scripts, styles, and font files are bundled directly in the extension package. No external CDN scripts or dynamic code evaluation (eval). ✅ Offline Ready: SideNote operates without requiring an internet connection. ══════════════════════════════════════════════ 🔍 TRANSPARENT PERMISSIONS DISCLOSURE ══════════════════════════════════════════════ SideNote requests only the permissions mathematically required to deliver its single purpose: • "sidePanel": Used to display the notes and voice recording interface alongside active web pages in Chrome's native side panel. • "storage" & "unlimitedStorage": Used to persist your notes, voice recordings, and settings locally on your hard drive without hitting 10MB quota caps. • "tabs": Used solely to inspect the active tab's URL and title to link notes to the active domain, and to detect internal browser tabs (chrome://) where the side panel is disabled. • "Microphone" (Optional prompt): Requested only when you explicitly click to record a voice memo or run a microphone test in Settings. Audio is never recorded in the background. ══════════════════════════════════════════════ ⌨️ KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS & PRODUCTIVITY TIPS ══════════════════════════════════════════════ • Open Side Panel: Click the SideNote icon or configure a custom shortcut in chrome://extensions/shortcuts • Save Quick Note: Press Ctrl + Enter (Cmd + Enter on macOS) while writing. • Format Bold: Ctrl + B (Cmd + B on macOS). • Format Italic: Ctrl + I (Cmd + I on macOS). ══════════════════════════════════════════════ ❓ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) ══════════════════════════════════════════════ Q: Does SideNote send my notes to an external server? A: No. All notes, audio memos, and images remain in your browser's local storage (chrome.storage.local). We have no access to your data. Q: Do I need an account or subscription to use SideNote? A: No. SideNote is 100% free with no paid subscriptions, no account registration, and no monetization. You can start taking notes immediately upon installation. Q: Where are my notes stored? A: All notes and voice recordings are persisted locally on your device in Chrome's storage sandbox. Q: What happens if I uninstall the extension? A: Because storage is local, uninstalling Chrome extensions wipes the local storage sandbox. Your notes exist in your local Chrome profile directory. ══════════════════════════════════════════════ 💬 SUPPORT & COMMUNITY ══════════════════════════════════════════════ Have an idea, bug report, or feature request? We’d love to hear from you: • Support Email: info.stingerdevelopers@gmail.com • Privacy Policy: https://lazosee.github.io/side-note-docs/privacy • Terms of Service: https://lazosee.github.io/side-note-docs/terms Upgrade your web reading experience today. Click "Add to Chrome" to get started with SideNote!