Protected notes and app lock

A phone goes everywhere, so Varlig gives you two kinds of lock: a password on a single note, which encrypts it, and a lock on the whole app, which hides your library behind Face ID or your passcode. Both work the way they do on the Mac; see Privacy and locking.

Protect a note with a password

1. Open the note and choose Add Password… from its … menu.
2. Enter a password of at least 8 characters, and enter it again to verify it.
3. Tap Add.

Varlig encrypts the note’s text and its attachments on the device, and they stay encrypted on your Mac, in backups and in iCloud. The note’s earlier versions are deleted. While it’s locked, the note shows as Locked note in lists, its text isn’t searched, and nothing of it appears in the app switcher.

Change Password… and Remove Password… are in the same menu. Removing the password stores the note, and its attachments, without encryption again, on every device.

Open a protected note

Open the note and tap Enter Password. After you’ve entered the password once, you can turn on Unlock with Face ID (or Touch ID) for that note, and open it with a glance from then on. The note’s key is kept in this device’s keychain and never synced, so each iPhone and iPad asks for the password once before Face ID works there. Changing the password turns Face ID off for the note until you turn it on again.

An open protected note reads, searches and edits like any other, and every change is encrypted before it’s saved.

When protected notes lock again

Open protected notes lock again by themselves:

• When Varlig leaves the screen, while Lock When Leaving Varlig is on in Settings › Privacy. It’s on to begin with.
• After a while without use, the time set in Lock After: 5 minutes to begin with. Touching the screen and typing count as use.
• Whenever you like, from the open padlock in the note’s toolbar.

Turn Off Face ID for All Notes, in Settings › Privacy, forgets every note’s key on this device, so each opens with its password again.

Lock all of Varlig

Turn on Require Face ID (or Touch ID, or your passcode) in Settings › Privacy › App Lock, and Varlig asks for it whenever it opens and whenever you come back to it. Lock All of Varlig After Inactivity also locks it after the idle time in Lock After.

While Varlig is locked, its widgets are empty, reminders show no titles, Handoff offers nothing, and Shortcuts and Siri can’t read or change notes; only Calculate still works, and Quick Capture keeps what you dictate for when you unlock. App lock hides the library; it doesn’t encrypt it. For notes that must stay private, add a password as well.

Hide notes in the app switcher

Hide Notes in App Switcher covers Varlig with a blank screen whenever you switch away, so a glance at your recent apps shows nothing. It’s always on while app lock is on or a protected note is open.

What stays out of sight

A password-protected note is never shown by a widget, added to Spotlight, offered to Shortcuts or Siri, listed in the share sheet’s recent notes, or used as the Inbox for Quick Capture — even while it’s open on this device. Handoff tells your other devices only which note it is, so they ask for its password. A note shared with other people can’t be given a password, and a protected note can’t be shared.

Protected Tags in Settings › Privacy lets you choose tags whose notes must have a password, including their subtags. The policy follows iCloud between your devices. When a note needs protection, Varlig asks for a password; until it is protected, it stays out of Spotlight, widgets, the share sheet and Shortcuts. Removing a tag from the policy does not remove passwords from notes already protected.

Spotlight

Varlig keeps your notes out of Spotlight until you choose otherwise. Turn on Show Notes in Spotlight in Settings › Privacy, and Spotlight finds your notes by their titles, their text, the words in their pictures and PDFs, and their tags. Tap a result to open the note in Varlig.

Password-protected notes and notes in the Trash never appear. Turning the switch off removes every note from Spotlight. App lock doesn’t take out notes that are already there: it hides the library inside Varlig, not what you’ve chosen to put in Spotlight. Your Mac has its own switch; see Spotlight is up to you.

Crash and hang reports

When Varlig crashes, stops responding, or uses unusual amounts of processor time or storage, iOS gives it a report. Varlig keeps the last 20 reports, and 10 days of performance figures, on this device, and nothing sends them anywhere by itself. They hold the Varlig and iOS versions, the device’s model, and what happened and where in Varlig’s code — never note text, titles or file names.

Settings › About Varlig › Crash and Hang Reports says how many are kept. Send Report… opens a page that shows everything the report holds, with Email Support… when Mail is set up on this device, and Share Report…. Delete Reports…, on the same page, removes them. See Send a crash or hang report.