Privacy-first · Self-hosted
ultraThink is a private task planner and note keeper for your Apple devices — end-to-end encrypted, synced only across your own network, and rated A for security.
Runs on any always-on box — a Mac, a Linux server, a Raspberry Pi or NAS via Docker. Native apps for iPhone, iPad & Mac.
The idea
You want Apple Notes–style notes and a real task organizer, synced across your devices. You just don’t want it living on someone else’s servers. So you run one small server yourself.
What’s inside
Capture a thought, turn it into tasks, plan it on a calendar — all in one place.
Apple Notes–style notes, thoughts, ideas and dreams with Markdown and a fast capture flow.
Due dates, priority, reminders and recurring rules. Turn one note — or many — into a task.
An interactive agenda that merges scheduled tasks and events, so your day is one clean view.
Attach a place to any note or task, drop a pin, or search the map — with an in-app privacy note.
Record on any device; on-device, offline speech-to-text turns it into searchable text. Audio never leaves your devices.
Reusable colored labels and a Kanban board keep everything organized and filterable.
Attach PDFs and files to notes and tasks — content-addressed and encrypted before upload.
Find any note, task, or transcript in a keystroke — indexed locally on every device.
Focused, imaginative, traveler, journaler or balanced — the app reshapes to fit you.
Private by design
Your content is encrypted on your device before it ever syncs. The server is a dumb, zero-knowledge store: it holds only ciphertext and never holds a key.
AES-256-GCM on your device. A passphrase-derived key (PBKDF2, 600k iterations) plus a recovery key you keep.
A stolen server or disk reveals nothing but opaque blobs and timestamps — no note, task, file or transcript.
The server binds to a private address and is reached only over your own LAN or VPN. No router port-forwarding.
The apps refuse any plaintext connection and pin your server’s certificate by fingerprint that you verify.
Each device is paired with a 256-bit token, stored only as a hash. Lose a device? Revoke it instantly.
Everything lives in a single encrypted SQLite file plus your files. One-click export, any time.
Security rating
From a code-level security review of the server, web admin and Apple clients.
| Domain | Grade | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Data protection & E2EE | A | AES-256-GCM, PBKDF2 @600k, wrapped data key + recovery key, per-record tamper binding; genuinely zero-knowledge. |
| Authentication & pairing | A | 256-bit tokens stored hashed; single-use, time-boxed, rate-limited pairing; brute-force lockout on admin login. |
| Transport security | A | HTTPS-only: apps reject non-HTTPS and the OS forbids cleartext; the server cert is pinned trust-on-first-use. |
| Endpoint authorization | A | Every sync, blob, crypto and WebSocket route is behind bearer auth; server-computed content addresses. |
| Injection & XSS defense | A | Parameterized queries throughout, tokenized search, auto-escaping web admin; no raw SQL. |
| Web-admin hardening | A− | CSRF tokens on state-changing forms; hardened session cookie; 12-character password policy. |
A self-assessment of the current codebase for its intended use — a single-user, VPN-only personal server — not a formal third-party penetration test.
Locations
Give any note or task a place. Drop a pin by tapping the map, or search for a spot — perfect for a traveler’s itinerary, a field visit, or remembering where an idea struck.
Runs everywhere you already have
Ship it with a Docker one-liner, or run the Swift binary directly. It’s a single lightweight process backed by SQLite.
Built in SwiftUI from a shared codebase, so every client stays in sync and works offline, then converges automatically.
Get started in 3 steps
Start it on your always-on box with a Docker one-liner (or the native binary). Enable TLS and bind it to your private network.
Open the web admin, create a one-time pairing code — time-boxed, single-use and rate-limited.
Enter the code in the app, set your encryption passphrase, and save your recovery key. You’re synced.
A private task planner and note keeper that lives on your server, encrypts on your device, and answers only to you.