Markor: a plaintext editor for Android that stores notes as files you already own

The problem Markor solves: notes that survive the app that made them

Most note apps on Android own your data. You write into their database, they render it, and getting it out means an export step that may lose structure. Markor takes the opposite position. It is a text editor, and the README describes the project's aim as making "an editor that is versatile, flexible, and lightweight" that "utilizes simple markup formats like Markdown and todo.txt for note-taking and list management."

The audience follows from that. If you already keep notes as files, or you want to, Markor is the Android end of that workflow. The README says created files are "interoperable with any other plaintext software on any platform" and suggests editing with notepad or vim, filtering with grep, or converting to PDF. That is a specific claim about where your data lives: not in Markor, but in a folder the app reads and writes.

The cost is equally specific. Markor does not try to be a knowledge system. There is no database, no linking engine, no account. The README states plainly that Markor is an offline app that works with sync apps, but the sync apps have to do the syncing. Everything the app does not do becomes your responsibility.

How the Notebook folder, QuickNote and To-Do file split works

The architecture is a filesystem layout rather than a data model. The README describes Notebook as "the root folder of documents and can be changed to any location on the filesystem," while QuickNote and To-Do are text files. So there are two kinds of storage: a directory tree you browse, and two fixed files for fast capture and task entry.

Format support is handled by the editor, not by separate apps. The README lists Markdown, todo.txt, Zim/WikiText, plaintext, csv, ics, ini, json, toml, vcf and yaml among the supported formats. Depth varies by format, and the README is honest about it. AsciiDoc "might be not as much fleshed out like Markdown, but it should fit for general use." Org-Mode gets "only editor syntax highlighting and action buttons to make editing easier. There is no dedicated view mode implemented." CSV gets syntax highlighting with each column in a distinct color and a preview rendered as an HTML table with PDF export.

That unevenness is the design. Markor is a text editor with per-format affordances, not a suite of format-specific applications. If you need Org-Mode rendering, this is not it. If you need to edit an .org file on a phone without corrupting it, it is.

Installing Markor and setting up your first notebook

The README gives two download sources: F-Droid and the GitHub releases page. There is no Play Store link in the README and no desktop build. Once installed, the first real task is pointing the Notebook folder at a location you control, because that folder is where every document lives.

The repository ships sample files under samples/, including markor-markdown-reference.md, todo.sample.txt, orgmode-reference.org and sample.csv. Copying one of these into your notebook is the fastest way to see how a given format behaves in the editor and in preview.

For a build from source, the Makefile wraps Gradle and requires ANDROID_SDK_ROOT to be set. The default flavor is Atest, and the build target produces APKs into dist/.

export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=/path/to/android-sdk
make build

The Makefile's build target runs a clean assemble for the selected flavor, copies any APK newer than 300 seconds into dist/, and then checks the Gradle log for a "BUILD SUCCESSFUL" line. If that final check fails, the build is treated as failed even though an APK may exist on disk.

Encryption is opt-in. The README says you set a password in the settings and need Android Marshmallow or newer; it also points to jpencconverter on GitLab for encrypting and decrypting on desktop. Read the next section before relying on it.

Encryption covers text only, and that is a real limit

The README states that Markor can encrypt your text files with AES256, requires a password set in the settings, and needs Android Marshmallow or newer. It then adds the sentence that matters: "Be aware that only the text is encrypted not pictures or attachments."

For anyone who assumes folder-level encryption, that is a mismatch. A notebook with images, PDFs or other attachments will have encrypted .md files sitting next to readable binaries. If your threat model includes someone browsing the folder, encrypting only the text side does not close it.

There are two more boundaries worth naming. First, the README does not document rollback or key recovery for the encryption feature, so the consequences of losing the password are not described there. Second, Markor's offline stance means there is no server-side copy to fall back on. Combined with the sync caveat, this puts the durability of your notes on whatever sync tool you choose and on the correctness of your own backups. That is not a defect in Markor; it is what choosing a local-files editor means.

Markor versus Obsidian on Android: files versus a vault

Obsidian is the comparison most people reach for, and the difference is structural rather than cosmetic. Obsidian organizes notes into a vault and layers link graphs, plugins and a rendering pipeline on top of the Markdown files. Markor has no vault concept. Its Notebook is a folder, and its formats are handled by the editor and its preview.

The practical split: Obsidian gives you a system around your files. Markor gives you an editor over your files. If you want backlinks, a plugin ecosystem or a desktop client from the same vendor, Obsidian is the closer fit. If you want a small Android editor that opens a .md file from a synced folder and writes it back unchanged, Markor is the smaller tool for the job.

There is a second contrast inside Markor itself, between formats. Markdown and todo.txt get the most attention in the README and the NEWS file, while AsciiDoc, Org-Mode and CSV are described as newer additions with narrower support. Choosing Markor for Org-Mode means choosing an editor with syntax highlighting, not a renderer. Choosing it for Markdown means choosing the format the project has invested in most.

Maintenance, licensing and what a version bump costs you

The repository is not archived, and the last push was on 2026-08-25. Releases are not frequent: v2.16.1 landed on 2026-03-19, v2.16.0 on 2026-03-09, and v2.15.2 before that on 2025-10-23. That cadence suits a text editor. There is little in the way of server components or data migrations to chase.

Upgrade cost is mostly about format behaviour rather than data. The NEWS file records changes that alter how documents are handled, including v2.6 with its "Newline = New Paragraph" and "Save Format" items and v2.11 adding AsciiDoc, CSV and Org-Mode plus line numbers. If you keep files in a niche format, reading the NEWS entry for a release before installing it is cheaper than discovering a change in preview output afterward.

The licence field is reported as NOASSERTION, and the repository carries LICENSE.txt. The Makefile header states its own licence as Public Domain / CC0, which is the build file, not the application. The README describes Markor as "openly developed free software that accepts community contributions." Because the machine-readable licence is not resolved, check LICENSE.txt yourself before redistributing a build or shipping it inside another product.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt Markor if you want your notes to stay as plain files on Android storage and you are willing to run your own sync, because the README states the app itself does not sync. Do not adopt it if you expect a desktop build or a database-backed note graph, since the README lists only F-Droid and GitHub as download sources. Before committing, verify that its AES256 option meets your needs: the README notes that only text is encrypted, not pictures or attachments.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. gsantner/markor on GitHub
2. Issues
3. Project website
4. README
5. Releases