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How offline-first notes work in Folevi
Folevi saves every edit on your device before it syncs. Where edits wait, what each sync status means, and what happens when two devices edit one block.
Many note apps save to a server and keep a copy on your device. Folevi works the other way round. Every change is written to your device first, and the server hears about it afterwards. This post explains what that means day to day: where your edits wait, what the status on each page tells you, and what happens when two devices change the same thing.
Where an edit goes first
When you type in a Folevi page, the change goes into a queue on your device before anything is sent. On the web the queue lives in your browser’s storage, and Folevi for Mac, which is coming soon, keeps it the same way. The editor never waits for the network, so typing on a slow train connection feels the same as typing at your desk.
The queue is durable. If you reload the tab, close the browser or restart the computer, the waiting edits are still there, and Folevi sends them the next time it can.
Each queued change has its own ID. If a change is sent twice, say because the connection dropped just as the server replied, the server recognises the ID and doesn’t apply it again. That is why Folevi can retry as often as it needs to without duplicating a paragraph.
What the sync status means
Every page shows a small status. There are six, and each one means one thing.
| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| Saved | The server has confirmed every change on this page. |
| Saving | You’re online and recent edits are on their way. |
| Offline | There’s no connection. Edits are stored on this device, with a count of how many are waiting. |
| Syncing | You’ve reconnected. Folevi is fetching changes from your other devices and sending yours. |
| Conflict | The same block was changed in two places. Both versions are kept until you choose. |
| Not saved | The server turned a change down, or you need to sign in again. Open the status for the details and a retry button. |
The rule we care most about is the first one. Folevi shows Saved only after the server has confirmed every change on the page, including the sentence you are still typing. If the status says Saved, the server has it. If it says anything else, some of your work is only on this device for now, and the status tells you why. Open it to see which pages still have changes waiting.
Writing with no connection
Offline, the status says Offline and counts the edits waiting on this device. You can keep writing, create pages, tick off to-dos and move blocks around. All of it goes into the queue.
You can also open Folevi in the browser with no connection at all. After one visit online, Folevi opens offline and shows your notes as this device last saw them. If you’d like Folevi in its own window, install it as a web app from your browser.
Files have their own queue. If an upload is interrupted, it waits and retries on its own, and a stuck upload never holds up your text.
Coming back online
When the connection returns, the status changes to Syncing and Folevi works through these steps:
- It refreshes your sign-in.
- It fetches the changes made on your other devices since this one last synced.
- It sends your waiting edits in the order you made them, up to 100 at a time.
- It shows Saved once the server has confirmed all of them.
If your sign-in has expired, Folevi asks you to sign in again. Your waiting edits stay on the device while you do.
When two devices change the same block
Folevi syncs block by block. A block is one item on the page: a paragraph, a heading, a to-do, a table. Edits to different blocks merge on their own. Change the first paragraph on your laptop and the last one on your desktop, and both changes land.
A conflict happens when the same block changed in two places before either device synced. Folevi keeps both versions and shows them side by side, the version from elsewhere next to yours, with three choices: Keep mine, Keep theirs and Keep both. Keep both adds your version as a new block right after the other one, so you can merge them by hand. Until you choose, nothing is thrown away.
If the other device deleted the block while you were editing it, the conflict says so, and you choose between your version and the deletion.
The same applies to two people in a workspace. If you both type in the same paragraph at the same moment, you’ll see a conflict instead of merged text, because Folevi doesn’t merge edits character by character yet. We chose a conflict you can see over text that interleaves or disappears without telling you.
Version history as a second net
Separately from sync, Folevi takes snapshots of each page: about two minutes after you stop editing, when you close the tab, and just before you restore an older version. Snapshots are kept for 30 days on every plan, and you can restore any of them.
Read more
The Sync and offline article in the docs has the short version, and offline notes covers the feature. If you’re moving from another app, moving your notes into Folevi explains the import.