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Sync, offline & multi-device ​

Surfc is offline-first. Every note you capture is written to the device you're holding before anything is sent to the cloud — so capture never waits on a network. Sync then carries that note to your other devices the next time they're online.

How sync works ​

When you save or edit a note, the change lands in local storage on that device immediately. Whenever the device has a connection, Surfc syncs those local changes up to the cloud and pulls down anything new from your other devices.

If you're offline, nothing is lost — Settings shows "Offline — changes will sync when you reconnect." The moment you're back online, the queued changes go up.

Deletes sync too: removing a note marks it deleted and propagates that deletion to your other devices on the next sync, rather than leaving an orphaned copy behind.

"Why hasn't my note appeared on my other device?" ​

This is the most common sync question, and it almost always comes down to one of three things:

  1. The other device hasn't synced yet. Sync happens when a device is open and online. A phone that's been in your pocket since this morning hasn't pulled today's notes. Open Surfc on it, or tap ↺ Sync now in Settings, and the notes arrive.
  2. One of the devices is offline. A note captured on a plane stays on that device until it reconnects. Check the offline indicator in Settings.
  3. The same note was edited in two places. Surfc resolves conflicts by last write wins — the version saved most recently (by its update time) is the one that's kept. If you edited the same note on two devices, the later edit overwrites the earlier one rather than merging them.

Avoiding lost edits

If you know you've been editing offline on one device, let it sync before editing the same note elsewhere. Last-write-wins is predictable, but it won't stitch two divergent edits of the same note together for you.

How your notes are protected ​

The text of your notes is encrypted on your device before it is ever synced. Surfc uses a master key that is generated on your device and never leaves it in readable form — the cloud only ever stores the encrypted form of your note text.

That key is held for you by a passkey — cryptographic material your phone or laptop keeps, unlocked by Face ID, Touch ID, Windows Hello, or your device PIN. Each device you link has its own passkey wrapping the same master key.

AI features see your note text

End-to-end encryption protects your notes at rest and while syncing. When you use transcription or idea discovery, the text of that note is sent to Surfc's AI service to be processed — it isn't end-to-end encrypted for that round trip. Notes you never run through AI are only ever stored and synced encrypted.

Adding a new device ​

Because the master key never travels in the clear, a new device can't just download it — you transfer it deliberately from a device that already has it.

  1. On a device that's already set up, open Settings.
  2. Under the encryption section, tap Link a new device.
  3. Surfc shows a six-digit transfer code. It is valid for 60 seconds or until it's used, whichever comes first.
  4. On the new device, sign in and enter that code when prompted.
  5. The new device registers its own passkey and receives the master key — the code itself is what encrypts the key in transit, so it is never exposed to the server.

If the code expires before you enter it, just generate a new one. The short lifetime is deliberate: it keeps the transfer window too small to be useful to anyone but you.

Managing linked devices ​

In Settings, the encryption section shows how many devices are linked. Tap it to open the device manager, where each device is listed with the platform it was enrolled on and when.

To remove a device, open the device manager and remove it from the list. Two guards protect you from locking yourself out:

  • You can't remove the device you're currently using from itself.
  • You can't remove the last remaining device — at least one must always hold the key.

Removing a device stops it from fetching your encryption key from the cloud again and from being used to link further devices. Your encrypted notes themselves are untouched. Note that a removed device that is still signed in and has already cached the key can continue to unlock notes until it's signed out (or its app data is cleared) — removal is not an instant remote wipe. If a device is lost or stolen, removing it here is the right first step, but sign out / wipe that device as well where you can.

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