Something not working?

What it needs

• macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.
• iOS 17 or later. iPhone only; there is no iPad build.
• A server of your own. Naastenka is a client. It does not come with anywhere to put your notes, and it will not connect to anything you have not typed in yourself.

Getting started

Somebody who already has a board sends you a QR code or a naastenka://join link. Open it, check the phrase they read out to you, pick the name you want your notes signed with, and you are on the board. Nothing is applied until you confirm it, and you never inherit the sender’s name.

Setting one up from scratch means running the server yourself and typing its address, namespace and password into Settings → Add board. Ask us if you want the short version of how to do that.

Questions that come up

The widget is not there in Edit Widgets.

Open the app once first. macOS only offers a widget after the app that owns it has been launched at least once from ~/Applications, and a copy still sitting in your Downloads folder does not count.

The phone is showing an older note than the Mac.

That is iOS deciding how often a widget may refresh, and it is not something an app can override. Opening the app pulls the newest notes immediately. There is a timestamp in the widget’s footer telling you exactly how old what you are looking at is, precisely so you are never guessing.

iOS asked me for Local Network permission.

Because your server is usually on your own network, and iOS treats that as a separate permission from general internet access. Say yes or the app cannot reach it. A widget extension can never show that prompt by itself, which is why the app has to be opened once before you add a widget.

Can I get a notification when somebody writes?

No, and that will not change. A noticeboard is looked at, not pushed. Naastenka sends no notifications of any kind and asks for no notification permission.

Somebody wrote something I do not want to see.

Long-press their note and choose Hide; that person stops appearing on your widget. Because the board is a server you or a friend runs, the other half of the answer is the usual one for a private machine: whoever administers it can take the line down or remove that person’s access. Sidekala has no access to any board and cannot moderate one.

How do I leave a board?

Delete it in Settings. That removes the address and password from your device. Your last note stays on the server until whoever runs it clears it — ask them, or write to us and we will tell you which key to delete.

How do I update the Mac app?

Quit the old copy, drag the new one into ~/Applications, open it once. There is no auto-updater. Your boards survive, because the settings live outside the app itself.

Is my connection encrypted?

Not yet — see the privacy policy, which says so plainly and tells you what to do about it in the meantime.

Privacy requests

There is nothing to request. We hold no account, no profile and no copy of anything you have written; see the privacy policy for what that means in detail. Write to naastenka@sideka.la if you want that confirmed for your own records.