Epsilon Notes is fantastic and still alive

[petr.m...@gmail.com]

I love Epsilon Notes, it's a fantastic program and I use it for hours every day. It's very flexible and there's nothing else like it. Its ability to combine markdown and html with css and JS, linked through a preprocessor is something I can't give up. On top of that, writing mathematical formulas, musical notation, working with the filesystem offers incredible flexibility and extensibility. I am very sorry that the developer has literally abandoned this program and not made it available as open source.

But even in this state it is perfectly usable. The only danger is that it will cease to be compatible with Android. It is still compatible with version 14, but it's starting to teeter on the edge. Even though it has disappeared from Google Play, it is still possible to install it, although the user must grant a security exception when installing it. This is because it uses the original READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE and WRITE_EXTETNAL_STORAGE permissions in file access. Brief historical development:

- Android 1-4.3: `READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE` and `WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE` allow full access to all files on external storage.  
- Android 4.4: `WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE` limited to custom app folders, `READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE` works unchanged.  
- Android 6.0: both permissions require user consent when running the application (runtime permission).  
- Android 10: added scoped storage, but `READ/WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE` still fully works if `requestLegacyExternalStorage=true` in manifest.  
- Android 11: apps with targetSdk 29 and below have full access with `requestLegacyExternalStorage=true`. Apps with higher targetSdk have access limited to custom folders unless they have `MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE`.  
- Android 13: older apps still use `READ/WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE` without restriction. New apps must use the new `READ_MEDIA_*` permissions.  
- Android 14: `READ/WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE` remains fully functional for older apps (e.g. Epsilon Notes) that do not have an elevated targetSdk.  
- Android 15: `READ/WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE` still work for legacy apps with targetSdk < 33. Permissions remain valid, but new apps with targetSdk 35+ cannot use them.

Since the author is no longer developing the application, we have to hope that support for this interface for legacy applications is still maintained. I'm using Epsilon Notes on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 9 and I think it will last me for many years to come. At worst, I want to write an alternative to Epsilon Notes myself. But for the moment, I would like to keep Epsilon Notes alive.

I've learned how to decompile and recompile it. This allows me to keep the libraries up to date, look at some broken things, and even make some minor code modifications. The decompiled code (smali) is pretty unreadable, it's kind of like the Android assembler, incomprehensible and undocumented, but I think you can do small things there. My first goal is to add :en-home:, similar to :en-path:, which will expand to the set home folder. This will allow me to refer to the home directory and have other javascript libraries in it that I can easily refer to from anywhere. This way everyone will be able to expand the functionality of android according to their needs.

At the moment, I have managed to rename the application, i.e. to make it a different application from an android perspective. I've named it Epsilon Notes W1. This has a huge advantage, it allows me to have Epsilon Notex running twice and switch between them or have them side by side on a split screen, something I've always wanted. Like when I was programming something in Epsilon Notes in Javascript and needed to look at my notes to see how to do what, which I also had in Epsilon Notes. Now I can do it simultaneously and I'm happy.

[petr.m...@gmail.com]

Dne sobota 3. května 2025 v 22:09:05 UTC+2 uživatel petr.m...@gmail.com napsal:

[petr.m...@gmail.com]

It hurt a bit, but the victory is mine. The :en-home: tag is up and running, and for me it's confirmation that I can improve Epsilon Notes at least a little bit as needed.

Dne sobota 3. května 2025 v 22:09:05 UTC+2 uživatel petr.m...@gmail.com napsal:

I love Epsilon Notes, it's a fantastic program and I use it for hours every day. It's very flexible and there's nothing else like it. Its ability to combine markdown and html with css and JS, linked through a preprocessor is something I can't give up. On top of that, writing mathematical formulas, musical notation, working with the filesystem offers incredible flexibility and extensibility. I am very sorry that the developer has literally abandoned this program and not made it available as open source.

[petr.m...@gmail.com]

Today I managed to finish editing a feature I've been wanting for a long time. The ability to open a note in Epsilon Notes in Vim running in Termux. The best of worlds have come together. That it really can be done shows this Video. 

Vim Editor is the best text editor in the world. Very powerful in the hands of an experienced user. After all, I edit Epsilon Notes codes in it. But I don't open Vim directly from Epsilon Notes, I call the epsilon-edit script. In it, anyone can pass a file to their favorite editor. From Emacs to Nano.

Termux is a terminal application that gives Android a Linux-like environment. It too is a fantastic app for Android. Also very very powerful. I edit Epsilon Notes in it on my tablet, I don't use PC at all.

And I mustn't forget Hacker's keyboard. An unobtrusive workhorse that also allows me to use my tablet as a PC.

In order to make it work, I had to add one permission to Epsilon Notes to call scripts in Termux. It needs to be activated manually.

In Epsilon Notes I also removed the 'Launch file' item in the file context menu and added 'View file', 'Edit file' and 'Termux'.

.

The ability to transfer files from Epsilon to Termux is an extremely powerful thing. I'm considering adding another option that would run Termux in the background. This would allow postprocessing of files with all the power and weight of the Termux development tools. Something I laboriously do with LilyPond could be beautifully automated. I'd also like to move the HTML/CM item from the menu to the top bar, I use it often enough and would appreciate having it more to hand.

Dne sobota 3. května 2025 v 22:09:05 UTC+2 uživatel petr.m...@gmail.com napsal:

I love Epsilon Notes, it's a fantastic program and I use it for hours every day. It's very flexible and there's nothing else like it. Its ability to combine markdown and html with css and JS, linked through a preprocessor is something I can't give up. On top of that, writing mathematical formulas, musical notation, working with the filesystem offers incredible flexibility and extensibility. I am very sorry that the developer has literally abandoned this program and not made it available as open source.

[Dan Raymond]

Any chance of making your substantial efforts available?

Thanks

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[petr.m...@gmail.com]

If you mean a modified application, I would like to, but I have one problem with that. By unpacking it and signing it with my own key, the application lost its premium features, because unlocking is tied to the original signature. Of course, this is easy to 'fix' and permanently unlock the application by modifying the code, i.e. hacking it. That was the first thing I did when I realised that signing the app with my own signature had blocked the premium features. I don't know about elsewhere, but in our country it is legal to modify proprietary applications for personal use, but not to distribute them. Therefore, I have a moral problem with distributing an application that has been modified in this way, even though it is clearly abandoned and its creator is not interested in it. I should not distribute even a modified application without unlocked premium features, and I don't know if anyone would want a version without premium features. The premium features include six taskbars instead of two, a global index, homepage settings, and so on. Ideally, Mr Kartoyev would give me permission to distribute the unlocked and modified application, as he has lost interest in it and no longer sells it. Does anyone have his contact details or email address so I can ask him? But I'm afraid he doesn't communicate. The second, probably more feasible option is to provide instructions so that everyone can modify the application themselves. However, I would not provide advice on how to unlock the premium features in these instructions; everyone would have to figure that out for themselves.

Dne čtvrtek 8. května 2025 v 2:10:50 UTC+2 uživatel nebu...@gmail.com napsal:

[R 4]

> feature I've been wanting for a long time. The ability to open a note in Epsilon Notes in Vim running in Termux.

I don't understand at all. If I long press some file and select «Launch file», Android propose the list of the apps which can open it. I choose Termux and get this:



if I press «EDIT», Termux opens file in a default editor. For me it is Nano, if you want Vim, just add «export EDITOR=vim» into a profile or right in bash.bashrc.

[petr.m...@gmail.com]

This creates a copy of the file. The file you clicked on will remain unchanged. This is not how you edit Epsilon notes files in Termux.

Dne úterý 13. května 2025 v 21:38:59 UTC+2 uživatel ruskey...@gmail.com napsal:

[R 4]

In fact, I don't care, because all this is called "beckoning and not giving."

среда, 14 мая 2025 г. в 01:58:46 UTC+4, petr.m...@gmail.com:

[petr.m...@gmail.com]

I tried to contact Mr Kartoyev, but unfortunately he does not respond to ekar...@gmail.com and ekar...@mail.ru bounced back as undeliverable. If anyone can contact him, please do so. My offer to provide instructions on how to modify the code still stands.

Dne středa 14. května 2025 v 12:45:15 UTC+2 uživatel ruskey...@gmail.com napsal:

[Andrew Thompson]

I'm fascinated by what you're doing, & would love to get involved. I've been using Epsilon Notes since it first appeared, & really value its power & flexibility. There's nothing quite like it, so it would be a real pity if it was just allowed to die.

I thought I had corresponded with Eugene, when I first started to use EN, but I can find no record of the conversation. It was probably via the old chat group, before the move to Google Groups. The only email address I have is the GMail one you have already tried. However, he seems to be active on Facebook, so you might be able to contact him there:
https://www.facebook.com/ekartoyev


Andrew