Ideas live in IndexedDB
Every idea is written to your browser’s own IndexedDB database, through Dexie, the moment you save it. There is no request to a server in that path.
Works with no signal, because nothing depends on one.
The problem
Most notes apps assume you always have a signal
A spinner in front of a blank page is not a small inconvenience when the idea is already fading.
Open a lot of notes apps on a plane, in a basement conference room, or on the subway between two stations, and you get the same thing: a spinner while the app waits for a sync fetch, or a submit button that stays greyed out until the connection comes back. The app is not broken, exactly — it is just built around the assumption that a server is always reachable.
That assumption fails at exactly the moment you need the tool most. You do not choose when an idea arrives, and you rarely control the network around you when it does — a client site with a locked-down guest network, a train tunnel, a building with bad reception.
Vaps does not have that dependency. There is no server call in the capture path at all, so there is nothing to wait on and nothing that can time out. Storage is local from the first keystroke.
How it works
Local storage does the work a server usually does
The app shell loads without a server
A service worker caches the interface itself, so reopening the installed app or the tab loads the screens you already have even with zero connection.
Sync is a separate, optional step
Personal cloud sync and invited shared projects are opt-in features that use a network when you turn them on. The core capture and organise loop never depends on them.
The honest trade-off
Local-only means you are the backup system
The same design that makes Vaps work in a dead zone also means it does not keep a server-side copy of your ideas by default. On a flight or somewhere with no signal, the local database is not a fallback — it is the whole store, and it behaves identically whether the network is up or down.
That has a real cost. If you clear your browser’s site data, switch browsers, or lose the device without exporting first, those ideas are gone. There is no account to sign into on another machine that pulls them back, because by default there was never a second copy anywhere.
The mitigation is straightforward and worth building a habit around: export a JSON backup from Settings before clearing site data or changing devices, and keep that file somewhere private, since it contains readable ideas.
FAQ
Questions about working offline
Does Vaps need an internet connection to work?
No. Capture, search, tagging, and organising all read and write to your browser’s local IndexedDB storage, so none of it depends on a network request. You can use the whole app with the network off.
What happens on a flight or somewhere with no signal?
Nothing changes. Airplane mode does not affect local storage, and the installed app’s interface is served by a cached service worker rather than fetched fresh, so it opens the same way it does with a connection.
What happens if I clear my browser’s site data?
Local ideas can be lost. Offline-first means the browser is the only copy by default, so clearing site data, switching browsers, or resetting a device removes them unless you exported a JSON backup first.
Do I need an account to use the offline features?
No. Capture and organising work with no signup. An account only becomes relevant if you turn on optional personal cloud sync or join an invited shared project.
Keep the next thought
Open. Type or speak. Done.
Capture works the same with a full signal or none at all.
Open VapsFree. No signup. Works offline.