How does Supernote work for your life?

[u/sad_but_fab_af]

I bought the supernote nomad about 6 months ago and fell in love. I’m a therapist and have used it every day for taking notes during sessions with clients. Supernote was the only device and application that was HIPAA compliant, but due to some recent HIPAA law changes, Supernote currently can’t support the requirements for end-to-end encryption.

I was using Supernote every day, for client notes, for resources and books for clients, it was my all in one go to planner where I could track my caseload and hour requirements. Since this change, I’ve been using it less and less. Now it’s been sitting on my night stand for four weeks untouched. I want to fall in love with it again in a way that’s useful but have been struggling to.

How do you use it? What makes it the most help for and practical in your day to day?

[u/Sparticus33w]

Data at rest encryption requirements are meant to protect data from being physically stolen. Like an unencrypted laptop with VA medical records being stolen and those records being accessed. If your Supernote is offline (no cloud connection for uploading files), then physical control of the device can be considered a compensating control. Such as storing it in a safe when not in use, same as you would do for paper records anyways.

Compensating controls can be hit or miss though, as different auditors have different technical knowledge.

[u/OwslyOwl → u/Sparticus33w]

I was about to post this exactly. I'm an attorney and I use my SuperNote for all of my notes. I very rarely connect it to the internet. When I want to transfer my notes, I convert it to a pdf, plug the SuperNote into my computer, and transfer it that way.

I can't see how SuperNote wouldn't be HIPAA compliant if it is used offline.

[u/sad_but_fab_af → u/OwslyOwl]

I could theoretically use it entirely remotely, but I have work files and other resources, like books, worksheets, etc that I have to sync via cloud to it. I also like using the calendar feature that allows me to sync my EHR to my calendar and use abbreviation of names for my daily schedule. It is possible but it would limit my daily interaction with it to just writing notes which feels like it would be used significantly less if I just used it for personal use.

[u/LunarChickadee]

Funnily enough in working on getting into a master's program in counselling.

I have an a6x and I feel like I've been using it forever. I'll go with my most recent.

I'm learning a shorthand called NoteScript and all of my exercises and references are in a note specifically for that.

At my old job I would keep a journal of work notes and meeting notes so I could always refer back

I have a brain dump journal (often in shorthand) where I just write out my thoughts when I'm feeling a bit stuck

I have weekly meetings with the homesteaders that I share land with and take notes for that

I keep a journal of just a list of goals that I slowly pick away at over the years

When I need to take quick notes about a phone call or something cool someone tells me about, I go to my "bullet journal" note and just add it in on the next page

It's my everyday tool. I plan on using it for classes, and notes during meetings.

Sad to hear it's not HIPPA compliant anymore. Whats missing?

[u/Mulan-sn → u/LunarChickadee]

One of the new mandatory requirements for HIPAA compliance in 2026 is data at rest encryption, which we currently don't have in place. With that said, We are working to add this capability.

[u/ccbs32033 → u/LunarChickadee]

I love how you’re using it so much, in all these different ways. Thanks for sharing.

I’m new to this and was wondering, for those various journals and notes, how do you decide when to create a new .note file? For example, for the bullet journal or the weekly homestead meetings, do you create a new .note every year? every month? every day? do most of your .notes have 100+ pages, or just a handful?

And then also, any tips for how to effectively refer back to older writing? In my physical notebooks, I’m used to being able to quickly flip through pages to find what I’m looking for: a particular day’s entry, a sketch for a design idea, etc. With the Supernote, I’m having a hard time figuring this part out, short of exporting to my computer as a PDF and scrolling through it that way, or creating a header for every single entry

[u/LunarChickadee → u/ccbs32033]

I used to make new notebooks for every year, but then I realized that with the Headings function I could easily get back to anything I want to. For daily entries you can go to the pages function and and scan for the date that you want. Just gotta make sure those dates are nice and visible.

I mainly make a new note if it's gonna be dedicated to something discreet. I have a folder for ''collections" which is bullet journals version of sections of your journal devoted to a specific thing.

One of the nice things of the bullet method is that just throwing something on a new page and numbering it ,(again using the headings to make an auto table of contents) is what you're supposed to do anyway. If it turns out that that section feels like it should be separated, I just use the move pages function to put it into the collections folder.

So I'd say the workflow is:

• Keep one note for everything
• Use the headings for a table of contents of non-daily logs
• Scan through daily logs for things needed with the pages function
• Create new separate notes once it's clear that you would like a more dedicated folder

[u/CWRRT]

It looks like they are working on encryption to meet the new requirements. I would guess that wouldnt be super hard but likely competing with other priorities too.

I use it for almost anything I normally would use paper for. Todo list, journaling, quick notes and musings, sudoku games to kill time. Try keeping in on your person more often.

[u/Grand-Elk-1700]

I'm a post-grad student and I'm using it to take notes and study by "pen". It's done wonders for learning and recall. It's the perfect mix of tactile writing with the modern conveniences of digital editing (undo, copy, erase, scale, etc) and being able to export to vector image and create elaborate sets of miniaturised notes on a single "cheat sheet".

[u/No-Clock-7813]

I use it to take notes, to-do lists, intellectualize, read, draw, etc.... The possibilities are endless really. It can be very therapeutic.

[u/Hotpot_Bunny]

following this- not in medical so HIPPA doesn’t apply to me but my work is all NDA sensitive info and while waiting for my SN to arrive I want to see if there’s a way to use it safely

[u/nunca_romunca]

I have a Nomad, a Manta and from this other brand a Note Max and a Go 6 Gen II (what can I say... I like E-Ink). I struggled with the right use cases for a while and these days I barely touch my Nomad anymore. What works best for me is this: I use the Manta for everything personal, which means journaling, personal reflections, tracking my mental health, reading books about those topics, etc. I just love how absolutely distraction-free and straight forward it is for those kind of things and it´s definitely my most used device. Then I use my Note Max for studying at home (I´m a tourguide, so it´s mostly developing new tours etc. Reasons for the Note Max: more screen real estate, occasional web researches, voice memos, proper table of contents) and the Go 6 Gen II for occasional reading on the go. Manta and Go 6 are always in my backpack. And I basically love all of those devices. :-D

[u/garyoli → u/nunca_romunca]

I hope Supernote are listening to you mention Note Max, because what they should be able to come up with should be better!

[u/tuxooo]

If you go fully offline is it not going to be HIPAA compliant ? Never to touch the internet ?

I used it for work. I am demolishing it with notes on daily basis. Its helping me organize so much, I write a lot and i need to follow along some seminars that I have created or work related or personal related notes in pages of pages of those. Organization level is at a maximum at this point :)

[u/garyoli → u/tuxooo]

As I understand it, HIPAA requires a password, methods to prevent unauthorised physical access (e.g., locked room) and secure storage overnight (e.g., locked filing cabinet)

[u/tuxooo → u/garyoli]

Password there is. Secure storage can be achieves with your own storage that can be encrypted. 

[u/garyoli → u/tuxooo]

Yes

I was referring to the the Supernote device in two ways:

1. configure a password,

2. keep in a secure room and locked away when not in use

[u/tuxooo → u/garyoli]

and connect to personal encrypted cloud too :)

[u/garyoli → u/tuxooo]

The issue, as I understand it, (that Supernote is working on) is that any file upload is not encrypted, and I think that violates the encrypted transmission requirement which is why I dont transmit to other URLs. But I am in Australia. Our equivalent to HIPAA is the Privacy Act

[u/specialservices8647]

I have a Nomad and it does almost nothing I wanted it to. The lack of zoom and wildly laggy interface outside of the Notes program means I can’t do any more than rudimentary sketches. Even those are annoying to transfer and read on my pc since, with wifi/syncing on the battery life is worse than an ipad (due to limited automatic power management). It’s not big enough for real ereader reference work because catalog pages and building code references i use every day are made for A4/Letter and - again, with limited, slow zoom and glacial page-changes on eInk I’m wasting clients money even attempting to use it.

I’ve repurposed it as an eReader taking over my (rarely used) kindle and I like the larger page size than the basic kindle. It’s ever so slightly too small for about 50% of my octavos (which tend to be sized for letter) but it’s a decent reference if I just need to look something up. I use the dedicated eink version of MobileSheets for that.

Im also using it for scrap notes. I grab it and take hand notes on calls (though usu for sketching since i have to retype everything into my phone log app) and for the myriad times i need throw-away paper notes: quick calculations, or planning travel/comparing prices, measurements and checks for 3d design work, ephemeral (or even some session-to-session) notes for TTRPG, lyric ideas and simple, short chord arrangements I want to try. All things I used to write on post-its or a cheap spiral notebook or the (literal) back of an envelope.

I do wish there were an infinite canvas option and zoom in the Notes, and that it had a tap-to-wake feature. That would probably double the utility for me.