Collaborate with other NotePlan users (share synced notes)

With v3.7.2 you can finally share a note with another NotePlan user and changes to that note will be synced 2-way. This way you can work with your colleagues, partner, or team on the same notes 

Note: only available for App Store subscriptions.

If you are using two different Apple IDs across your devices sharing notes with yourself enables you to still work on the same (shared) notes.

Limitations

Sharing is in its early stages and comes with a few limitations. We will resolve most of them in future versions.
  1. You can only share notes using CloudKit as a sync method (you and the recipient). This is because the note is shared using Apple’s CloudKit infrastructure. Turn on CloudKit in the preferences > sync > use CloudKit. If you are using iCloud Drive, you can share notes by sharing the file directly from your folder.
  2. Only individual notes can be shared at the moment. We will introduce full folder sharing in the next versions.

Troubleshooting: If a note stopped being shared, learn here how to restore the sync.

How it works

Enable Sharing

First, you need to enable sharing in the lab preferences (on iOS and Mac):

Sending a note

1) Before you share your note, we recommend (due to the current limitations) creating a folder named "Shared" and moving the note there first. Then start the sharing process, so that you don't accumulate shared notes in your root folder and so that the recipient doesn't have to create the same folder structure as you have:

2) Let's share the note now: Click on the share button (on either iOS or Mac) at the top of the note you want to share and then select "Share to collaborate...":

NotePlan will prepare the note for sharing. 

3a) If you have macOS Ventura or higher installed or are sharing from iOS, you should see this (or a similar) popup:

3b) If you are running macOS or lower, you will see this dialog:

3c) If you see a different dialog that doesn't offer you to copy the link, click on this person icon at the top of the note after enabling the note for sharing:

The dialog this button opens contains a "Copy Link" button as well at the bottom, see screenshots in the following paragraphs.

Copy the link and send it to another user using email, iMessage, Discord, Whatsapp, or other messaging apps.

Manage the shared note

Once you have shared your note, you can manage who has access to it. The following button will appear at the top of your shared note:

If you click on this icon, you will see a dialog where you can change the access to your note to "Anyone with the link" to "Only people you invite" for example:

If you stop sharing your note, the other users will still have the note, but won't receive any edits. 

Restrict access to your note

After opening the manage dialog (see steps above), you can change the permissions to "Only people you invite".

After this, you can see and choose who has access to your note:

If you click on the button "Share With More People", select an iMessage contact you want to share it with (Apple ID of the other person).

Accepting a shared note

Before you accept a shared note make sure you have the most recent version of NotePlan installed and are using CloudKit sync (preferences > sync > use CloudKit). 

Receive the note share link using iMessage and email or any other app and click on the link:

Accept the invitation:

In the next step, NotePlan downloads the note and it should appear within seconds in your sidebar.