Answers to common questions, and a direct line to a real human when you need one. We read every email.
Contextly is a local‑first notes app for the Mac that automatically links your notes to your calendar events, then uses Apple Intelligence to summarize meetings and pull out action steps you can send straight to your task manager.
Contextly is distributed exclusively through the Mac App Store. Open the App Store on your Mac, search for Contextly, and click Get. There's no separate account to create — it just works the first time you open it.
Contextly runs on any Mac with Apple Silicon (M1 or later) and macOS 15.1 or newer. Apple Intelligence features — summaries, action steps, and Ask Contextly — require a device that supports Apple Intelligence.
Yes. Export your existing notes as Markdown or plain text, then drag them into any Contextly notebook, or use File → Import. Folder structure is preserved. We support imports from Apple Notes, Obsidian, Bear, Craft, Notion exports, and anything else that produces .md or .txt.
Contextly reads from the Mac's native Calendar app using EventKit — so iCloud, Google, Exchange, Fastmail, anything you've already added to Calendar shows up automatically. There's nothing new to configure.
From any event you can click + Note and Contextly creates a linked note with the event's time, attendees, and title pre‑filled.
Absolutely. Calendar linking is a feature, not a requirement. Press ⌘N to start a free‑floating note any time. You can also link an existing note to an event later if you realize it belongs there.
Free accounts get 3 notebooks. Pro removes the cap — make as many as you like, for work, side projects, reading notes, recipes, whatever.
On your Mac. Contextly uses Apple Intelligence — Apple's on‑device foundation models — for summaries, action‑step extraction, transcription, and Ask Contextly. Your notes never leave your device for AI processing. We don't operate servers; we can't see what you're working on.
Yes, with Pro. Hit the record button inside any note and Contextly captures audio, transcribes it on‑device, and leaves the transcript alongside your typed notes. You can also drop in an existing audio file (.m4a, .mp3, .wav) and it'll transcribe that too.
Good, not magic. Summaries are best on meetings with clear structure and decent audio quality. You'll always see the generated summary as an editable draft — nothing is finalized without you. If a summary is wrong or misses something, you can regenerate or edit directly.
No. Never. Not for us, not for Apple, not for anyone. Apple Intelligence runs on‑device and does not use your data for training. We don't have servers, so there's nothing to train on even if we wanted to.
If you turn on sync in Settings → Sync, Contextly replicates your notes database through your Apple ID using CloudKit. The data flows through your iCloud account — it never reaches a Contextly server (we don't have one).
If you turn sync off, your notes stay local to the Mac you're on. Either way, it's your call.
Not yet — an iPhone companion is in active development. It'll share the same notes, the same library, and the same privacy model as the Mac app, with a Today view and lock‑screen widgets for quick capture. Get the Mac app first and we'll email the moment the iPhone version ships (only if you ask).
iCloud sync keeps them in step. Install Contextly on each Mac, sign into the same Apple ID, enable sync, and your notes, notebooks, and linked events stay consistent across all of them.
Always. Export any single note to Markdown, an entire notebook to a folder of .md files, or the whole library at once via File → Export All…. Action steps can be exported to Things, OmniFocus, Todoist, or Apple Reminders. Your data is yours.
Free gives you unlimited notes, 3 notebooks, calendar sync, and to‑dos — enough to use Contextly seriously, forever. Pro ($39/year or $5/month) adds unlimited notebooks, smart summaries, audio recording + transcription, third‑party task sync, and Ask Contextly.
Open Contextly, go to Settings → Subscription, and tap Start 14‑day trial. You won't be charged until the trial ends, and you can cancel any time in the App Store's Subscriptions settings.
Because Contextly is sold through the Mac App Store, all billing is managed by Apple. Open System Settings → [Your Name] → Media & Purchases → Manage, or on the App Store, choose Account → Subscriptions. You can change plans, pause, or cancel there.
Refunds are issued by Apple through the App Store. Visit reportaproblem.apple.com, sign in, find the Contextly purchase, and request a refund. If Apple declines, email us — sometimes we can help advocate on your behalf.
Not automatically, but write in — we're a small operation and happy to work something out for students, teachers, and nonprofits. Email support@contextlynotes.app with a short note about what you do.
Nothing. No accounts, no analytics SDK, no telemetry, no crash reporter that captures content. If you email us, we'll have your email address and what you wrote — used only to reply. Full details live in the Privacy Policy.
In a local SQLite database on your Mac. If you enable iCloud sync, a copy is replicated through your Apple ID via CloudKit. That's it. No third‑party hosting, no shared backend.
Quit Contextly and delete the app. Your notes live inside the app's container and are removed with it. If you had iCloud sync on, sign into iCloud.com → Settings → delete the Contextly container, or do the same from System Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → Manage… on your Mac.
Contextly is made by a small team. There's no ticket queue, no chatbot, no outsourced helpdesk — just us, on the other side of an email address, trying to make the app better.
We usually respond within one business day. If it's been longer than three, it means something broke — please try again.