Notes, highlights and vocabulary

Forgetting what you read is normal. Excerpts, thoughts and new words stay anchored where they came from, so you can always follow one back into its context.

Highlights

Long-press to select text and highlight it in one of several colours. Highlights are anchored to their position in the text and will not drift when you change devices or font size.

Notes

Any highlight can carry a note, with rich text: headings, lists, task lists, quotes, code blocks, tables, images and links. Type "/" to bring up the quick-insert menu. A new note opens in a full-screen editor, an existing note can be expanded into it, and going back saves automatically.

Vocabulary

Add a word to your vocabulary list and Athena schedules reviews with spaced repetition. Your rating each time (again / hard / good / easy) adjusts the next interval — words you know well come back less often, words you keep missing come back sooner. Home shows how many are due today. There is a dedicated Vocabulary page in the sidebar on a computer and in the app on a phone; you do not have to go through Notes first.

One place for everything

The Notes page collects notes, highlights and vocabulary from everything you have imported. Filter by source, sort by date or title, and search the full text. Every entry jumps back to its exact place.

Recently deleted

Deleted notes and highlights go to "Recently deleted", on a separate tab from deleted library items. You can restore them during the retention window; after that they are gone. How long the window is is stated on your account and pricing pages.

Troubleshooting

A note shows as unsynced: offline edits are stored locally first and upload automatically once you reconnect. Nothing is lost.

A "sync conflict" appears: the same note was edited separately on two devices. Athena will not pick one and discard the other — it keeps both, the original and a copy, and lets you decide. Read them and delete the one you do not want.

Limits and notes

Notes and highlights are private data that only you can access.

Notes export to Markdown and plain text, so your content can leave whenever you want.