Hardware & Software Engineers
Why We Built Vionote — Solving a Real Pain for Ourselves
As engineers building X-SURE Crypto Ticker, a hardware device designed to display real-time crypto market data, we often find ourselves documenting bugs and issues during development and testing. Like many teams working with hardware, we rely heavily on smartphones to quickly capture photos and videos when unexpected behaviors occur.
But over time, this simple habit turned into a real productivity drain.
📸 The Problem: A Growing Mess of Media
Every week, our phones fill up with dozens — sometimes hundreds — of similar-looking photos and short video clips. A bug flash here. A screen freeze there. A power test gone wrong. From the outside, they all look nearly identical in the camera roll.
Weeks later, when we revisit those clips to write reports or review past problems, we often ask:
"What was I trying to capture in this video?"
"Why did I take this photo?"
"Is this the recording for issue #43 or #57?"
The lack of context made post-analysis painfully slow. We had to manually watch and scrub through each video, or guess from surrounding media which file was relevant. And while we tried using note-taking apps or renaming files, the workflow was clunky and unsustainable — especially in fast-paced testing environments.
🔍 The Missing Tool: An Annotated Media Recorder
We searched for an app that could do the obvious:
- Let us add a quick note to a video or photo before or after capturing it
- Embed that note directly into the media file, so the purpose is immediately visible
- Support timestamped or overlayed text so we could understand the clip from the very first frame
Surprisingly, we couldn't find one.
So, we decided to build it ourselves — not for the market, but for our own team. That's how Vionote was born.
✨ How Vionote Solves the Problem
Vionote is a lightweight app built with one purpose: make media documentation smarter.
Here's how it directly addresses our pain points:
📝 1. Instant Annotations
Add a note before or after recording. Whether it's "Wi-Fi reconnect bug at 2.4GHz" or "Tested new firmware power draw," you can embed the context directly into the media.
🎬 2. Overlay on First Frame
Video annotations are displayed on the first frame, so we don't have to hit play to understand what the clip is about. This alone saves us hours of scanning through footage.
🔍 3. Searchable Notes
All notes are searchable inside the app. Looking for that video about "MQTT disconnect"? Just search the keyword — no more endless scrolling.
🗂 4. A Visual Media Library for Developers
We've optimized the media browser for fast filtering, smooth scrolling, and technical context. It's not just another gallery — it's a searchable log of your hardware/software development history.
🛠 Built for Us. Shared with You.
We didn't build Vionote as a product. We built it because we needed it — and we believe others do too.
If you work in QA, hardware testing, research, or any role where photos and videos are part of your documentation process, Vionote might just change how you work.
No more guessing what a video is about. No more sifting through endless thumbnails. Just fast, clear, contextual documentation — right when you need it.
Built by engineers, for engineers.
— The Vionote Lab