[Bug]: The "Link to another note" feature behaves weirdly when trying to delete it on the Android app

[GregHabiskis]

Summary

The "Link to another note" feature behaves unexpectedly when attempting to delete the link on the Android app.

Description

When a user creates a link to another note and then tries to remove/delete that link, the behavior is inconsistent:

• The link may not be removed from the note text.
• The link may be partially removed but leave formatting artifacts.
• In some cases, the entire note content may be affected or corrupted.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open a note on the Android app (version 0.495.1).
2. Insert a link to another note using the link feature.
3. Attempt to delete the link.
4. Observe the behavior.

Expected Behavior

The link should be cleanly removed from the note text without any side effects or corruption to the surrounding content.

Actual Behavior

The link deletion behaves inconsistently — it may fail to remove, leave artifacts, or affect surrounding text.

Environment

• App version: 0.495.1
• Platform: Android
• Device: Realme C25s

Severity

Medium — data integrity risk if note content gets corrupted.

Additional Context

This issue was reported after trying the latest version (0.495.1). The behavior appears to be specific to Android; iOS/web behavior may differ.

[LifetimeLabsDev]

Thanks for the report - two real bugs behind it, both fixed in "v0.500.4 - A note-link comes out in one press, and its list survives a backspace" ships later today.

The first is the one you most likely hit. Type [[ to open the note-title list, press backspace, and the list disappeared for good even though [[ was still on screen. On Android every backspace briefly moves focus away from the editor to keep the keyboard up, and the list did not survive that.

The second: nothing in the app claimed backspace next to a finished link, so removing one fell through to the browser, which is unreliable on Android next to a non-editable element. That is where "sometimes removed, sometimes not" came from. Backspace and delete now remove the whole link in one press on every platform.

Both are in the next release. If you can, please retry after updating and let us know.

[GregHabiskis]

fixed in "v0.500.4 - A note-link comes out in one press, and its list survives a backspace" ships later today.

I've updated the android app to v0.500.4. Unfortunately, the bug still exists. Tapping on backspace doesn't delete the linked note. I tried selecting the whole word and then cut it, but even cut has no effect on the word itself. Then I tried selecting the word before and after it, keeping the linked note word in the middle. Then tried to cut it and it worked. I'm on Android 13 btw. I can confirm that this bug only exists in the Android version, not the desktop/web app (tested Linux appimage).

[LifetimeLabsDev]

You were right, and the last version did not fix it. Thanks for testing it and saying so.

Your three notes were the whole diagnosis. We reproduced them on a Pixel 10 with a debugger attached. The problem is that a note-link is a single object, not ordinary letters: tapping it follows the link, so you can never get the cursor next to it, and holding it starts Android's own text selection, which the editor never sees. That is why cut did nothing, and why selecting the words either side worked.

From v0.503.0, holding a note-link opens a small menu with "Open note" and "Remove link". No keyboard needed. Tapping still follows the link as before.