Why we don't sync your calendar to the cloud by default
The NestBoard team · 2026-07-10
Your calendar lives on your tablet
When you add an event to NestBoard, it doesn't automatically upload to our servers. It stays on your device—the tablet in your kitchen, the one you actually use to coordinate your household.
This isn't a missing feature. It's a choice.
Most calendar apps sync everything by default because they're built for a phone-first world. You're expected to check your schedule from multiple devices throughout the day, so the data needs to live somewhere central. But we built NestBoard around a kitchen tablet, not a phone. That changes the calculus.
What local-first means in practice
Your family's schedule, chores assignments, meal plan, and pantry inventory all live on the device itself. If you want to sync across multiple tablets—say, one in the kitchen and one in a home office—you can turn that on. If you want to back up to the cloud, that's an option too.
But we don't assume you want your dentist appointments, your kid's allergy medication schedule, or your grocery list sitting on someone else's server unless you've made that decision explicitly.
There's a practical side to this: local-first means NestBoard works even when your internet is out. The calendar loads instantly. Robin can still help you reschedule dinner. Everything functions the same way whether you're connected or not.
The things we do sync
We're not absolutists. Some features need a server. When you forward an email to Robin, that has to pass through our system. When you import a recipe from a URL, we fetch that page on your behalf. And if you choose cloud sync, we encrypt and store the data you've decided to share.
The difference is consent. You know when something is leaving your device because you initiated it.
Why it matters for a household
A work calendar is mostly your own business. A family calendar holds everyone's information—kids' therapy appointments, medication times, who's sleeping where after a separation, grocery lists that reveal health conditions.
Not every household needs this level of privacy. Some families are happy with everything in Google Calendar. But we wanted to build for the households who'd rather not hand over that much by default, and for whom "just don't put sensitive stuff in the app" isn't a satisfying answer.
Your home is already a device-filled place. We think your household data can live there too, unless you decide otherwise.