CHIP Online has highlighted the application in its “Full Version of the Day” section. But the software update and the giveaway should be treated separately: the release is documented by Vovsoft, while the promotion’s availability and licensing conditions require more caution.
What Tree Notes 3.6 actually changes
The new spell checker brings proofreading into the note editor. Vovsoft describes it as catching mistakes while users type, but its product description and changelog do not specify supported dictionary languages, customization options, or the spell checker’s network requirements. Those details should not be assumed from the application’s English interface or its broader offline positioning.
This follows version 3.5, which introduced multiple-note selection and deletion, and version 3.4, which improved note loading and fixed a theme-related memory bug. In other words, 3.6 continues a series of focused maintenance and usability updates—not a wholesale reinvention of the notebook.
A structured notebook, not just a text scratchpad
Tree Notes organizes information into a hierarchy of parent and child notes, with search for locating content. Its established features include rich-text formatting, embedded JPG, PNG and BMP images, and DOCX, HTML, RTF and TXT import and export. Light, Dark and Automatic themes are also available, with Automatic following the system theme. These are application capabilities, not features newly introduced in 3.6.
That structure suggests a straightforward use case: keeping project notes, reference material and related screenshots under separate branches rather than in one endlessly growing document. This is a workflow example, not a claim based on hands-on testing.
Vovsoft lists Windows 11 and Windows 10 compatibility, alongside older Windows releases, and offers installer and portable editions. Its installer download page currently identifies the download as version 3.6, with the filename tree-notes.exe and a listed size of 5.34 MB. That establishes the version advertised on the page; it is not independent verification of the executable itself.
The giveaway needs a date check
CHIP’s page describes Tree Notes as normally costing $19 and being free for the day. However, the page visibly carries November 14, 2026, at 10:59, a future date relative to November 13. That conflicts with the November 13 timestamp attached to the listing’s feed metadata, so describing the offer as available “today” would be premature.
Vovsoft’s ordinary product listing separately identifies Tree Notes as free to try, with a $19 purchase option. A trial download should therefore not be confused with a promotional full-version license, and the evidence here does not establish the giveaway’s redemption deadline or activation conditions.
Local storage is useful—not a security certificate
Vovsoft says Tree Notes runs locally and stores notes in a single file. That is its stated storage model, not an independently audited guarantee that sensitive information is protected. The cited documentation does not establish encryption or a formal security assessment.
There is also useful backup context in the release history: version 1.5 introduced an automatic-backup option, while version 2.4 improved handling of failed saves and recovery from an existing backup. Those documented safeguards deserve more attention than a blanket promise that local notes are automatically secure.
The takeaway: Tree Notes 3.6 is a small, documented proofreading update for a hierarchical Windows notebook. The release itself is clear; the date-sensitive giveaway is not. Keep those two facts in separate branches.