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Tired of note-taking apps

akkshaya.blog

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Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#251

Post by heimatau »

koheripbal wrote: post #9

I've tried many different systems, and the one I settled on is a single simple doc. It's the only method I've used for over a year. You can do google doc or office doc, but the key for me was having one doc that I just keep prepending to. Each day i'll add the date yyyy-mm-dd (dow) in bold and then list my work for the day... I use hyperlinks to dedicated docs or online guides for more involved projects (quick ctrl-k…

I appreciate this suggestion.

It can act a journal, as you mentioned but...it's a linear overview of the things churning in your mind. And something great can come out of it but regardless, it helps you in more than one way.

I appreciate the insights and methods you use. I sometimes over-complicate solutions when all that's needed is a catch-all drawer.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#253

Post by _kwmj »

kawfey wrote: post #148
sneak wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple Notes are not end to end encrypted. Thanks to programs like PRISM, US military intelligence has realtime access to the plaintext contents of much of the information you store in iCloud (including notes and photos), without a court order. That, for me, makes it a nonstarter.

You must have some very interesting notes. I think for most of us, the US government wouldn't be particularly interested in our musings, but what do you suggest?

I'm afraid this came across as an unfortunate and disingenuous response to someone's comment about privacy. A feeble variation of "I have nothing to hide" I'd say.

For the last part: Standard Notes, Joplin, jrnl, FS Notes (possibly), nvAlt (not actively developed) etc.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#254

Post by hardwaregeek »

Personally I use Apple Notes or org mode. Whenever I see an alternative, I refuse because it's not like my notes will all magically migrate to Notion/Roam/whatever. No, I'll just append on a name to the list of notetaking apps I use. That's not worth it. Even for some fancy backlinking features that I'll definitely bikeshed to hell.

What it'd take for me to move to a new note taking app (not that I'm holding my breath for a new one) is that it would have to be an information black hole. I wouldn't have to migrate notes because it would automatically suck up everything. Of course that's tricky and potentially privacy invading, so I'm not expecting a solution anytime soon.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#255

Post by _abox »

tammer wrote: post #240
tomduncalf wrote: post #81

Personally I find Apple Notes the most convenient for quick jotting down of ideas etc. It’s not the most advanced in terms of features but it loads instantly, is quick to use and is available on all of my devices. Have tried numerous alternatives but they’ve never stuck e.g. they’re slow to start up or are fussy to use or don’t work well on one platform. For deeper sketching out of ideas, diagrams etc I really like C…

I would argue that in a number of ways Apple Notes is one of the most advanced in terms of features. Yes, it doesn’t bombard you with its functionality and at first glance is a simple place to jot notes (perhaps its greatest strength). But dig into the feature list, and perhaps help me find a similar application that: 1) can combine tables, rich text formatting, and in-line sketches 2) can store any file type in-line…

Big minus: Only works on Apple platforms :(

I use macOS and iOS all the time but I also use Windows, Android and Linux. So sadly most of Apple's services don't work for me. Even though I know they're really good. I really wish they'd expand their horizons a bit. Microsoft stuff works on pretty much everything so why not theirs?

I had no idea it was that good though, because of the above reason I never really used it.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#256

Post by msamwald »

dageshi wrote: post #33

Roam Research was the one I settled on. It melds exactly with how my mind works. I think it's probably doubled my productivity.

I got very motivated to use Roam, but then settled for Dynalist. It's more polished, cheaper, and they recently added backlinks as well.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#257

Post by [deleted] »

balladeer wrote: post #244
tomduncalf wrote: post #81

Personally I find Apple Notes the most convenient for quick jotting down of ideas etc. It’s not the most advanced in terms of features but it loads instantly, is quick to use and is available on all of my devices. Have tried numerous alternatives but they’ve never stuck e.g. they’re slow to start up or are fussy to use or don’t work well on one platform. For deeper sketching out of ideas, diagrams etc I really like C…

Other than a combination of fiddling inside ~/Library and some more SQLite circus there's really no way to make Apple Notes notes portable (across platforms) and even such circuitous hacks might break in any update or upgrade. That's a big enough no for me. This is one of those instances when the perceived Apple's walled garden convenience just falls flat. I personally prefer FSNotes (it has a long way to go but it's…

[deleted]

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#258

Post by intended »

claudeganon wrote: post #84
intended wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s my issue with the Microsoft surface stylus work- and a lesser extent Apple. They don’t compare to written, and a decent amount is the pen tip friction. Wacom comes close. However the apps themselves ? I’d like to use one note more, but PDFs don’t become copy-able text. Searchable but not copyable. Writing on a surface device is ugh. And I had really high hopes that they would push on the tech. Procreate -iOS-…

They make screen films to recreate this friction on the iPad Pro. A lot of my artists friends use them: https://paperlike.com/

Thanks ! I’ll look into it.

Now if only the surface writing experience were comparable - I like one note 2016 more than the one on the iPad.

God cmon MSFT, make this stuff just work.

During one of the surface launch events, a presenter said her entire life was on one note.

I can see that happen. But I can only see it, I can’t believe it will happen until the input modalities feel much better.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#259

Post by GekkePrutser »

Lammy wrote: post #221
stu2b50 wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're not saying they have nothing to hide, they're saying they're not joting down quick notes of anything they have to hide.

I would agree that self-censorship is one of the most insidious effects of surveillance if that's what you mean :)

I have to agree...

I'm very conscious of this now when I'm talking on the phone. Not that I really have anything to hide, but I'm always wondering how something would be perceived by someone who is listening in.

It's not a nice feeling at all. This is one of the reasons I hate mass-surveillance so much. Just that feeling that everything I do or say is on the record.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#260

Post by msamwald »

dicytea wrote: post #233
tedmiston wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An outliner app like WorkFlowy (YC S10) or TaskPaper is nice for adding nesting and the ability to zoom in and out. You can also directly link to any node, at least in WorkFlowy. My approach is similar to yours except it's one hierarchical entry per day. https://workflowy.com/ https://www.taskpaper.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliner

I'm sad there's still no good offline and native clone of Workflowy/Dynalist after all these years. I've tried many other outliner-like note-taking software, but I haven't found anything that is more comfortable to use than the outliner system in Workflowy/Dynalist. To paraphrase a quote I've heard online, "it fits my brain like a glove."

Dynalist has an offline app (which syncs with the server when online). See https://dynalist.io/download . It's the same interface as on the web (so not 'native'), though.
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