Tired of note-taking apps • Hacker News Board

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#421

Post by square_usual » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 6:05 AM UTC

dmje wrote: post #128

Funnily enough, I don’t think there is a really good one. There’s lots that almost do it but not quite. - Evernote: no note linking - Bear: lovely but no web or android version - OneNote: appalling in the way only MS can be - SimpleNotes: too simple - Zoho: too ...urgh - Keep: too Googley - Apple notes: too Appley - Standard Notes: too buggy I’m clearly a fussy sod. But really, just a nice, oss, local files, ability…

> nice, oss, local files, ability to encrypt, x-platform apps

Every single box is checked by Trilium (https://github.com/zadam/trilium), plus you can self host a server if you want to sync between as many clients as you want, and you can password protect only specific notes if you want to. Only "disadvantage" is that the client is electron; if you can live with that, I think you should check it out. (I'm not affiliated, but I've been using Trilium for a while.)

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#422

Post by cobalt » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 6:11 AM UTC

I'm not a daily note taking type of person but I have a notepad on my desk for doodling, sublime/notepad.exe for quick scratch pad stuff, and a todo app for longer term things

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#423

Post by garrettm » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 7:02 AM UTC

I empathize with the "didn't make me a repeat user" part of the post (at least for typed notes). And being a repeat user is very important to taking notes and making them useful!

The inbox is a place you naturally visit often, and we think that makes it a great place for your simple typed notes. We made Twobird to put notes in your inbox! It leverages the same tools you use for email to help manage and remind you of stuff for your notes. I find it very useful to keep lists and basic typed notes alongside the inbox I'm already working in every day. I know I used to email myself notes -- no longer.

https://www.twobird.com

Disclaimer: I work at Ginger Labs, which makes Twobird and Notability (which is great for rich + handwritten notes).

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#424

Post by rawoke083600 » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 7:09 AM UTC

lol maybe just I'm old , my method these days is: In each of my "many" current+unfinished projects. I usually have a "design.txt" or "design.plan" (when I feel very hackerman) which I just edit with my fav text editor, usually geany. This covers 85% of my note-taking requirements.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#425

Post by theodric » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 7:36 AM UTC

I'm using envelopes. Like the ones you get sent in the mail with invoices. I save them and take notes on them. Works great. A computer is not always the solution to every problem!

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#426

Post by GoblinSlayer » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 8:16 AM UTC

gexla wrote: post #186

gexla wrote: post #131

Taking notes is a process. If you're tired of the apps, then you haven't put enough thought into the process. The available apps are fine. Picking a tool to solve a problem is the opposite approach to how you solve the problem. You instead need to define the problem and then find the tool which is the best fit. If you're frustrated with the tool, then you might need to put more thought into the problem.

Also, many people like Journals and plain text because these methods don't lend themselves to blaming the tool. They force you to think about the problem rather than the tool. Plain text doesn't fix note-taking any more than it can fix to-do lists. Again, there's no tool to blame.

Plain text certainly fixes it, because notes are text and the best tool to handle text is my favorite text editor.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#427

Post by psukhedelos » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 9:07 AM UTC

justsomeuser wrote: post #320

Terretta wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Workarounds / alternatives for the limitations: 1. You can link between Notes. On a note, click collaborate icon, click add people, in share options tap icon for Copy Link, and then dismiss the To: dialog with the “Copy Link” text top right. Paste that link in another note. Now they’re cross-linked like a wiki. Instead of doing all this, create/use a shortcut. 2. Use Exporter: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/exporter/i…

1. You can link to a note but it just seems like a second class feature - you need to share the note with yourself. Id like the ability to have off line only notebooks with links. 2. Thanks. 3. Per note encryption is useful, but it would be nicer to have the entire notebook stored off line on an encrypted disk. E.g. If I share my computer with people its easy to see what sets of files/notes are "open" by looking at F…

1. I really hope we see a future feature that addresses this.

...

4. In the latest MacOS/iOS betas this has been updated to a solid background!

https://www.macstories.net/stories/everything-changing-in-ap...

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#428

Post by forgotmypw17 » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 9:15 AM UTC

I've tried a few note-taking apps, and then I've gone back to text editors. My notes are stored in an untethered, unlocked, unowned, accessible, open-format repository, and I can use a different program every day and never run out. Or, if I find a program I like, I can keep using it for as long as it serves me.

I don't really see the point of a note-taking app, except that iOS and now Android lock down the file system and force it on you.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#429

Post by mjrbrennan » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 9:43 AM UTC

vijucat wrote: post #12

My theory about handwritten note-taking is that the bandwidth difference between thinking (fast) and writing (slow) is somehow extremely beneficial to the process of generating creative and evocative output. There have been so many journaling sessions which I started with the absolute conviction that I had nothing new to say, and after 4 pages of extremely creative and detailed ideas, surprising even to me , I had no…

I write fiction, and I write everything in longhand for this exact reason. It can be difficult start some days but once I do it’s easier to get into that “edge of sleep” state you describe, where the creative juices start flowing more freely. My handwriting is awful, but being able to quickly scribble out ideas and add margin notes is very useful. Writing longhand allows much better harmony between my brain and the page. There are no distractions on paper either!

One downside is that I have to then type all my writing up, but I use this time as an opportunity to do a first editing pass.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#430

Post by qwerty456127 » Mon, Jul 20, 2020, 9:46 AM UTC

If only somebody would make a really good, deep, explanatory review and comparison of note-taking and knowledge organizing apps available today (including old and simple tools like Apple Notes and Evernote as well as Notion, Roam and all the apps they inspired) I would even pay some real money to read it.