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Notetime: Minimalistic notes where everything is timestamped

notetimeapp.com

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Re: Notetime: Minimalistic notes where everything is timestamped

#81

Post by gohberg »

PaulRobinson wrote: post #31

I like the idea, but not the web-based implementation. Local first, and ideally an open source app that can work offline when I'm going distraction free. It feels like a vim plugin. It definitely feels like org-mode can do this. A few years back I had a little command line tool where I could log things quickly - it was like syslog for humans - but with #hashtags for projects or clients, and then a small tool that wou…

thanks for the feedback!

Being a developer, I'm aware that the desktop ecosystem offers a plethora of tools for this.

I think my main inspiration in this project was to combine the simplicity of apple notes with timestamped entries, being able to log notes in this form from any kind of device and having cross-device sync.

I released the local-only version so it will be useful to privacy-minded folks but I do plan to have a cross-device backup and sync option since I believe it's a very compelling feature.

Re: Notetime: Minimalistic notes where everything is timestamped

#82

Post by TheSaifurRahman »

I've dedicated Sublime Text specifically for my development notes. I use a single folder in my home directory for all these notes. Every new tab gets a timestamped name and this directory assigned (Yes, my sublime's default behaviour is now this), so if I save it, it goes there.

I also have a shortcut to save all files at once, which is great because I end up with a lot open by the end of the day.

It helps keeping track of info I might need later, like backups, text transformations, optimizing DB queries, curl calls, less important passwords, refining emails with LLMs, drafting prompts, etc.

I love how fast my workflow is now: just switch to sublime, open a new tab, type away, and hit `CMD + Y` to save all at the end of the day or week.

For lookup: Mostly, I remember a few keywords and search across files. They're timestamped, so they're sorted in the sidebar (e.g., `2025-03-20_11-02-15-77dee966.txt`).

Shoutout to Odatnurd, who helped me code the plugin and live-streamed it (link in the forum): https://forum.sublimetext.com/t/how-to-auto-save-unsaved-tab....

Things I wish I had:

1. Structure (A scrollable view, with expandable notes, date range picker, better search)

3. Encrypted backups

I find that there are different kinds of ways in which I think of notes (or note types):

1. Dev notes (scratchpad)

2. Thoughts and logs (don't lose it, when did that happen)

3. Long notes we study/review (lecture notes, obsidian)

I feel Notetime is great for [2]. It's a great idea for building a similar sublime plugin.

Re: Notetime: Minimalistic notes where everything is timestamped

#83

Post by gohberg »

WillAdams wrote: post #38

Why not just use Notepad in Windows and hit F5 Time/Date at need? 9:54 AM 3/21/2025 That said, this sort of thing has me wishing for something like to Services support in Windows where that could be implemented as a Service by Notepad and then used in any context where text input is acceptable.

There is no F5 key on iphones :)

I couldn't find any simple apple-notes-like app, that is available on all platforms, and allows logging in this style.

my private version of this app has cross-device sync, it's just not fully baked yet since I need to implement some form of signup (google/apple), and there's also the privacy issue people are concerned about which I'm not sure how to address.

Re: Notetime: Minimalistic notes where everything is timestamped

#84

Post by gohberg »

unstppbl wrote: post #79
gohberg wrote: post #2

In my work I often need to know when things happened, for scenarios like: interviews, incidents, protocol meetings, experiments, debugging, etc I noticed there was no simple way to achieve this with any note taking app, so I made one. * every line you write is automatically timestamped. * minimalist and distraction free - follows the simplicity of the built-in note apps. * cross platform - it's a webapp so no install…

Wow! I was thinking the same notes app like a month or two ago, even tried to create it! Can you open-source it? So we can contribute, and make it self hosted?

the code is quite embarrassing, imagine backend engineer writing frontend with the help of AI :) but since it's a common request, I'll consider it

Re: Notetime: Minimalistic notes where everything is timestamped

#86

Post by slater »

gohberg wrote: post #84
unstppbl wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow! I was thinking the same notes app like a month or two ago, even tried to create it! Can you open-source it? So we can contribute, and make it self hosted?

the code is quite embarrassing, imagine backend engineer writing frontend with the help of AI :) but since it's a common request, I'll consider it

All code is embarrassing, and there will always be someone that comes along to ask "wow, why did you write THIS in this way? I wouldn't have done it that way!"

Re: Notetime: Minimalistic notes where everything is timestamped

#88

Post by gohberg »

aae42 wrote: post #4

Looks good. How do I share across devices? Would I ever be able to see the source, or run whatever backend the above request requires myself? Maybe I've answered my first question and this thing is 100% client side. I've been using https://www.usememos.com/ as of late, so the concept resonates with me. It's the first note taking app I've went all in on that seems to make time a first-class feature. Yours takes that e…

this is the local-only version, everything is stored in a db in your browser. the backend just serves the app and creates anonymous users. my private version of the app has cross-device sync, it's just not ready yet for the public, because it relies on google/apple signup and storing the notes on a server, and I know it deters some privacy-minded folks.

I'll consider the self hosted route.

Re: Notetime: Minimalistic notes where everything is timestamped

#90

Post by gohberg »

mdciotti wrote: post #23

Whoa cool! I built a bespoke tool eerily similar to this several years ago as an intern at Johnson Space Center for logging mission communications. I’ve wished I had something like it for meeting notes every time since then. I’ll be giving it a try ;)

great to hear! logging communications is my main use-case for this, let me know what you think
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