9 ms·

Show HN: NotePlan 3 – Native (Mac/iOS) note-taking based on local Markdown files

56 points by EduardMe 6y ago

EduardMe 6y ago
Hi HackerNews NotePlan 3 is going live today on the App Store (Mac, iPhone, and iPad) I have created NotePlan to be your task-manager, calendar, and note-taking app in one (Bullet Journal style). All your notes are locally saved as plain text-files and are [[linkable]] (+ backlinks). Markdown makes the content of your notes future-proof and highly portable. Apple's CloudKit service is used to sync everything across your devices (you don't need to rely on private sync solutions). NotePlan is a 100% native app written in Swift. This means: a beautiful, clean design, super-fast, and highly integrated into Apple's ecosystem (iOS included). It also syncs with iCloud calendar and reminders. If you are looking for a native alternative to Obsidian and Roam, which has iOS apps, NotePlan also supports bi-directional linking and is compatible with Obsidian (change the file-extension to .md in NotePlan's preferences) and Roam (when you export your data as Markdown files). With NotePlan, you can build your favorite productivity workflow: - Zettelkasten ([back-]linking, folder support, notes) - GTD (tasks are first-class citizens, create project notes and schedule) - Bullet Journal (daily notes, re-schedule tasks, undated notes as lists). Read a quick walkthrough here (with videos): https://noteplan.co/walkthrough https://noteplan.co/walkthrough Read more about NotePlan's features here: https://noteplan.co/features https://noteplan.co/features If you have questions, just ask :) Best, Eduard
- mkrecny 6y ago
  Really cool. Does the calendar syncing go beyond iCloud?
  - EduardMe 6y ago
    You can add Google, Exchange and Yahoo to your iCloud calendar accounts. Or use CalDav to have more options. See "Internet Accounts" in your System Preferences.
- wdb 6y ago
  Looks nice! I wish it would be part of the Setapp subscription :)
  - skinnymuch 6y ago
    It’s supposed to be coming. Dev said as much in the last beat/first official release doc
    - wdb 6y ago
      That would be great! I don't see any reference to it yet
- lostintangent 6y ago
  This looks awesome! I’d switch to this immediately, but there’s a couple things I’d love to confirm before downloading/paying for another app (I’ve tried nearly every MD editor on iOS!): 1. Does it support opening external folders from other iOS apps? I’ve started using Working Copy so that I can store and sync my notes in GitHub repos. I’ve been using iA Writer as my Markdown Editor (since it interops nicely with Working Copy), but I’m interested in something with better Roam/Obsidian-like features. 2. Does it have a Markdown preview? Or just the editor + navigation support? I often use a lot of Markdown tables, and so having a preview mode is pretty critical to efficiently reading the content later.
  - EduardMe 6y ago
    1. At the moment it's restricted to NotePlan's folder in your documents folder in "On my iPhone/iPad". This is due to the sync and having different external folders on iOS and Mac. I'm not sure how this should be handled. But I plan something around that. 2. There is no separate preview, but most of the markdown is being rendered, so you don't see it. To be specific: Headings and tasks are rendered properly without markdown characters. But tables are not supported yet.
    - lostintangent 6y ago
      Thanks for the quick reply! Like I mentioned, I would gladly pay the annual fee right now, since NotePlan looks _very_ close to what I’m looking for. But I’m pretty invested in using GitHub for my notes, and so I only need an editor to be an editor, not managing/syncing my notes. I’ll keep an eye on NotePlan in the future. Awesome job on the app and congrats on the launch!
- ephimetheus 6y ago
  I evaluated NotePlan on V2 I believe. I do this with every note app like this I see. NotePlan is very close to what I need/want, with the daily logging approach. Unfortunately, NotePlan doesn't support inline PDFs as IMAGES (not links, displayed inline like a PNG). Without support for this, it's unusable to me (basically every note taking app is). Latex symbol / equation rendering is also important, but I can live without that. If you added that functionality, I'd be more or less happy to pay whatever you want for the app.
- raybb 6y ago
  I love the dated notes by default + undated notes as an option! Would love to use this but need something that works on android as well
- darkpicnic 6y ago
  Really like the overall look/feel, but I had to delete after a handful of dealbreaking bugs: 1. Installing on second machine led to daily note being constantly wiped while I typed 2. Could not add/modify events to calendar 3. When entering a task I added '3pm-5pm' and nothing showed on calendar (probably related to #2) Looks great, just don't think it's ready for prime time.
  - nikisweeting 6y ago
    Some of these have unfortunately been the fault of Apple's own iCloud drive sync problems in the past. I've noticed many apps that use it struggle to maintain consistent data across multiple devices in the case of conflicts / offline devices coming back online and having to catch up. Edit I don't know who's downvoting but Apple has documented cases of file sync inconsistency bugs with iCloud, and I've personally lost half a dozen files over the years to iCloud bugs. https://www.reddit.com/r/iOSBeta/comments/cz4rkn/news_icloud_improvements_have_been_will_be_rolled/ https://www.reddit.com/r/iOSBeta/comments/cz4rkn/news_icloud...
  - EduardMe 6y ago
    I recommend to switch to CloudKit sync and check if you don't have changed the file extension in the preferences.
    - chrisked 6y ago
      Any plans to implement Dropbox sync? iCloud or CloudKit is a no go for me.
      - EduardMe 6y ago
        Dropbox is an option already, but it's not as stable and has problems.
    - darkpicnic 6y ago
      I changed to CloudKit and changed the extension as well to ".md". I was able to add a calendar event once or twice, then the same issue came up again where it could not add event and asked me to email support. I've deleted the app and reinstalled a few times. Anything else I can try?
villgax 6y ago
Amazing man, this is what I wanted Markdown files to be used for!
- EduardMe 6y ago
  Thanks!
nicolas_ 6y ago
It looks incredible! I wish I could use something similar on Windows. Congrats on the launch Eduard!
- EduardMe 6y ago
  Thanks! Maybe one day as a web version.
- spidersouris 6y ago
  You can try Obsidian[0] with the Calendar plugin[1]. [0]https://obsidian.md/ https://obsidian.md/ [1]https://github.com/liamcain/obsidian-calendar-plugin https://github.com/liamcain/obsidian-calendar-plugin
- iamcreasy 6y ago
  Recently I started using Typora(https://typora.io/ https://typora.io/). It not native, but its performance is decent.
chrisbrandow 6y ago
I've used this a ton, and it's great. I get it via Setapp, so that helps WRT subscription fatigue.
rcarmo 6y ago
I _really_ like the idea but stopped short once I saw the IAP subscriptions. I get why subscriptions are good for developers. But I can't subscribe to everything, and would prefer a single-shot purchase (even if I were to end up upgrading the year after, I would have the option not to). Other than that, the app seems to be _exactly_ what I need when compared to, say, Agenda (which I already own and use). So, in a nutshell, I'd likely switch if the pricing were different solely for the plain text storage.
- CharlesW 6y ago
  Since the developer is here I'd like them to know that, because of subscription fatigue, this is a dealbreaker for me too. (This isn't a critique of the creator or their choice, of course — I want them to be successful!)
- EduardMe 6y ago
  I thought about it, but one-time payments always have this problem that you need to come up with upgrades to keep the bills paid. And upgrades are in many aspects bad for users and for creators. For upgrades you need to 'save up' features and you need to come up with flashy ones, because bug fixes and improvements are not an incentive to upgrade for many...
  - 8fingerlouie 6y ago
    Others have face the same problem and solved it by "feature unlocks", i.e. Working Copy (https://workingcopyapp.com/ https://workingcopyapp.com/), which sells 1 year "pro" unlocks, and all features released during that year remains active even if you don't renew your pro unlock. It's not a subscription, as the software will continue to work just fine when the pro unlock expires, but you don't get new features. This of course puts pressure on the developer to keep coming up with new features, but then again that's the developers job.
  - davidcollantes 6y ago
    I would be willing to pay the $60, for the app, no subscription. If the app works well, it is mostly bug free, and it runs on the current OS, there is no need to come up with any flashy features. As long as it is kept up to date to continue to run. If a new version comes each year, I shall buy it as well. I have done that with VMWare Workstation, and Arqbackup, to mention a couple.
matchbok 6y ago
Nice lookin app! Using Catalyst?
- EduardMe 6y ago
  Nope, its written in Swift, but optimized for Mac and iOS separately with their respective UI libraries.
nikisweeting 6y ago
I used the first beta when it came out and paid for the v1!. Been watching the development for a long time now, the progress has been awesome. Congrats and great work Eduard!
- EduardMe 6y ago
  Thanks! It has been a long way so far!
thinbeige 6y ago
OT: I'm on the fence if I should create an app in an related field in Electron or native macOS. Anyone in a similar situation, how did/would you decide?
- rcarmo 6y ago
  I have steered away from Obsidian and the like because they are not native. I tolerate and use many web apps, but the only Electron app I really enjoy using is VSCode, because it's optimized beyond belief and has a specific use case. I want my notes apps to be native, thanks :)
BooneJS 6y ago
A positive blurb from Brett Terpstra is enough for me.
fattybob 6y ago
it does look very appealing, the cost of use may be a tad high, but a teams gotta pay themselves somehow I guess. have been trying to shift to Joplin for too long, it never quite works great for me, maybe this can tilt me from my free Notational Velocity world...
skinnymuch 6y ago
I’m a huge fan of Noteplan since Noteplan 2017 I think it was. Then got the iOS version and used Setapp’s Mac included version for V2. I don’t have subscription fatigue yet however money is a bit tight. So I was on the fence since being native is so amazing. Seeing the latest change log mention Setapp inclusion coming was the best news for me. Can’t wait! Loving the trial of Noteplan 3.
LeSaucy 6y ago
I am actively looking to switch off OmniFocus and OmniOutliner for something with more open file formats, but subscriptions are a deal breaker. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Shengbo 6y ago
  Try Notable, its basically a collection of markdown files that you can tag, search and organize. I really like it.
levidxyz 6y ago
This looks awesome! But do you plan to add support for code blocks (not inline)?
- skinnymuch 6y ago
  Shit. You just reminded me of one of my biggest issues with this. No code blocks is very annoying for me. From the looks of the user base, it may not be a highly wanted feature. Would love to get it soon though assuming I go through with paying.
dplgk 6y ago
Please add encryption

56 points by EduardMe 6y ago

Hi HackerNews NotePlan 3 is going live today on the App Store (Mac, iPhone, and iPad) I have created NotePlan to be your task-manager, calendar, and note-taking app in one (Bullet Journal style). All your notes are locally saved as plain text-files and are [[linkable]] (+ backlinks). Markdown makes the content of your notes future-proof and highly portable. Apple's CloudKit service is used to sync everything across your devices (you don't need to rely on private sync solutions). NotePlan is a 100% native app written in Swift. This means: a beautiful, clean design, super-fast, and highly integrated into Apple's ecosystem (iOS included). It also syncs with iCloud calendar and reminders. If you are looking for a native alternative to Obsidian and Roam, which has iOS apps, NotePlan also supports bi-directional linking and is compatible with Obsidian (change the file-extension to .md in NotePlan's preferences) and Roam (when you export your data as Markdown files). With NotePlan, you can build your favorite productivity workflow: - Zettelkasten ([back-]linking, folder support, notes) - GTD (tasks are first-class citizens, create project notes and schedule) - Bullet Journal (daily notes, re-schedule tasks, undated notes as lists). Read a quick walkthrough here (with videos): https://noteplan.co/walkthrough https://noteplan.co/walkthrough Read more about NotePlan's features here: https://noteplan.co/features https://noteplan.co/features If you have questions, just ask :) Best, Eduard

mkrecny 6y ago
Really cool. Does the calendar syncing go beyond iCloud?
- EduardMe 6y ago
  You can add Google, Exchange and Yahoo to your iCloud calendar accounts. Or use CalDav to have more options. See "Internet Accounts" in your System Preferences.
wdb 6y ago
Looks nice! I wish it would be part of the Setapp subscription :)
- skinnymuch 6y ago
  It’s supposed to be coming. Dev said as much in the last beat/first official release doc
  - wdb 6y ago
    That would be great! I don't see any reference to it yet
lostintangent 6y ago
This looks awesome! I’d switch to this immediately, but there’s a couple things I’d love to confirm before downloading/paying for another app (I’ve tried nearly every MD editor on iOS!): 1. Does it support opening external folders from other iOS apps? I’ve started using Working Copy so that I can store and sync my notes in GitHub repos. I’ve been using iA Writer as my Markdown Editor (since it interops nicely with Working Copy), but I’m interested in something with better Roam/Obsidian-like features. 2. Does it have a Markdown preview? Or just the editor + navigation support? I often use a lot of Markdown tables, and so having a preview mode is pretty critical to efficiently reading the content later.
- EduardMe 6y ago
  1. At the moment it's restricted to NotePlan's folder in your documents folder in "On my iPhone/iPad". This is due to the sync and having different external folders on iOS and Mac. I'm not sure how this should be handled. But I plan something around that. 2. There is no separate preview, but most of the markdown is being rendered, so you don't see it. To be specific: Headings and tasks are rendered properly without markdown characters. But tables are not supported yet.
  - lostintangent 6y ago
    Thanks for the quick reply! Like I mentioned, I would gladly pay the annual fee right now, since NotePlan looks _very_ close to what I’m looking for. But I’m pretty invested in using GitHub for my notes, and so I only need an editor to be an editor, not managing/syncing my notes. I’ll keep an eye on NotePlan in the future. Awesome job on the app and congrats on the launch!
ephimetheus 6y ago
I evaluated NotePlan on V2 I believe. I do this with every note app like this I see. NotePlan is very close to what I need/want, with the daily logging approach. Unfortunately, NotePlan doesn't support inline PDFs as IMAGES (not links, displayed inline like a PNG). Without support for this, it's unusable to me (basically every note taking app is). Latex symbol / equation rendering is also important, but I can live without that. If you added that functionality, I'd be more or less happy to pay whatever you want for the app.
raybb 6y ago
I love the dated notes by default + undated notes as an option! Would love to use this but need something that works on android as well
darkpicnic 6y ago
Really like the overall look/feel, but I had to delete after a handful of dealbreaking bugs: 1. Installing on second machine led to daily note being constantly wiped while I typed 2. Could not add/modify events to calendar 3. When entering a task I added '3pm-5pm' and nothing showed on calendar (probably related to #2) Looks great, just don't think it's ready for prime time.
- nikisweeting 6y ago
  Some of these have unfortunately been the fault of Apple's own iCloud drive sync problems in the past. I've noticed many apps that use it struggle to maintain consistent data across multiple devices in the case of conflicts / offline devices coming back online and having to catch up. Edit I don't know who's downvoting but Apple has documented cases of file sync inconsistency bugs with iCloud, and I've personally lost half a dozen files over the years to iCloud bugs. https://www.reddit.com/r/iOSBeta/comments/cz4rkn/news_icloud_improvements_have_been_will_be_rolled/ https://www.reddit.com/r/iOSBeta/comments/cz4rkn/news_icloud...
- EduardMe 6y ago
  I recommend to switch to CloudKit sync and check if you don't have changed the file extension in the preferences.
  - chrisked 6y ago
    Any plans to implement Dropbox sync? iCloud or CloudKit is a no go for me.
    - EduardMe 6y ago
      Dropbox is an option already, but it's not as stable and has problems.
  - darkpicnic 6y ago
    I changed to CloudKit and changed the extension as well to ".md". I was able to add a calendar event once or twice, then the same issue came up again where it could not add event and asked me to email support. I've deleted the app and reinstalled a few times. Anything else I can try?

villgax 6y ago

Amazing man, this is what I wanted Markdown files to be used for!

EduardMe 6y ago
Thanks!

nicolas_ 6y ago

It looks incredible! I wish I could use something similar on Windows. Congrats on the launch Eduard!

EduardMe 6y ago
Thanks! Maybe one day as a web version.
spidersouris 6y ago
You can try Obsidian[0] with the Calendar plugin[1]. [0]https://obsidian.md/ https://obsidian.md/ [1]https://github.com/liamcain/obsidian-calendar-plugin https://github.com/liamcain/obsidian-calendar-plugin
iamcreasy 6y ago
Recently I started using Typora(https://typora.io/ https://typora.io/). It not native, but its performance is decent.

chrisbrandow 6y ago

I've used this a ton, and it's great. I get it via Setapp, so that helps WRT subscription fatigue.

rcarmo 6y ago

I _really_ like the idea but stopped short once I saw the IAP subscriptions. I get why subscriptions are good for developers. But I can't subscribe to everything, and would prefer a single-shot purchase (even if I were to end up upgrading the year after, I would have the option not to). Other than that, the app seems to be _exactly_ what I need when compared to, say, Agenda (which I already own and use). So, in a nutshell, I'd likely switch if the pricing were different solely for the plain text storage.

CharlesW 6y ago
Since the developer is here I'd like them to know that, because of subscription fatigue, this is a dealbreaker for me too. (This isn't a critique of the creator or their choice, of course — I want them to be successful!)
EduardMe 6y ago
I thought about it, but one-time payments always have this problem that you need to come up with upgrades to keep the bills paid. And upgrades are in many aspects bad for users and for creators. For upgrades you need to 'save up' features and you need to come up with flashy ones, because bug fixes and improvements are not an incentive to upgrade for many...
- 8fingerlouie 6y ago
  Others have face the same problem and solved it by "feature unlocks", i.e. Working Copy (https://workingcopyapp.com/ https://workingcopyapp.com/), which sells 1 year "pro" unlocks, and all features released during that year remains active even if you don't renew your pro unlock. It's not a subscription, as the software will continue to work just fine when the pro unlock expires, but you don't get new features. This of course puts pressure on the developer to keep coming up with new features, but then again that's the developers job.
- davidcollantes 6y ago
  I would be willing to pay the $60, for the app, no subscription. If the app works well, it is mostly bug free, and it runs on the current OS, there is no need to come up with any flashy features. As long as it is kept up to date to continue to run. If a new version comes each year, I shall buy it as well. I have done that with VMWare Workstation, and Arqbackup, to mention a couple.

matchbok 6y ago

Nice lookin app! Using Catalyst?

EduardMe 6y ago
Nope, its written in Swift, but optimized for Mac and iOS separately with their respective UI libraries.

nikisweeting 6y ago

I used the first beta when it came out and paid for the v1!. Been watching the development for a long time now, the progress has been awesome. Congrats and great work Eduard!

EduardMe 6y ago
Thanks! It has been a long way so far!

thinbeige 6y ago

OT: I'm on the fence if I should create an app in an related field in Electron or native macOS. Anyone in a similar situation, how did/would you decide?

rcarmo 6y ago
I have steered away from Obsidian and the like because they are not native. I tolerate and use many web apps, but the only Electron app I really enjoy using is VSCode, because it's optimized beyond belief and has a specific use case. I want my notes apps to be native, thanks :)

BooneJS 6y ago

A positive blurb from Brett Terpstra is enough for me.

fattybob 6y ago

it does look very appealing, the cost of use may be a tad high, but a teams gotta pay themselves somehow I guess. have been trying to shift to Joplin for too long, it never quite works great for me, maybe this can tilt me from my free Notational Velocity world...

skinnymuch 6y ago

I’m a huge fan of Noteplan since Noteplan 2017 I think it was. Then got the iOS version and used Setapp’s Mac included version for V2. I don’t have subscription fatigue yet however money is a bit tight. So I was on the fence since being native is so amazing. Seeing the latest change log mention Setapp inclusion coming was the best news for me. Can’t wait! Loving the trial of Noteplan 3.

LeSaucy 6y ago

I am actively looking to switch off OmniFocus and OmniOutliner for something with more open file formats, but subscriptions are a deal breaker. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Shengbo 6y ago
Try Notable, its basically a collection of markdown files that you can tag, search and organize. I really like it.

levidxyz 6y ago

This looks awesome! But do you plan to add support for code blocks (not inline)?

skinnymuch 6y ago
Shit. You just reminded me of one of my biggest issues with this. No code blocks is very annoying for me. From the looks of the user base, it may not be a highly wanted feature. Would love to get it soon though assuming I go through with paying.

dplgk 6y ago

Please add encryption