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Ask HN: Is there a note taking app you're 100% happy with?
Is there any app you're happy with 100%? I just can't find anything that fully satisfies my note-taking experience.
1 - Evernote is too buggy, and it feels like every editor does different things, there is no consistency to it, and it seems so old and outdated
2 - Notions web clipper sucks, doesn't pull italics correctly or numbered lists and app takes too long to load up...
3 - OneNote has no sorting capabilities and can't clip .webp
- massysett 6y agoNo. They all have flaws of some sort. These days I am finding that nothing beats just pulling out my Mac and putting files in folders. For notes I use TextEdit. I can save PDFs of webpages in the folder, or go into Mail and save emails into the folder. iCloud syncs them between the various Macs well. I have used Org Mode because it combined notes and task tracking but I found this to be increasingly unwieldy so I separated note taking and task tracking. I do use the iPhone Notes app for basic things I need while on the go but not for anything fancy. Good luck sifting through all the various apps but I'm tired of dealing with them.
- sanjeetsuhag 6y agoI tried rolling my own system using Markdown, where I create a note every day with the following headings: - Tasks/Agenda - Meetings - Work Sessions I used plain Markdown files, one for each day, but later discovered NotePlan[1] and it seemed to be the perfect organization tool for my system. [1]: https://noteplan.co/ https://noteplan.co/
- joegahona 6y agoNoteplan looks nice but kind of crappy that they don't allow you to try before you buy.
- runjake 6y agoBear Notes is almost there at 99%. Good: - Elegant - Fast - Excellent sync - Excellent export abilities - Excellent markup and code markup support - Good automation possibilities (iOS Shortcuts, x-callback-url, AppleScript) Bad: - iOS/macOS only. There's a web version in the works, but I would not count on that ever seeing the light of day. https://bear.app/ https://bear.app/
- ahpearce 6y agoSeconded!
- BjoernKW 6y agoI'd use it if its sync capabilities weren't iCloud-only. From a business and development point of view I totally get why they opted for iCloud: It allows them to focus on their core business and delegate the supporting domain of data synchronisation to someone else. Unfortunately, since for my own business I'm using Google Workspace and Google Drive that's not really an option for me. Bear rightfully claim that they're GDPR-compliant. However, they're kind of just delegating that issue, too, since Apple, in contrast to Google, doesn't provide a GDPR-compliant data processing agreement to business customers. It's debatable if such an agreement is really necessary in this case but as with all things GDPR it's better to tread carefully.
- thiht 6y agoDoes it finally handle tables? I tried it but found it way over hyped, it's just not any good (yet?). And its inferior pseudo markdown is infuriating.
- kingkongjaffa 6y agoWhen I was writing my masters thesis my idea to split it up into a series of papers really helped me to remove writers block, I wrote many chapters in Bear to avoid distraction and it was a great lever before finally typesetting the whole thing in LaTeX.
- willcate 6y agoEvernote
- st1x7 6y ago- For knowledge-base organisation - Obsidian. It's a nice program and it works with markdown files with some nice features like a graph view and support for LaTeX equations. I don't need to access these notes on my phone/tablet. - Anything else i.e. shorter form notes that I want to sync across devices and which don't require fancy formatting or organisation - Apple Notes. Perfectly happy with both of these for their respective use cases.
- minimalismhuh 6y agoOh someone mentioned Obsidian way earlier than me? Nice! IMHO: Using Obsidian with the PARA system and the Johnny File System makes a lot of things neat. :) You can use the JFS also for your files and folders.
- riidom 6y agoI use Obsidian as well, but funnily, the knowledge-base related features don't interest me at all. I like it for it's well-done "90% of preview-mode inside edit-mode already" approach, and the BSP-style window separation.
- kevas 6y agoMarginNote
- craigr1972 6y agoRemnote. Previously Zettlr and Markor. My markdown files with their links imported and worked straight away. That, plus the spaced repetition was perfect for me. Also the export to markdown (which does then work in Zettlr) is good. I like the whizziness, similar to Dynalist.
- misterioss 6y agoGitbook
- valehelle 6y agoNot really. I think every person takes note differently and trying to cater to everyone is just impossible. For example, right now I'm taking notes for customer validation process following the The Mom Test[1] book and existing note taking app is too general for my use case. That is why I'm also in the mist of developing an app[2] that is solely focus on that particular use case. [1]http://momtestbook.com http://momtestbook.com [2]https://www.getfluorite.com https://www.getfluorite.com
- factorialboy 6y agoText editor with Markdown support with a Git repo for sync.
- aprdm 6y agoApple notes works pretty well for me
- minimalismhuh 6y agoHow about Obsidian? I combine Obsidian with PARA and the Johnny File System. Both are methodologies to organize notes and files & folders. Knowledge graphs are cool. :) Edit: Oh sorry my bad, you were looking for smartphone apps, weren't you?
- akulbe 6y agoStandard Notes.
- companyhen 6y agoJust the main notes iOS/Mac app but my notes are mostly just lists.
- mikesabbagh 6y agojust got myself a remarKable. I love it!! https://remarkable.com/ https://remarkable.com/
- sharps_xp 6y agocan you share any tradeoffs or cons that isn’t so obvious on the marketing site
- luckman212 6y agoAnother Obsidian user here. Pretty happy, but they have some rough edges to overcome still. Surprised nobody's mentioned Craft[0]. Pretty amazing what they've managed to do in such a short time. Doesn't replace Obsidian for me, but I think for the "need a replacement for Evernote" crowd, there isn't a finer choice. [0]: https://www.craft.do https://www.craft.do
- mindhash 6y agoJust sharing my flow for those looking to build note taking apps: I use whatsapp for note taking. It solves a similar problem for notes as drop box did for files. My notes are usually pointers. I don't track tasks in there. Tasks go into a separate app. I use apple mac reminders for task tracking. The way I use it is - I ask siri to set a reminder with task desc. My tasks are reminders that I extend if they are not done by the expected time.
- fishingisfun 6y agonotepad.exe
- samoraai 6y agoI use Joplin with Dropbox to sync between desktop and mobile
- knowhy 6y agoorg-mode It's the most flexible software I know. It was a pain getting used to Emacs. I used it for a decade now and it was probably the best decision I ever made. I believe it is worth some effort to find a way to organize yourself and with Emacs + org-mode I feel save that I won't ever need to adapt to something new.
- eggie5 6y agoroam
- poletopole 6y agoI’ve been using Ulysses for about two years and I’m addicted now. However, it’s not the the whole solution I’m looking for; ideally I would like a Muse + Ulysses + Gladys app, so I probably will just make it myself this year.
- SkyLinx 6y agoI use and like Typora, with the notes stored in Nextcloud.
- fairramone 6y agoKeep-It from Reinvented Software. I love it!
- jjice 6y ago100% satisfied? No, but I'm very happy with just a plain old text editor. The editor and workflow depends on what kind of notes. Class notes = Vim/VSCode + Markdown + Git To-do list = Vim + Plain text (usually 'O' and 'X' to mark done or not. Software notes = Vim + Markdown or paper for thinking out a problem and diagrams It's not for everyone, but I've become very comfortable with plain text and it always works wherever I go.
- rasulkireev 6y agoHow do you access/edit it on the phone?
- rasulkireev 6y agoDepends on what you actually want. I use a mix of Obsidian and Joplin. Joplin is very similar to Evernote, but much more pleasant. It is open source and is actively developed. You own you data and you can us ethe ap on any device. I wrote a small intro about Joplin -> https://rasulkireev.com/joplin/ https://rasulkireev.com/joplin/ . I use Joplin as a storage for some of my thoughts on different topics. I organized my library with the PARA method. It works like a charm. I use Obsidian as my Zettelkasten. I don't try to use it as my productivity driver. As a simple storage and connector for my thoughts it is perfect.