9 ms·

/tap – Powerful and customizable note-taking system

269 points by jermaustin1 5y ago

nonethewiser 5y ago
I have completely ditched note taking systems in favor of a flat structure and strong search features. I just make a bunch of .md files and edit them in vscode.
- Waterluvian 5y ago
  I do this. I also have a small plugin that causes F6 to pull up scratchpad.md
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- rPlayer6554 5y ago
  If people are interested, Joplin is a great FOSS note taking software built on markdown but adds e2e encryption, a web clipper, a nice desktop UI, Integrated syncing (you can use Dropbox or something like that, or pay for their service), and more. The mobile app needs some work, but overall I like it.
  - tonguez 5y ago
    Joplin was dog shit when I used it. Basically it tries to save the file after every single character you type so if your document becomes long enough it starts using a shit load of data and crashing your phone. There was also something weird where you couldn’t scroll to the bottom of your note In a reasonable amount of time, I forgot what the reason was but overall the thing seems like typical FOSS dog shit where they’re talking about all these fancy features like nextcloud integration. if you just want to type a note, you know the most basic thing, it can’t do that, but of course the devs are working on some super advanced feature which is irrelevant because the base product doesn’t work. yes this was on android
    - mr-karan 5y ago
      Lost you at "Typical FOSS dog shit" I've used Joplin and while it has some rare rough edges (but then what hasn't) but my comment isn't about Joplin per-se. You really sound super entitled when you demand for what you think are basic features in an app. It's FOSS, don't like don't use or fork and contribute. Calling it extreme harsh words like "dog shit" just made me lose respect for your opinion, anyway.
    - fattybob 5y ago
      Joplin in the past was kinda awful but I have to say that recently it has been really very good, well put together and runs well, not had any issues in maybe a year or more, my only gripe is the encryption is a bit all or nothing , but I’m sure that’ll improve in time too, i can recommend Joplin, still in use on my machines.
- codazoda 5y ago
  I like the approach to plain text or .md files but for some reason the tool being in the web browser makes me much more productive. I suspect it's because I'm already in the browser all day. Because the browser makes me so much more productive, I built my own second brain software tool and I posted it as a Show HN yesterday (it's a rough first go). https://joeldare.com/i-built-my-own-second-brain-software-tool.html https://joeldare.com/i-built-my-own-second-brain-software-to...
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - kushan2020 5y ago
    I am building something similar browser based https://bangle.io https://bangle.io
- chrisweekly 5y ago
  Been there. Consider looking at Obsidian, which is a great client operating on local .md files (which you could still edit in VSC -- tho you'd be missing out).
- riffic 5y ago
  you may be interested in these then (vs code plugins): * Foam - https://github.com/foambubble/foam https://github.com/foambubble/foam * Dendron - https://github.com/dendronhq/dendron https://github.com/dendronhq/dendron Obsidian is great as well, but there are caveats that may make it not so great with your preferences
  - mstngl 5y ago
    And not to forget LogSeq (https://logseq.com https://logseq.com) which is often mentioned in a row with the above and somehow the new kid in town. Works with local markdown files but lives in your browser (so useful even in environment with low privileges). Allows linking and querying notes and blocks swiftly.
- novok 5y ago
  I think the key issue with notes that you just edit in plain text files on your computer is the lack of sync, mobile access and access to a quick ui on the mobile side.
  - qbasic_forever 5y ago
    Syncthing solves the markdown sync issue for me flawlessly on every platform. You can always use Dropbox or any other plain old file sync service too (OneDrive, NextCloud, etc.). At the end of the day it's just a bunch of files so you can use anything--sftp, rsync, xmodem over dialup... it's just files.
- keithnz 5y ago
  This is what I do, and I use Obsidian as a layer over it as it is designed with this kind of structure in mind. You aren't locked into it in anyway. It even has a Vim mode.
- punkspider 5y ago
  Same here. I use .md files in Sublime Text, which I keep in Dropbox, and I access them on my phone with Obsidian.
mempko 5y ago
LISP in your notes? That's cool. For my note taking I use the great tiddlywiki. A lot of features seem to overlap with the tiddlywiki. What seems nicer is the syntax, which is cool. As a tiddlywiki user, what's the advantage of this note taking app over that one? (https://tiddlywiki.com/ https://tiddlywiki.com/)
- qbasic_forever 5y ago
  This is a hosted service so you can just access it and read/write your data from anywhere. With tiddlywiki you need to go through a lot of machinations or even run your own server to access it anywhere.
  - mempko 5y ago
    Yes, it being hosted is definitely nice. It's not a big deal for people like me that know how to host software but I can see that being a huge plus for folks who can't/don't want to manage their own server.
- joe8756438 5y ago
  I'm not sure, just seeing tiddlywiki for the first time now. Two of the main goals of /tap are having your notes meet you where you are: sms, email, API and introducing elements that allow you to consolidate other applications into tap: beans, formulas, events etc.
  - mempko 5y ago
    I see you are the creator of /tap? Great! I think the multi modal goal is definitely cool and could be really useful. For tiddlywiki, I have to host my own server and only access to it is via a browser. While I have access everywhere this way, it's sometimes slow on mobile phones. FYI, I signed up but login doesn't seem to work for me. Does nothing. I had to verify my email but got a 'oops try again' message with the verify link. Maybe has something to do with not being able to login.
    - 5y ago
xanaxagoras 5y ago
Looks interesting. However, no more subscriptions. I only use FOSS software or software I can buy for money.
- claviska 5y ago
  I sympathize with this. But as an open source author, I encourage folks to at least occasionally sponsor some of the FOSS packages they heavily rely on. I love open source, but I also pay for apps and services that provide me with more value than what they cost. I’m not sure this provides me with that value, but perhaps to some it does. Regardless, if software boosts your productivity, free or not, it’s worth at least a few bucks to subscribe or sponsor and support the authors.
  - xanaxagoras 5y ago
    I agree, I'm happy to support commercial software that allows me to buy a single release for a one time payment.
- MandieD 5y ago
  Amen to that - if I use something, I’m happy to buy it, or to make a one-time donation to a project, but no more subscriptions.
- joe8756438 5y ago
  The parser component of /tap is open source https://github.com/tatatap-com/sowhat https://github.com/tatatap-com/sowhat if you already have a plain-text solution you may find having a quick way to parse utility elements is a useful addition.
- jetrink 5y ago
  Provided the SMS features are core to the system (and it looks like they are), then this is more of a service than a software product, in my opinion. It's surprisingly expensive to send or receive a text message - about a cent[1]. A light user would cost them about $0.50/month and a heavy user would cost them several dollars. I don't know how you could provide that without a subscription. 1. https://www.twilio.com/sms/pricing/us https://www.twilio.com/sms/pricing/us
prezjordan 5y ago
> S-expressions in the equation example Yes. > You already have the app. Save notes to /tap via text message (SMS), the website or a bookmarklet. K now I'm actually going to use this. Nice work. (Good landing page!)
- joe8756438 5y ago
  Thanks :-)
pedrovhb 5y ago
I've been thinking a lot about this lately. I've been using todopy (which works on the todo.txt format/spec) to manage tasks, and hledger to manage finances, and after having tried a myriad of solutions for organizing life, it seems it's these simple CLI tools with text-based formats that work best for me. This product kind of feels like that, but without the main upsides (easy extensibility, you own your data, it's all accessible locally so latency is non-existent). I don't really see much benefit vs having local files backed up by GKeep and/or a VCS instead. Still might steal some of the ideas, though. In particular, tracking events is useful ("when was it that I last had to order gas again? Do I need it soon?")
- joe8756438 5y ago
  I release the parser open source https://github.com/tatatap-com/sowhat https://github.com/tatatap-com/sowhat it could be a nice overlay on top of a local plain-text note-taking solution
zcmack 5y ago
a subscription to a notes service that is intentionally more barebones than the other options is something i really don't need. currently using joplin and its been working pretty well.
BergTheBold 5y ago
I don't see where to submit a service request. There are errors in the browser console when I log in: TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading '$router') at app.e2dbfb1e.js:1 at h (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:35) at r (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:35) at Nt (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:35) at e.zt.confirmTransition (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:35) at e.zt.transitionTo (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:35) at se.init (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:35) at Cr.beforeCreate (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:35) at ie (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:41) at Hn (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:41)
- BergTheBold 5y ago
  I'm still very interested in the service, though, and I'll probably continue to check in on it.
- joe8756438 5y ago
  hello [at] tatatap.com shoot me an email, we'll sort it out.
nixass 5y ago
If there's "pricing", "plans" or "subscription" tab on the website I will ignore the tool 100%, especially for this purpose
lostintangent 5y ago
Congrats on the release! I _really_ love the simple approach this tool takes. Though personally, I view note taking as “commodity” enough, that I prefer to own my data, and use my existing editor setup. If folks are looking for a productive, yet low-ceremony note taking workflow, GitHub.dev might be worth a look, since it provides the benefits of using Markdown, a GitHub repo, and VS Code, all from the browser: http://aka.ms/githubdev-fun http://aka.ms/githubdev-fun, https://twitter.com/lostintangent/status/1429483662257446916 https://twitter.com/lostintangent/status/1429483662257446916. I also _really_ like the concept of “spells”, so congrats on this experience as well. It would be interesting to explore implementing the same behavior using GitHub Actions (many of which, probably already exist?), with push/cron triggers. The benefit of that is that you could share your note taking workflow as a repo template, and then others could fork it and be up-and-running without any new accounts/tools/etc.
- asleepawake 5y ago
  This reads like the reply to the Dropbox release.
  - lostintangent 5y ago
    Is cloud storage anywhere near as opinion-inducing as note taking workflows though? :) There are like a dozen new entrants each month, and so it’s probably meaningful for folks to get super clear on their core requirements. Otherwise, you’d spend all your time evaluating tools, as opposed to actually writing.
  - djur 5y ago
    The Dropbox reply[1] was fully negative, while this one is mostly positive. It also suggested that the business wasn't viable, which this comment does not. Doesn't read like it at all, honestly. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224
  - zkldi 5y ago
    This has to be one of the most overdone comments on this site -- Not everything even slightly critical of a product is like the dropbox reply.
mteoharov 5y ago
After signing up for a trial I went to input my phone so I can use the SMS feature and there is this: "*Currently only supporting US phone numbers.". It would have been nice to know this prior to signing up.
- joe8756438 5y ago
  Noted. Feel free to email me at hello [at] tatatap.com we might be able to figure something out
csbartus 5y ago
Great stuff !! It's juicy. Basic features, at first sight, which prove very useful and extensible, customizable at a second read. Things you don't think you need, but it would be very nice to have. I use plain markdown + folder structure because I have nothing better (I left Obsidian after an update made all my notes unavailable). If there is a note-taking service to subscribe for, this will be. The only impediment, for now, is that I'm making notes in the editor, not online and/or via messages.
joe8756438 5y ago
Hey HN, Creator of /tap here. Thanks for all the great discussion! If there's anything I can answer related to the product, process, reasoning, where /tap is headed LMK!
ithkuil 5y ago
I like the reminders spell. Unfortunately it works only with SMS text message and only US is supported, which means I can't use this product :-( Why not reminders by email?
- joe8756438 5y ago
  Yes. It will happen.
optymizer 5y ago
I follow an unwritten rule that I will always congratulate anyone on shipping anything. Shipping anything is hard and deserves praise, so congratulations! Unfortunately I'm also realizing that I got to a point in life where I just roll my eyes when I see yet another note-taking, or to-do app, or any other spin on the same trivial problem that we solved 1000 years ago and now are just beating a dead horse, almost like a developer endlessly rewriting a piece of code to make it perfect instead of taking the old "it's good enough" approach and moving on to fix the other problems in the codebase. The note-taking apps are good enough. Even pen and paper is good enough. I know I shouldn't react like that, because it's not fair to the author - they had an idea for a better product and worked hard to ship it, and probably learnt a ton along the way; maybe they'll even make a good chunk of money, but is there no point at which we're allowed to say "You don't get much praise anymore because you're the millionth developer who figured out how to duct tape some methods written by others to create a weather app. We collectively ran out of praise for solutions in that specific problem domain. And we're sure as hell not paying for it"? I feel like everyone's just trying to make a buck with their tiny spin on the same idea. Of course there's a subscription on the note-taking app. And let me guess, the next note-taking app is going to have more real-time interactions, and fancy animations, and it's going to sync with the notes your cat takes and you can print them out once a month on this slick looking notepad that gets mailed to you. I hate that I ended up old and cynical. I used to have starry eyes.
- haswell 5y ago
  The note taking space is interesting to me. You say the problem is solved, and yet, every time I see a new app in this space, I perk up because I hope that maybe this is the one that will resonate/work for me. Note taking is a deeply personal process. Physical notebooks as a medium are infinitely flexible but apps are not. This means that 100 different people writing notes on paper might be doing so in 100 different ways. I’d argue that this is why this is such a crowded (or rich) product category. I often find that <very popular “ultimate” note taking app> is not for me, and I find myself hoping for something that fits my particular needs and habits. I’ve occasionally thought about trying to build my own. All of this to say: I don’t think the cynicism is needed here. Even if this is a solved problem for you, it’s not for all of us, and I think the evidence that this is true is found in the fact that developers keep looking for new ways to solve this problem.
danShumway 5y ago
There's some very cool ideas here, I like the approach it's taking with composability, it's an interesting project. And the integration into other systems seems kind of inspired in some ways, getting a summary email or doing stuff with text messages seems gimmicky in theory but I bet it actually feels great and ends up being useful in practice. Probably a lesson there about the benefits of integrating with multiple systems/primatives that people already know how to use and build on as a way of encouraging them to be more flexible/creative. However, and it's a big however: Speaking as someone who once did a ton of handwritten notetaking in OneNote, and then realized that the export options at the time made it practically impossible for me to carry those notes forward as my setup evolved, and that I was about to potentially lose somewhere between 1 to 2 years of my notetaking life, the "I need to know that when I put my brain in this that I can get it back out" worry is pretty real. It's not even just data export, OneNote had this cool thing where it would search the text of handwritten notes, which encourages you to take handwritten notes. It's great because handwritten notes feel good to write but are disorganized, so you could kind of bridge the gap. But the problem is that then even if you do get the images out, all that functionality is gone suddenly. So similarly, lets say I do use an API to back up all my notes, am I going to build extensive infrastructure around integrating with SMS and a CLI that all just gets thrown away some day? After OneNote, it's very hard for me to consider using a notetaking app that doesn't talk about its data format/export on its homepage. Digging through the blog posts, I can see some talk about Open Source data formats, which is good, but only partially assuages my fears. But in general, /tap is immediately talking about REST APIs on its homepage, which, cool, I do think that's a cool idea. Is there actually an overlapping Venn diagram between people who are using a note system that's so comprehensive it's sending them text reminders, and people who know how to make REST requests, and people who aren't very paranoid about owning their own data? I pay subscriptions for other people to host stuff that I don't want to dig into the technical weeds for; I pay for Wallabag hosting because I have stuff to do with my life that doesn't involve running security updates on a Wallabag server. I'm really happy to pay for services like that, especially if its in the $1-10 a month range, which /tap is. But importantly, I could self-host Wallabag if I needed to, today, without losing any functionality and without needing to rebuild any of my infrastructure that integrates with Wallabag. I could migrate my data both to the new self-hosted service or to a competing service, or I could even pay another 3rd-party to host Wallabag for me again, and point my URLs to their servers. So I don't have a bunch of hesitations in the back of my mind about giving someone money to host that kind of service because it's less of a risk to do so. On the other hand, with /tap, with a system where I am literally putting part of my brain into the computer, I think I need stronger guarantees about how it's going to work and what will happen after it gets bought by Google.
dysoco 5y ago
You might be already be aware of this but you might want to take into account the fact that many countries do not use SMS at all, first because it's non-free/expensive and secondly because people have just grown used to not even realize it's an option. Here in South America it's ALL Whatssapp, I don't think I've ever sent an SMS in 10 years.
- theelous3 5y ago
  Europe here - I saw the sms part and just wrote it off as some boomer note taking app. People use sms in the US? Just ...why?
  - derrikcurran 5y ago
    SMS sucks, but it's ubiquitous. The rest of the messaging market is heavily fragmented.
  - jraph 5y ago
    Europe here too. SMS is still my main way of writing short messages to people. I refuse to use Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp and that's what most people use. I could not even use WhatsApp, my phone is not supported. Thankfully Signal is taking off in my friend circles, but SMS is what will work best on my phone and what will wake it up. Signal works well when I'm on my computer. SMS is also what I'm 100% sure will work when contacting someone through their mobile phone number.
- Naac 5y ago
  The same thing is unfortunately happening in the US. I would assume that iphone to iphone communication over imessage also does not go through traditional sms.
  - LasEspuelas 5y ago
    I would love to introduce you to every one of the group sms monstrosities that arise every time my children join a new activity. Why do people insist on doing this?
johnchristopher 5y ago
Ooh, interesting. Leveraging SMS mass pricing with shot commands. Brings back memories from the before Smartphone era. I wonder if this could take off with people so used to GUI now.
- anonymouse008 5y ago
  The only issue I have yet to solve with SMS is security. They are by nature completely and totally open... and there doesn't seem to be a good fix other than sending encrypted text, which defeats the purpose of the convenience of SMS
jonititan 5y ago
Were you inspired by Zim? https://zim-wiki.org/ https://zim-wiki.org/
- joe8756438 5y ago
  I haven’t seen Zim until now, very cool.
fellowniusmonk 5y ago
This is the most similar note taking app to my long term note taking app I built for myself. Very good!
beebeepka 5y ago
Open a text file. Enter text. Save with a proper name. Done. No need for connectivity or any additional complexity
ModernMech 5y ago
The flag made of hands is a thing out of my nightmares.
CalebAzunobi 5y ago
Nice
pugworthy 5y ago
There are so many, "the best note taking/whatever thing ever" posts, I just don't read them anymore. It's a saturated market at least for me. * edit * I see I'm not the only one
subhro 5y ago
Another subscription…. sigh
fredguth 5y ago
Signup asked for email/password and complained of invalid phone number.
- bhandel 5y ago
  Brice here from the /tap team, please email us at hello [at] tatatap.com and we’ll get you sorted out. Thanks.
pqs 5y ago
Congratulations for the launch. I really like the idea of being able to interact with my notes through messaging. I would like to see this as a feature of Evernote. Now I can email notes to Evernote, which I use all the time, I can also send Telegram messages to Evernote, thanks to IFTTT, but I cannot perform searches using email or messaging, which is what this tool is made for. I hope that the guys at Evernote copy the idea once they solve the more basic issues they have now.
- pqs 5y ago
  I have also thought that this app is, in fact, a CLI app, through messaging. It reminds me taskwarrior a lot, which is a task manager that allows to add notes to the task, similarly to how /tap does.

269 points by jermaustin1 5y ago

I have completely ditched note taking systems in favor of a flat structure and strong search features. I just make a bunch of .md files and edit them in vscode.

Waterluvian 5y ago
I do this. I also have a small plugin that causes F6 to pull up scratchpad.md
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
rPlayer6554 5y ago
If people are interested, Joplin is a great FOSS note taking software built on markdown but adds e2e encryption, a web clipper, a nice desktop UI, Integrated syncing (you can use Dropbox or something like that, or pay for their service), and more. The mobile app needs some work, but overall I like it.
- tonguez 5y ago
  Joplin was dog shit when I used it. Basically it tries to save the file after every single character you type so if your document becomes long enough it starts using a shit load of data and crashing your phone. There was also something weird where you couldn’t scroll to the bottom of your note In a reasonable amount of time, I forgot what the reason was but overall the thing seems like typical FOSS dog shit where they’re talking about all these fancy features like nextcloud integration. if you just want to type a note, you know the most basic thing, it can’t do that, but of course the devs are working on some super advanced feature which is irrelevant because the base product doesn’t work. yes this was on android
  - mr-karan 5y ago
    Lost you at "Typical FOSS dog shit" I've used Joplin and while it has some rare rough edges (but then what hasn't) but my comment isn't about Joplin per-se. You really sound super entitled when you demand for what you think are basic features in an app. It's FOSS, don't like don't use or fork and contribute. Calling it extreme harsh words like "dog shit" just made me lose respect for your opinion, anyway.
  - fattybob 5y ago
    Joplin in the past was kinda awful but I have to say that recently it has been really very good, well put together and runs well, not had any issues in maybe a year or more, my only gripe is the encryption is a bit all or nothing , but I’m sure that’ll improve in time too, i can recommend Joplin, still in use on my machines.
codazoda 5y ago
I like the approach to plain text or .md files but for some reason the tool being in the web browser makes me much more productive. I suspect it's because I'm already in the browser all day. Because the browser makes me so much more productive, I built my own second brain software tool and I posted it as a Show HN yesterday (it's a rough first go). https://joeldare.com/i-built-my-own-second-brain-software-tool.html https://joeldare.com/i-built-my-own-second-brain-software-to...
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- kushan2020 5y ago
  I am building something similar browser based https://bangle.io https://bangle.io
chrisweekly 5y ago
Been there. Consider looking at Obsidian, which is a great client operating on local .md files (which you could still edit in VSC -- tho you'd be missing out).
riffic 5y ago
you may be interested in these then (vs code plugins): * Foam - https://github.com/foambubble/foam https://github.com/foambubble/foam * Dendron - https://github.com/dendronhq/dendron https://github.com/dendronhq/dendron Obsidian is great as well, but there are caveats that may make it not so great with your preferences
- mstngl 5y ago
  And not to forget LogSeq (https://logseq.com https://logseq.com) which is often mentioned in a row with the above and somehow the new kid in town. Works with local markdown files but lives in your browser (so useful even in environment with low privileges). Allows linking and querying notes and blocks swiftly.
novok 5y ago
I think the key issue with notes that you just edit in plain text files on your computer is the lack of sync, mobile access and access to a quick ui on the mobile side.
- qbasic_forever 5y ago
  Syncthing solves the markdown sync issue for me flawlessly on every platform. You can always use Dropbox or any other plain old file sync service too (OneDrive, NextCloud, etc.). At the end of the day it's just a bunch of files so you can use anything--sftp, rsync, xmodem over dialup... it's just files.
keithnz 5y ago
This is what I do, and I use Obsidian as a layer over it as it is designed with this kind of structure in mind. You aren't locked into it in anyway. It even has a Vim mode.
punkspider 5y ago
Same here. I use .md files in Sublime Text, which I keep in Dropbox, and I access them on my phone with Obsidian.

mempko 5y ago

LISP in your notes? That's cool. For my note taking I use the great tiddlywiki. A lot of features seem to overlap with the tiddlywiki. What seems nicer is the syntax, which is cool. As a tiddlywiki user, what's the advantage of this note taking app over that one? (https://tiddlywiki.com/ https://tiddlywiki.com/)

qbasic_forever 5y ago
This is a hosted service so you can just access it and read/write your data from anywhere. With tiddlywiki you need to go through a lot of machinations or even run your own server to access it anywhere.
- mempko 5y ago
  Yes, it being hosted is definitely nice. It's not a big deal for people like me that know how to host software but I can see that being a huge plus for folks who can't/don't want to manage their own server.
joe8756438 5y ago
I'm not sure, just seeing tiddlywiki for the first time now. Two of the main goals of /tap are having your notes meet you where you are: sms, email, API and introducing elements that allow you to consolidate other applications into tap: beans, formulas, events etc.
- mempko 5y ago
  I see you are the creator of /tap? Great! I think the multi modal goal is definitely cool and could be really useful. For tiddlywiki, I have to host my own server and only access to it is via a browser. While I have access everywhere this way, it's sometimes slow on mobile phones. FYI, I signed up but login doesn't seem to work for me. Does nothing. I had to verify my email but got a 'oops try again' message with the verify link. Maybe has something to do with not being able to login.
  - 5y ago

xanaxagoras 5y ago

Looks interesting. However, no more subscriptions. I only use FOSS software or software I can buy for money.

claviska 5y ago
I sympathize with this. But as an open source author, I encourage folks to at least occasionally sponsor some of the FOSS packages they heavily rely on. I love open source, but I also pay for apps and services that provide me with more value than what they cost. I’m not sure this provides me with that value, but perhaps to some it does. Regardless, if software boosts your productivity, free or not, it’s worth at least a few bucks to subscribe or sponsor and support the authors.
- xanaxagoras 5y ago
  I agree, I'm happy to support commercial software that allows me to buy a single release for a one time payment.
MandieD 5y ago
Amen to that - if I use something, I’m happy to buy it, or to make a one-time donation to a project, but no more subscriptions.
joe8756438 5y ago
The parser component of /tap is open source https://github.com/tatatap-com/sowhat https://github.com/tatatap-com/sowhat if you already have a plain-text solution you may find having a quick way to parse utility elements is a useful addition.
jetrink 5y ago
Provided the SMS features are core to the system (and it looks like they are), then this is more of a service than a software product, in my opinion. It's surprisingly expensive to send or receive a text message - about a cent[1]. A light user would cost them about $0.50/month and a heavy user would cost them several dollars. I don't know how you could provide that without a subscription. 1. https://www.twilio.com/sms/pricing/us https://www.twilio.com/sms/pricing/us

prezjordan 5y ago

> S-expressions in the equation example Yes. > You already have the app. Save notes to /tap via text message (SMS), the website or a bookmarklet. K now I'm actually going to use this. Nice work. (Good landing page!)

joe8756438 5y ago
Thanks :-)

pedrovhb 5y ago

I've been thinking a lot about this lately. I've been using todopy (which works on the todo.txt format/spec) to manage tasks, and hledger to manage finances, and after having tried a myriad of solutions for organizing life, it seems it's these simple CLI tools with text-based formats that work best for me. This product kind of feels like that, but without the main upsides (easy extensibility, you own your data, it's all accessible locally so latency is non-existent). I don't really see much benefit vs having local files backed up by GKeep and/or a VCS instead. Still might steal some of the ideas, though. In particular, tracking events is useful ("when was it that I last had to order gas again? Do I need it soon?")

joe8756438 5y ago
I release the parser open source https://github.com/tatatap-com/sowhat https://github.com/tatatap-com/sowhat it could be a nice overlay on top of a local plain-text note-taking solution

zcmack 5y ago

a subscription to a notes service that is intentionally more barebones than the other options is something i really don't need. currently using joplin and its been working pretty well.

BergTheBold 5y ago

I don't see where to submit a service request. There are errors in the browser console when I log in: TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading '$router') at app.e2dbfb1e.js:1 at h (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:35) at r (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:35) at Nt (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:35) at e.zt.confirmTransition (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:35) at e.zt.transitionTo (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:35) at se.init (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:35) at Cr.beforeCreate (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:35) at ie (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:41) at Hn (chunk-vendors.439a26c5.js:41)

BergTheBold 5y ago
I'm still very interested in the service, though, and I'll probably continue to check in on it.
joe8756438 5y ago
hello [at] tatatap.com shoot me an email, we'll sort it out.

nixass 5y ago

If there's "pricing", "plans" or "subscription" tab on the website I will ignore the tool 100%, especially for this purpose

lostintangent 5y ago

Congrats on the release! I _really_ love the simple approach this tool takes. Though personally, I view note taking as “commodity” enough, that I prefer to own my data, and use my existing editor setup. If folks are looking for a productive, yet low-ceremony note taking workflow, GitHub.dev might be worth a look, since it provides the benefits of using Markdown, a GitHub repo, and VS Code, all from the browser: http://aka.ms/githubdev-fun http://aka.ms/githubdev-fun, https://twitter.com/lostintangent/status/1429483662257446916 https://twitter.com/lostintangent/status/1429483662257446916. I also _really_ like the concept of “spells”, so congrats on this experience as well. It would be interesting to explore implementing the same behavior using GitHub Actions (many of which, probably already exist?), with push/cron triggers. The benefit of that is that you could share your note taking workflow as a repo template, and then others could fork it and be up-and-running without any new accounts/tools/etc.

asleepawake 5y ago
This reads like the reply to the Dropbox release.
- lostintangent 5y ago
  Is cloud storage anywhere near as opinion-inducing as note taking workflows though? :) There are like a dozen new entrants each month, and so it’s probably meaningful for folks to get super clear on their core requirements. Otherwise, you’d spend all your time evaluating tools, as opposed to actually writing.
- djur 5y ago
  The Dropbox reply[1] was fully negative, while this one is mostly positive. It also suggested that the business wasn't viable, which this comment does not. Doesn't read like it at all, honestly. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224
- zkldi 5y ago
  This has to be one of the most overdone comments on this site -- Not everything even slightly critical of a product is like the dropbox reply.

mteoharov 5y ago

After signing up for a trial I went to input my phone so I can use the SMS feature and there is this: "*Currently only supporting US phone numbers.". It would have been nice to know this prior to signing up.

joe8756438 5y ago
Noted. Feel free to email me at hello [at] tatatap.com we might be able to figure something out

csbartus 5y ago

Great stuff !! It's juicy. Basic features, at first sight, which prove very useful and extensible, customizable at a second read. Things you don't think you need, but it would be very nice to have. I use plain markdown + folder structure because I have nothing better (I left Obsidian after an update made all my notes unavailable). If there is a note-taking service to subscribe for, this will be. The only impediment, for now, is that I'm making notes in the editor, not online and/or via messages.

joe8756438 5y ago

Hey HN, Creator of /tap here. Thanks for all the great discussion! If there's anything I can answer related to the product, process, reasoning, where /tap is headed LMK!

ithkuil 5y ago

I like the reminders spell. Unfortunately it works only with SMS text message and only US is supported, which means I can't use this product :-( Why not reminders by email?

joe8756438 5y ago
Yes. It will happen.

optymizer 5y ago

I follow an unwritten rule that I will always congratulate anyone on shipping anything. Shipping anything is hard and deserves praise, so congratulations! Unfortunately I'm also realizing that I got to a point in life where I just roll my eyes when I see yet another note-taking, or to-do app, or any other spin on the same trivial problem that we solved 1000 years ago and now are just beating a dead horse, almost like a developer endlessly rewriting a piece of code to make it perfect instead of taking the old "it's good enough" approach and moving on to fix the other problems in the codebase. The note-taking apps are good enough. Even pen and paper is good enough. I know I shouldn't react like that, because it's not fair to the author - they had an idea for a better product and worked hard to ship it, and probably learnt a ton along the way; maybe they'll even make a good chunk of money, but is there no point at which we're allowed to say "You don't get much praise anymore because you're the millionth developer who figured out how to duct tape some methods written by others to create a weather app. We collectively ran out of praise for solutions in that specific problem domain. And we're sure as hell not paying for it"? I feel like everyone's just trying to make a buck with their tiny spin on the same idea. Of course there's a subscription on the note-taking app. And let me guess, the next note-taking app is going to have more real-time interactions, and fancy animations, and it's going to sync with the notes your cat takes and you can print them out once a month on this slick looking notepad that gets mailed to you. I hate that I ended up old and cynical. I used to have starry eyes.

haswell 5y ago
The note taking space is interesting to me. You say the problem is solved, and yet, every time I see a new app in this space, I perk up because I hope that maybe this is the one that will resonate/work for me. Note taking is a deeply personal process. Physical notebooks as a medium are infinitely flexible but apps are not. This means that 100 different people writing notes on paper might be doing so in 100 different ways. I’d argue that this is why this is such a crowded (or rich) product category. I often find that <very popular “ultimate” note taking app> is not for me, and I find myself hoping for something that fits my particular needs and habits. I’ve occasionally thought about trying to build my own. All of this to say: I don’t think the cynicism is needed here. Even if this is a solved problem for you, it’s not for all of us, and I think the evidence that this is true is found in the fact that developers keep looking for new ways to solve this problem.

danShumway 5y ago

There's some very cool ideas here, I like the approach it's taking with composability, it's an interesting project. And the integration into other systems seems kind of inspired in some ways, getting a summary email or doing stuff with text messages seems gimmicky in theory but I bet it actually feels great and ends up being useful in practice. Probably a lesson there about the benefits of integrating with multiple systems/primatives that people already know how to use and build on as a way of encouraging them to be more flexible/creative. However, and it's a big however: Speaking as someone who once did a ton of handwritten notetaking in OneNote, and then realized that the export options at the time made it practically impossible for me to carry those notes forward as my setup evolved, and that I was about to potentially lose somewhere between 1 to 2 years of my notetaking life, the "I need to know that when I put my brain in this that I can get it back out" worry is pretty real. It's not even just data export, OneNote had this cool thing where it would search the text of handwritten notes, which encourages you to take handwritten notes. It's great because handwritten notes feel good to write but are disorganized, so you could kind of bridge the gap. But the problem is that then even if you do get the images out, all that functionality is gone suddenly. So similarly, lets say I do use an API to back up all my notes, am I going to build extensive infrastructure around integrating with SMS and a CLI that all just gets thrown away some day? After OneNote, it's very hard for me to consider using a notetaking app that doesn't talk about its data format/export on its homepage. Digging through the blog posts, I can see some talk about Open Source data formats, which is good, but only partially assuages my fears. But in general, /tap is immediately talking about REST APIs on its homepage, which, cool, I do think that's a cool idea. Is there actually an overlapping Venn diagram between people who are using a note system that's so comprehensive it's sending them text reminders, and people who know how to make REST requests, and people who aren't very paranoid about owning their own data? I pay subscriptions for other people to host stuff that I don't want to dig into the technical weeds for; I pay for Wallabag hosting because I have stuff to do with my life that doesn't involve running security updates on a Wallabag server. I'm really happy to pay for services like that, especially if its in the $1-10 a month range, which /tap is. But importantly, I could self-host Wallabag if I needed to, today, without losing any functionality and without needing to rebuild any of my infrastructure that integrates with Wallabag. I could migrate my data both to the new self-hosted service or to a competing service, or I could even pay another 3rd-party to host Wallabag for me again, and point my URLs to their servers. So I don't have a bunch of hesitations in the back of my mind about giving someone money to host that kind of service because it's less of a risk to do so. On the other hand, with /tap, with a system where I am literally putting part of my brain into the computer, I think I need stronger guarantees about how it's going to work and what will happen after it gets bought by Google.

dysoco 5y ago

You might be already be aware of this but you might want to take into account the fact that many countries do not use SMS at all, first because it's non-free/expensive and secondly because people have just grown used to not even realize it's an option. Here in South America it's ALL Whatssapp, I don't think I've ever sent an SMS in 10 years.

theelous3 5y ago
Europe here - I saw the sms part and just wrote it off as some boomer note taking app. People use sms in the US? Just ...why?
- derrikcurran 5y ago
  SMS sucks, but it's ubiquitous. The rest of the messaging market is heavily fragmented.
- jraph 5y ago
  Europe here too. SMS is still my main way of writing short messages to people. I refuse to use Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp and that's what most people use. I could not even use WhatsApp, my phone is not supported. Thankfully Signal is taking off in my friend circles, but SMS is what will work best on my phone and what will wake it up. Signal works well when I'm on my computer. SMS is also what I'm 100% sure will work when contacting someone through their mobile phone number.
Naac 5y ago
The same thing is unfortunately happening in the US. I would assume that iphone to iphone communication over imessage also does not go through traditional sms.
- LasEspuelas 5y ago
  I would love to introduce you to every one of the group sms monstrosities that arise every time my children join a new activity. Why do people insist on doing this?

johnchristopher 5y ago

Ooh, interesting. Leveraging SMS mass pricing with shot commands. Brings back memories from the before Smartphone era. I wonder if this could take off with people so used to GUI now.

anonymouse008 5y ago
The only issue I have yet to solve with SMS is security. They are by nature completely and totally open... and there doesn't seem to be a good fix other than sending encrypted text, which defeats the purpose of the convenience of SMS

jonititan 5y ago

Were you inspired by Zim? https://zim-wiki.org/ https://zim-wiki.org/

joe8756438 5y ago
I haven’t seen Zim until now, very cool.

fellowniusmonk 5y ago

This is the most similar note taking app to my long term note taking app I built for myself. Very good!

beebeepka 5y ago

Open a text file. Enter text. Save with a proper name. Done. No need for connectivity or any additional complexity

ModernMech 5y ago

The flag made of hands is a thing out of my nightmares.

CalebAzunobi 5y ago

Nice

pugworthy 5y ago

There are so many, "the best note taking/whatever thing ever" posts, I just don't read them anymore. It's a saturated market at least for me. * edit * I see I'm not the only one

subhro 5y ago

Another subscription…. sigh

fredguth 5y ago

Signup asked for email/password and complained of invalid phone number.

bhandel 5y ago
Brice here from the /tap team, please email us at hello [at] tatatap.com and we’ll get you sorted out. Thanks.

pqs 5y ago

Congratulations for the launch. I really like the idea of being able to interact with my notes through messaging. I would like to see this as a feature of Evernote. Now I can email notes to Evernote, which I use all the time, I can also send Telegram messages to Evernote, thanks to IFTTT, but I cannot perform searches using email or messaging, which is what this tool is made for. I hope that the guys at Evernote copy the idea once they solve the more basic issues they have now.

pqs 5y ago
I have also thought that this app is, in fact, a CLI app, through messaging. It reminds me taskwarrior a lot, which is a task manager that allows to add notes to the task, similarly to how /tap does.