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This somehow seems to be a solution in search of a problem. The reason people use self texting is that they _don't_ want to use another app. Not because the exi
by dewey 2y ago
This somehow seems to be a solution in search of a problem. The reason people use self texting is that they _don't_ want to use another app. Not because the existing apps are somehow missing features.
> I often defaulted to dumping notes into chat apps like Slack or iMessage
What makes you think people think differently about this app?
If people wanted all these features they would already all be covered by Apple Notes (Including the quick note feature, included in the OS when you mouse into the bottom right corner of your screen) but for free, encrypted and synced to all devices.
- bokenator 2y agoI've also tried out a few solutions for this problem, but I inevitably went back to use slack or signal. The reason is that these messenger apps are just always open and it's far easier to paste stuff into it than opening an app dedicated to this purpose.
- hnbad 2y agoAnother benefit is that self texting means you have access to your notes wherever you have access to your messages. Using another app makes that more tedious.
- HarHarVeryFunny 2y agoYeah - another place to have to check for messages seems to be cluttering mindspace rather than helping. What might be useful, if done well, would be adding tags to messaging similar to GMail's use of tags in lieu of folders, as a way of grouping related messages (e.g. notes to self). OTOH, maybe with message search, perhaps "AI" assisted, it might not be needed. One use case for this sort of occasional "notes to self" and later search/gathering that I've been thinking of recently is for a shopping list, but it would have to involve basically zero effort to be useful. The idea would to allow you to say things like "shopping list: milk, bread", then next day "shopping list: cat food", then next day "show shopping list", or something similar.
- hartator 2y agoYeah, Slacking one-self is reassuring because you Lonnie it won’t be lost or forgotten.
- eguchi1904 2y agoI understand your point. For me, though, existing apps like Slack or iMessage were insufficient because, at the end of the day, they aren’t “note-taking apps.” By creating a dedicated note app combined with a chat-style timeline-focused UI, I feel that the speed and quality of note-taking have improved. However, I understand that it might not be for everyone, and I appreciate your feedback!
- Dwolb 2y agoHonestly I love the direction and I do this all the time. If you could 1) integrate directly with iMessage so I'm literally just texting and 2) have your interface provide me some sort of LLM summary tool/weekly digest/remind me of things smartly (I dunno it's up to you to figure out), I'd probably do this.
- gagik_co 2y agoMy app tetr https://tetr.app https://tetr.app has a couple of the things you mention, although not LLM based yet it does support alternative views and summaries (as well as special UI for tasks).
- eguchi1904 2y agoThank you! 2) is an interesting idea. I plan to add functionalities that can smartly suggest and categorize notes in the future. Thanks for the suggestion!
- bozhark 2y agoWhat did I do last year? Last month? Last week? How does that correlate with what’s ahead? Something like that would keep me from relearning the same stuff over and over would be very helpful. I suffer from a TBI and do my recall/remember well. Whenever I do technical work, I have to constantly relearn steps. Would be nice to have those steps easily accessible, without effort from the user.
- JohnFen 2y agoIt is really interesting how different people are in their preferred solutions. The thing that I've learned makes an application good for note-taking is a lack of features. Simplicity is key for this use case for me. Even on the desktop, my "note-taking" app is just notepad on Windows, kwrite in KDE, and a very bare-bones text editor on my phone. None of this is even remotely a criticism of your effort. I was just pondering how different people can be in their needs.
- hexmiles 2y agoAs a counter: I love the concept, I often message myself not because I don't want to use another app, but because I like the workflow and the UI. Most notes app work with a concept similar to files organized in a structure (be tags or folder) instead chat app are primarily chronological, also the UI is more oriented for quick addition than most note's app; I get that this don't make sense for everyone but an app like this is exactly what I want.
- eguchi1904 2y agoThank you, your kind words are very encouraging. Your perspective closely aligns with the issues I was trying to address.
- realjohng 2y agoFor a note taking app, launch speed is critical. Keep it super fast.
- toastercat 2y ago[flagged]
- golly_ned 2y agoI text myself notes, and it’s not because I don’t want to use another app, but because I like the streaming append-only log style of notes. I don’t like how hard it is to search through them stores in iMessage. I’ve thought about building an app like this, just since I haven’t been able to find one. So the problem does exist, though it’s not for you. And it’s plainly not the case that if people wanted these features they would be built into Apple apps. There is a massive ecosystem of iOS apps for exactly the reason that the Apple apps don’t cover everything. Same for any case where there’s a startup vs. an incumbent.
- pdimitar 2y agoSure, but I just use a personal Telegram channel for this. It's quite well-searchable too, and it serves me 95% perfectly.
- mmcclure 2y agoThis is my flow too. I know it’s silly, but 90% of why I pay for premium is just for the tags in my saved notes messages.
- IOT_Apprentice 2y agoWhat about using a discord server?
- suriya-ganesh 2y agoDiscord is much much slower than the telegram client IMO
- pdimitar 2y agoDiscord is generally snappy but nothing beats Telegram. It just feels like the only remaining desktop client that actually makes use of native OS facilities. Plus there are scripts to back up the said channels. With Discord I haven't checked (but maybe there are as well). So mostly (1) Telegram is still snappier and (2) Telegram was there first, more or less, at least on my own timeline of checking chat clients.
- havefunbesafe 2y agoI think the problem was OP wanted to build an app, and the solution was building the app. Totally fine!
- dewey 2y agoThis is fair, and I've done a fair share of that myself!
- codegeek 2y agoNot always. I do text/slack myself to make a note at times because it is the fastest way to log something and come back to it later. If a tool creates a note out of it with all the other goodies, it may not be a bad thing. I however agree that I have to test something like this but having lost my mac notes recently, I am seriously considering a notes tool that is super easy to log.
- whalesalad 2y agoI actually want an app like this, but I want something cross platform and web based so I can use it on mac/linux/phone.
- j45 2y agoNot always. There's an app called Voiceliner that is quite decent for a different use case but capturing notes nonetheless. Audio notes are usually much quicker than typing on a phone. Helping people capture their thoughts happens in many ways, and it's valid. I have been using apps like this for a very long time, and it's an unfair advantage because it can seem like I don't forget much, when really I reinforce remembering it by recording it somehow and working through actioning it (or sharing it to get help)
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- sensanaty 2y agoI write "notes" to myself all the time not because I don't want to use another app, but because I prefer the chronological, quick way that those kind of notes work. I'm too chaotic for regular note taking, I've tried a million times, so for me the flow of just dumping a stream of consciousness down for me to read through later on works much better than trying to organize dozens of files. I'll definitely be checking this app out, personally!
- pjot 2y agoSame here - I’ll typically leave my message to myself as unread as a visual reminder to go back to it.
- arjvik 2y agoWhat I'd love (and what has been on my to-do list of things to write) is an app that I can literally text, which takes my notes and collects them somewhere. Would love to get some real searchability, etc while still not needing to launch something seperate to send notes!
- danem 2y agoIn obsidian I have a template to insert a timestamp. I have a "Work Log" file I refresh each month where I just jot down whatever with the timestamp. No further organization required.
- hidelooktropic 2y agoTo me it doesn't need to be a solution-to-a-problem so much as a different paradigm for using a familiar tool that is more pleasant to use.