4 ms·

I 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 eguchi1904 2y ago

I 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 ago
Honestly 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 ago
  My 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 ago
  Thank 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 ago
    What 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 ago
It 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.
- dylan604 2y ago
  > The thing that I've learned makes an application good for note-taking is a lack of features. The best featureless app I've ever used for taking notes is the pen and paper sitting next to me for the specific purpose. Admittedly, it's not convenient at any time other than sitting at the desk and focused. There are plenty of studies about the process of writing notes vs typing notes when it comes to long term retention. There are times where I'm wrestling with a problem that is just a bit more data than my L1 cache (my head) can remember and need to offload some of the data to RAM (scratch pad), but I can just jot down the data without actually looking at it. Even being able to try to sketch data has helped. I have yet to ever find an app even remotely as effective to the point, I'm stopped trying anything else. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
  - JohnFen 2y ago
    > The best featureless app I've ever used for taking notes is the pen and paper sitting next to me for the specific purpose. True! At work, I carry a pencil and small notepad for this reason. But outside of work, I don't always have one at hand and so other methods come into play.
- eguchi1904 2y ago
  Thank you. I can relate to the importance of simplicity. When there are too many features, I find it distracting and difficult to focus on the content I’m writing. There really are so many different needs when it comes to note-taking apps, including my own. This discussion has highlighted that for me once again.
- 2y ago
j45 2y ago
It's also a form of journaling throughout the day whether it's a note, thought, reflection.
benatkin 2y ago
> I feel that the speed and quality of note-taking have improved In your case you’ve gotten over any learning curve and you’re accomplishing three things at once - taking notes, testing your app, and giving yourself satisfaction that you’ve built something you can use, so of course it’s going to feel better! But it’s more important what potential users think because they’re less biased and there’s more of them. However you seem to be at least slightly dismissive here.

Dwolb 2y ago

Honestly 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 ago
My 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 ago
Thank 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 ago
  What 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 ago

It 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.

dylan604 2y ago
> The thing that I've learned makes an application good for note-taking is a lack of features. The best featureless app I've ever used for taking notes is the pen and paper sitting next to me for the specific purpose. Admittedly, it's not convenient at any time other than sitting at the desk and focused. There are plenty of studies about the process of writing notes vs typing notes when it comes to long term retention. There are times where I'm wrestling with a problem that is just a bit more data than my L1 cache (my head) can remember and need to offload some of the data to RAM (scratch pad), but I can just jot down the data without actually looking at it. Even being able to try to sketch data has helped. I have yet to ever find an app even remotely as effective to the point, I'm stopped trying anything else. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
- JohnFen 2y ago
  > The best featureless app I've ever used for taking notes is the pen and paper sitting next to me for the specific purpose. True! At work, I carry a pencil and small notepad for this reason. But outside of work, I don't always have one at hand and so other methods come into play.
eguchi1904 2y ago
Thank you. I can relate to the importance of simplicity. When there are too many features, I find it distracting and difficult to focus on the content I’m writing. There really are so many different needs when it comes to note-taking apps, including my own. This discussion has highlighted that for me once again.
2y ago

j45 2y ago

It's also a form of journaling throughout the day whether it's a note, thought, reflection.

benatkin 2y ago

> I feel that the speed and quality of note-taking have improved In your case you’ve gotten over any learning curve and you’re accomplishing three things at once - taking notes, testing your app, and giving yourself satisfaction that you’ve built something you can use, so of course it’s going to feel better! But it’s more important what potential users think because they’re less biased and there’s more of them. However you seem to be at least slightly dismissive here.