Yes, I know that the are dozens of notes apps. I’m looking for recommendations based on a few features that I like:

  • nice design (including color coding)
  • easy checklists
  • sharing - this one is key. I use a shared shopping list and we both need to add and edit.
  • pinning and archiving (hidden notes)

I don’t mind running it from my homelab server, but that is not a requirement. Does anyone use a notes app that you love? Let me know!

  • @3nthusiast@infosec.pub
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    14 days ago

    I’m happy with standard notes. Very easy to use and you don’t need to sync files across devices yourself. I’m not sure if it’s possible to share the notes tho.

    • Radioactive Butthole
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      56 days ago

      Basically unmaintained at this point until they release the DB version “some day”. And you’re delusional if you think they can maintain both versions at the same time. They can’t even update the current production version that they already have without focusing all their efforts on a new app that hasn’t been released yet.

      • @t_378@lemmy.one
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        15 days ago

        Am I crazy? I’m seeing a github page with commits from 6 days ago. When you unmaintained what do you mean, like no new features?

        • Radioactive Butthole
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          15 days ago

          Almost all of those are for the database release, not the production release.

          Even if they are for the current production release was last April. Considering the buggy mess their product is, that’s kind of unacceptable for an app that is supposed to hold your entire lifes data.

      • bitwolf
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        16 days ago

        They’re adding a database to back it?

        That’s off putting, I liked its simplicity, and it’s being open source.

          • bitwolf
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            26 days ago

            Same page as you. I found Obsidian but deferred to Logseq instead for two reasons:

            • Open source
            • The block editor

            But seeing this post reaffirms I should find an alternative. They want collaborative features, etc. That roadmap is very different from what I was wanting out of a “second brain”.

            I have already been considering switching back to Obsidian and pairing it with Quartz for publishing.

            AnyType seemed close as well, but it has a ton of features I wouldn’t use and it’s not clear to me how I could generate a website from it.

  • @blackbarn@lemm.ee
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    36 days ago

    Anyone know of any that integrate with Google assistant? Such that I can use my voice to add items to a list? Currently using keep due to this

    • @gedaliyah@lemmy.worldOP
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      16 days ago

      Oh, that is a really interesting question. I do think that there are some open source assistants that may offer some flexibility, but that’s not really how I personally use a phone so I wouldn’t have any answer. I found this article from a few years ago that seems to suggest it was and may be possible.

    • fmstrat
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      16 days ago

      This feels a lot like Nextcloud Notes but the editor seems a bit clunky (like the web editor).

        • fmstrat
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          16 days ago

          Ahhh, OK. Maybe I’ll give it another try. Was debating on contributing a sync PR (I made OwnNote back in the day for Owncloud so know the method for Nextcloud pretty well), but the lack of an issue tracker worries me.

    • merde alors
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      177 days ago
      • sharing - this one is key. I use a shared shopping list and we both need to add and edit.

      i use and love notally but you can’t share/sync (export/import wouldn’t satisfy the above requirement)

    • Statick
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      7 days ago

      I was using Joplin for a while… Self hosted their server. On two occasions it screwed up on me and wouldn’t load my folders… Luckily I had backups but it was still frustrating. I don’t recommend them purely because the notes are stored in a custom format instead of just plain text files.

      My favorite way of doing notes now is with git, currently using a free private repo on gitlab.

      Just clone the repo on whatever PC I need them and it has backups and version control.

      Then use GitJournal on my phone.

      It’s perfect for me. I love it.

      • @stphven@lemmy.world
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        47 days ago

        I had similar experiences with Joplin. Would randomly lose quite a lot of data, and exporting to other formats was a hassle. I also cannot recommend.

      • @baconman1945@lemmy.world
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        67 days ago

        Nice, I’ve been doing something similar, using the obsidian-git plug-in for Obsidian and the Working Copy app on iOS.

        Obsidian is my front-end, and it saves the notes in markdown files in a git-synced folder on my computer.

        The plug-in pushes and pulls automatically, and Working Copy does the same thing on iOS, just before opening the Obsidian app on iOS.

    • fmstrat
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      6 days ago

      Why does Notally not have an Issue tracker?

      Seems pretty much exactly like Nextcloud Notes but without sync and with image/audio. Wish the images could be inline instead of headers.

    • @gedaliyah@lemmy.worldOP
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      7 days ago

      I also found a fork called NotallyX, which includes import functions from Keep and Evernote. Pretty useful for someone migrating.

      • merde alors
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        6 days ago
        • amount of backups to keep

        also is a nice addition but i like the fact that notally is just 1.9mb. So i keep using notally and delete a dozen backups from time to time :/

        • @gedaliyah@lemmy.worldOP
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          16 days ago

          yeah, just looking through the notes, it looks like both devs care a lot about their project and just have different visions for what a “Complete” notes app should look like. It’s nice to see, because sometimes when you see a fork of a project it’s because someone abandoned it or there is some kind of community drama, but that doesn’t seem to be the case afaik.

  • @just_another_person@lemmy.world
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    37 days ago

    “I WANT ALL THE CLOUD THINGS RIGHT NOW FOR FREE AND I REFUSE TO COMPROMISE 🦶🦶🦶🦶”

    That’s what these requests read like.

    Look, these people have a product with a good UI and sharing for a reason. Anything else you find that doesn’t hit that mark is because of that. Make concessions for what you really need, build your own, or continue stomping around about it.

    • @gedaliyah@lemmy.worldOP
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      97 days ago

      I pay for all of the software that I use, and encourage others to do so as well. That’s not what this is at all. Pretty much the opposite effect.

      • fmstrat
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        26 days ago

        Don’t worry, that guy wins most useless comment. You’re post was great.

      • @rumba@lemmy.zip
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        67 days ago

        I paid for Evernote for years, got a double helping of enshitification.

        I pay for Google Workspace. They will Play eventually sunset keep even though I pay for their services because that’s just what they do.

        If you don’t host it yourself, they can and will take it away from you.

        • @gedaliyah@lemmy.worldOP
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          37 days ago

          Yep. You can pay with your data, you can pay a corporation, or you can pay open source developers directly.

          If someone can’t afford to pay, or doesn’t believe in it, that’s fine, and that’s part of what open source is, which is amazing. But if you’re in a position to support foss developers, and they created something useful for you, I think it’s the least we can do.

    • masterofn001
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      127 days ago

      Yell louder while providing nothing useful to say.

      Things exist. Things you may not know about.

      Questions exist.

      They are used to ask questions.

      There’s only one person stomping around in this post. It isn’t OP.

  • Daniel Quinn
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    57 days ago

    Joplin + Syncthing has been great for me. Sync across multiple devices with no third party in between. However the “sharing” in this context is limited to other installations of the entire db. To my knowledge, there’s no way to say “sync these notes with my wife, and these others with my phone only” etc.

    • @Ohh@lemmy.ml
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      37 days ago

      Last i looked into it, joplin had a bug which ment syncthing didnt work . Can’t remember the details but the solution was pinning an old version.

      I am much much happier with markor notes + syncthing.

      Super sinple, 100 % foss, sync what you want .

      • Daniel Quinn
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        16 days ago

        I guess it’s been a while then. Syncthing works perfectly for me, with the official latest version in Arch, the older version in Debian, the flatpak on Ubuntu, and the forked version on Android, syncing all my Joplin data all over the place.

        I don’t much care for the file format though. The appeal of Git Journal is strong.

    • fmstrat
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      6 days ago

      Wait, you use Tasks as Notes? I use this app for tasks and the Nextcloud Notes app for notes. Do you just make a task with no due date?

      • Ryan Peters
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        16 days ago

        @fmstrat i use tasks for the parts of keep that involve tasks/lists, i suppose. I do use Notes for actual notes though.

        So yeah, not a direct replacement of course.

    • @gedaliyah@lemmy.worldOP
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      25 days ago

      Thank you! This is very helpful. I didn’t see these but Lemmy search is sort of broken for me right now.