OpenNotas is an open-source, multi-platform note-taking application based on PWA, focusing on security and synchronization capabilities across devices.
Why create a note-taking app?
My daily life is closely tied to note-taking. There's a lot of information that if not written down somewhere, I know there's a high chance I'll forget it in the future. The information that needs to be noted includes personal and work-related matters.
Personal notes are diverse, they can be a new coffee recipe I found on YouTube, a cooking instruction, a shopping list for tomorrow, the day after tomorrow… Or sometimes it's just a short but important piece of information that I don't want to forget. In short, notes are for things we know we'll forget.
And what about work? Notes are also indispensable. They can be instructions for operating a tool or a system, useful commands, or system descriptions in preparation for important meetings… But during meetings, I prefer to bring a notebook and pen to take notes quickly, draw better diagrams instead of using my phone or computer.
Since I started writing, especially blogging, I have become more interested in note-taking apps for long articles. Ideas for articles can suddenly appear at any time, and if I don't quickly jot them down, they might be forgotten. I am particularly interested in simplicity, speed, good synchronization, and security, and it would be great if it also supports markdown.
Markdown is a text format that I find extremely useful until now. It provides an excellent combination of text and formatting. Just write, and the formatting is done through the way you write. In short, just write without worrying too much about formatting the text.
The most frequently used app before was Apple Notes. It is simple, focused on writing, does not support markdown, but compensates with excellent synchronization between devices in the "apple" ecosystem. The data is fully encrypted on iCloud, so it is very secure. Adding the feature of locking individual notes, some of which are very private, and only opening them when necessary, gives me peace of mind when using it.
The only limitation of Notes is the lack of markdown support. A few months ago, my old and worn-out "bunny ear" phone started to go on strike… so I had to replace it with a new Android device. That's when I discovered another problem: Notes does not support cross-platform usage.
The journey to find a note-taking app began. Honestly, I have researched and used many apps to find the most suitable one. But in return, the effort may not have reached full maturity.
You're welcome, @casper_brix! That can indeed be seen as a viable alternative, as OpenNotas is designed to be simple and quick to use.
Report
@hoaitx Congrats on the launch, seems like a pretty interesting product but does this product support apple pencil usage? cuz as a college student that seems like a pretty big deal breaker considering I take most of my notes on that.
@rishab_kokate Thank you for your feedback. Currently, OpenNotas does not support handwriting notes. However, please don't worry, I will consider and add this feature in the future.
Hi Hoai Tong Xuan,
You've highlighted such relatable challenges in note-taking! OpenNotas seems like a dream solution for those of us needing a secure and synchronized space for our thoughts. The markdown support definitely sounds like a game changer. Curious to know, how does OpenNotas handle data encryption and privacy?
Keep up the amazing work on bridging the cross-platform gap in note-taking!
@alex_dulub thanks for your very honest comments. I hope OpenNotas will be helpful to many people who are facing problems like me. On security, I explained in a short article, hoping to answer that for you: https://docs.opennotas.io/advanc...
@hoaitx Congrats on the launch! It is nice to have a open-source note app. Does it support image or video? and any play to include a transcribing feature?
@lightfield You're welcome! Currently, OpenNotas only supports text and Markdown formatting. However, you can still use images and videos in Markdown format. I am continuously working to make OpenNotas even more user-friendly.
Report
how does this separate from other note taking apps like apple or samsung notes or notion or one note?
Report
@karanveer it dosent, the founder mentioned in the description that cross device compatibility is often an issue with big names like apple. And the ones that do support cross device are limited to N devices…
Report
@masher_calster until u pay for it, which is kinda same here no
how does it compare to obsidian or logseq? I appreciate the open source. I'm currently using obsidian which imo is the best overall notes program currently but I'm always open to oss alternatives
@jonte Thank you for your question. Wow! It's hard to answer because OpenNotas was created to meet my personal needs first. That is, I needed a simple, cross-platform note-taking app with synchronization and security capabilities. You see, I just listed all its notable features. I won't persuade anyone to switch to my platform because that would be difficult and might be pointless if they already have a better solution. I just hope that someone will 'accidentally' use OpenNotas and discover: 'Oh, this is exactly what I've been looking for all along'.
Report
i like the app. one question, why open-sourcing it? It is true that big note taking apps eventually closing their doors. And users flee after they announce they will be closing access behind a paywall...
@masher_calster thank you, this is an interesting question. Like everyone else, I always had to run after and look for a free note solution but most of them didn’t meet. So I decided. @masher_calster thank you, this is an interesting question. Like everyone else, I always had to run after and look for a free note solution but most of them didn’t meet. So I decided to create a personal note-taking app, and I thought that a lot of people might need it, and so I decided to open-source it to all.
OpenNotas
OpenNotas
OpenNotas
OpenNotas
Web3 Antivirus for Chrome
OpenNotas
Vozo AI — Video localization
OpenNotas
OpenNotas
OpenNotas
Ultimate GPToolkit
OpenNotas
OpenNotas