Ask HN: For a note taking app, would you prefer standalone desktop or a web app? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: For a note taking app, would you prefer standalone desktop or a web app?

2 pointsKecelij7 comments

I am in the planning phase of a note taking app project, which I will be writing in Python (backend - Flask probably).

For the frontend I am deciding between making it for desktop and solving the cross-platfom issues later (if I decide to make it cross-platform).. and making it in ReactNative.

My issue is.. I've never liked note taking apps in the browser. They feel impersonal and "un-safe". For example, I am able to write long documents in LibreOffice or Evernote, but I would never write a journal entry in a web interface, I am too paranoid for that.

So, for my question: For a note taking app, would you prefer standalone desktop or a web app?

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To answer your question, standalone desktop that can spit out a Library-of-congress-approved archive format like xml, sqlite, rtf etc.

You could also take the NoteWiki idea which is a simple text control which auto-creates hyperlinks on camelCase words and saves each page as a separate file. Then you could have whatever existing sync solution the user uses (or syncthing) handle backups etc. Having a rich text editor where one can paste images and is saved as a per file format would be ideal for me personally but truthfully I'd like to hear more about what your desired use case is.

Journaling sw with emphasis on text analysis and good encryption.

I'd prefer an API that plugs into Sublime Text, personally.

I've been using QuickSimpleNote to sync sublime text to simple note to my phone for the last year or so and been more or less very happy.

Choose some good structure storage / format.

I have been looking into org mode but without Emacs, thinking of making a backed, to which I would connect via web app and also ttk based app. Syncing with syncthing, on mobile orgzly works pretty well.

Good luck !

Why write a backend? Sync user data with whatever the platform offers (iCloud, Google Drive (I think), “Roaming app data” on Windows (again, I think that’s what it is called)

Also, does the world need another “a note taking app”? What new feature do you bring to the table?

For note taking, I just send emails to myself.

A native desktop app

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