Hey y’all. I’ve been testing a bunch of Note taking solutions and nothing seems to check off what I want and need.

I want a simple interface (both for list view and note editor/view), preferably similar to Google Keep, but a regular list is fine as well.

Key features:

A. being able to drag and drop re-order checkbox lists.

e.g.

  • [ ] item 1
  • [ ] item 2
  • [x] item 4
  • [x] item 3

I’d like to be able to just drag and drop the above to sort things correctly.

B. E2EE at rest.

C. CTRL+F inside the note view/edit!!

Honestly, the only functionality I truly want is A. But most of the solutions I found are either proprietary or can’t do it.

Self hosted options I’ve tried:

  • Joplin (can’t do A; UX is not great)
  • Standard notes (A + C is gated by their self hosted premium subscription; I don’t mind paying for my apps, but the prices are ridiculous)
  • Silverbullet.md (can’t do A)
  • Quillpad (very similar to Google Keep and can do A, but has terrible file syncing, not E2EE)

Notesnook looks almost as insane as Standard Notes to self host (mimicing AWS stack locally is nuts). Has anyone tried Notesnook yet? I don’t want to spend another afternoon setting something heavy up only to find that the feature I want is gated by a heavy $.

Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT: Woops! I am looking to use the notes app on both Android and Web/Desktop Linux. Preferably an open source solution.

  • BackYardIncendiary@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    1·
    1 day ago

    Not for everyone, but I use a self-hosted single user email server for this. All the formatting your client permits, clients for every platform, attachments, organization into folders, synced automatically everywhere, etc. No spam filtering, DMARC, DKIM, and the like because you only ever email yourself and you don’t permit external senders. I love it.

  • Encrypt-Keeper@lemmy.worldEnglish
    9·
    9 days ago

    I spent several years looking for the perfect selfhosted solution to this, but ultimately I realized an offline solution was just going to be better. So I started using Obsidian which is as simple or complex as you want with no paywall.

    Some of the self hosted solutions I’ve tried were:

  • orosus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    8 days ago

    I use Logseq with ToDoList plugin to handle task list. Logseq is similar to obsidian but open-source. And to syncronize notes among devices, I use syncthing. No need to selfhost.

    • SayCyberOnceMore@feddit.ukEnglish
      1·
      7 days ago

      +1 on all of this.

      Logseq basically saved my mind when I took on a new job where I needed to take a lot of notes quickly, easily and keep track of all the ToDos.

      Syncthing keeps my laptop and phone in sync (with my NAS) so I can start notes on my laptop and then finish on my phone.

      You can definitely reorder checkboxes, but on Android it’s still not quite a smooth experience, but it’s ok.

  • tal@olio.cafeEnglish
    71·
    9 days ago

    You might want to list the platform you want to use it on. I’m assuming that you’re wanting to access this on a smartphone of some sort?

    • quaff@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      7·
      9 days ago

      Ah good point. I edited my post! Android and Web (nice to have is desktop Linux support). Thank you!

    • tom@jlai.luEnglish
      2·
      8 days ago

      I also recommand Task.org app to sync tasks with CalDAV and I use raw Markdown files with WebDAV, both using the DAVx5 app for synchronization. For editing Markdown, I prefer minimalist apps that suit my needs. Right now, I find SimpleMarkdown (with disabled telemetry) to be the best choice.

      • quaff@lemmy.caOPEnglish
        1·
        8 days ago

        SimpleMarkdown doesn’t allow for re-ordering checkbox list items.

    • quaff@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      1·
      8 days ago

      I already use Tasks.org :) But that’s for specific things.

      I like writing list of things. Like groceries, and as I write them, I tend to re-organize them. Having the ability to re-order the items easily helps me tremendously.

      Tasks.org can’t fill that note aspect. Let alone re-ordering a task.

      • conrad82@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        8 days ago

        I see 🙂

        I used emacs org-mode before. Can do a lot of stuff on PC, but mobile experience was lacking. And learning curve is crazy

        I am currently testing out logseq + syncthing. I don’t reorder things much anymore though

        Good luck!

  • CaptDust@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    3·
    9 days ago

    I use notesnook but I don’t self host, just the app locally. It has an option to insert a task list into the note, and that has drag and drop reordering. It also encrypts at rest, and has text search. Hope that helps your decision.

    • quaff@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      2·
      9 days ago

      Thanks! I had tested Notesnook with the official server. It worked the way I want. but it seems their self host server doesn’t have that feature. Not obviously tho. Which is really weird, since I’m using the same client app (where I assumed this functionality would live).

      • CaptDust@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        3·
        9 days ago

        That’s a very specific and interesting exclusion, weird. Well sorry dude, best of luck finding something that works.

  • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafeEnglish
    3·
    8 days ago

    Others have mentioned Syncthing as a sync solution. I’d like to add a couple points:

    Syncthing can work fine even for solutions that are intended to use their own sync, provided it’s a single-user setup. You’re not likely to make simultaneous changes on 2 devices, so collisions are unlikely.

    Also for using Syncthing, I recommend Syncthing-Fork for Android - it moves sync conditions into the folder/job rather than global. Very useful when you have jobs you want always syncing, and jobs you want to only sync on wifi and power.

    If using iOS there’s an ST client called Möbius Sync ($5), developed by a company the financially supports Syncthing.

    For Windows, get SyncTrayzor - it makes running and managing ST easier.

    • quaff@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      2·
      8 days ago

      Whoa. This actually works pretty close. Although, I am not seeing the ability to drag and drop re-order list items. Which is the big feature I want and need.

      I am seeing in their github issues that CKEditor doesn’t support it. Thanks for the suggestion though!

      • Lfrith@lemmy.caEnglish
        2·
        7 days ago

        If there is a kanban extension or something of the sort you might get the drag and drop list you want.

        There is another Google Keep like app called NotallyX. Can even import in your Google keep backups. You can set up password protected auto backups with the app.

        As for syncing syncthing as others have mentioned would be the best solution that would let you be able to use whatever you choose to go with.

  • sem@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    3·
    8 days ago

    Hi quaff!

    The app I use for this purpose is called Notally, on android. It supports reordering the checkboxes, but it doesn’t do find in page or sync to web (although it can do backup /restore – I sync the folder with nextcloud and I can access the text files)

    That said if you try it, you might love how simple it is and use it for something!

    https://f-droid.org/packages/com.omgodse.notally

  • iopq@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    8 days ago

    What I want is being able to hand draw something quickly in my notes, what’s the app that has text and drawings?

  • fossilesque@mander.xyzEnglish
    2·
    9 days ago

    You can do all this with Obsidian and plugins. I just saw a nice keep like interface one. You’ll have to play around a bit but it’s definitely doable.

    • quaff@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      2·
      9 days ago

      I suppose I should have mentioned more directly, I’d prefer if it’s an open source solution.

        • quaff@lemmy.caOPEnglish
          2·
          9 days ago

          Thanks.

          I just set up Notesnook lol I can drag and drop reorder list items (checkbox list) on the official server, but not when connected to my own… Same exact mobile app (just different server)… The fact that Notesnook and Standard Notes both claim to be open source, but don’t share all of their code with the open source world. Maybe it’s gated by env vars. Who knows. I have half a mind to give Obsidian a chance if it can do what I want.

          • fossilesque@mander.xyzEnglish
            2·
            9 days ago

            The plugins are open source at least, and the notes it makes aren’t proprietary. It’s just an app to interact with them. Been using it as a trapper keeper for years and it’s been able to keep up with my changing needs. :) !obsidianmd@lemmy.world There’s thousands of plugins and the discord is a huge resource.

  • Spooky Mulder@twun.ioEnglish
    53·
    8 days ago

    Every now and then this question comes up. It’s a timeless software engineering conundrum. Kind of like how med students might start to think they have all kinds of diseases and conditions because they’re learning all these symptoms.

    Software engineers, especially new ones, tend to be heavily biased toward applying technical solutions to non-technical problems. Most never actually grow out of this.

    I’ll advise what I advise every time someone approaches me or one of my peer groups with this very question:

    Get yourself a notebook and a pen.

    I’m dead serious, not trolling, and not some kind of technophobe zealot.

    When it comes down to it, if you let go of what you think you need in a to-do list app, you’ll find that what you actually need is much simpler.

    Notebooks are e2e encrypted. Self hosted. Offline. As ephemeral as you like. Indexable for search. Versatile. Take a picture of a page if you really want to. OCR it if you need to.

    Pen and paper.

    • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafeEnglish
      61·
      8 days ago

      I carry a phone, I’m not carrying a notebook and pen.

      I did that 40 years ago.

      Plus that list doesn’t show up on my laptop or my desktop, other places I’m working.

      It’s not sortable by date/time, priority or project.

      That’s terrible advice, and doesn’t even meet the basic requirements of the question.

    • quaff@lemmy.caOPEnglish
      3·
      8 days ago

      I hear ya. I don’t carry a notebook with me, and don’t like to fill my pockets. So I appreciate the low tech suggestion, but will have to pass on this!

  • Meron35@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    8 days ago

    Not sure of your specific needs, but I feel that self hosting (i.e. setting up a proper server) is unnecessary. Just pick a local first program and use it with syncthing.

    The usual trio (which may be overkill) are Obsidian (admittedly not open source), Trillium, and logseq.

  • k4j8@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    8 days ago

    Have you considered Kanban apps? All of them should support A+C. I’ve used Wekan and Kanboard. Hope this helps your searching!