Looking for a note-taking app, preferably that I could use straight from a browser. I’m currently using Standard Notes. Not sure if that one is any good, but E2EE and open-source which at least checks those boxes. I don’t store anything too sensitive and I don’t need a whole bunch of features, though I suppose I’d use them if they were available.

I’m honestly not too picky but maybe discussion here could help someone else out who may be looking for the same thing with higher expectations? I’ll switch over to a better option if there’s something considerably better.

Thanks in advance

  • wrath-sedan@kbin.social
    20·
    10 months ago

    I kind of love note taking apps so I can rundown a few:

    • Logseq (FOSS, can technically run in a browser but it’s very limited and literally called “demo”)
    • Obsidian (not FOSS but local md first, very mature and a huge community)
    • Joplin (FOSS and probably general go-to for cross-platform open source notes in general but is a bit of a memory hog)
    • StandardNotes (you already described this one)
    • notesnook (very new offering probably most similar to SN but I don’t know)
    • AnyType (also very new and striving for more of a Notion-like experience but I think still needs time to mature)

    I use Logseq most often, although I prefer Joplin on mobile. Obsidian and Logseq are more “personal knowledge management” and may be overkill for simple note-taking, plus I feel they are a little bloated on mobile. Honestly not sure which ones work in a browser, but I agree that’s a feature I’d like more of. All of these though I believe are cross-platform so should be usable on mobile or desktop.

    • janAkali@lemmy.oneEnglish
      9·
      10 months ago

      Joplin (FOSS and probably general go-to for cross-platform open source notes in general but is a bit of a memory hog)

      This comment describes my frustration with modern software.
      How could a note taking app be a memory hog? You could type out a whole War and Piece and it shouldn’t take more than couple megabytes to store it.

      • Joël de Bruijn@lemmy.ml
        2·
        10 months ago

        Agree, my guess is the electron wrapper. Easy way to go multi platform but comes with its own iceberg size cargo. Happy Joplin user tho

  • SagXD@lemm.ee
    15·
    10 months ago

    I personally use Notesnook. It’s E2E, Open Soure and Cross Platform.

  • Lemongrab@lemmy.one
    5·
    10 months ago

    I enjoy notesnook. Free, Foss, e2ee, with cloud sync. Available on izzyondroid and fdroid.

  • Father_Redbeard@lemmy.ml
    5·
    10 months ago

    Notesnook for sure. I really disliked Joplin. Particularly the Android app. Just really poorly designed.

    Acreom promise but it’s new enough they don’t have E2EE or even local only on mobile. Both are on the road map. Dev seems engaged and cool though.

    Edit: I didn’t see the open source req, acreom isn’t. But it’s still a cool app. And I’d they can get local only on mobile, then you can sync however you want as it’s just flat Markdown, similar to Obsidian.

  • thomask@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    2·
    10 months ago

    You’re putting yourself in a tough position by asking for both E2EE and the ability to use from a browser. You have to trust the web app each time you open the page, and hope that they haven’t altered the deal to simply grab your data after it’s been decrypted by your password. I have no idea how likely it is that Standard Notes would do that but I’d reconsider the browser requirement specifically if E2EE is non-negotiable for you - an offline open source client program would be a much stronger position.

    For my money, I use local text files and SyncThing but it’s probably not spiffy enough for many people/purposes.

    • cod@lemmy.worldOP
      1·
      10 months ago

      Just checked it out, seems solid. I’m going to use a few for a bit and see which I like best, but that one seems to be a pretty good choice. Thanks for the recommendation

  • Euphoma@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    10 months ago

    If you have the time to learn emacs, its really good for note taking. I don’t think any app other than Vim could compete in taking notes in my math class.

    • zonsopkomst@lemmy.ml
      0·
      10 months ago

      I’ve attempted to use emacs with orgmode, but have no programming background. I wanted to go for a vanilla emacs experience that I can add modules to, but have hit a wall. My dream is to replace Vscodium which I use for markdown notes with syncthing and also to manage my NixOS git config files (magit?). It’s probably just time and research, but I wish I could simplify the process a bit. I always seem to destroy the documents I’m attempting to work in and get lost in the emac buffers. Just ranting to see if anyone has any tips or suggestions.

      • Euphoma@lemmy.mlEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        I created my emacs config by going through the awesome-emacs github page and adding any packages that looked useful. If you can’t find your buffers, you should do m-x ibuffer and then hit s m to sort buffers by mode, and then you can see all the buffers that are open. Centaur tabs mode is also nice because it adds tabs.

        Adding packages using use-package makes it easier to remember what stuff you added and makes your config more portable. I just got used to emacs by using it with the default keybinds and a minimal amount of packages to understand how it works.

        Alternatively if you know how to use vim, theres an apparently pretty good org mode package for it.

        • zonsopkomst@lemmy.ml
          0·
          10 months ago

          Nice, thanks. I will defintely check out the awesome-emacs github. How do you search for functions and keybindings within emacs? I’ve heard it documents everything under the sun, but can’t recall where I read that.

          I had used use-package which I agree is easier, but I think there is an issue either with my OS or more likely me, organizing the config.el in NixOS using org-mode to create sections as it works in the normal config files, but does not work in the org-mode style files with #+BEGIN_SRC #+END_SRC sections.

          • Euphoma@lemmy.mlEnglish
            0·
            10 months ago

            I’m on NixOS also but I’m not using org-mode for my config, so idk how to help with that. If you do c-h ? you can see all of the help commands, like c-h m for your current keybinds, c-h v for variables, etc. It says just the key you have to do after doing c-h. Also if you use the which-key package, there’s a minibuffer that shows ways to complete a command after doing something like c-x in a list of what command happens after you do each possible key after it. Oh yeah I’m using vertico mode which shows all the functions when I hit m-x and is kinda like autocompletion in an ide except for m-x.

            • zonsopkomst@lemmy.ml
              0·
              9 months ago

              Just wanted to post a quick thank you as this info has really helped me get to a usable / learning state with emacs! Will keep playing and practicing until it becomes second nature.

    • taiidan@slrpnk.net
      0·
      10 months ago

      Surely the support for LaTeX is the killer feature with your math class, not emacs vs. vim.

      • Euphoma@lemmy.mlEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        Well yeah, but I’m using it in emacs org mode, which is nicer to write than straight up LaTeX. I used to use markdown on vim (which can embed LaTeX if you use pandoc to convert to pdf) but org mode is better.

        God mode keybinds and yasnippets makes it comfortable to type.

  • Danileonis @lemmy.ml
    01·
    10 months ago

    I recently started to directly use KeePassDX even for notes (since I sync it with syncthing) and I must say it’s very good.

  • Hexadecimalkink@lemmy.ml
    24·
    10 months ago

    SiYuan (GPL) is probably the most advanced. You can get it off github. I haven’t found anything that compares in terms of notes based features. Appflowy and Affine also are open source and have good note taking capabilities.