iCloud sync for the Notebooks app has arrived.
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FINALLY! Been waiting for this for quite a while. And still no subscription.
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This app seems to fit my needs. Really want to know how this app compares to Obsidian and Devonthink in terms of speed and document search capabilities.
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It makes me think of a better Keep It, that is, it works better, but still has rough edges.
For instance, there’s no autocompletion for wiki links, which makes them pretty useless for a linked notes workflow.
However, still no subscription and only upgrade pricing, that is to be commended.
Obsidian and DT are very different beasts, so it depends on what you really want to do – more of Zettelkasten or more of a document manager?
I use Devonthink, Obsidian, AND Notebooks.
Devonthink is my main document repository: I use it to archive everything from financial documents, legal agreements, receipts, important email, etc. It’s also my repository for research materials (usually PDFs, but other file types as well, as appropriate) and all kinds of project-related materials that I want to keep in one place. (For instance I help maintain the website for a small non-profit. I archive all of our website related assets there, e.g., jpgs, sound files, announcement templates, etc. just in case.)
I’ve started using Obsidian as my markdown notes engine / repository. I could use Devonthink or Notebooks for that, but at the moment I like Obsidian better for that purpose, especially since I can index my Obisidan folders in Devonthink. I’ve moved everything out of Bear and put it in Obsidian. As KillerWhale pointed out above, Notebooks doesn’t autocomplete wiki links, or at least I can’t get it to do so. It wouldn’t be my tool of choice if I anticipated doing a lot of linking.
(An aside: I’m ancient. I spent so many years using misbegotten bespoke enterprise software that both Devonthink and Obsidian look absolutely gorgeous to me … Bear is pretty and does a lovely job pulling stuff in from the web, but it’s a tags-only system and it stores notes in an SQLite database that I am smart enough not to fool around with. I prefer to have my stuff in a folder I can access and manage as straightforwardly as documents in Finder.)
So why Notebooks? I use it for smaller, short term projects that don’t need a lot of bell-and-whistles in terms of archiving or linking, but where it would be nice to have a single space where I can toss project-related materials for review as needed and write some text. I store all of my Notebooks files in Dropbox so I can access them on my phone or iPad if necessary. (Notebooks’ iOS implementation is really nice.) Also, no subscription. Also, folders AND tags. Also, all my stuff on drives I control.
In more than one instance, I’ve finished a project up in Notebooks and then archived some or all of the material in Devonthink when it looked like it might be a good idea to hang onto them for posterity.
I wouldn’t use Notebooks as MY primary document repository because I’ve got a decade’s worth of stuff spread out over a bunch of different Devonthink databases and I’m not sure how I’d make that work in Notebooks. I’ve found Notebooks’ search to be fast and reliable for simple queries, but I usually don’t have a lot of stuff in there and it doesn’t offer the array of search tools that Devonthink does.
Really, it depends on what your needs are.
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Thanks for your inputs!
I tried Keep it before as a document manager, but didn’t work out as it handled large folder slowly.
I’m pretty satisfied with using Obsidian and DEVONthink on the Mac. I was looking at Notebooks for the mobile and PC versions.
Since Obsidian for IOS is out, I’ll try it out and it looks promising.
If it works well for me, the only thing I miss is a document manager similar to DEVONthink but on PC.
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Thanks for your inputs!
I like your idea using Notebooks to handle certain types of projects. Do you use the task feature in Notebooks at all?
Never. Tasks go in Omnifocus.
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Just (re)discovered Notebooks. I think my main issue with this category of apps is just me trying to determine what, exactly, it is that I want/need. DevonThink and EagleFiler were both not it. I don’t need things sucked into a database or doubling my storage space. I would also like a very Mac-like UI. Over time I realized that I was, in fact, looking for an enhanced Finder experience. I already have ForkLift and use it mainly for bulk file actions, dual-pane organization, etc. But for just moving around in my folders it kinda sucks.
Notebooks seems to fill this niche well, plus - it’s also an editor/note-taker! It has a nice UI, and it just sits on top of your existing folder/file structure. I really like it.
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I got the same feeling that what I really need is just an enhanced Finder.
The only thing I miss on Finder is Devonthink’s auto-classify feature, which I rely a lot.
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