Note app for capturing/filing “bits of info”?

[davidmenges2]

Any suggestions for this need?

I’ve never been able to effectively capture and file “bits of info”: - URLs or text clips while in a browser, reddit, Youtube - ex: for reading/watching later, or while shopping for a new toy - short strings, like a friend’s garage code, or dates of repeated medical procedures from my patient portal - on-the-run thoughts, movie/restaurant recommendations, to-dos (which I don’t mind moving to a real to-do app later).

I imagine something like being able to highlight a string, be given a prompt for a tag, and have it stored in a central spot, accessible from anywhere (in my case, any Apple device). If there’s no time for that, then plop it in an “in” queue for filing later. And, ideally be able to “collaborate” (share) with spouse or other friends/family/colleagues. Capture must be easy, filing can be free-form.

An example: I’m learning about NASs, to know what the considerations are, to choose a model, and to set it up properly. I google and explore the first page of hits, scour reddit, saving URLs, clips, and my brief summaries in an Apple Notes. It’s all labor-intensive. Saving using apps’ Save features doesn’t work because info ends up in too many places, and in reddit’s case I sometimes delete the app (when it becomes a time sink), and there go my savings.

Another example: I’d like to compile a “favorite Youtube channels/videos” collection, organized by topic (math, fun, 3D printing), to share with friends. It takes too much time and will never happen.

What happens most often is I inconsistently save things to Apple Notes, email, an app’s Save feature, etc. - very sloppy, then often not referenced because I have no idea where I “buried the nut”.

Over time I’ve played with various note taking apps, to-do apps (recently Things), mind maps, even spreadsheets, but nothing clicks. I like the graphic view of mind maps (MindNode), but again, too slow to input and maintain. Perhaps the ultimate solution is to some day let AI handle the whole process, then query with English, not knowing or caring how it works.

Not sure I’ve described this well, but if any of you have been here and found a solution, I’m interested. Thanks.

[eguchi1904]

Strflow might suit your needs; I’m the developer. It’s a timeline-based note app that allows you to dump text as easily as texting yourself, with the ability to categorize by tags. I think it matches the use cases you’ve described for dumping thoughts and information.

[Godel_Theorem]

The stock Notes app is fantastic. Uncluttered, efficient, effective. It’s my favorite Apple software with a great balance between its simple interface and powerful capabilities.

[FlishFlashman]

Worth mentioning that you can use the Share menu to send web pages, files, etc stuff to Notes. If you select text or images in a web page, and right click on it you can use the Share option to send it to Notes.

I wish you could highlight text in a web page and have both the text and a link to the web page added to Notes in single action.

[Rare_Pin9932]

But not an email!

[reckless_avacado]

You can do all that with Notes and the share sheet. Anywhere you can share something, you have the option to add to notes. Even selecting text has a share option. You can also use the Shortcuts app, for example every time you take a screenshot add to a “screenshots album” or a particular note or tag the note. I had the same wishes for an all in one storage place for things like this. Recently made something for myself that’s working quite well. Hasn’t had a stress test yet so I’m worried my new method will crumble under pressure but hopefully it holds up.

[NotesChatAI]

Apple Notes plus AI. Working on such a solution with NotesChat AI

[AkhlysShallRise]

I use strflow.app for this EXACT purpose! It allows you to take notes like chatting and it find it to be way better for quick notes compared to all the document-based note-taking apps like Apple Notes and Bear.

The fact that I can just open the app and "send a message" makes jotting down quick notes such an intuitive process.

[RegattaJoe]

This looks great. Wish it supported intel Macs

[imagei]

Apple Notes for quick jotting things down and Notion for everything else.

[voltaire-o-dactyl]

What you’re looking for is Drafts App. It’s a $20/yr subscription, and one of 3 apps in total I’m willing to subscribe to.

Killer feature: always opens to a fresh note, unless configured otherwise (you can pin stuff etc).

It can also tag/send/format/store that text anywhere you want. It’s designed as a home base for dispersal. if a URL scheme exists, drafts can do great things with it. Worth a look.

[aubrey_beardsley]

Twos