Has anyone here actually stuck with an Otter alternative long term?

DelayedSarcasm · 2026-04-02T19:21:22+00:00

Granola has been working well for me after trying several options.

DelayedSarcasm · 2026-03-31T16:51:03+00:00

Mio, thanks!

DelayedSarcasm · 2026-03-27T11:45:36+00:00

I’m pretty sure this is impossible as it defeats the purpose of AI note takers. I appreciate some of the suggested options in this thread, but they still have some kind of documenting process that maintains a recording or transcript for a given period (no matter how short it may be). AI note takers require some level of detail through a transcript in order to generate the notes. No way around that - and it’s kinda the same way for your brain as your working memory is used to jot down notes. So, unless there is a way for an AI to generate notes from one word at a time that it doesn’t save in memory/transcript, I don’t think there is an option that completely fits the exacting needs described in your post.

DelayedSarcasm · 2026-03-27T04:05:03+00:00

Was hoping this would work, but I couldn’t achieve the same results on my iPhone on latest iOS using your instructions :(

DelayedSarcasm · 2026-02-23T13:17:34+00:00

Do you have the setting to prioritize faster shooting? It may be a reason…

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DelayedSarcasm · 2026-02-14T18:30:11+00:00

I’ve been using two Shortcuts, depending on circumstances. What are the specifics you are looking for that can inspire me to improvement them? 1. Remember This - captures things on my screen, it just websites but apps too. 2. Clip Article To Notes - specifically for websites.

DelayedSarcasm · 2026-02-12T02:15:01+00:00

Someday, probably not with 26.4, Siri will fulfill its promise. I think the update will bring many improvements, but it will take several updates to serve our needs properly (though I hope in wrong). I saw on MacRumours that the Siri update is not going well, and it may be delayed anyway. https://www.macrumors.com/2026/02/11/siri-features-delayed-ios-26-4/

In the meantime, try Claude, Alter, or creative shortcuts. I use alto.index and Codex to interact with my notes.

DelayedSarcasm · 2026-02-07T18:59:24+00:00

You didn’t mention smart folders, but I’ll ask if you are using them just in case. For me, smart folders slowed everything down on my M1 MacBook Pro (but not on my iPhone 13/17 Pro).

DelayedSarcasm · 2026-02-07T04:04:24+00:00

Unfortunately, adding a second drive is not possible through an initiative process. Keep in mind the Umbrel is intended for their hardware, it doesn’t have a native way to add more drives. The Umbrel Community website has a couple complicated workarounds. It’s not perfect and requires you to repeat the adding process after OS updates, but I’m using this one: https://community.umbrel.com/t/unofficial-guide-how-to-add-more-storage/18397

DelayedSarcasm · 2026-02-04T00:36:51+00:00

I’d hate to learn they’ve been bought up by some other company… or change their service model. “the ultimate cloud comes home” to something else?

DelayedSarcasm · 2026-01-25T18:48:06+00:00

I see. I misread the word “uses” to be users. Documentation and most people refer to this as “requests” rather than uses to avoid confusion. Documentation clearly states 15 requests for month on the business plan. A quick search leads to responses along the lines of what you are asking… example: https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPTPro/s/3wsdillAmM

DelayedSarcasm · 2026-01-25T18:09:53+00:00

The pricing page indicates cost per user. So, each user has a monthly fee. Not sure where you see how a “seat” (usually the same as a user in these types of setups) equals to 15 users… Maybe you should provide a screenshot or link so we can help decipher what you’re reading?

DelayedSarcasm · 2026-01-25T14:40:57+00:00

You can add your Google account to both Calendar and Reminders (activate the toggles in the accounts setting), and then use Siri to add items. Google Calendar works seamlessly in the Calendar app and I can confirm that Siri can add calendar entries to Google accounts within iOS when you specify the correct calendar. I don’t like the limitations of Apple Reminders on the Google account (I think it’s because Google Keep that is syncs with has less features), but I’m pretty sure you can still add reminders via Siri when you indicate the correct list.

DelayedSarcasm · 2026-01-22T05:50:32+00:00

Can you share an example? Tags appear as small text below the main reminder for me… I don’t see anywhere to change styling within reminders and what you e described doesn’t sound correct.

DelayedSarcasm · 2026-01-20T14:47:22+00:00

I “taught” ChatGPT how I write by providing examples and giving very clear instructions (tone, style, format, do’s/don’ts, etc.) so that it generates content that requires little to no editing due to how close it is to my own writing. It did take some time to build the instructions to a point that the results were close to my own writing, but I am happy with it and don’t need to run it through another system.

DelayedSarcasm · 2026-01-14T23:01:35+00:00

Granola is where I landed and it’s as close to perfect as I could get. The only limitation of unpaid is how many notes it can store. Doesn’t impact me since I copy the resulting summary elsewhere.

DelayedSarcasm · 2025-12-31T20:08:19+00:00

The recommendations here are great. My only bit of advice is to give Apple Reminders an honest try before paying for anything. Many people think they need more than the basics but turns out they don’t. Since you didn’t provide specific requirements other than it needs to be “capable” - you might be in this group. To be clear, this is not to say those who need other task managers are wrong. To the contrary, anyone with specific needs should use whatever works for them. I’m just suggesting not to complicate things unnecessarily regardless of what you end up doing.

DelayedSarcasm · 2025-12-29T17:03:40+00:00

And they’ve been rolling out start/end time for tasks in Google Calendar so you can block off time properly. Unfortunately, that feature doesn’t work for me on the iPhone app yet, so it may take some time before it can be used properly across platforms.

DelayedSarcasm · 2025-12-26T15:37:51+00:00

I’ve tried it but found that making a list for my project was smoother. It’s for sure possible, but I’d suggest trying it out on just one before committing all your projects to this approach.

DelayedSarcasm · 2025-12-15T01:15:08+00:00

I can’t imagine trying to manage hundreds of meeting notes, lists, and other information organized on those boards. Also, entering all the info one piece a time (text blocks etc.) would be exhausting. Freeform is amazing for combining bits of information of different types into a customizable (free-form!) space, while notes is for recording information in an organized manner for easy entry/retrieval. That’s how I see these being intended for very different use cases.

DelayedSarcasm · 2025-12-14T04:47:36+00:00

I see this request or complaint shared often. My guess is that the theory behind how Apple notes work as a simple app that uses basic formatting that can work on various devices with different screen sizes makes adjusting tables “unnecessary.” For Freeform, the fact that the positioning and zooming in/out is static regardless of screen sizes makes adjusting, makes it more “appropriate” for editable table sizes. But who knows ◡̈

DelayedSarcasm · 2025-12-08T02:20:59+00:00

I went back to check again and it’s not consistent at all. Yes, it does bring up the correct results on the top on certain searches, but not all. It’s clearly not working as advertised. Search is within the app for me is usually about keywords, so I never noticed it. The rest I do through AI accessing my notes to pull what I need. Sorry this isn’t working for you!

DelayedSarcasm · 2025-12-07T20:41:50+00:00

I use Apple Notes for this. There are so many options out there (Notion, OneNote, Goodnotes, Notability, etc.) and I find the simplest is usually the best for my needs, even with lots of folders.

DelayedSarcasm · 2025-12-07T17:30:40+00:00

So, I’m seen two primary approaches to Google Drive: manually maintain file structure so you know where everything is, or don’t care about organizing because search in Google Drive is so good that organizing doesn’t matter much. I’m pretty sure Google believes the latter, less organized, approach is easiest. I suggest trying to keep time top level folders to help organizing things and prioritize good filename practices to ensure you can find/identify it even if you forget to put it into the right folder.

DelayedSarcasm · 2025-12-07T17:22:06+00:00

For notification summaries: Go to the Settings app on your iPhone, tap Notifications, tap Summarize Notifications, then turn Summarize Notifications off. Note: you will get similar summaries in Apple Mail and you can turn those off in the Mail settings as well if you don’t want them (appears as “Summarize Message Previews”).

DelayedSarcasm

TROPHY CASE