Hello. I am the developer of a desktop app called Exsut, and I am posting this transparently as its maker. This forum knows the all in one PIM tradition better than anywhere else, so I would genuinely value your critique, including the harsh kind.

The core: Exsut keeps tasks, finance, habits, a journal, a planner, reading, meals, exercise and more in one Windows and Mac app. Everything lives in a single SQLite file on your own machine. No account, no cloud, no subscription, one time purchase. I am a materials scientist and built it for myself, tired of juggling five apps and renting all of them.

What makes it more than a basic organiser, and probably the parts this group will care about:

- Brain. A visual canvas where you map ideas as nodes and link your real tasks, notes and files onto them. It is the same data you already have, seen as a mind map instead of lists. Draw a connection between any two nodes, pin a PDF to an idea, link a task so completing it anywhere updates it everywhere.

- A real attachment library with a reader. Attach files to tasks, notes, journal entries and projects. There is a built in PDF reader you can highlight in, where the highlights persist as their own layer and never rewrite the file, so they even work on encrypted PDFs. Images open inline, everything else opens in your default app.

- Encryption that is actually yours. Optional whole database AES-256, unlocked by a passphrase only you hold and that never leaves your machine, plus per file encryption for individual attachments.

- One shared planner. Anything with a date, from any module, lands in one place, and a task completed anywhere is done everywhere.

I know the lineage here. People in this community have used DoogiePim, Ecco and a dozen others that tried to hold all of life in one place. Exsut is a modern, turnkey take: the modules come ready to use, rather than a blank canvas you assemble.

Where I want to be honest before anyone asks:

- No mobile app. Desktop only today.
- No built in cloud sync. You can point the data folder at Dropbox or iCloud so it travels between desktops, but that is the extent of it.

What I would love from this group: tell me where it falls short against the tools you trust, and what an all in one app has to get right before you would take it seriously. It is at www.exsut.com.

Thanks for being one of the few places that still cares about this category.

Chris

Dang, sounds interesting! I shall have to check it out...

Thanks Chris
Where do we find Exsut?

Paul Korm wrote:

Thanks Chris
Where do we find Exsut?

www.exsut.com

Hi Chris.

Looks interesting.
What puzzles me: Why are you emphasizing the encryption feature that much? Data is stored locally. Or do you have access to it?

Best wishes

First things first: it's a very beautiful app, really very good looking (nice website, too).

A few observations:
- even after messing about for a bit, I couldn't work out how to include items from the various modules in my Brain
- markdown support is variable; although, for example, we are told that Brain notes support markdown, in practice they are displayed as straight text (also in the Brain view itself)
- the journal editor doesn't appear to have the markdown support found in notes
- there's no obvious way to collect items together in folders – I'm assuming it doesn't support folders?
- the handling of tags is a little awkward, especially if one has a LOT of items in a given module (e.g. notes)

Them's my thoughts after a fairly limited play!

I like the small footprint (very impressive!)
I like the general look and feel (apart from the iffy markdown support!)
I like the way you can select/ditch modules

Please do, it can be found at www.exsut.com

Hi Paul, on www.exsut.com

Paul Korm wrote:

Thanks Chris
Where do we find Exsut?

Hi Franz, we do not not have access to your data in the slightest, encryption is on of the features of the app so we highlight it a bit more, although the focus on encryption has been dialled down a bit more on the website.

Franz Grieser wrote:

Hi Chris.

Looks interesting.
What puzzles me: Why are you emphasizing the encryption feature that much? Data is stored locally. Or do you have access to it?

Best wishes

Hi,

thanks for your kind words and feedback. I will certainly take these comments into consideration for the next build.

MadaboutDana wrote:

First things first: it's a very beautiful app, really very good looking (nice website, too).

A few observations:
- even after messing about for a bit, I couldn't work out how to include items from the various modules in my Brain
- markdown support is variable; although, for example, we are told that Brain notes support markdown, in practice they are displayed as straight text (also in the Brain view itself)
- the journal editor doesn't appear to have the markdown support found in notes
- there's no obvious way to collect items together in folders – I'm assuming it doesn't support folders?
- the handling of tags is a little awkward, especially if one has a LOT of items in a given module (e.g. notes)

Them's my thoughts after a fairly limited play!

I like the small footprint (very impressive!)
I like the general look and feel (apart from the iffy markdown support!)
I like the way you can select/ditch modules

I like Exsut ... a lot .... even though it's currently just a skeleton of what is could be. But what impresses me most is downloading the program on Friday, sending bug reports and improvement suggestions on Saturday and Sunday and then getting a new version with everything I'd suggested sorted on Monday evening!

Chapeau!

Yes, that impressed me too!
Cheers,
Bill

Graham Rhind wrote:

I like Exsut ... a lot .... even though it's currently just a skeleton of what is could be. But what impresses me most is downloading the program on Friday, sending bug reports and improvement suggestions on Saturday and Sunday and then getting a new version with everything I'd suggested sorted on Monday evening!

Chapeau!

I use this software myself for research so it's good to get other people perspective. I'll get it up when I have any free time :)

Graham Rhind wrote:

I like Exsut ... a lot .... even though it's currently just a skeleton of what is could be. But what impresses me most is downloading the program on Friday, sending bug reports and improvement suggestions on Saturday and Sunday and then getting a new version with everything I'd suggested sorted on Monday evening!

Chapeau!