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KeepIt vs Notebooks vs FSnotes
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Posted by Dellu
May 16, 2022 at 05:39 AM
In relation to a recent discussion on KeepIt; and why I think this app because my first choice of the plethora of note writing apps in the Mac world, here is a brief & opinionated comparison I did a few months ago of it with its closest competitors.
KeepIt (version 1)
Formats: rtf, markdown, plaintext
Reasons why KeepIt is supperior to Notebooks (Alfons Schmid’s Notebooks):
1) Native rtf support: format of of Notebooks are html, markdown and plain text
2) The float window: the floating window is very useful for me.
3) metadata: KI allows assigning not just tags, but also Spotlight comments directly within the app.
4) Better organization tools:
- Bundles
- Labels
- Folders—-these are reflected to finder: others are internal to the application
- Saved searches
5) universal tags: tags assigned in KI are finder tags: will be visible to Finder and DT.
Notebooks (v2)
Formats: html, markdown and plain text
Areas where Notebooks appears supperior to KeepIt:
1) Contexts: tags:
#noun (or @noun) within a document tags the document with the word “noun”.
- even a new character can be assigned for this.
- But, these tags are not finder tags
2) Tasks:
- it has internal task manager: and very useful for writing because can be assigned on any of the notes; and will popup seprately
- tasks can be defined using speical characters; just like tags.
For example, if use + sign, all lines after this sign will be considered as tasks.
3) [[Linked]] style of linking. It would have been great if KT supports this feature.
Other notable features:
- supports opening in new tabs and windows—KP has this
- WebDav server to sync with ipad: local network—-don’t care much about it
FSnotes (v5)
Formats supported: rtf, markdown, plaintext
pros
- the contextual prefix taging is available: #word; the word is a tag
- nvALT type of [[linking]] is supported. I just need to [[to start to link] with another note
- Search and new file creation are unified: nvALT style again
- Git support: absolutely useful to restore earlier versions of notes
Cons:
- open doesn’t open in a separte window of the app: opens in externa apps: this makes all the capabilites useless because I spend most of my editing in seprate windows: helps me to hide the other stuff—-this is deal breaker for me.
- there is no organizational tools apart from folders and tags
- NO metadata such as Spotlight comments: and the tags are not going to be visible ot the Finder. The tags are internel to the app because they are not really finder tags.
Posted by MadaboutDana
May 16, 2022 at 02:58 PM
Worth bearing in mind that Keep It also has tags. There’s a tag filter you can apply to any folder, including the “All Items” folder – the filter appears at the bottom of the list of documents, and adjusts automatically to include only tags present in the particular “view” you happen to be in (“All Items”, “Recents” etc.). It’s a very powerful feature!
Cheers!
Bill
Posted by Dellu
May 16, 2022 at 03:03 PM
Thank you Bill. That is right.
Another great feature I forget is the tabbed separate window. I like opening two or three documents that I am working on in a separate window;and edit them without looking at the whole library. I was surprised to learn that Devonthink 3 doesn’t have that feature: https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/open-new-windows-in-tabs-in-dt3/46715/17.
Posted by MadaboutDana
May 16, 2022 at 04:22 PM
I have to say, Keep It V2 has really grown on me, especially with Finder integration. I’ve resubscribed (no, no, don’t even *mention* Ulysses!)
Dellu wrote:
Thank you Bill. That is right.
>
>Another great feature I forget is the tabbed separate window. I like
>opening two or three documents that I am working on in a separate
>window;and edit them without looking at the whole library. I was
>surprised to learn that Devonthink 3 doesn’t have that feature:
>https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/open-new-windows-in-tabs-in-dt3/46715/17.
>
Posted by satis
May 16, 2022 at 04:27 PM
> Notebooks (v2) Formats: html, markdown and plain text
FYI all formatted documents (with formatting like title, headings, paragraphsetc, bold/underline, alignment, highlighting, image embedding) are WYSIWYG and stored as HTML.
You can also convert documents in-app to PDF and LaTex.
Info on the upcoming v.3 here: https://www.notebooksapp.com/major-upgrades-on-the-way/