I am looking for a good FOSS app for taking notes.
I have been using Notally so far, and it gets the job done, but it looks a bit dated and is missing sync.

I am looking for an app that meets the following criteria:

  • Simple clean UI
  • No unnecessary features, plain notes and checklists and maybe markdown support is sufficient
  • Synchronization to other devices, e.g. PC would be great (Maybe something I can self-host)

Any recommendations?

    I have been very satisfied with Joplin for years.
    I synchronise it with iPadOS, macOS, Fedora and, of course, GrapheneOS via my Nextcloud webDAV. The files are encrypted E2E. There are plugins for browsers, Markdown and many file formats are supported.

    +1 for Joplin. Joplin server can easily be selv hosted using docker and it have worked very reliably for 2+ years for me.

    I've been on Notesnook recently. Self hosted instance, has been running pretty well so far.

      DeletedUser87 What did you use before? I've wanted to try it since ther self hosted server instance was released but I was somewhat put off by the IMO overly complicated compose-file.

          trilogy6202 I used Joplin (also self hosted) but I found it to be convoluted with an outdated interface. It just feels "off" to me. Notesnook has that modern UI and simplicity I long for.

          I'll admit that it took a while to get Notesnook running (spent like 4 hours setting it up lol), but if you need any assistance, I'll be glad to help.

              DeletedUser87 Yeah, Joplin's UI might look a little dated, especially on android and I while I wouldn't call it's desktop app convoluted per say, it could definitely be cleaner.

              My worries when I saw the compose file was that it's complexity would reflect on the stability of the app which I know doesn't necessarily need to be related. But I just got the feeling that it wasn't quite prime time ready and needed a few more iterations. Also, last rime I checked there still wasn't any documentation which might have changed since then.

                  trilogy6202 just checked, there is still no documentation. I wouldn't call the compose file complicated at all, you don't need to change anything in there really. I only adjusted 2 paths and that was it. The .env is actually where you'll be making changes, but it's not really complicated either. Most stuff you're gonna comment out anyway, the rest is just fill in domain names and IMAP credentials mostly. If anyone is interested, I can write a guide.

                      DeletedUser87 What I mean by complicated is that it needs no less than 10 services to run (some of which are probably only for initiation but nevertheless) + X-server-discovery and the .env file is 'called' in a strange way (X-env-file) that I haven't seen in any other compose-file. Joplin by comparison only need a postgress db and the webserver.

                          trilogy6202 Well, debating naming schemes is not really in my interest. Joplin is also horribly slow with inconsistent sync while Notesnook has just a few seconds of delay (3-5) which is fantastic for me, as it rivals the likes of Google Keep and Apple Notes. And try enabling E2EE on Joplin, it was a horrible experience. I agree that Notesnook looks pretty bloated, but it seems to be the same infrastructure they are using for their own service, so I'm pretty confident here. Joplin is very simple in comparison and doesn't offer really anything special - but it's very lightweight, that's for sure.

                              DeletedUser87 This was not to start a pissing contest about note apps. As I stated, I'm intrigued to try notesnook out for myself. But I've gotten burned a few times by becoming reliant on some service that wasn't ar reliable as I thought it to be and ending up spending a lot of time trying to solve some complex (for me) problems and/or trying to at least save my data. And my notes are one of those high priority things where I'm probably a little more conservative.

                              Regarding X-env-file, the word 'calling' what's probably a poor choice of word - I ment it more like 'a strange way to request / specify an .env file'. Hopefully that makes a bid more sense.

                                  trilogy6202 Yeah I understand. I keep copies (and also Notesnook's own backups) for the worst case scenario. Self hosting is definitely in beta state (for example resending mails after the first one doesn't seem to work) and I can see why you'd be cautious to trust it. I also hope they can iron out the remaining bugs soon, because it's definitely the best notes app I've tried so far.

                                      Joplin and Quillpad, both synced via self hosted Nextcloud. Simple and serves the purpose.

                                      DeletedUser87 I've looked into Notesnook again and I have to admit it looks nice but from their features page I don't see them mentioning sharing and collaborating on notebooks. Ia that possible?

                                      EDIT: Did a little research and it seams that this is currently not possible but on the road map: https://github.com/streetwriters/notesnook/issues/20

                                      Unfortunately this is a must have feature for me.

                                          trilogy6202 Yeah, that's not that easy with E2EE. And E2EE seems to be a must for Notesnook, so I understand why they need time implementing it.

                                            6gsxdr3U not sure if it's Foss, but I'm really happy with FairNotes from Google Play. Works fine with no permissions

                                              Exhort14 Thanks but I'm perfectly happy with Joplin and their self hosted sync server. And I don't use Proton at I don't really like their pricing structure and their apps that still lack some key features to be usable to me.