Does anyone know of any notes apps besides Apple Notes and Evernote that have an Append to Note (not just Create a Note) iOS shortcut? The simpler the app, the better. Thanks!
Depending on your definition of a “notes app” Drafts has a significant number of Shortcuts actions.
2 Likes
Seconding Drafts 100%. Both simple and behind the curtain, much power should you ever need it.
If you need more than just text, then Bear would be a good alternative.
Beyond that maybe just appending to a text file. It doesn’t get any simpler than that for the app is then just your preferred editor, or maybe just Shortcuts.
1 Like
+1 for Bear. It’s real good, looks great, and the shortcuts actions are very complete.
Ulysses also has an Add to Note shortcut.
Thank you for the suggestions. I have a Drafts subscription but actually haven’t played with it much.
I should’ve mentioned in the original post that I would like the notes app to be cross-platform, including Windows. A browser client is acceptable in a pinch, but I would really prefer a dedicated program. So that disqualifies Bear and Ulysses. Simplenote or Nimbus would be good, but neither has an Append To Note action. Upnote doesn’t seem to have Shortcuts integration at all.
Okay, I think missing that out and mentioning Apple Notes gave us a different view earlier.
You also haven’t clarified if you just want text or you want more, so that is another floating constraint.
However, building on my prior point about text files, you could take a look at Obsidian and for automating, the Action for Obsidian iOS app to make your automating easier.
Obsidian is cross platform, and is just an overlay to simple Markdown files (which can pull in images, etc.)
Obsidian is definitely an app that has a learning curve associated with it. However, if you want to keep your usage simple (and “simple” is a highly subjective Term), you simply stay at the bottom end of the curve. There are so many videos and articles out there on getting started with Obsidian that you should be fine. You just have to put in some effort to get it working in the way you want. There may even be a field guide from David about it before too long.
If that doesn’t work for you try specifying exactly what all of the requirements would be (think rich vs plain. Text, supported platforms, integrations, where the data can be held, multi user access, collaborative features, etc.) and someone might be able to suggest another alternative that is a match, though keep in mind, it may not exist.
Hope that helps.
Thanks, I will check into Obsidian.
I am mostly using the notes app (Evernote at this point, which is going downhill fast) as a life-logging tool. So I like to be able to use Shortcuts to append to a daily note of places, activities, and general comments. No collaboration/multi-user features needed. I really only need text, though it’s nice to have some simple formatting like bolding, but that’s not needed through Shortcuts. I will occasionally attach photos, but also not through Shortcuts. Tag support is good. I need access from iPhone, iPad, Windows computer and (eventually) Mac computer. I have tried switching to Apple Notes, but the icloud.com browser client is bad, and there are other issues as well. I think that’s about it. Thanks!