It seems like the FOSS community is continuing to grow, and FOSS apps keep getting better (Immich reallh blew my mind recently), which is a big win ๐Ÿ˜Ž but there are still many apps I use that I would kill for an open source alternative. I am curious what you guys think? Are there any apps youโ€™d love alternatives for?

You are viewing a single thread.
View all comments
29 points

Stylus/handwriting oriented note taking. Stuff like Samsung Notes or Goodnotes (or OneNote, though it does a lot more) in the Android space, or e-ink options like Remarkableโ€™s stock software.

If I just want to use a keyboard for everything I have great FOSS options like Joplin and Standard Notes, but when I want to use a pen instead it feels like no other freedom-respecting option seem to even remotely approach the usability of just sticking with real ink and moleskine-like paper notebooks.

Even someone willing to pay an upfront fee for proprietary apps will struggle to find good options that allow syncing and reading (let alone editing) your notes on other devices/platforms without resorting to a monthly subscription.

permalink
report
reply
7 points
*

I tried Saber (https://f-droid.org/packages/com.adilhanney.saber/) for a while with my fat fingers and it worked good enough for my use case, idk if it fits your needs

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

Thanks for the recommendation. Iโ€™ll give it a try sometime.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

Yes yes yes ๐Ÿ™ I swear I go around at least once or twice a month looking for this. Iโ€™m not sure if it is a huge technical feat to approach this type of program or not, but like you said there are tons of options for typing but I havenโ€™t found even one that solely focuses on handwriting.

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

Have you heard of Rnote? It is only available for linux, windows and mac tho

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

Yeah, Iโ€™m currently using an old version (2018!) Of AutoDesk sketchbook, since it seems like every other option tries to force me into a subscription or cloud service. I just want to take notes!

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

Butterfly

Try this. Still under active development, but I like it so far.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

This is a totally wild card guess, but I imagine obsidian probably has a community hand writing extension

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

itโ€™s also closed source.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

You know, I always forget that

permalink
report
parent
reply

Open Source

!opensource@lemmy.ml

Create post

All about open source! Feel free to ask questions, and share news, and interesting stuff!

Useful Links

Rules

  • Posts must be relevant to the open source ideology
  • No NSFW content
  • No hate speech, bigotry, etc

Related Communities

Community icon from opensource.org, but we are not affiliated with them.

Community stats

  • 5.5K

    Monthly active users

  • 1.6K

    Posts

  • 27K

    Comments