Neil Gupta
 

Trunk Notes

402 words • 2 minutes to read

I've been meaning to try transitioning to a wiki for organizing my notes for many years now, after hearing so many recommendations for using them. I even got as far as setting up MediaWiki on my server, but the biggest challenge I faced was that it took too long to navigate to my wiki, log in, create a new page, add content, and then optionally link it with the rest of my wiki. It seemed so much easier to just email myself the note, since I always already have my email client open, and it's simple to edit one text box and hit send. Email has a low pain threshold, which is why it has managed to remain so popular, even in the face of so many newer, more advanced technologies. But even if I got used to leaving my wiki open all the time too, making it as accessible as my email on my computer, I hit another barrier when I realized that I spend most of my time and write most of my notes on my iPhone. However, editing a full fledged wiki site from the iPhone is definitely unpleasant, to put it gently. As a result, I avoided wikis for another few years and ignored peoples' constant urges that I should try them.

Recently, Trunk Notes for iOS garnered a lot of publicity on the usual tech blogs. I decided to try it, and after just one day of use, I have to say, I am loving it. Not only does the wiki structure lead to much more organized notes, but there is no additional pain threshold. Up until now, I had continued to use iOS's built-in Notes app, despite much more powerful note taking apps like Evernote. My only problem with Evernote is that it is slow. I still use it for organizing receipts and business cards, mostly due to its amazing OCR-based search, but I never used it for text notes. Usually, I want to quickly jot down a note, and the Notes app was always the fastest. Amazingly, Trunk Notes is actually faster than Notes!

Great speed, Markdown syntax, full wiki power, Dropbox syncing. What's not to love? Do yourself a favor, and if you haven't already, download Trunk Notes! It's just $4 for a universal app. I haven't had a chance to install it on my iPad yet, but it works great on my iPhone.

Written on November 30, 2010 in Chicago.