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Comment by adam_fallon_ | Hacker News Reader

I absolutely hate to be that guy who links his own work, but I have seen my sales flatline in the past week and it's lead to me driving the price down of my app to the point where i'm thinking of just making it free for the exposure.

Please, if you could download, share & rate my app - If you'd like to try the app without paying, email me at adam@adamfallon.com and I will send you a promo code!

My app is a clever spin on a note taking app that gives you 7 workspaces, and your notes sync over iCloud to macOS, iPadOS & iOS. Think of it as Post-It notes for your Apple devices.

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/nitronotes/id1502080216

Edit: An update with search and keyboard Shortcuts for iPad & macOS is currently in review with Apple. In the meantime if you've any feature requests you can send them through the app :)

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I had a look at your app and maybe I'm missing it, but I can't really see what it offers over using just notes? Notes is a distraction-free editor, it syncs out of the box and it comes preinstalled on all devices. You don't have to use folders but when you need to, you can, you can use sync from different services (iCloud, Google, Exchange, etc), you can draw in notes, add pictures, and I'm sure there's more. All of this is not to put down your application, I think it looks neat — the point is more so that at the moment I can't see what it offers over what's already available by default. If you want to reach more buyers, it might be a good idea to make your value proposition clearer.

First impressions:

1. Screenshots don't show much worth the price. Yes, I know this is unfair, but screenshots which show the true value proposition really matter. I don't get this here.

2. I can already do this with Notes.app.

3. With editing features that make Notes more of a datastore than just plain ol' text, the app could be interesting .. like, a JSON or XML editor overlay, maybe .. hmm ..

> "With editing features that make Notes more of a datastore than just plain ol' text, the app could be interesting .. like, a JSON or XML editor overlay, maybe .. hmm .."

Could you expand on that a little? Do you mean keyboard buttons to insert patterns common when writing in those languages?

Well, you've already got a macro interface, so yeah - some kind of inline editor for JSON records I paste to my Notes could be quite useful .. and would help differentiate in a way that isn't "Just more Notes" functionality ..

I think what the GP means is exporting the data to various formats. Maybe saving your content to iCloud Docs could be an easy win? I do something similar with an app of mine.

I've added this feature in the pending update actually :)

Hey thanks for the feedback.

I'd start by saying that I am no way positioning this as an alternative to notes - we are aiming for two different things.

This app is aiming to be the scrap of paper beside your computer you scribble on during the day. Notes is the A4 Binder that can hold everything, but you need to dig to get at it.

The navigational simplicity replicates that - I can fly taking notes with this.

That said, I think if you use notes the way I did, to jot stuff in during the day i'll compare;

So the main frustration I have with using notes across devices is the inconsistent (and especially on iOS) the tap-tap-tap style of navigation to drill down from Folders > Sub Folder > Note.

I hated not having search to hand in Notes on iOS either - with my pending update (in review with Apple) you swipe from top to bottom (or hit Cmd + Shift + F on keyboard) and you get full text search over your 7 dots.

Hopefully some of that gets at your questions RE: Value prop.

Your app seems really similar to Tot by Iconfactory:

https://blog.iconfactory.com/2020/02/meet-tot-your-tiny-text...

That could be the reason you're seeing sales drop?

Nothing new under the sun

Tot is a clone of FiveNotes: https://www.apptorium.com/fivenotes

And Looks to be heavily inspired by QuickNotes too: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/quick-notes/id1260480179?mt=12

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