Comment by jsdalton

2 years ago

This is just outstanding. It's so exactly what I wish for out of a scratch pad.

My feature request to add to your pile (possibly a lonely one, since maybe it's just unique to how my brain works):

I really want a scratch pad like this to have UX that supports "inverted" order. Meaning, new blocks get added to the top of the page instead of the bottom. The blocks naturally flow in descending order of creation rather than ascending. The scratch pad always opens at the top of the page. Over time, blocks thus end up "decaying" toward the bottom, with the most relevant at the top.

It just fits better with how my brain works.

I also +1 the sentiment given elsewhere in this thread to bias toward ignoring the vast majority of these feature requests and preserve the simplicitly of what you've built. That includes mine!

Happy you like it :).

I get the idea of the "inverted order". I wonder if it would be enough to make it configurable so that C-Enter inserts a new block before the current one + Heynote sets the cursor at the beginning of the buffer at startup (instead of last which is the current behavior)?

  • Another option might be to have the default scroll position at the bottom, to act more like a terminal or chat app. Scroll up to see the history, rather than scrolling down to see the latest.

    (Sorry if this is how it already works, I’m on my phone right now, so I can’t download it, but I’m very interested in the block idea. I like that concept a lot for a scratch pad. I’m definitely saving this for later.)

  • Yeah I was thinking similar. And/or a separate shortcut key that opens a new block at the very top of the page (regardless of where the current cursor is positioned).

  • Your app is awesome, it's just so satisfying to use. Really fantastic job!

    My two cents on block insertion: Personally, I would love if Cmd+Enter inserts a new block at the very top

    For inserting a new block in sequence, I feel like Cmd+Shift+Enter (splitting the current block) might already be enough - but I obviously haven't used heynote for long enough to have a very informed opinion on this :)

    Maybe there's some way to make the behavior configurable?

I also like this. But I don't like the distraction of seeing all the blocks below my cursor move every time I make a new line.

The perfect UX would be to add a new buffer at the top, but with enough padding to fill the window so that you can't see the movement of previous blocks while you're typing.

(Maybe this is already kinda how it works - I haven't downloaded the app yet, but I'm excited to try it, because it looks great!)

  • >I don't like the distraction of seeing all the blocks below my cursor move every time I make a new line.

    Uhm... They don't move. They stay the same distance, relative to your line. As you add more lines, they'll disappear below the fold.

    • In a regular doc, if you start typing at the beginning, then all the lines after it move down as you type. It's just the movement I find distracting, compared to appending to a doc with no space below where I'm inserting text. I'd rather feel like I'm typing into empty space rather than up against a wall.

I agree that this addition would be very helpful as it is already how I take notes in a markdown document.

I made a notes app that's kind of like that. Notes get added to the top and when you edit a note it gets "bumped" to the top again: https://thinktype.app/

  • TIL using the .app TLD makes your website categorically an app

    • A web page that can run offline is typically called a web app. With some metadata it is possible to "install" them to run in ui chrome less windows like a natively installed app on multiple environments.

      It's not the .app domain so much as the functionality. Web apps are nicer and easily accessible imo, lower friction than an install. Not everything should need an install.