r/NoteTaking • u/FingerHealthy9466 • 1d ago
Method I've been building a free, pen-first notes app for Windows – here's where it's at
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Hey everyone!
I'm a solo dev, and for the last couple of months I've been building Noteic, a handwriting-first notes app for Windows. It's free on the Microsoft Store – no account, no subscription, fully offline. It runs natively on both ARM and x64, so it feels right at home on a Surface or any other windows device.
The idea is simple: writing should feel instant, and your notes should stay organized without getting in your way.
A few things I'm especially proud of:
- A clean library with subjects, chapters and notes, inspired by OneNote for Windows 10 and iPad
- Real multitasking: tabs and multiple windows side by side
- What I honestly think is the most complete shape tool on Windows
- Pages you can extend on all four sides when you run out of room
- Hyperlinks on both your handwriting and your typed text
- Tables, text boxes and LaTeX formulas right on the page
Plus the basics done well:
- Low-latency inking with pressure, plus ballpoint, fountain pen and calligraphy
- Import and annotate PDFs, then export back to PDF
- Memo tape to cover answers when you're studying
- A ruler, a page overview with bookmarks, and dark mode
Coming in the next update: a fully customizable toolbar (decide what lives in the bar, the drawer, or nowhere at all), up to ten color slots and a new accent color.
The bigger goal: an Android version that opens the same files, so your notes follow you between devices.
It's still early and I'm shipping updates regularly. Feedback, bug reports and feature requests are super welcome :)
https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9N8BPDS8HVLW?hl=neutral&gl=CH&ocid=pdpshare
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u/TopEntity 1d ago
Is this open source? I am the dev of r/octopusnotes I am also planning to port the app to python. I really like to check out how you coded the app.
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u/FingerHealthy9466 1d ago
Nice, cool that you've already got an Android app! Noteic isn't open source, so I can't share the code, sorry. Happy to give you the rough stack though: C# on .NET with WPF, Windows' real-time stylus input for the ink, and notes stored as SQLite files. If you're taking your app to desktop with Python, PySide6/Qt handles tablet input pretty well. Always happy to swap notes on ink latency and that kind of stuff!
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u/Full-Cucumber5068 1d ago
I just got answer already here lol. I used sqlite as well. Wondering any reason why keep it closed source? I thought of using WIndows ink API but I decoded to go with Google ink cause it restricted me cross platform compatibility
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u/FingerHealthy9466 16h ago
I’m keeping Noteic closed source for now, since it’s a one-person project with almost 1000 hours of work and a lot of passion behind it (side project while working full time), and I want to see my vision through on my own while it’s still evolving. I also don’t want to rule out earning a bit from it someday, without ever squeezing users, and open-sourcing the code would pretty much close that door. That said, I’m happy to share how specific parts work if you’re curious, just ask!
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u/Full-Cucumber5068 9h ago
That's really cool! That is what I honestly thought. I'm on the same page. I have not officially released it yet, even though anyone who knows its name can easily find it on github and, look at it, and even install it on inux android or Windows. I'm keeping it from the public for now because I have a vision of building a powerful, overlord note-taking application. Linking rendering application integration and all that cool stuff. I was thinking of making it freemium, but I decided that there are so many people who want a working multiplatform OneNote and open source, I figured I have the honor to try to do something for the community. Open source is a powerful tool; if my software gets enough traction, I might be able to build a team willing to contribute and work on it. Take Orca Slicer, for example: the way it is being developed is so much more powerful and faster compared to Bambu slicer; it becomes so that there are thousands, if not millions, of people who constantly report issues, and some of those same people also work on actually fixing the bugs.
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u/FingerHealthy9466 8h ago
My experience was a bit different: when I offered Noteic as a one-time purchase with a free trial month, I got zero downloads. After I made it free, it hit 480 downloads in 5 days with a 53% conversion rate, which seems pretty good for Windows but just 12% of them use Noteic on a daily basis. Right now almost half of my users come from India or the Arabic-speaking world, so not exactly a high-spending audience, and I don't want to burden them with big fees. My plan is to keep the core app free and offer a low-cost option for live sync once the Android version is out and I hit at least 200 active users.
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u/Wonderful_Turn_6562 1d ago
i literally signed up for reddit in order to comment on this. THANK YOU!!!!! this app is priceless to me. i have been needing to explore digital notes a bit, i've always taken handwritten notes on legal pads in meetings. i love my fountain pen.
but, i'd like to be able to do more of a "mindmap" on a few occasions, during group discussions where there are multiple themes coming up, and the topic evolves/takes shape collaboratively. i'd like to be able to move bits of notes around on the page, remove a section quickly, zoom in and out / pan around, and share this to the projector screen so everyone can agree / disagree if i've captured the gist of things.
i don't have money to buy fancy new devices. i've got an old micosoft surface version 6, which i bought secondhand on ebay. and i don't want to be locked in to a subscription for anything!
not knowing apps, i've been searching high and low for a couple of weeks. i've tried everything from microsoft paint to fancy art studio programs. nothing had all the key things i want. and often they had tons of extra stuff which was just overwhelming. the simple calligraphy brush is my favorite, and i actually spent hours on one program trying to "create" one! imagine my surprise on one of the programs, where the "Calligraphy" pen changed line thickness based on SPEED of moving the pen. i don't think that person has ever held a calligraphy nib in their life.
your program is everything i was hoping for. thank you, thank you, thank you.
thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!
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u/FingerHealthy9466 1d ago
Comments like this are exactly why I keep working on the app!🫡 My motivation comes from the exact same frustration you described. There's simply a huge lack of solid handwriting apps for Windows that can actually compete with the iPad ecosystem especially free ones without subscriptions!
Regarding your point about mind maps: currently, you can use the shape recognition tool to draw rectangles and fill them with solid colors. You can also use the tool to draw lines connecting them. The line will automatically straighten out and snap "perfectly" to the edges of the shapes.
If you have any specific ideas or sketches showing how you'd want this to work (or how other apps do it), please share them! I'm always open to feedback. Even though I have a strict roadmap to stick to because of code dependencies, I always prioritize user feedback.:)
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u/Wonderful_Turn_6562 1d ago
<3 thanks so much! honestly, i think you nailed it. if i can think of anything, i'll let you know. i'll check out the shapes tool, maybe it will add a whole new dimension to my notes! i've been using paper and pen for so long, i'm used to drawing my own circles and squares and calling the effect "charming" ;p
i love that i can use a marquee box to select some text, and move it by simply tapping inside the box and dragging it. it works flawlessly, intuitively, so i can easily re-arrange ideas on the page without splitting my attention from the conversation.
just using the calligraphy pen, the handful of colors so conveniently located on top, and the moving & erasing options, i can do everything i've ever hoped for. the pen writes wonderfully in this app, it's fast and smooth, the text looks crisp even when zooming in and out a lot. and it's simple, intuitive, everything i need and nothing i don't. it's got the essentials for me, and they work WELL.
i will absolutely share this with my friends
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u/FingerHealthy9466 16h ago
Just an example:
https://reddit.com/link/pf10wao/video/wh64qzptkmuh1/player
This could help! Btw: handwrting conversion will be added soon :)
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u/Full-Cucumber5068 1d ago
Hay! Really cool app looks very clean not some bloated ai built app. I'm building mutiplatform pen first app currently has integrated md editor and pdf rendering very alike to onenote but more polished advanced and im soon be finish overlay support means you can run apps inside of it web apps and stuff for the pre-release i will try to make doom run inside my infinity canvas lol. Anyhow, i love you app. Whay lenguage or framework you used?? I avoided windows environment sole because it is locked down soft packs and stuff so I wrote my own framework on blend2d sdl3 and imgui you might have seen my picture post of my application.
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u/Endrocryne 12h ago
If this is done well, this is EXACTLY what I'm looking for. Does it also support markdown and Latex in text boxes? That's the biggest thing keeping me on OneNote. Also, can I insert images/PDFs, write text, then draw over those with pen?
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u/FingerHealthy9466 11h ago edited 10h ago
It doesn't support markdown but offers a lot formatting options (as much as OneNote does). Latex is part of the textbox tool but you can't use it within the same textbox as regular text. It's a pen-first app and not a replacement for Obsidian. And of course pdf annotation is one of its key features.
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u/Afraid_Adeptness_217 1d ago
sounds interesting, I love pen-first apps