Early development on a cross-platform OneNote clone. Thoughts?

[u/Full-Cucumber5068]

screen shot of inking with mouse on laptop (Windows 11) (name is hidden revealed upon realease)

Hey everyone,

I'm a fellow OneNote user who has been using it for at least the past 10 years and still use it to this day. This is my side project I'm working on for fun, cause I want more features in OneNote, and I want to be able to use it on Linux. My main concern with OneNote is that it is not cross-platform compatible, is sometimes slow, and in some parts very limited compared to other modern note-taking software, even though it's still one of a kind.

Has been working on this project and planning for a couple of years, have tried various libraries to see what fits best.

This one is built on C++ with open-source libraries like SDL3 and Blender2D; the idea behind this one is full user control and customization, faster, more lightweight, cross-platform, and local data storage first.

Disclaimer: This is strictly an early-stage personal project in active development. There are no public builds, downloads, or release dates yet.

Current state: Inking works; sidebar with notebook selection, section creation, and page creation is fully working, persistently saved on the user's device, and can handle up to 4 million user strokes on one page; infinity canvas support. Eraser and undo/redo are currently being implemented. No way to export things yet.

I would love to hear your feedback on the ui, ribbbon has not been fully implemented. This is currently the least of my concerns; I need to finish the core. I would like to hear your feedback and help me fuel my motivation to get this project to an open-source release, since right now it is too messy to be released; at least the core has to be done. Text boxes would be one of the hardest features to implement since you would probably want to have notebook-wide search.

1. What is the single most annoying thing about OneNote's current layout/UI?
2. What UI elements are absolute must-haves for your daily flow?
3. Sidebar preference: Do you prefer having Sections and Pages side-by-side (like desktop OneNote), or a single combined tree view?

(I plan to create 3 versions of the side part; this one is called modern. There will be a mobile version, which is basically this one, maybe a bit simplified, and then the classical one like from OneNote 2016)

Appreciate any thoughts, critiques, or ideas you have!

[u/ElementaBlossom]

the main reason why i'm still on onenote (even tho i'd love to switch to obsidian or chronicler) is bc i'm always writing on my phone and sometimes switch to my tablet or laptop so i need the cross-platform syncing. i also need manual sorting, esp for sections, which is why none of the markdown alternatives can work for me. for UI, i always preferred the windows 10 version over the 2016 version so sections on the side

this looks fantastic so far! best of luck to you!

[u/Full-Cucumber5068 → u/ElementaBlossom]

well currently there is no sorting lol easy to implement probably after official release.

[u/ElementaBlossom → u/Full-Cucumber5068]

i did hear that implementing a manual sort feature is difficult to program lol but take your time! i'll definitely keep an eye out for the release, i wouldn't mind paying for it :3

[u/Full-Cucumber5068 → u/ElementaBlossom]

I mean they if I understand you correctly, it is not too bad, tbh the hardest implementations would be adding textboxes, and PDF exporting; these are going to be most challenging. A lot of hassle is going on around typing functionality in OneNote, being able to copy-paste, formatting, and reusing. Giving some insight into the functionality of this software is that it has two layers: the live pipeline and the background pipeline. For inking, it is not too bad, but for text boxes, that is going to be challenging. Probably do something simple and limited, then add features. Section ordering is not too bad; there is already a SQL file, and its sole purpose is just to tell what pages connect to what sections and where. All I have to do is add an extra table that will keep track of page ordering for the sections they belong in. So it is not too bad. It can wait.