Explain the problem you see
The need for a quicker way to add ideas, preferably through a mobile app.
Why is this a problem?
Currently there are too many steps to add something into Tana while on the go.
Suggest a solution
A mobile app would go a long way to make this quicker.
Also for iOS there could be shortcuts using the share sheet, for instance the ability to quickly send a website with some notes into Tana.
Quick shortcuts by longpressing the app icon for the mobile app could include things like:
- Quick note
- Quick idea
Perhaps these could be customizable as well to specify which supertag should automatically be added to the note/idea.
20 Comments
Second this!
Since Tana is still in early access, I can tolerate an MVP version of this with an API and an officially-maintained Siri shortcut which posts to that API.
As an early version, if it could handle Markdown-esque formatting with fields and supertags, much like Tana Paste already does, that would be a win.
Would love for an Android solution to this as well - Hopefully both ecosystems on the radar!
+1 for the mobile app!
Capacities.io uses what’s app to directly text into your daily note . Amazing feature to add on go including images and files.
I would love a global keyboard shortcut command on desktop (I'm using Windows, but having one on Mac would also be great) to open a mini window to add to Today. Similar to
Ctrl-Ebut available no matter what app I'm using.I'm not always in Tana as I do my work, but I always want quick access to add to Tana.
Capturing ideas on the fly is critical, as is working with my notes and data. Tana cannot be a second brain if it is land locked to my desk or laptop.
This necessitates mobile access and offline access. One of the largest problems with Notion is the slow mobile experience largely caused by online data access. Compare this with Obsidian which has a very fast and fluid mobile experience.
The only reason I am not using Tana is because it doesn't have a good mobile experience. Would go all in if there is one.
Yes, please don't forget about Android version!
My current workarounds for this are Quick Add via Raycast on desktop and a Drafts action on iOS.
Drafts for Quick Capture is perfect! Thanks for letting me know there is an action! I am sure it would be easy to make an Alfred workflow as well, if Raycast already has one!
Capturing "Tasks" w/ Due-Date is very important to me while on the go
Does opening the menu (CMD +K) and running `Set Due date = "MM/DD/YYYY" achieve that need?
It would help in desktop (does that feature exist?) - on mobile I would like it to be a quick option in the capture menu (much like Notion does it)
I think the biggest point of friction here is the long load time as your Tana workspace(s) are loaded into memory.
Whatever you can do to ensure lazy loading or local caching is appreciated.
Right now, Tana is a bit of a “worst of all worlds” type of app.
It’s not local-first like Obsidian or LogSeq, yet I’m paying the up-front cost as a user to load all that data into memory without benefiting from local caching beyond a single session.
It’s not an optimized cloud-based app like Notion, where content is lazy-loaded as I navigate. So I can’t benefit from (faster) initial loads.
It’s very similar to Roam, which has the bad habit of loading your whole graph into memory each time.
A good compromise would be to let me locally cache just my personal workspace, in local storage or a SQLite DB, however you implement it, as long as it loads near-instantly and writes reflect optimistically while syncing in the background.
Surely there’s no need to ensure perfect consistency between multiple users, since my personal workspace is single-user. I don’t mind if there’s eventual consistency between the canonical cloud store and my local cache, as long as every session loads near instantly after perhaps the first cold boot.
Also, there’s no need for this to be a native mobile app. It can be a PWA, with the web interactions spruced up to work well on touch devices and web workers leveraged to do some of that syncing work.
This has now been released, and has been marked as such! 🎉
(The main post, not all the great stuff in the comments :) )
I agree that Capturing ideas on the fly is critical. Great discussion. I think that a possible solution to address the issue in the main topic is the development of a dedicated mobile app. By having a mobile app for Tana, users will quickly access and input their ideas wherever they are, without the need for a computer or extensive navigation through different interfaces. The app can be designed to have a streamlined and user-friendly interface, specifically tailored for capturing ideas efficiently. And sorry if I come a little bit off topic, you can contact this guys https://solveit.dev/services/mobile-app-development/ios for assistance.
But if I need to choose between options in the topic I will choose the 2nd one
And need to Android :)
There’s already a mobile app called “Tana Capture”, I think you probably missed that one.
Another comment expressing support for an Android version.
I think this is the same... although it is for just "offline" work but not just "ideas on the fly"
Offline Note Synchronization for Remote Work
Implement a solution to facilitate offline note-taking and synchronization with Tana's Inbox without relying on parsing through ChatGPT.
Explain the problem as you see it:
Currently, the process of synchronizing offline notes with Tana's Inbox involves cumbersome manual steps and parsing, which are not easily automated without the use of generative AI.
Consider describing a specific time when you had this issue:
While working remotely in a digital system with intermittent internet access, I needed to manage and synchronize my notes efficiently. The manual steps required to integrate these notes into Tana's Inbox were time-consuming and disrupted my workflow.
Why is this a problem for you?
This inefficiency creates friction and disrupts the workflow, making it challenging to manage information effectively without constant internet access. Automating this process would significantly improve productivity and streamline note management.