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Thought Train 2 — Stop using Sticky Notes, this is your new quick note taker!
Replace your Sticky Notes with Thought Train 2, the perfect note taking app for taking quick notes and accessing them immediately.
An app built for your Mac menubar or PC taskbar.
🚨Due to COVID-19 Thought Train 2 is now free until the end of April 🚨
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Gerard Sychay
After installing, I locked my computer and walked away. When I came back, there was a binoculars icon on the menu bar, but only on the lock screen. I had never seen this before. Google said that it meant that either remote management was on or that my screen was being recorded. Scary. Quitting Thought Train removed the binoculars icon. Why does that show up when Thought Train is running?
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Big fan of V2. Did play around with V1 for a day or so when it came out ages ago, but didn't seem polished enough, so gave up.
V2 is a huge step up and I've found myself actually using it! Still getting used to the shortcuts, but overall, a smart 'lil app.
@jbagley got some awesome new features coming too like search and tagging J, even more shortcuts to get used to 😂
I thought note taking using the standard Mac app would be my default but since using Thought Train I honestly didn't realise that there was in fact an easier way. Love it :)
Pros:Super easy to use
Cons:Not yet a mobile app
Lovely work Mr Marc. I was a big fan behind the idea of the first release, and this new one is so much more polished and clean.
What was the biggest challenge with getting cross-device cloud sync working?
@johnonolan John, wow thanks for the comment.
So the biggest challenge was actually within the encryption mechanism, we wanted to make sure that notes are not using Google Firestore's built-in encryption, but go a step further to make sure that there's no way anyone including ourselves could know what notes our users were taking.
The challenge is to make sure that encryption runs smoothly before the data is saved into the database, then decrypted quickly on the other side.
The solution we came up with was to use a Google Cloud Function here which runs when ever a note is saved. That way the app only has to deal with decryption which is much much faster.
I've been testing the new version for a few weeks and it's fast become an integral part of my workflow. It's the perfect companion for an avid list/note taker.
Pros:Super simple and clean, easy to access, dark mode
Cons:None that I can think of
Thanks Tom, I remember sending it to you, I'm glad you're still using it.
It's proven such a nice middle ground even for me, between my brain and my many many task managers!
Been lucky to be testing v2 over past month or so. What a big upgrade since the initial launch ticking pretty much all the popular feature requests boxes.
Pros:Drag n Drop notes, Markdown & Dark Mode <3
Cons:Can't think of anything.
A slick UI makes note taking (and keeping track of notes!) super easy to do.
Pros:So easy to use
Cons:No mobile app yet
🚂 Choo Choo Hunters!
It's me again, here with an updated version of Thought Train, which almost exactly a year ago sky rocketed to Product of the Day on Product Hunt.
🛑 📒 Now you can can REALLY forget about sticky notes, because for the past three months, we have been working hard to build a brand new version of this must-have productivity tool for anyone who needs to take quick notes and access them immediately.
❓We've had beta users and we've been the new product ourselves intensively, making sure it stays true to the original app's lightweight nature, all the while adding only features that enhance productivity.
🚨The features that have made launch are below 🚨
✅ Cloud syncing with full note encryption.
✅ Drag & drop re-ordering.
✅ Edit, copy and paste functionality for quick use.
✅ A full markdown editor for more in-depth note taking.
✅ Cross-device compatibility.
✅ A shortcut key for quick app access.
✅ Windows and Mac support
💰The app is priced $19 once off and there's a 7 day trial to get used to the app and make your decision.
🧾Of course, Hunters will get a coupon code if you use the app and decide you want to extend passed your trial period.
🤔 I've love to know what ya'll think of the app, don't be shy to give me your feedback
👋 Marc
Congrats Marc! Thought Train is a really good product, happy to see you release the V2 after so much work.
@yesnoornext Wow the Threader founder :blushing: thanks so much Vincent, I remember us talking about V1 and hope V2 is even better suited for you too
Super simple to use.
Pros:I used to use notes on Mac and TT2 is far more user friendly and save me having to switch between programs all the time.
Cons:None.
This is a cool way for never having to keep things juggling around your head. I use a Field Notes notebook for this, but trying this out for a week. Great idea!
Really dig the UI and experience you bring to the table!
Great work on the launch :)
Thanks for the Windows version!!! been looking forward to it.
I've been using the mac version for my work computer, and loving it. So I've been looking forward to the Win version for my home comp, so I'm happy it's here. Thanks!!
Loving TT for my primary focused task list!!!
Very cool idea. Keep up the good work - thanks.
@stuart_o_brien Ah man thanks Stu!
I can't believe what a great response from the Windows cats like yourself I've gotten, I'm excited to bring some even better ways to manage your notes across devices too. I won't give away too much but imagine business vs. personal notes and tasks you want to send across machines ;)
One of the most useful tools I've had the pleasure of working on recently. I don't often end up personally using the apps I've worked on before but this one is in daily use. A really awesome concept and @marcperel really know's what users want in an app.
Big fan of the concept, I remember using v1 for a time but had to stop as did a stint in a more locked down environment. I'm now in a more open environment and looking forward to giving TT2 a go!
One question in terms of pricing, my work notes are pretty useless on my home devices and vice-versa so I've not got much of a need for the syncing. Have you considered an offline pricing tier, perhaps with a perpetual version locked licence model since there won't be any infra pricing costs? I'll be using the syncing myself for my home machines, but it would be nice to expense a non-synced version for my day job, it would also make them happier with security despite the awesome encryption model you described in another comment!
I'm sure that's probably more overhead in pricing and dev than you want at the moment, but just a +1 that I'd really like that option for work environments :)
@elliotblackburn Elliot thanks for the comment.
Yeah I'm considering different models, I haven't considered a non-sync option because it's so tightly coupled into the app, but a team pricing model is definitely something I want to do as a few teams are using the app and I'd like to lighten the load for teammates in general.
Great @marcperel !
I've just downloaded Thought Train. It works amazing!
Good luck to you!
@kymellis Thanks Kym, me too, I didn't actually think much of cross-device functionality, until I picked up a Windows machine to do work for a specific client of mine.
Now if I need to send a reminder across the two devices, I just use my own product ☺️
Tried first version of Thought Train which was good, v2 has some well thought out improvements and is super intuitive.
Pros:Shortcut access key is a winner! Not being tied to a web browser is a breath of fresh air in a word dominated by browser based apps.
Cons:Not really a con, but a mobile app / version would be great.