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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Trilum is a note-taking app for Linux and MacOS.
- This note-taking apps has tons of options, together with native sync.
- Trillium is free to put in and use.
Notice-taking apps are a dime a dozen. Go to your machine’s app retailer and you will find myriad apps for this objective; a few of them are good and a few of them aren’t.
Many note-taking apps examine nearly each field, however there’s one characteristic I need that solely a choose few provide: native sync.
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Most note-taking apps provide distant sync by the use of cloud or third-party storage. Though I am not taking notes of a really delicate nature, I do have some notes that I would moderately a 3rd celebration not have entry to. For instance, I’ve an essential undertaking I launched a number of months in the past, and I hold a number of notes (together with a Kanban board) about that undertaking to maintain me transferring ahead.
I exploit the Trilium note-taking app to assist arrange a really giant undertaking.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
It is essential to me that these notes stay non-public. So, I would want a neighborhood sync versus a cloud or third-party sync.
Sure, I understand meaning I can not sync my notes after I’m away from my LAN, however as quickly as I return to my LAN, these notes will sync.
The note-taking app that accomplishes that is Trilium, and it is out there for Linux and MacOS. There’s a Home windows port coming, and there is additionally an Android app that’s out there outdoors of the Google Play Retailer. Sadly, Google is making it subsequent to unattainable to sideload apps, so the developer of TriliumDroid should one way or the other get the app onto the official retailer, or it should quickly be unusable.
Each the Linux and MacOS Trillium apps are excellent and embrace loads of options, similar to:
- Notes might be organized right into a deep tree, and single notes might be positioned into a number of areas inside the tree
- A well-designed WYSIWYG be aware editor that helps tables, photos, and math
- Notice enhancing notes with supply code
- Syntax highlighting
- Full textual content search
- Notice versioning
- Notice attributes
- OpenID and TOTP integration
- Synchronization with a self-hosted server
- Sharing notes through the general public web
- Sturdy per-note encryption
- Sketching diagrams
- Relation maps, hyperlink maps, and thoughts maps
- Geo maps, together with location pins and GPX tracks
- Contact-optimized
- Constructed-in darkish theme and person themes
- Evernote and Markdown import and export
- Internet Clipper
- Customizable UI
- Constructed-in calendar
The massive motive I adopted Trilium is the native sync server, which is not exhausting to arrange, nevertheless it does take some Linux magic to make it work. Primarily, you put in the sync server, create a systemd file for it, and allow/begin the service. As soon as that is taken care of, you hyperlink your shoppers to the server and also you’re good to go.
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Then there’s the AI chat characteristic, which is at present in beta. I’ve tried to get this to work with my native Ollama occasion (which purportedly helps it), however have had no luck with it. There’s a clear warning that the characteristic is in beta, so I anticipated this.
One other characteristic that I like about Trilium is that it makes use of a tabbed interface, which suggests I can have as many notes open as wanted. Add to that the power to hyperlink notes with attributes (assume tags), and Trilium turns into a critically spectacular note-taking device.
One other excellent characteristic is the protected session choice, which permits customers to encrypt notes, making certain that solely these with the right password can entry them. To encrypt a be aware, you first begin a protected session (clicking the protect icon within the left sidebar), kind the password you set if you put in Trilium, open the be aware’s primary properties, and click on “Shield be aware.”
Defending a be aware with encryption is easy utilizing Trilum.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
When you’re performed with the protected session, click on the protect icon, and the protected be aware will solely be accessible by typing the password.
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Pretty much as good because it will get
I’ve tried so many note-taking apps and, for me, Trillium tops all of them. And if you mix the entire options with the truth that it is open-source, it is nearly as good because it will get for note-taking.
If you wish to give Trilium a strive, you will discover binary installers for Linux (.deb and .rpm) and MacOS on the GitHub releases page.
Remember that if you wish to add the sync server, you need to be certain that the server and shopper apps are all the identical launch quantity. At the moment, essentially the most up-to-date launch is 0.98.1. If these launch numbers do not match, the sync performance won’t work.
I’d extremely suggest that you simply give Trilum (and the sync server) a strive. I am assured that you’re going to undertake it as your default.