The War of Note-Taking Apps
A look into the battle of 2021 and my personal predictions
What an exciting year for note-taking software…
- The rise of Roam and Obsidian has been well-documented
- The growth and mainstream approach of Notion has finally arrived
- The re-emergence of Evernote is among us…
- And there’s dozens of side tools like Walling, Supernotes & more being thrown around as rapid-growth options
- Not to mention the new “must-have” of note-taking tools, bi-directional linking…
🆕 Name Swap
First of all, the name has changed.
It’s no longer “Note-Taking Apps”
Should I say “Personal Knowledge Apps”…
Probably yes.
Perfectly summarised in NessLabs piece of personal knowledge management, tools have now become much better at encapsulating more of our life.
✨ Winners
- Notion 3.0 — The automation and next big update to Notion will be a game-changer, it’ll essentially be Coda for individuals and teams, but with Notion’s much needed attention on the API.
- E2E Tools — It feels like tools will get this as default in 2021, tools like Standard Notes and Bear will be the encryption options, but I envision tools without them will loose the privacy-aware user base fast.
- Evernote 11 — I have a feeling Evernote might be on the rise again. With folks freshly moving to Notion in the last 12 months, and with the addition of features and innovation from Evernote could see more folk centralise their work inside Evernote once again and with a focus on E2E and stability, the future could very well be bright.
😅 Losers
- Dynalist & Workflowy — I feel like tools like Roam and Obsidian will almost over-shadow these outliner tools almost entirely. Folks using Dynalist will probably upgrade to Obsidian and vice versa with Workflowy.
🧳 Buy Outs
- Coda — Google will buy Coda, it makes sense, it’s what Google Docs needs and by the end of 2021 we’ll probably begin to see Google Drive enter the personal management space with a blend of Keep & a new tool.
- Notion — Feel like Notion isn’t going to be bought, but they might spend some of their hard-earned revenue on an emerging AI software. This will be much like the way Apple bought Siri back when it was a baby fledging tool for voice detection.
🚲 AI King of 2021
- In 2021 or 2022, there will be a rising star that will outplay all the major note-taking/personal knowledge management tools that will gain our attention and love and potentially convert us into AI dashboard lovers.
- I’m not sure who or what this will be, but it’ll be our first taste at smart productivity management and I think it’ll be much like Superhuman in it’s approach to the market.
🎤 Biggest Prediction
- Task management applications will work out a way to embed bi-directional linking and supercharge the way you use to-do list apps.
