{"slug": "notational-velocity", "name": "Notational Velocity", "category": "notes", "category_name": "Notes and knowledge", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 3.453, "rising": 0.02, "first": "2025-11-10", "latest": "2026-10-12", "why": "Still works like a charm 15 years and 14 macOS releases later.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Still works like a charm 15 years and 14 macOS releases later.", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": "notational.net", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://notational.net", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Notational Velocity"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 800937584, "item_id": 50058599, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50058599", "by": "johncoltrane", "date": "2026-10-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Still works like a charm 15 years and 14 macOS releases later.", "excerpt": "Notational Velocity's last update was in 2011. Still works like a charm 15 years and 14 macOS releases later.", "context": "", "use_case": "note-taking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What's the oldest software tool you still rely on every day?"}, {"id": 753193312, "item_id": 47074582, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47074582", "by": "andai", "date": "2026-02-19", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used Notational Velocity in those days :) A rare gem of ergonomics.", "excerpt": "When I had a Mac I used an encrypted volume in Dropbox. (Not sure if that's a good idea, but I didn't have any issues.) I used Notational Velocity in those days :) A rare gem of ergonomics. Later I did the same thing with a VeraCrypt volume. Now I'm in Obsidian, which has its own encryption (if you trust 'em!), but never quite got the frictionless feeling of NV back.", "context": "", "use_case": "Note-taking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: An encrypted, local, cross-platform journaling app"}, {"id": 739821424, "item_id": 46238839, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46238839", "by": "cpeterso", "date": "2025-12-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used Notational Velocity for years. I loved its free form approach to note taking and searching", "excerpt": "I used Notational Velocity for years. I loved its free form approach to note taking and searching, but I needed a cross platform solution with files that could be shared using Dropbox. https://notational.net/ I now just use three text files open in Sublime Text: todo-today.txt, todo-this-week.txt, and todo-later.txt. I review them daily and promote todos to the next file when appropriate.", "context": "", "use_case": "note-taking", "switched_from": "", "story": "My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)"}, {"id": 734024016, "item_id": 45876501, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45876501", "by": "sph", "date": "2025-11-10", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "writing my own Notational Velocity desktop app clone in Godot", "excerpt": "Tired of having my notes spread everywhere, on uncomfortable software, I'm writing my own Notational Velocity desktop app clone in Godot: https://share.combo.cc/-Z7hBzNbaCc (work in progress prototype, design is not final) Intentionally made simple and centered around plain text files and editing speed. I've spent a week on the prototype, now it's good enough to dog-food. Would like to eventually distribute it as a m", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (Nov 2025)"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["note-taking"], "compared": [{"slug": "sublime-text", "name": "Sublime Text", "co": 1, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50058242", "title": "Ask HN: What's the oldest software tool you still rely on every day?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47072863", "title": "Show HN: An encrypted, local, cross-platform journaling app", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46236037", "title": "My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45869146", "title": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (Nov 2025)", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 800937584, "item_id": 50058599, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50058599", "by": "johncoltrane", "date": "2026-10-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Still works like a charm 15 years and 14 macOS releases later.", "excerpt": "Notational Velocity's last update was in 2011. Still works like a charm 15 years and 14 macOS releases later.", "context": "", "use_case": "note-taking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What's the oldest software tool you still rely on every day?"}, {"id": 753193312, "item_id": 47074582, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47074582", "by": "andai", "date": "2026-02-19", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used Notational Velocity in those days :) A rare gem of ergonomics.", "excerpt": "When I had a Mac I used an encrypted volume in Dropbox. (Not sure if that's a good idea, but I didn't have any issues.) I used Notational Velocity in those days :) A rare gem of ergonomics. Later I did the same thing with a VeraCrypt volume. Now I'm in Obsidian, which has its own encryption (if you trust 'em!), but never quite got the frictionless feeling of NV back.", "context": "", "use_case": "Note-taking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: An encrypted, local, cross-platform journaling app"}, {"id": 739821424, "item_id": 46238839, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46238839", "by": "cpeterso", "date": "2025-12-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used Notational Velocity for years. I loved its free form approach to note taking and searching", "excerpt": "I used Notational Velocity for years. I loved its free form approach to note taking and searching, but I needed a cross platform solution with files that could be shared using Dropbox. https://notational.net/ I now just use three text files open in Sublime Text: todo-today.txt, todo-this-week.txt, and todo-later.txt. I review them daily and promote todos to the next file when appropriate.", "context": "", "use_case": "note-taking", "switched_from": "", "story": "My productivity app is a never-ending .txt file (2020)"}, {"id": 734024016, "item_id": 45876501, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45876501", "by": "sph", "date": "2025-11-10", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "writing my own Notational Velocity desktop app clone in Godot", "excerpt": "Tired of having my notes spread everywhere, on uncomfortable software, I'm writing my own Notational Velocity desktop app clone in Godot: https://share.combo.cc/-Z7hBzNbaCc (work in progress prototype, design is not final) Intentionally made simple and centered around plain text files and editing speed. I've spent a week on the prototype, now it's good enough to dog-food. Would like to eventually distribute it as a m", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (Nov 2025)"}]}