Fetchnotes 3 for iOS is a perfect note-taking app for the Twitter age

I get bogged down by process; what is the best way to capture this thought, or in what format will this idea be recorded? Rather than focus on the content itself, I tend to analyze — far too attentively — the method in which the content will be captured. This rather sardonically leads to no action at all.

When I found Fetchnotes last year, I began using it as a quick way to jot down thoughts. I was already entrenched in the nomenclature of the UX — hashtags and “@ signs” to signify categories, topics and people — and it just made sense to use it to divide my incongruous and disparate thoughts into untameable virtual regions. But I didn’t continue to use it because it felt incomplete, a work in progress.

Now, with Fetchnotes 3.0 for iOS (and soon for Android and the web), many of the app’s shortcomings are resolved, and it looks to be back at the top of my list for notetaking apps on iOS.

For starters, the app is gorgeous: simple, elegant and understated, it works on a system-wide level, adhering to the general iOS 7 structure, but also as a general note-taking app. It loads instantly, and the “New Note” icon is ever-present, ensuring that it won’t take more than a second to begin jotting down your thoughts. Other apps, like Simplenote and Drafts, do this well, too, but Fetchnotes strikes a very good balance between form and function.

Second, like Google Keep, current notes are kept on the homescreen and older ones — those that you want to keep but don’t want to see up front — can be archived. This is the way things should be; I don’t ever want to delete notes, I just want to hide them.

The app now supports push notifications, which coincides with the new collaboration tools. Previously, users tagged with an @ symbol had to be using the app to have notes shared with them; in this version, even those who don’t have the app installed can receive the note, as it detects email addresses and phone numbers. Push notifications tell you when a shared note is sent back or updated in real time.

It’s also now possible to filter the list based on tag, contact or specific words; you can therefore use Fetchnotes for to-do lists, shopping lists, ideas, or anything else you want, and easily access only the content you want.

Though the update is only available for iOS users today, the web and Android versions will see similar improvements in the coming weeks and months (closer to early 2014 for the Android version, I’m told). There’s also a Chrome extension for those who want to sync content between platforms.

[source]App Store[/source][via]Fetchnotes[/via]