Not happy about the paywall

[WeberAlex]

Hello there,

The new free plan starting Jan 17 2021 of 30 documents limit, and removing the option of Markdown customization is a middle finger to the existing users. Not early bird adoption plan. Pay or take the door. Nice business model.

[myicq]

.. add to that removal of every export option, except via an API. How simple and user-friendly is that for the average note-taker. Want to see the mileage on your car ? Sure, just invent an OBD analyzer, our specs is listed somewhere here... This is really thanking all supporters for their valuable input and time.

[Komediruzecki]

I tried both the app (Windows, 0.23.1.0) and online, went through every menu and item in the settings menu. There was NO export function, only import. And numerous options as well for import.

For each note there is three dots in the corner where you have props of the doc and export options (there is no batch export at the moment)

The version number on the app is missing, since the app is a combination of web app and desktop. The thing you see in desktop app is actually a web page loaded (same as web-app) and it has a bit different version, but you can always see the app version installed from your system (on windows, uninstall programs list for example). But I think we should add app number to the app itself anyways, just didn't have time to do it yet.

[Komediruzecki]

API access does not really count as a viable export option, as a majority of users won't be able to use it.

There was already some users who created some simple scripts to retrieve the docs through API, I also created for myself, so I think we could easily share those for users who don't really want to write their own and just export it simply. But I think batch export from app would be even better.

For everything else, I am not suitable to answer your questions, maybe @Rokt33r can help.

[Rokt33r]

We'd like to introduce proper importing/exporting interfaces not just APIs. But it would take time for us to ship because the current backend APIs are quite messy so we need to improve them first.

[WeberAlex]

@myicq

Why make your software a locked box, where the typical user has to literally copy/paste every single document ?

I think it was the plan to bring in a maximum of users before to put a vendor lock in to assure a maximum of retention. Before using Boost Note as an online Markup note taking, I asked some questions about the Free plan and the limitations (you can read them in the Q&A). What became clear was there is a fork maintained by Komediruzecki that is local, free and allows backup, but the Online version of Boost Note was obscure. The app was not a Beta, and it was not indication if the unlimited documents with file size limitation was here to stay. As you said people who spent time editing documents on Boost Note are left with little option, either saving each document one by one, or paying to keep using it. It came abruptly. The app is nice though. I hope that they will get what they are aiming for.

[Komediruzecki]

I don't think that was ever the goal,

the API is there, so you can export all notes automatically, and in-app backup will come so you don't need to worry about that.

The world would not function if everything was free, so if you like the product and want to support its development, you pay for it, I don't think anyone from BoostIO had any wrong intention in any of the decisions being made, it is purely based on making a product worth having.