OBTF stands for “One Big Text File”. Its a style of keeping notes that’s proven effective for many people.

Basically, just keep writing in a big text file, sometimes adding the date. OBTF-2 is an app for editing that text-file. It’s hyper-focused on reducing friction to keeping good notes. In many ways, it’s defined as much by what it doesn’t do:
OBTF-2 does not:
- Require a subscription
- Allow you to choose the font, style, or color
- Support categories of notes or tagging
- Sync your notes across devices
- Support markdown, syntax highlighting, LaTeX, etc
All of these things turn into decisions that need to be made to take a note. They are distractions to the actual thing you’re trying to do. If you need that stuff, that’s fine–– but OBTF-2 is not for you.
What it does, OBTF-2 strives to do well:
- Reduce friction to keeping notes
- Display images (like screenshots) alongside text
- Find things you wrote before
- Keep your notes readable a long time from now
Download for MacOS (Apple Silicon)
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