Custom Thumbnails, Rich Link Previews & “Show Link Preview”

I came across your post a few minutes ago while I was searching endlessly for a replacement for Apple Notes on Windows, and your app immediately caught my attention.

I should clarify one thing about that search: unfortunately, there really isn't a proper Apple Notes application for Windows. Apple Notes is essentially limited to Apple's platforms, with iCloud.com being the closest thing to accessing it from Windows, but it doesn't provide the same experience as having a native app. That's a big part of why I'm so interested in what you're building.

I noticed you already have one of the features I really like about Apple Notes: automatically generating thumbnails for notes based on images contained within them. I was wondering if you have plans to take that a step further.

One of the features I rely on heavily in Apple Notes is that it can also generate a note thumbnail from a URL. If you paste a link into a note and it generates a rich link preview, Apple Notes can use the image from that preview as the note's thumbnail when there isn't another image available.

This is probably one of my favorite features because it makes finding notes incredibly easy when browsing visually. It's something I feel most modern note-taking apps are still missing.

Here's a good explanation of the feature:

https://www.cultofmac.com/how-to/custom-thumbnails-make-apple-notes-easy-find

Another related feature I'd love to see is the ability to convert a plain URL into a rich link preview. Apple Notes originally treats a pasted URL as a regular link, but you can later convert it into a rich preview.

https://www.kg.codes/blog/how-to-convert-a-plain-url-to-a-rich-link-preview-in-apple-notes

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/g9K6wQkKeoo

Essentially, having a "Show Link Preview" option for plain URLs would be fantastic, especially if those previews could also contribute an image to the note thumbnail.

A couple of other questions/features I'd love to see:

• Do you plan to add the ability to organize or filter notes by month or date range, if that isn't already available?

• Do you have any plans to bring the app to Windows at some point?

• If you do venture into Windows, would you consider making it a truly Windows-native application in C#/.NET, rather than using something like Electron? I think a native implementation could make a really compelling Windows experience.

I also put together a short video showing my normal workflow in iOS using Apple Notes, specifically highlighting the features and behavior I'm talking about here. I'll include that video with this message because I think seeing the workflow in practice will communicate what I'm requesting much better than I can explain in text.

I'd be an instant supporter of a Windows version if it had this kind of feature set. I'd also be more than happy to beta test a Windows version if you ever decide to go in that direction. There are honestly a lot of us over here who desperately need a good Apple Notes-centric alternative on Windows, and I think there is a real opportunity to build something great.

For me, the visual thumbnail system, URL previews, and the way those two features work together are some of the biggest reasons Apple Notes remains so difficult to replace.

Really excited to see where you take the app. It looks like you're solving a problem that a lot of us have been looking for a solution to. Fingers crossed you eventually make your way to Windows!