Developer launches ivyNote, a local-first AI Markdown note-taking app with multi-device sync

On November 7, 2026, an independent developer posted on V2EX announcing ivyNote, a local-first Markdown note app of his own making. A usable version is already out, and he invited people to try it and send feedback. The project lives at https://ivynote.app/ , though he noted the main domain is still under ICP filing and cannot resolve yet; a redirect will be set up once resolution is in place.

In the post, the developer positions ivyNote as local-first and highlights multi-device sync, bidirectional links, and AI features. He frames the project as a personal answer to a long string of note apps he has tried, among them Obsidian, Joplin, Notion, Tiddlywiki, SiYuan, Bear, Yuque, Weizhi Notes, and Logsql. Each came with a reason for moving on. Obsidian, he writes, is powerful and easy to wire up with AI, but it feels too heavy, and its sync plugins are unstable — he reports having hit failures twice after a sync plugin update. Joplin is simple, elegant, and available on multiple devices, but attachments and notes are stored together, making clean sharing awkward; it remains the app he uses the most. Notion excels at team collaboration with flexible block-based editing and a convenient API, but all data sits in the cloud and the product keeps getting heavier. Tiddlywiki is simple and elegant, ships as a single HTML file, and extends well, but its mobile experience falls short. SiYuan holds up well across devices, with strong sync, and belongs to the block-note category.

None of them, he says, matched his personal working habits completely, which is why he built another one.