Writing
How Nex compares to the tools you are probably already using, and the reasoning behind the parts of it you cannot see.
- 7 min readComparisonsNotionNex vs Notion: what we kept, and what we left outNotion got the block editor and nested pages right. Where Nex differs is everything downstream of treating a page as a row in a database.Read
- 6 min readComparisonsAFFiNENex vs AFFiNE: two answers to “a document and a canvas”AFFiNE puts the page and the whiteboard in one space and lets you switch between them. Nex puts the whiteboard inside the page. That choice decides everything after it.Read
- 8 min readComparisonsNotionObsidianAFFiNENotion, Obsidian, AFFiNE, Nex: pick by what you are actually storingFour tools that look similar in a screenshot and answer completely different questions. A guide to working out which question is yours.Read
- 5 min readDesignNotionWhy page properties are a block, not a panelEvery other tool bolts metadata to the top of the page. Nex makes it a block in the document — and gives up something real to do it.Read
- 5 min readDesignEngineeringWhy a page URL should not contain its titleReadable URLs are lovely right up to the moment somebody renames the page. Nex addresses pages by id, and this is the reasoning.Read
- 6 min readDesignCommentsComments belong beside the paragraph, not under the pageA remark about one sentence and a remark about a document are different things. Nex keeps them apart, and anchors both to something that survives an edit.Read
- 6 min readPublishingSecurityWhat “anyone with the link” should actually meanPublishing a page is a security decision wearing the costume of a toggle. How Nex mints public addresses, and why one function decides every read.Read
- 6 min readEngineeringDesignWe did not build realtime co-editing, and here is the reasoningMultiplayer cursors are the most demanded feature in this category and the one most often used by nobody. What we built instead, and when we would change our minds.Read
- 5 min readEngineeringExportExport you can trust: markdown, HTML and PDF, in your browserAn export button is a promise about leaving. Nex keeps it without uploading your private pages anywhere to be converted.Read
- 5 min readEngineeringDesignPage history without a version-control degreeAn editor that autosaves every second could keep a version every second. That list would be unusable. What Nex keeps instead, and why it records what a save replaced.Read
- 5 min readEngineeringSearchSearch that reads the page, not just the titleHalf of search should run on your machine and half on the server. Splitting it that way is what makes both halves fast.Read
- 5 min readEngineeringSecurityError messages are an information leak wearing a helpful faceMost apps show you the server’s error. That error knows table names, ids and stack traces. Here is the line Nex draws, and where it draws it.Read
- 5 min readEngineeringPerformanceWhy your notes app gets slow at 500 pagesMost tools in this category are fast in a demo and heavy in a real workspace. Usually it is one table doing two jobs.Read
- 4 min readDesignTemplatesA template should show you the finished thing, not the skeletonEmpty headings under empty headings teach you nothing. Nex ships templates filled in, and keeps built-in ones as code rather than rows.Read