Notes on Filen, so far
I've been slowly duplicating my most frequently accessed notes from Standard Notes (SN) onto Filen. I have a somewhat paid storage account there; 100 GB Lifetime starter, not subscription. When available, it's 30 euro. I've been using the account for a few years.
Scroll down if you'd like my referral to try it.
For music file backup and management, because my collection is a bit messy and located in multiple places, I'm putting my master CD and track list in Filen. I still have CDs that need to be ripped before decluttering them. Using the Rich Text or Checklist note type, I can easily see what is completed and what isn't as I mark them, so that's nice to have over just plain text in SN.
The Note feature on Filen is new-ish, not sure if considered in beta or not. It's simpler in function compared to SN, but if your notes are just text -- no need of a web clipper, etc. it could be an option.
Filen note sorting options:
All notes, tags (use the + sign), faves / heart, and pinned to top are available. If you Archive a note, it kicks the note to the bottom of the main list; it's not visually hidden. I don't see a way to filter archived notes only like SN.
The 5 note types available are:
- Checklist
- Code
- Markdown: gets split into 2 narrow columns in web browser with a view of the formatting on the right column.
- Rich Text: some basic formatting and can intersperse checklists, too.
- Text (plain)
Filen cons:
No total counter of notes, so if I were to switch completely from SN it would be harder to see side by side that I've copied everything over by matching the numbers.
No word count, if you use that function.
Tags don't display alphabetically, it seems to autosort by most recently created or used?
I've run into a quirk / bug where copying and pasting text in the Rich text note format applies the code block, which I have to select and undo.
No dedicated UNDO function, same as SN free.
Filen pros:
Markdown fan? It's available as a Note Type (paid only on SN).
Dedicated dark mode setting for the account, I think SN is by your system settings only? Yes I keep my browser in dark mode but the system is in light mode, because I'm too lazy to switch it back and forth. :P
Other than the lack of note counter, Filen notes meets a lot of my minimal needs as is, especially for something that I don't have to pay extra for.
Filen is a young-ish (2020) German encrypted cloud storage service, now with basic Notes and Chats in the browser.
Free accounts get 10 GB.
MY FILEN REFERRAL, if you want to try it and get an extra 10 GB when you register a new account (ACCEPT cookies for the referral to work): https://filen.io/r/0738069b244a1c43c83112b735140a16
If you normally clear cookies you can go back to your normal after the account is made / when you next sign in. I use the "only required" setting when signing in on browser.
NOTE the free Filen account INACTIVITY period of 3 months if you're testing it.
I think once your free account is setup, you should see 20 GB reflected in the account details -- click on the profile link in the top.
Interestingly, Standard Notes is now owned by Proton in 2024, which seems like a good thing; I also use Proton on a free account. But I've had a particular nitpicky issue on my SN account, so considering consolidating or switching despite this.
With SN I've consistently run into sync problems after midnight local time. I'm a bit of a night owl at times, and it gets annoying when I can't login at all, or get the notes to sync at that moment I want to get them down. That's the main reason I've been testing Filen.