I use Workflowy. Partner and I replaced G Keep with it. It can do A and maybe C.
this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2025
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Hi quaff!
The app I use for this purpose is called Notally, on android. It supports reordering the checkboxes, but it doesn't do find in page or sync to web (although it can do backup /restore -- I sync the folder with nextcloud and I can access the text files)
That said if you try it, you might love how simple it is and use it for something!
I self-host Notesnook and found it easy to set up. Been using it as my main note-taking app for years now and I'm really happy with it.
Are you able to drag & drop to reorder checkbox list items in notes? 🙏
Yes, if you use the "task list" block. You can also have checkbox bullet points but I don't use them, not really sure what the use-case for those are when you can just use the task list.
Triliumnext can do everything you want. Its pretty damn powerful
Whoa. This actually works pretty close. Although, I am not seeing the ability to drag and drop re-order list items. Which is the big feature I want and need.
I am seeing in their github issues that CKEditor doesn't support it. Thanks for the suggestion though!
Others have mentioned Syncthing as a sync solution. I'd like to add a couple points:
Syncthing can work fine even for solutions that are intended to use their own sync, provided it's a single-user setup. You're not likely to make simultaneous changes on 2 devices, so collisions are unlikely.
Also for using Syncthing, I recommend Syncthing-Fork for Android - it moves sync conditions into the folder/job rather than global. Very useful when you have jobs you want always syncing, and jobs you want to only sync on wifi and power.
If using iOS there's an ST client called Möbius Sync ($5), developed by a company the financially supports Syncthing.
For Windows, get SyncTrayzor - it makes running and managing ST easier.
Notesnook. And if you like it, buy the pro ASAP since they're raising the prices this week.
Docmost?
I use Logseq with ToDoList plugin to handle task list. Logseq is similar to obsidian but open-source. And to syncronize notes among devices, I use syncthing. No need to selfhost.
I use Tasks.org with caldav (Radicale) on android and thunderbird on pc, would that work?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.tasks
I see tasks.org supports etesync, which encrypts data. I have never used it though
I already use Tasks.org :) But that's for specific things.
I like writing list of things. Like groceries, and as I write them, I tend to re-organize them. Having the ability to re-order the items easily helps me tremendously.
Tasks.org can't fill that note aspect. Let alone re-ordering a task.
I see 🙂
I used emacs org-mode before. Can do a lot of stuff on PC, but mobile experience was lacking. And learning curve is crazy
I am currently testing out logseq + syncthing. I don't reorder things much anymore though
Good luck!
I also recommand Task.org app to sync tasks with CalDAV and I use raw Markdown files with WebDAV, both using the DAVx5 app for synchronization. For editing Markdown, I prefer minimalist apps that suit my needs. Right now, I find SimpleMarkdown (with disabled telemetry) to be the best choice.
SimpleMarkdown doesn't allow for re-ordering checkbox list items.
What I want is being able to hand draw something quickly in my notes, what's the app that has text and drawings?
I spent several years looking for the perfect selfhosted solution to this, but ultimately I realized an offline solution was just going to be better. So I started using Obsidian which is as simple or complex as you want with no paywall.
Some of the self hosted solutions I’ve tried were:
I settled on obsidian really quickly as well. And now sync thing + tailscale + obsidian means I am done experimenting and things just work.
Unless you're using syncthing on Android which is a nightmare
Works fine for me.
What issues are you having?
Some hiccups for me but nothing egregious.
You can also get obsidian to sync using the guide here: https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/s/GegPIcBjFg. It's really good.
Not sure of your specific needs, but I feel that self hosting (i.e. setting up a proper server) is unnecessary. Just pick a local first program and use it with syncthing.
The usual trio (which may be overkill) are Obsidian (admittedly not open source), Trillium, and logseq.
Have you considered Kanban apps? All of them should support A+C. I've used Wekan and Kanboard. Hope this helps your searching!
You might want to list the platform you want to use it on. I'm assuming that you're wanting to access this on a smartphone of some sort?
Ah good point. I edited my post! Android and Web (nice to have is desktop Linux support). Thank you!
Emacs and org-mode.
Lots of features, but not simple and a big learning curve is you don't already is emacs.
I don't think that there's a way for it to do drag and drop, either, although it's emacs, so who knows?
Every now and then this question comes up. It's a timeless software engineering conundrum. Kind of like how med students might start to think they have all kinds of diseases and conditions because they're learning all these symptoms.
Software engineers, especially new ones, tend to be heavily biased toward applying technical solutions to non-technical problems. Most never actually grow out of this.
I'll advise what I advise every time someone approaches me or one of my peer groups with this very question:
Get yourself a notebook and a pen.
I'm dead serious, not trolling, and not some kind of technophobe zealot.
When it comes down to it, if you let go of what you think you need in a to-do list app, you'll find that what you actually need is much simpler.
Notebooks are e2e encrypted. Self hosted. Offline. As ephemeral as you like. Indexable for search. Versatile. Take a picture of a page if you really want to. OCR it if you need to.
Pen and paper.
I carry a phone, I'm not carrying a notebook and pen.
I did that 40 years ago.
Plus that list doesn't show up on my laptop or my desktop, other places I'm working.
It's not sortable by date/time, priority or project.
That's terrible advice, and doesn't even meet the basic requirements of the question.
I hear ya. I don't carry a notebook with me, and don't like to fill my pockets. So I appreciate the low tech suggestion, but will have to pass on this!
I use notesnook but I don't self host, just the app locally. It has an option to insert a task list into the note, and that has drag and drop reordering. It also encrypts at rest, and has text search. Hope that helps your decision.
Thanks! I had tested Notesnook with the official server. It worked the way I want. but it seems their self host server doesn't have that feature. Not obviously tho. Which is really weird, since I'm using the same client app (where I assumed this functionality would live).
That's a very specific and interesting exclusion, weird. Well sorry dude, best of luck finding something that works.
You can do all this with Obsidian and plugins. I just saw a nice keep like interface one. You'll have to play around a bit but it's definitely doable.
I suppose I should have mentioned more directly, I'd prefer if it's an open source solution.
If you change your mind: https://github.com/linuxserver/docker-obsidian
Thanks.
I just set up Notesnook lol I can drag and drop reorder list items (checkbox list) on the official server, but not when connected to my own... Same exact mobile app (just different server)... The fact that Notesnook and Standard Notes both claim to be open source, but don't share all of their code with the open source world. Maybe it's gated by env vars. Who knows. I have half a mind to give Obsidian a chance if it can do what I want.
The plugins are open source at least, and the notes it makes aren't proprietary. It's just an app to interact with them. Been using it as a trapper keeper for years and it's been able to keep up with my changing needs. :) !obsidianmd@lemmy.world There's thousands of plugins and the discord is a huge resource.
it might be worth watching this PR for memos, which adds encryption at rest. I can't vouch for it, as I didn't read the code but I do use memos and might consider this if it's merged.
https://github.com/usememos/memos/pull/5130
This is not E2EE, but I don't think E2EE is that important if you're hosting your own data. And clients can use TLS for encryption in transit.
Can't drag and drop to reorder lists. But it looks cool!