I think there’s something really appealing about being able to open your notes without needing the original app or a specific cloud service. That’s a much better kind of “ownership” than just having an export button somewhere.

One thing I’ve noticed with note apps is that “simple” and “private” seem surprisingly difficult to get together.

A lot of apps are simple but cloud-dependent, while the local-first ones often become much more complicated than what I actually want from a notes app.

I’d honestly take a boring notes app that just does the basics well over another “second brain” system with 50 features.