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How do you capture things quickly across devices in a self-hosted setup? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 month ago by oldany@lemmy.world to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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I’ve been struggling with something that sounds simple but is surprisingly annoying:

capturing content quickly across devices in a self-hosted environment.

On Android there’s share, on iOS shortcuts, on desktop copy/paste… but everything feels fragmented.

I often end up losing things or postponing them just because capturing isn’t frictionless.

Curious how others handle this.

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[-] wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I dunno if it would help, but between my phone and my computers (and one of my local servers) I use KDE Connect. Read about whatever I'm working on with the phone, share > kde > device, boom the clipboard is filled with whatever, or the link is automatically opened. Then proceed with the thing on my computer. Need to think or read about something but need to step away from the computer? Just copy it on the desktop, and again the clipboard is filled on the phone.

And of course sharing tabs on Firefox/derivatives.

[-] oldany@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Yeah KDE Connect is great for device-to-device flow, I’ve used it too.

What I always found tricky is that it works really well once you're already “in the flow”, but not so much as a quick capture entry point.

Like, it helps moving things around — but not necessarily deciding to capture something instantly in the first place.

That’s where I always felt something was missing.

[-] Lemmchen@feddit.org 8 points 1 month ago

What exactly do you mean by "capture"?

[-] oldany@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Good question — I don’t mean organizing or saving things long-term.

I mean that moment when you see or think something and don’t want to lose it.

Like:

  • a link you want to check later
  • a sentence you read
  • a quick thought
  • something you copied
  • a small piece of info you might need

The problem for me is that if capturing that takes more than a second, I often just don’t do it — or I postpone it and forget.

So “capture” is really just that instant: taking something from wherever you are and storing it somewhere with zero friction.

[-] frongt@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 month ago

You probably want linkwarden: https://github.com/linkwarden/linkwarden

I'm not sure if it handles non-link content like a random thought. Maybe a note-taking app for that; plenty of previous discussions on those if you search.

[-] Lemmchen@feddit.org 2 points 1 month ago

For this I just send a message to myself on Signal (or sometimes WhatsApp). I know, it's not a perfect solution, but for these simple things it's good enough and pretty much content agnostic.

[-] oldany@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Yeah I used that too for a while — it works surprisingly well, but I always felt it’s more of a workaround than something designed for capturing.

[-] irmadlad@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago

I haven't seen anyone mention Readeck. I use Readeck for those 'read it later' articles, etc. It has a Firefox extension. I've found it works very well. You can highlight a paragraph of an article, and save that to Readeck as well. In fact, when I consult with AI, I'll highlight the entire page and shoot it to my Readeck instance, otherwise it will just link the AI platform and not the content.

[-] mcmic88@feddit.org 3 points 1 month ago

I use silverbullet for that. Its like Obsidian but completely online/in browser. Also very much expendable with plugins and scripts

Only thing missing is file sharing.

[-] Cyber@feddit.uk 3 points 1 month ago

Lowest common denominator: Plaintext / Markdown files?

They'll work with Logseq, web browsers, notepad, your phone... and maybe sync it all via syncthing?

That's what I use.

I also write up my system notes in Logseq with the intention that I'll just sync in my ansible files too... one day...

[-] PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

This, in combination with 'copyparty' as a Docker container with a volume mapping to my files. Edit locally, and edit from anywhere.

[-] damnthefilibuster@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

If it’s text, I move everything to obsidian which is installed on multiple devices and uses my self hosted minio server to sync.

If it’s links, most go into my linkding setup. If they’re read later, to Instapaper.

Files, I tend to use minio directly to drag and drop. If it’s genuinely use and throw, like moving memes, I use Tailscale Drop (or Send, or whatever it’s called) to move between devices.

[-] oldany@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Yeah that makes sense — I ended up with similar setups at some point.

What always bothered me a bit is exactly that fragmentation: different tools depending on what you're capturing and from where.

It works, but it feels like you're constantly switching “mode” depending on context.

I keep wondering if capturing should really depend on the destination at all, or if it should be something more uniform.

[-] damnthefilibuster@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

The problem with that to me at least, is that there’s no one uniform way to capture things. Notes and videos and images and files all need different contexts and views. I hate Pocket and similar services for this reason - it feels too “media” friendly, too focused on videos and links and PDF files. When most of my read later is text - articles and such.

[-] oldany@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Yeah — that’s exactly the feeling I kept running into.

At some point I stopped trying to adapt existing tools and ended up building something around this idea of “uniform capture”.

It’s basically a very minimal layer where you can send anything (text, links, quick notes, etc.) from any device in one step — without worrying about where it goes or how it’s structured.

Still early, but it’s been working surprisingly well for me in daily use.

[-] damnthefilibuster@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Tell me more!

[-] oldany@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Sure 🙂

What I ended up building is basically a very minimal “capture layer”.

The idea is simple: no matter where you are (phone, browser, desktop), capturing something should always be the same action.

In practice:

  • Android → share
  • iOS → shortcut
  • browser → bookmarklet
  • desktop → just paste

Everything goes into the same place instantly, without deciding upfront what it is or where it belongs.

No tags, no structure, no “mode switching”.

Just capture first, decide later (or never).

I built it mainly because I was tired of stitching together different tools depending on context.

If you want to take a look: https://github.com/oldany/dropmind

[-] damnthefilibuster@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

That looks cool! And… I think we can extend it to iOS and android apps. The benefit being drag and drop simplicity and sharing sheet access, instead of shortcuts, which have always felt wonky to me.

I’ll play with it first. Thanks for the link!

[-] oldany@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Yeah I get what you mean 🙂

Shortcuts work (that’s what I’m using on iOS right now), but they can feel a bit “indirect” compared to something more native like share sheets or drag & drop.

Curious to hear how it feels once you try it — especially what feels frictionless vs what doesn’t.

[-] oldany@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Small update: DropMind just showed up in today’s selfh.st newsletter under development activity.

Feels like the idea is slowly starting to resonate — curious to see how people end up using it in their own setups.

[-] oldany@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

Just pushed a small update based on real usage feedback.

Fixed a couple of issues (attachments cleanup + clipboard counts) and improved the Apple Shortcut for multiple items.

Still keeping things simple and focused on fast capture.

[-] mhzawadi@lemmy.horwood.cloud 2 points 1 month ago

use a lemmy community that only you can post too?

[-] oldany@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Yeah that’s actually what I tried at some point too 😄

But I always felt it’s still a workaround — you’re adapting a tool that wasn’t really built for capturing.

The friction is lower, but it’s still there.

I keep thinking there should be something more “native” to this use case, something that sits between devices and apps rather than inside one of them.

[-] Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyz 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters More Letters
DNS Domain Name Service/System
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the Web
IP Internet Protocol
TCP Transmission Control Protocol, most often over IP
UDP User Datagram Protocol, for real-time communications
VPN Virtual Private Network

6 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 6 acronyms.

[Thread #189 for this comm, first seen 24th Mar 2026, 20:30] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

[-] BeatTakeshi@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

I think a second brain service, like maybe Trilium that you can host, could be a solution. Capture, tag, link, analyse, find back

[-] oldany@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Yeah I tried going the “second brain” route too (Trilium, Obsidian, etc.)

What I kept running into is that they’re great once something is already in the system — but capturing still feels like a separate step where you have to think about where it belongs.

I started wondering if capturing should be completely independent from organization, and almost “context-free”.

More like a thin layer you can hit instantly from anywhere, without deciding anything upfront.

[-] InnerScientist@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

I have linkwarden set up for this.

On Android I share to the linkwarden app to save, on pc i use the Firefox addon.

Sure it's fragmented but I'm already used to doing things different between mobile and pc anyways.

[-] mhzawadi@lemmy.horwood.cloud 1 points 1 month ago

I have started using nextcloud talks note to self, your chat app of choice will have something similar

[-] oldany@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Yeah I tried similar approaches too (notes to self, chat apps etc.)

They kind of work, but I always felt they weren’t really designed for this use case — more like a workaround.

What I was missing was something more “frictionless”, where capturing is basically instant and doesn’t depend on context.

[-] mhzawadi@lemmy.horwood.cloud 1 points 1 month ago

what sort of stuff are you looking to capture? images, text, code, thoughts?

[-] oldany@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Pretty much everything 😄

  • links from browser
  • selected text
  • quick notes / thoughts
  • sometimes even just a sentence I don’t want to lose

The problem (for me) wasn’t what to capture, but how fast and from where.

I tried things like Linkwarden too — great tool, but still feels tied to specific entry points (browser extension, app, etc.).

What I kept missing was something more “universal”, where capturing is always one step away regardless of device or context.

[-] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 month ago

I find that just texting myself does the trick for things like this. But that's how I operate. I'm curious to see how you tackle this puzzle.

[-] oldany@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Yeah I used the “message to self” approach for a while too — it works surprisingly well 🙂

What I ended up building is basically a very minimal “capture layer”, where no matter the context (share, paste, shortcut, etc.), everything goes into the same place instantly, without deciding upfront what it is or where it belongs.

It’s not really a note-taking tool — more like a universal entry point.

If you're curious: https://github.com/oldany/dropmind

[-] leraje@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 month ago

Self hosted Standard Notes?

this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2026
38 points (100.0% liked)

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