AnyType | Tip: How to open multiple notes simultaneously

May 11, 2024 MugenMuso Anytype, PKM App 0

Situation

  • I want to look at multiple notes in AnyType side by side.
  • I want to use a split view mode with AnyType.

    App version: 0.40.8

Background

For my workflow, ability to open multiple notes simultaneously is one of a must have feature in personal knowledge management. When creating a new note or reviewing existing notes, I often rely on comparing to other notes to solidify my knowledge. I try to create atomic notes or permanent notes in Zettelkasten so I can put these pieces together to create a long-form writing. For this, I definitely need to look at the long-form along with atomic notes.

As a new AnyType user, I had difficulty finding how to open multiple notes at the beginning. I even tried command line interface on my Mac, “open -na AnyType.app”. That did not work and I was ready to give up.

Assessment

AnyType supports multiple note opening via multiple window within their app.

Solution

Step 1: Launch AnyType

Step 2: Go to top navigation

Step 3: Choose Window > New Window Or use keyboard shortcut shift – command – N

Step 4: Resize/reposition window

You can now resize each window anyway you like. This includes opening third and fourth windows and work on multiple windows simultaneously.

If you do not want to manually resize and currently don’t have app for it, there are several Mac app for this. Magnet, BetterSnapTool, and even Raycast supports this.

My thoughts

Opening multiple notes seems a fundamental feature for note-taking app, especially as a personal knowledge management tool. So I feel this should be more intuitive even for someone using Anytype for the first time. Also, there is some performance tradeoff. These include opening each window takes a bit to load, and If you open same notes simultaneously and edit one, a few seconds delay seeing the edit on one note to another (though I don’t know why anyone wants to do this).

As a more flexible multitasking implementation, there is an official forum request for “tab” implementation. The original request for this was submitted in July 2021. So we may be waiting for a while.