
Show HN: Amna - a information manager that helps get work done - catchmeifyoucan
https://getamna.com
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catchmeifyoucan
Hey HN. I'm Ravi - maker behind Amna. I built Amna because I found myself
pulled in a lot directions. At work, I was a PM - so always juggling multiple
projects. At home, I would be working on amna and attending local meetups. On
the side, I would volunteer as a TA to teach CS. It wasn't that the work in
each area was super challenging, but keeping up everything was. Sharepoint at
work, Google Drive at Home. A work computer, a personal computer. It was super
frustrating to keep up with everything.

What I really wanted was a better personal management tool that helped me stay
on top and squash my tasks. I also didn't want to convince my entire team or
company to use it. So whatever I built, it had to be private and local-first.
Didn't want to stream sensitive work things to the cloud.

Amna works like a personal todo-list. You deep dive into a task and are
provided the tools to get the task done in one place. For now, it provides a
browser and text editor. A built-in browser is awesome, it works just like
Chrome, and is sufficient for research, paying bills and filling forms. For
example, I just created a task called "Launch Amna to Online Forums", and am
using the built-in editor in the space to type this out, and the browser to
submit this post. I can simply keep monitoring this task for updates, rather
than it getting lost in a sea of tabs. If I have an idea for work, I simply
have to flip to my "Work" headspace and jump into a task there. Switching and
resuming tasks are seamless. When you dive into a task, it serves a kind of
context lock and helps you focus on the task at hand. After I complete a task,
I can search for it again if I need it. I also wrote up a blog post with some
user reseach I did on overall information patterns - take a peek if it sounds
interesting.

If you're writing essays, doing research, or hunting for jobs, you should
definently try out the beta. It'll just feel organized. Drop your email on the
landing page, and I'll get in touch.

Feedback appreciated :)

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croshan
Hey, looks interesting, kind of like you're building your own chromium-based
browser. What's been the hardest part so far?

~~~
catchmeifyoucan
Thanks for checking it out. The browser is indeed chromium based - and it
blends into the larger app as a component.

The most difficult part was actually managing scope creep. I think when
building productivity tools, it can be easy to try and optimize everything and
be a place for everything. So drawing the line at focus work and really
pushing on those items was critical to stay grounded.

