I'm (sadly) leaving Capacities — here's why (tl;dr: the last few releases)
Hey everyone,
I wanted to share a quick note before I leave — mostly because I’ve really enjoyed being part of this community and using Capacities over the past months.
This isn’t a rage post or anything like that. Quite the opposite actually: I really liked Capacities and recommended it to others. The idea, the object-based approach, and the overall philosophy are genuinely great.
But over time — especially with the last ~2–4 releases — my experience changed quite a bit, and I’ve decided to move to another tool.
What changed for me
For me, Capacities used to shine in:
- clarity
- speed
- clean, efficient UX
Unfortunately, recent updates started to undermine exactly those strengths.
Main issues I’ve experienced
1. UX regressions & questionable design changes
Especially since around Release 61:
- Moving text stats / metadata into nested menus → adds friction to something that should be instant
- Turning the document outline (TOC) into a floating-only element → removes the ability to pin it (which was super useful)
- Reworking side panels in a way that makes things less scannable and more space-consuming
- Overall: changes feel inconsistent and somewhat random, rather than iterative improvements
These aren't just "different preferences" — they actively reduce efficiency in daily use.
2. Stability & reliability issues (this was the biggest dealbreaker)
- Login problems (including failed human verification) → happened multiple times, including during exam prep (!!)
- Sync failures without warning→ I lost actual note changes on the Windows client with zero indication
- Data loss recovery issues→ importing a backup led to: duplicate objects, broken links and distorted notes
That’s unfortunately a hard no-go for a note-taking system you rely on.
3. Performance & general UX friction
- Noticeably laggy UI (especially on Linux / Windows)
- Random small features breaking or behaving inconsistently
- Increasing feeling that new (questionable?) features are prioritized over making existing ones solid
The bigger picture
What concerns me most is not a single bug or decision — that happens in any product.
It’s more the direction of recent releases:
- Core UX being changed in ways that reduce usability
- Stability issues appearing in fundamental areas (sync, login, data integrity)
- A perceived imbalance between new features vs. polishing & reliability
Final note
I’ve decided to migrate my notes elsewhere for now.
I genuinely hope Capacities succeeds long-term — the idea behind it is still one of the most interesting in this space. But for me, the current state (especially after the last few releases) doesn’t feel reliable enough for something as critical as my notes.
2 Comments
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Sorry to see anyone go that truly appreciates Capacities.
A lot of stuff might be individual or system setup related, but still… there is certainly a general streak/sentiment/experience involved…
… what I can constructively leverage from that:
1) continuous UI/UX change is something with two sides, and – I agree – should be handled with care out of resp. for UI/UX-user habituation (and "habituation", "living calmly in the studio…" is something that Capacities is/should really be about…)
2) some forms of continuous/close-touch community feedback/looping – beyond individual functions but for structural and larger scale use+feel questions – would probably be helpful to everyone/long-term development… and could prevent such exits/feelings as this one…
(I think the "polishing"/rooting basic frictions vs "new features" theme is one that appears regularly (way back), and also very spread out – like just now here – … so, no need to single that out here… but surely there is something to it too…!)
I just wanted to say that I'm in the same boat as you, Flo, particularly with regard to #2 above (Stability & reliability). My primary use for Capacities has been note-taking (though I do appreciate its many other, often unique functionalities), and it's disappointing to see the app fail at core operations that, as a user, I would like to take for granted. So far I haven't lost anything critical, but the app feels increasingly unstable (see my bug notice here). For the time being, at least, I'll be returning to paper and pen + a markdown editor.