9 min read Flutter

From Simple TTS Reader to AI-Powered Productivity Ecosystem: The LinkNote Evolution

From Simple TTS Reader to AI-Powered Productivity Ecosystem: The LinkNote Evolution

How a weekend project to listen to articles became a comprehensive personal operating system

The Humble Beginning

Three years ago, I had a simple problem: too many Medium articles, too little time to read them. Like many developers, I spent hours commuting and wanted to make that time productive. The solution seemed straightforward—build a Text-to-Speech app that could read saved articles aloud.

That's how LinkNote was born. A simple Flutter app with a clear mission:

  • Save links without friction
  • Organize URLs for easy retrieval
  • Convert articles to speech using TTS
  • Keep the UI distraction-free
  • No unnecessary features, no bloat

The first version took three weeks to build, including the backend. It was a classic "scratch your own itch" project—focused, minimal, and exactly what I needed. You can read about the original LinkNote TTS app here.

The Turning Point

The app stayed simple for a while and browers launched reader mode so it became useless. Then something interesting happened: I started noticing patterns in how I used it. I wasn't just saving articles to listen to—I was saving:

  • Learning resources for skills I wanted to acquire
  • Financial articles I wanted to reference
  • Project ideas and technical documentation

LinkNote had become my digital brain's inbox, but it lacked the structure to organize what came after saving. That's when I realized: the "Read It Later" problem was actually a subset of a much bigger challenge—personal knowledge management.

The Evolution: From Reader to Ecosystem

Phase 1: The NoteBook System (2024)

The first major evolution was adding a proper note-taking system. But I didn't want just another Evernote clone. I wanted something that understood the relationship between different types of information.

What I Built:

  1. Rich Note Editor - Block-based editing with markdown support, images, and audio recordings
  2. Link Management - The original TTS feature, now enhanced with automatic metadata extraction
  3. Journal System - Daily entries with calendar views and AI-powered insights
  4. To-Do Management - Task tracking with recurring tasks, snooze functionality, and local notifications

The key insight was that these aren't separate apps—they're different views of the same information stream. A link could spawn notes, notes could generate todos, journal entries could reference both.

Phase 2: Financial Intelligence (Late 2024)

As I tracked my learning and projects, I realized I was missing a crucial piece: financial context. I was saving articles about side projects but had no idea if they were financially viable. I was learning new skills but couldn't track the ROI.

So LinkNote gained a comprehensive Expense Manager:

Core Features:

  • Account Management - Multiple accounts (Bank, Cash, Credit Card, Investment)
  • Transaction Tracking - Income and expenses with categories and tags
  • Recurring Transactions - Automated tracking of subscriptions and regular bills
  • Trip Management - Expense tracking for travel
  • Financial Reports - Visual analytics and insights
  • AI-Powered Insights - Automatic spending pattern analysis and recommendations

Suddenly, LinkNote wasn't just helping me learn—it was helping me make informed decisions about what to learn and why.

Phase 3: The AI Revolution (2025-2026)

This is where LinkNote transformed from a productivity tool into an intelligent assistant. The AI integration isn't just a chatbot tacked on—it's deeply woven into every aspect of the app.

The Game-Changer: AI Chat & Custom Agents

The heart of LinkNote's AI system is the AI Chat feature, but it's unlike any chatbot you've used before.

What Makes It Special:

1. Custom AI Agents - Your Personal Team of Specialists

Instead of one generic AI assistant, you can create custom agents tailored to specific roles:

  • Code Review Agent - Trained to review your code snippets with specific style guidelines
  • Writing Coach - Helps refine your blog posts and articles
  • Financial Advisor - Analyzes your expenses and suggests optimizations
  • Learning Mentor - Guides you through your learning plans
  • Research Assistant - Helps summarize and connect your saved articles

Each agent has:

  • Custom System Prompts - Define their personality and expertise
  • Specific Instructions - Tell them how to respond
  • Context Awareness - They understand your notes, links, and journals
  • Persistent Memory - Continue conversations across sessions

Creating an Agent is Simple:

Imagine you want a personal budget coach. You create an agent called "Budget Coach" and tell it: "Review my monthly expenses and suggest ways to save money." From that moment on, whenever you chat with Budget Coach, it automatically pulls your financial data and provides contextual advice tailored to your spending patterns.

The beauty is that you can have multiple agents working for you simultaneously—each one an expert in their domain, each one understanding your personal context.

2. The Prompt Library - Your AI Workflow Toolkit

This is where LinkNote gets really powerful. Instead of typing the same prompts repeatedly, you can save them as reusable templates.

Save Prompts as Templates:

  • "Summarize this article in 3 bullet points"
  • "Create a study plan for [topic] in [timeframe]"
  • "Review this code for [language] best practices"
  • "Generate a budget breakdown for [category]"

Use Variables for Flexibility:

Want to create a learning plan? Save a prompt like: "Create a [duration] learning plan for [skill] focusing on [focus_area]"

Then when you use it, just fill in the blanks:

  • Duration: 2 weeks
  • Skill: React
  • Focus Area: hooks

And boom—you get a customized 2-week React hooks learning plan.

Slash Commands for Speed:

Type / in any chat to instantly access your saved prompts. It's like having a personal AI command palette. No more scrolling through chat history or retyping complex prompts.

Track What Works:

The system tracks which prompts you use most, helping you refine your AI workflows over time. You'll quickly discover which prompts give you the best results and build a personal library of AI superpowers.

3. Multi-Provider Flexibility

Here's something unique: LinkNote supports three different AI providers, and you can switch between them instantly:

  • Google Gemini - Fast, cost-effective, great for general tasks
  • OpenRouter - Access to Claude, GPT-4, and 50+ other models
  • Ollama - Run AI models locally on your computer (100% private)

Why This Matters:

Privacy Example:

  • Use Ollama for sensitive financial analysis (data never leaves your device)
  • Use Gemini for general research (fast and cheap)
  • Use Claude (via OpenRouter) for complex writing tasks (best quality)

Cost Control:

  • Bring your own API keys
  • No markup or hidden fees
  • Switch providers based on your budget

No Lock-In:

  • Your prompts and agents work with any provider
  • Export your data anytime
  • Self-host if you want complete control

4. AI-Powered Learning Plans

This feature deserves special mention. Instead of manually creating study plans, LinkNote's AI can generate comprehensive learning paths:

Three Learning Modes:

Interview Prep Mode:

  • "I have a Google interview in 2 weeks for a Senior React position"
  • AI generates: Daily study schedule, common interview questions, practice projects, resource links

Crash Course Mode:

  • "I need to learn Python basics in 3 days for a hackathon"
  • AI generates: Condensed curriculum, essential concepts only, hands-on exercises

Project-Based Mode:

  • "I want to learn Next.js by building a blog"
  • AI generates: Step-by-step project milestones, code examples, deployment guide

5. Intelligent Content Processing

The AI works in the background to make your content more useful:

  • Auto-Summarization - Every link you save gets an AI-generated summary
  • Smart Tagging - Automatic categorization of notes and articles
  • Content Linking - AI suggests connections between your notes
  • News Curation - Personalized news feed based on your interests and reading history

The AI Workflow in Action

Here's how it all comes together:

Morning Routine:

  1. Check your AI-curated news feed (personalized to your interests)
  2. Save interesting articles with one click
  3. AI automatically summarizes and tags them
  4. Chat with your "Research Assistant" agent to discuss key insights

Learning Session:

  1. Generate a learning plan for a new skill
  2. Create todos from the plan milestones
  3. Use saved prompts to quiz yourself
  4. Journal your progress with AI-generated reflections

Financial Review:

  1. Chat with "Budget Coach" agent
  2. AI analyzes your recent transactions
  3. Get personalized savings recommendations
  4. Create recurring transaction rules based on AI insights

Content Creation:

  1. Use "Writing Coach" agent to brainstorm ideas
  2. Pull relevant notes and links for research
  3. Use saved prompts to generate outlines
  4. Export the final article with AI-generated meta descriptions

Phase 4: The Super App Vision (Today)

Today, LinkNote is what I call a Personal Operating System. It's not trying to replace specialized tools—it's the connective tissue between them.

Current Feature Set:

🤖 AI Chat

  • Custom agents for specialized tasks
  • Multi-provider support (Gemini, OpenRouter, Ollama)
  • Chat history and session management

📝 NoteBook

  • Notes - Rich text with markdown, images, audio
  • Links - metadata extraction
  • Journals - Daily entries with AI insights
  • To-Dos - Recurring tasks, snooze, notifications

💰 Expense Manager

  • Multi-account support
  • Transaction categorization
  • Recurring transactions
  • Trip expense tracking
  • AI-powered insights
  • Financial reports and analytics

🎓 Learning Platform

  • AI-generated learning plans
  • Three learning modes
  • Progress tracking
  • Resource management

📰 News Feed

  • Curated content based on interests
  • AI-powered summarization
  • Topic-based filtering

🛠️ Utility Tools

  • Loan calculator
  • Analytics dashboard

But here's what makes it different: everything is connected.

Example Workflows:

  1. Learning → Finance Integration

    • Save a link about React → AI generates learning plan → Create todos for milestones → Track time/expenses on practice project → Journal your progress → Get AI insights on ROI

  2. Financial Planning

    • Read financial article → Save to folder → AI summarizes key points → Create expense tracking categories → Generate budget plan → Set up recurring transactions → Get monthly insights

  3. Project Management

    • Create note for project idea → Add related links → Generate learning plan for required skills → Create todos for implementation → Track expenses → Journal daily progress → AI generates project summary

The Technical Journey

Architecture Evolution

Original Stack (2023):

  • Flutter for mobile
  • Simple REST API
  • SQLite local storage
  • Basic TTS integration

Current Stack (2026):

  • Frontend: Flutter Web + Mobile(PWA support) + Desktop (PWA support)
  • Backend: Spring Boot with MongoDB
  • Authentication: Firebase
  • AI: Multi-provider support (Gemini, OpenRouter, Ollama)

Key Technical Decisions

1. Flutter Everywhere

Starting with Flutter was the best decision. The same codebase now runs on:

  • Web (PWA)
  • Android
  • iOS
  • Desktop (macOS, Windows, Linux)

This means I write the code once and it works everywhere. Updates and new features automatically work across all platforms.

2. AI Provider Flexibility

Instead of locking into one AI provider, LinkNote supports multiple providers. This gives you:

  • Privacy: Use local models for sensitive data
  • Cost Control: Bring your own API keys, no markup
  • Quality: Choose the best model for each task
  • No Lock-In: Switch providers anytime

3. Self-Hostable

The entire stack can be self-hosted. You can run LinkNote on your own server with complete control over your data.

4. Privacy by Design

  • All data encrypted in transit
  • Optional local-only AI processing [OLLMA]
  • Self-hosting option for complete control [Email me if you'd like. You can self-host it for personal use]

Lessons Learned

1. Start Simple, Stay Focused

The original LinkNote succeeded because it did one thing well. Each evolution added features that served a clear user need, not just because they were trendy.

Don't add features just because they're popular. Add them because your users (or you) actually need them.

2. Listen to Your Own Usage

I'm LinkNote's primary user. Every feature exists because I needed it. This "dogfooding" approach kept the product grounded and practical.

Real Example:

  • I noticed I was creating notes about expenses → Added expense tracking
  • I was saving learning articles → Added AI learning plan generation
  • I was journaling about projects → Added project-expense linking

3. Integration > Isolation

The magic isn't in individual features—it's in how they work together.

Isolated Features:

  • Note-taking app ✓
  • AI chat ✓
  • Expense tracker ✓

4. Privacy Matters

As LinkNote grew more powerful, privacy became more important.

Privacy Features:

  • Self-hosting support
  • Local AI models (Ollama)
  • User-controlled API keys
  • Offline-first (data stays local until you sync)
  • No analytics or tracking by default [**AI depends on the provider and your configuration.]

5. The Best Time to Pivot is Before You Need To

I didn't wait for the TTS market to die before evolving. I saw where my usage was going and built for that future.

Timeline:

  • 2023: TTS is the core feature
  • 2024: TTS becomes one feature among many
  • 2025: TTS is barely used, but the foundation it created (link saving) is essential
  • 2026: TTS still works, but it's now part of a much bigger system, real time transcript in ur voice note

Try It Yourself

LinkNote is live at linknote.ashrithgn.com

Features:

  • ✅ Free to use
  • ✅ No credit card required
  • ✅ Self-hostable (code available on request)
  • ✅ Privacy-focused
  • ✅ Can be extend to Multi-platform (Web, Android, iOS, Desktop)

Quick Start:

  1. Sign in with Google
  2. Complete the quick onboarding
  3. Choose your AI provider
  4. Start organizing your digital life

Final Thoughts

Looking back at that first version—a simple TTS reader built in three weeks—I'm amazed at how far it's come. But the core philosophy remains the same:

Build tools that respect your time, protect your privacy, and amplify your capabilities.

LinkNote started as a way to listen to articles during my commute. Today, it's how I manage my entire digital life. And the journey is just beginning.

From a simple weekend project to a comprehensive productivity ecosystem. If you're building something, start small, but think big. You never know where it might lead.

Have you built something that evolved beyond its original purpose? Share your story in the comments!

Follow me for more posts about Flutter development, AI integration, and building products that matter.

About the Author

I'm Ashrith G N, a software engineer passionate about building tools that solve real problems. LinkNote is my personal project that grew from a simple idea into a comprehensive productivity platform. I believe in open development, user privacy, and building in public.

Connect with me:

Ashrith G N

Ashrith G N

I am a Professional Web Application developer with extensive experience in designing and developing Web apps and Web services. Also I write technical blogs
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