Thoughts on the new plugin functionality (in beta)

[u/janpeeters]

I'm delighted that the Supernote devs build the Plugin API for other developers to create additional functionality. Really great and innovative plugins are being posted in r/Supernote_dev. While trying them in the beta OS over the last few weeks I noticed a few things that I would like to share for consideration by the Supernote team. I didn't want to post it in supernote_dev since I'm not a dev and didn't want to pollute that forum with my thoughts and observations. I will repost if desired:

I understand that as a company, you don't want the plugins to take up too many resources and I presume it is because of that, that the number of installs is capped at 10. I notice though that ten is barely enough. I do understand that some people feel that this cap is great because you have to be really critical about what you install. And I agree that making a careful selection is a good idea, but there are quite a few plugins that add only a small functionality: e.g. scribble, align shapes and some more. In the future someone might consider consolidating them into one plugin, but this is not the case yet. So I hope we can get a higher cap, say 30.

The solutions that developers come up with, also make clear (to me), that some functionality could be integrated in the default Supernote OS. I understand that not everybody will agree with the following list but it's only an example:

• scribble through a text to delete it
• two finger tap the screen to undo and three finger tap to redo (like the other e-ink device)
• align shapes
• auto-convert hand drawn shapes to geometric shapes (circle, square, triangle like the line functionality)
• an easy way to jump through a group of notes, not only the last. When studying this would be a real timesaving.
• etc.

Thanks for considering these suggestions.

[u/RobsterCrawSoup]

Capped at 10 sounds like a very imprecise hueristic, which may be expedient for now. Maybe further down the line a better system would be to have a resource budget for plugins and as part of the validation of each plugin in the InkHub, they are given a resource cost. Then you can install as many plugins as you want as long as you don't exceed the reource budget.

[u/Mulan-sn → u/RobsterCrawSoup]

I like the idea of assigning a resource cost to each plugin.

[u/janpeeters → u/RobsterCrawSoup]

Great idea, it would also motivate developers to create resource efficient plugins. But I'm sure most of them are already considering that.

[u/Mulan-sn]

Thanks for the thoughtful feedback.

We've taken note of your two valid points: the 10‑plugin cap, and the idea of integrating some popular plugin features into the core OS. Both are worth discussing internally.

On the cap: we set it at 10 as a starting point based on performance considerations. Another major consideration is to prevent users from being overwhelmed by too many choices.

On integration: some of the features you mentioned, like scribble‑to‑erase and inserting geometric shapes, have been suggested before. We'll revisit them and consider building them directly into the system rather than relying on plugins.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts so clearly and for being part of the conversation.

[u/janpeeters → u/Mulan-sn]

Your welcome Mulan, and thank you for your kind reply and consideration.