I rebuilt Apple Notes but every note is a local Markdown file. 😎

A simple too-much-wine-driven idea turned into actual software: Notes Plus is an alternative to Apple Notes, as close as technically and legally possible to the original, but oh boy it has (and will have) some features! The idea behind was not to build something completely new, but to improve an existing, established piece of mainstream software. A plus version of Apple Notes. Bringing in the things that are missing in the original. And of course, all data is yours, it's just Markdown files.

Notes Plus is in active development, it's free, and you can request features, bugfixes or improvements.

Features

Currently available: v0.1 (first release, macOS desktop, both Intel + M chips):

• 3 (to 4) lane Markdown editor: 1. folder tree, 2. note preview list, 3. note editor: visual editor, raw editor or split-screen
• Visually close to Apple Notes (Sequioa)
• Can handle unlimited amount of folders + notes
• Edit in raw markdown or in rendered, fully interactive version of your content
• Copy & pasting from Apple Notes creates a near-perfect copy, 100% Markdown (except for some Apple Notes specific features)
• Put tags on notes
• Put priority on notes
• Search
• App watches for external edits, real-time
• Drag & drop notes
• Keyboard navigation
• Clean handling of different Markdown flavors / rendering types: select via buttons how empty lines and line breaks should be rendered
• Kanban view: see your Markdown notes in vertical swimlanes, like in JIRA or Trello
• Tries to make Markdown from any source look good:
  • Apple Notes
  • ChatGPT (and other AI chats)
  • Tolaria (incomplete, in progress)
  • Obsidian
  • ... and probably any other source. If not, create a feature request!

As a project management tool / JIRA alternative (for solo devs)

Switch from the classic notes list to a JIRA-like swimlanes view, with just one click.
Each folder is shown as a lane. Each note is a "ticket". Arrange lanes, drag & drop notes between or inside lanes.
See more on the Kanban feature page.

Gracefully handling different Markdown rendering styles

Markdown is a well-defined standard, but - surprise - every tool renders Markdown differently.
To work around this problem, Notes Plus lets you...

Switch line break rendering:
Off: Render multiple lines of raw Markdown text into one line, that's default Markdown behaviour.
On: Render multiple lines of raw Markdown text into multiple lines.

Line break: off Line break: on

Switch empty lines rendering:
Off: Ignore empty lines, that's default Markdown behaviour.
On: Render empty lines as an actual empty line, meaning adding one line-height of space.

Render empty lines: off Render empty lines: on

Code

Syntax highlighting for code blocks and inline code (auto-detection and manual).
Different popular color themes (GitHub, JetBrains, VS Code).

Visual comparison: How does it render Markdown from Apple Notes, ChatGPT, and other tools?

You can literally copy & paste entire notes from Apple Notes, ChatGPT, and other tools into Notes Plus, and it will look good (excluding some features that are impossible to copy & paste).

Apple Notes

exact same content, copy&pasted into Notes Plus

Roadmap / feature requests

Notes Plus is under active development, and the roadmap is shaped by you.
The core idea is to always stay "an improved version of Apple Notes", not a completely new product.
Here's what's coming next:

• iCloud sync / backup
• Collaborative editing of notes / entire folders
• Locked notes
• Backlinking
• Mindmaps
• Excel-like table logic system
• Note sharing
• Record audio into notes
• Keyboard shortcuts
• iOS version
• Windows version
• Linux packages (Ubuntu, Pop!, Arch, Fedora)
• maximum performance
• A super simple plugin system, that is basically just raw JavaScript plus UI in raw HTML/CSS

Have an idea? Submit a feature request or vote on existing ones — the most requested features move up the priority list.

Pricing

Notes Plus is free, for private and for commercial use.
There will be a paid Max version in the future, with additional features.

Data ownership / data sovereignty

Data portability: All data is yours, in whatever folder(s) on your Mac, it's just Markdown files (plus connected assets like images).

Open file formats: All notes are Markdown files, no proprietary formats. From wherever your data comes, the app tries to create valid Markdown from it, always looking good.

Tracking: The app has an optional installation and daily usage tracker: 1. on installation and 2. once per day, it sends the app version to notesplus.io, absolutely anonymous. It's not used for anything, it's just for me to know how many people are using the app.

Does this violate Apple's intellectual property rights?

Maybe right now it even does. But it's an early version of brand-new software.
Until the app goes live in the official App Store, all legal issues will be solved.