Download SideNotes 1.4.5 (Mac) – Download Free

It’s hard to keep your notes within reach at the same time. Apps that make them unobtrusive often come at the expense of usability, and it’s hard to find a good balance between the two.

side note well-done. As the name suggests, it keeps your notes away from the screen, easily accessible via cursor movement or hotkeys. Once on screen, they’re easy to read and manage, packing a lot of functionality into one compact app.

unobtrusive and intuitive

The defining characteristic of this app is that it’s out of sight, but always there when you need it. You can bring it up by clicking on the small bar on the side of the screen or using a hotkey, and it disappears when you no longer need it. These behaviors are all customizable.

Another strength of the app is its intuitive design. You can instantly see how to create folders and add notes, and all formatting options are equally easy to understand.

Organize your notes and choose your preferred format

For checking your memos, folders are a good place to start. In a folder, you can give each note a different background color to separate them (this can be changed to a colored bar on the side of the note). You’ll find it easier to find what you need, and they’ll look great too.

As far as formatting options go, you can choose between three modes: Markdown, Plain Text, and Code, depending on what you prefer and where you need to export your notes. The usual Markdown formatting options are available.

Sync to iCloud, import text files and export to images

If you have a bunch of notes saved as text files, you can create new ones by simply dragging them into a folder. You can even delete entire directories containing text files to create new note folders.

For easy sharing, you can export your notes directly to an image file that will be compatible with any chat or social media application.

Finally, SideNotes offers optional iCloud synchronization, allowing you to access your notes from multiple Macs. However, the lack of an iOS/iPadOS app is a bit of a shame, as it means you’ll have a hard time adding and accessing notes on the go.

Overall, SideNotes is a well-rounded app that doesn’t come cheap. It’s professionally designed to be as intuitive and unobtrusive as possible, while offering tons of features at your disposal.