Start with the sentence that matters.
You do not need another folder, workspace, or system. Sometimes you need a blank page, a few quiet minutes, and a place that will still be there when you come back.
That is Aparte.
A native writing pad for macOS
One place to think.
Press Option-Space from anywhere. Aparte quiets the screen and gives you one clear page. Write what you need, copy it, save it, then press Escape and go back to work.
Version 1.6.0 · What changed
macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon and Intel · Free and MIT licensed
Why I built it
The fastest way back to the thought.
Most writing apps begin with a choice: where to put the note, what to name it, which project it belongs to. Aparte begins with the cursor. The same shortcut brings back the same page, exactly where you left it.
Open it anywhere
Option-Space places the pad over whatever you are doing and dims the rest of the screen. You can choose your own shortcut.
Write without setup
Bold, italic, underline, links, lists, and headings are there when you need them.
Leave without losing it
Aparte saves one local Markdown document automatically. Escape hides the pad, not the work.
New in 1.6.0
Text that looks composed, not typed.
Spacing now follows the shape of what you wrote, so a note reads the same while you type it and when you open it again tomorrow.
Lists that sit right
The space after a list matches the space between paragraphs. A bullet you type by hand is spaced like one, and a bullet long enough to wrap lines up under its own text.
Titles with room
A heading takes the same generous space above and below. Two levels now, 30 and 24 point, from the bar or Command-Option-1 and 2.
Snapshot
The fourth button puts the whole pad on your clipboard as an image, including the part scrolled out of view. One click, no cropping, nothing to tidy up.
Writing options
A few useful things, kept out of the way.
The pad stays simple. Three dots at the bottom open the writing options inside the window. Every command has a keyboard shortcut, shown beside its name.
Copy it your way
Copy the whole pad without moving your cursor, or copy a selection as plain text or Markdown. Show word and character counts for the pad or just the selected passage.
Keep writing
Make text larger or smaller without changing what you copy or save. Return continues a list; Return on an empty item ends it. Aparte remembers your text size.
Bring back a cleared draft
Clear keeps one local recovery copy. Restore the last cleared text even after reopening Aparte, or discard that copy from the menu.
The options card closes when you choose a command, click outside, or press Escape. Only one submenu stays open at a time. Settings holds your global shortcut, launch at login, and update checks.
Local by design
Your writing stays on your Mac.
Aparte has no account, cloud service, analytics, or advertising. It stores your working Markdown document and one recovery copy of the last cleared draft locally. Its only network request is a daily check of GitHub for a signed update, which never includes your writing. Copy text when you need it somewhere else, or save a separate Markdown file through the standard macOS panel.
- No sign-in
- No telemetry
- No subscription
- No tracking
Install
Download, drag, write.
- 1
Download Aparte
Open the signed and notarized disk image.
- 2
Move it to Applications
Drag Aparte onto the Applications folder.
- 3
Press Option-Space
The pad opens with the cursor ready.
Details
A few honest answers.
Is Aparte a notes app?
No. There are no notebooks, folders, tags, or search. Aparte keeps one working document.
What happens when I quit?
Your document is saved locally and returns the next time you open Aparte.
Can I take the writing elsewhere?
Yes. Copy the whole pad as formatted text, copy plain text or Markdown, or save a Markdown file anywhere you choose.
How do I update?
Aparte checks GitHub once a day for a signed update and offers it to you. Choose Check for Updates… in Settings or the menu at any time. Your local draft stays in place. Versions before 1.3.0 need a manual download of the latest disk image.
Is it open source?
Yes. The source is public on GitHub under the MIT License.