FSNotes: a native Markdown note app for Mac and iPhone that stores plain files

The problem FSNotes solves: notes trapped in someone else's database

Most note apps store your writing in a database whose format you cannot read without the app. FSNotes takes the opposite position. The README states the app keeps every note in portable Markdown or plain-text files, not a proprietary database, and frames the pitch as "Own your notes. Find them instantly." That single design decision drives everything else: you can point the app at folders you already have, and you can open the same files in any compatible editor.

The target user is narrower than the tagline suggests. FSNotes is a native app for macOS and iOS only. It is written in Swift 5, released under the MIT license, and the README points buyers to the Mac App Store and the App Store for the iOS companion, with purchases described as supporting continued development. If your team is mixed Windows and Mac, this is not a shared tool. It is a personal one for people already inside Apple's ecosystem who care about where the bytes live.

How FSNotes works: files on disk, folders, tags and [[links]]

The architecture is file-first. Notes are Markdown or plain text on disk, which is why external editors, iCloud Drive, Dropbox and optional Git backups are all listed as supported ways to work. Sync is not a proprietary service; it is whatever file-sync layer you already trust, pointed at the same folder.

On top of those files, FSNotes adds structure that plain text alone does not have. The README lists multiple folders, tags, and `[[links]]` for connecting ideas, plus rendering for code, Mermaid diagrams and MathJax. Private notes can be protected with AES-256 encryption. The README also claims search and navigation stay smooth across collections of 10,000+ notes, though it does not describe the indexing mechanism behind that claim, so treat the number as a vendor statement rather than a measured result.

The practical consequence is that FSNotes is a viewer and editor layered over a directory tree, not a service. Nothing about your notes depends on the app remaining installed. That is the whole point, and it is also the source of the limitations below.

Installing FSNotes on Mac and iPhone

There is no build step required for normal use. The README directs readers to the App Store badges: one for the Mac App Store and one for the iOS app. The repository also contains an Xcode project and workspace for anyone who wants to build from source, but the README does not document a source-build procedure, so treat the App Store as the supported path.

After installing on macOS, the first real task is pointing the app at a folder. The README does not give a step-by-step wizard, but it does state that multiple folders, iCloud Drive and Dropbox are supported, so the first run is about choosing where your Markdown lives. If you already keep `.md` files somewhere, that folder is the natural starting point.

The README gives no command-line example, so the check is a manual one: create a note in any text editor, save it as a `.md` file inside the folder you pointed FSNotes at, and open the app. What you should see is the file listed as a note, with Markdown rendered rather than shown as raw text. That is the core loop: write in the app, and the file remains readable outside it.

On iOS, the companion app is installed from the App Store, and the repository includes a separate FSNotes iOS Share target, which indicates a share extension for capturing content from other apps. The README does not describe the extension's behaviour in detail, so verify it against your own capture workflow.

Where FSNotes stops: Apple-only, and no server component

The biggest limitation is platform reach, and it is not a temporary gap. The README presents FSNotes as a native app for macOS and iOS. The repository layout matches that: FSNotes iOS, FSNotes iOS Share, FSNotes, FSNotesCore and the Xcode project. There is no web client, no Windows build, no Android target and no self-hosted server in the tree. If a colleague on Windows needs to edit the same notes, they can do it in a text editor, but they will not get the app's tags, links or rendering.

Sync is the second constraint. Because FSNotes relies on iCloud Drive, Dropbox, external editors or Git rather than its own sync service, conflict handling is delegated to whichever layer you choose. The README does not document how simultaneous edits from two devices are merged. Anyone who has resolved a Dropbox conflict copy knows what that means in practice. There is also no documented rollback feature in the README, so version history depends entirely on whether you enabled the optional Git backups.

Finally, the search claim of 10,000+ notes is stated without a described indexing method or a reproducible benchmark. That does not make it false, but it is not something you can verify from the repository alone. Test it against your own largest folder before migrating everything.

FSNotes compared with Obsidian, Joplin and nvUltra

The closest comparison is Obsidian, which people search for alongside FSNotes. Both keep notes as local Markdown files and both support `[[links]]`. The difference is the delivery model: Obsidian is an Electron application that runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, while FSNotes is a native Swift app confined to macOS and iOS. If cross-platform reach matters more than native feel, Obsidian wins on that axis; if you want a smaller native app on Apple hardware, FSNotes is the more direct fit.

Joplin takes a third position. It is open source and cross-platform, with its own sync options, which makes it a better answer for mixed-device teams. The trade-off is that Joplin's storage model is not simply a folder of Markdown files you can hand to any editor in the same way FSNotes describes.

nvUltra, another name that appears in searches around FSNotes, is a macOS-only Markdown editor in the same Apple-native camp. The README does not make a feature-by-feature comparison with any of these, so the honest framing is that FSNotes competes on native performance and file ownership, and concedes cross-platform access to the others.

Maintenance, licence and upgrade cost

FSNotes is not archived, and the last push was on 2026-09-20, the same day as the v7.3.4 release. Before that, v7.3.2 landed on 2026-08-17 and v7.3.1 on 2026-07-22, so the release cadence over that window is roughly monthly. That is enough to say the project is currently being worked on, without overstating what the timeline guarantees.

The licence is MIT, which is permissive: you can read, modify and redistribute the source, and the repository includes the LICENSE file at the top level. The README is explicit that App Store purchases support continued development, so the practical arrangement is a paid binary alongside an MIT-licensed codebase. If you plan to fork and ship your own build, check the LICENSE text yourself rather than relying on the summary here; nothing in the README addresses trademark or redistribution of the app name.

Upgrade cost is low by design. Because notes are plain files, updating or even abandoning the app does not require an export step. The recurring cost is the App Store purchase and whatever you pay for the sync layer you choose.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt FSNotes if your whole working life is on macOS and iOS and you want notes you can open with any text editor, plus tags, [[links]], AES-256 encryption and optional Git backups. Do not adopt it if you need Windows, Android or a browser client, because the repository ships only FSNotes iOS, FSNotes iOS Share and the macOS project, and the README lists no other platform. Before committing, verify on your own machine that your existing folder of .md files opens as expected, that iCloud Drive or Dropbox sync behaves the way you need, and that the AES-256 encryption path covers the notes you actually want protected.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. glushchenko/fsnotes on GitHub
2. License: MIT
3. Project website
4. README
5. Releases