Abyss Writer: Markdown Editor

Markdown that styles itself as you type, in plain text files you own. No account, no ads, nothing collected. Encrypted notes from your Mac open with Face ID or Touch ID.

Write notes, a journal or a book in Markdown, and Abyss styles the text as you type: headings, bold and italic, lists and task lists, quotes, code and tables. There's no preview pane, so what you see is what's in the file. Long manuscripts stay quick to type in.

Your notes are plain text files in a workspace: a folder you choose on this device or in iCloud Drive.

WRITING • A bar above the keyboard with headings, bold, italic, code, links, lists and Insert Photo. On iPhone it starts with Undo and Redo. • [[Links]] between notes, suggested as you type. When you aren't editing, tap one to follow it; Back takes you to the note you came from. • Quick Open finds any note by name. Type # to jump to a heading in the open note. • Find and Replace, an outline and a word count for each note. • Photos from your library or from Files. Paste them in, or drop them onto a note on iPad. • Export a note as a PDF or an HTML page. • Mono, Sans or Serif type from 10 to 72 points, three line spacings and a light or dark theme. • ⌘B, ⌘I, ⌘K, ⌘F, ⌘P and more on a hardware keyboard.

PRIVACY • No account, ads, analytics or subscription. The privacy label on this page says Data Not Collected. • Abyss has no server, so nothing you write reaches us. iCloud Drive syncs your notes through your own Apple Account. • Abyss goes online only when you export a note as a PDF, to fetch any web images it links to. • Your notes are plain text, so any text editor can open them.

ENCRYPTED WORKSPACES You make encrypted workspaces in Abyss on your Mac, for a journal or anything else only you should read. Every note and image in one is encrypted, file names included, so Files, other apps and iCloud.com can't read them. Your iPhone and iPad open them with Face ID or Touch ID when iCloud Keychain carries the key, or with the workspace password if you've set one. Unlock with the password once, with Remember on this device switched on, and Face ID or Touch ID opens it there after that. Encrypted workspaces lock as soon as the device locks, and they stay out of Spotlight and the widget. Your other notes are ordinary files and don't need unlocking.

SAVE TO ABYSS Share a page from Safari and Abyss saves its link, with any text you selected as a quote. Or share text from Mail. Edit the title and text, pick the workspace and folder, and save. Markdown and text files shared from Files are saved as they are.

BOARDS A board is a pinboard of Markdown cards that you lay out in Abyss on your Mac. On iPhone and iPad you can open one, pan and zoom, and double-tap to see the cards at full size. A link like [[Story Map.canvas#The goal]] in a note opens the board on that card. Boards are .canvas files, in the open JSON Canvas format.

ON YOUR OTHER DEVICES iCloud Drive keeps your notes in step, and Handoff opens the note you were writing on another device right where you left off. If two devices change the same note before they sync, Abyss asks which version to keep. Abyss for Mac is on the App Store too, with board editing, Focus Session and export to Word.

MORE • Keep several workspaces and switch between them from the Folders menu at the bottom of the sidebar. • A Home Screen widget with your recent notes and a button for a new one. • Siri and Shortcuts can make a note: "Create a note in Abyss". • Notes in the open workspace show up in Spotlight. • The first time you open Abyss, a short guide, a journal and a story map board show you around. Change or delete them as you like.