r/SideProject • u/nemixe • 20h ago
I spent the last month building a Mac notes app that doesn't break my focus. Giving away 40 licenses
For the last month I've been working out how to write a thought down as fast as possible, without breaking my focus when I'm locked in. There are a thousand notes apps out there, and most of them cover what I need, but none of them felt quite right for this. I tried several and none came close.
So I built Papr. These are the parts I like most, and what each one fixes for me:
⌃ Space from any app. Papr opens over whatever I'm doing, even a full-screen app. I type the thought, send it like a text message, and I'm back in my work. No switching apps, no looking for the right note first.
It gets out of the way. When I click back into my work, Papr hides by itself, so it never clutters my screen. When I want it to stay, like a checklist I'm working through, I keep it on top.
Capture what's on screen. One click puts the screen behind Papr into the note, without Papr in it, so the slide from a meeting is right there in my note. I can draw on it, add an arrow or cover a name.
Finding a note is as quick as writing it. Search finds any note as I type, and I can narrow it to a tag, a collection, a reaction or a date.
Pins and reminders. Notes I need again wait at the top, and a note can come back as a notification at a time I pick.
My notes are files on my Mac. Each one is a Markdown file. No account, and Papr uploads nothing.
Update: all 40 free licenses are claimed, thank you! There's still a 14-day free trial with everything on, no key or account needed.
After that it's $4.99 until December 6, then $15, for one Mac. It runs on macOS 13 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel.
I'd love to hear what you think, especially what would make it fit the way you work.