Seven quick notes in the macOS menu bar.
Each one is a plain Markdown file in any folder you choose, including a cloud drive.
macOS 13+ · Swift 6.2 · no accounts, no servers · free · MIT license
NoteObs has no server, no cloud and no account of its own. Your notes are the files slot1.md … slot7.md in the folder you pick, and nothing else.
- Want sync between Macs? Pick a folder inside a cloud drive that is already installed: iCloud Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, Yandex Disk and so on. The drive's own client does the syncing, and there is nothing to sign in to in NoteObs.
- Don't need sync? Any local folder works.
- Switching clouds? Just pick another folder.
- The notes stay your files: open them in any editor, in Finder, in Obsidian or anything else.
obsidian://links in the text are clickable, but Obsidian itself is not required.
- Seven notes, each with its own color. The menu bar icon opens a panel, which can also be detached into a window and pinned above other windows.
- Markdown text with clickable links (
https://,mailto:,obsidian://) and checkboxes (- [ ]/- [x]). - Font family and size, panel color and opacity, blur style, window size, launch at login.
- Right-click the icon for the list of notes, "Open folder in Finder", "Settings…" and "Quit NoteObs".
The interface language is Russian.
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
⌘1 … ⌘7 |
Jump to note 1–7 |
⌘⌥← / ⌘⌥→ |
Previous / next note |
⌘⇧C |
Toggle the checkbox on the current line (works on any keyboard layout) |
⌘← / ⌘→ |
Start / end of line, as in any editor |
The note shortcuts only act inside the NoteObs panel and window, not in Settings or dialogs.
A cloud folder behaves differently from a local disk: access may wait for a macOS permission prompt, a file may not be downloaded yet, the provider may stall on a write, and a newer version may arrive from another Mac. NoteObs is built for exactly that:
- Every change is backed up first. Until the folder confirms a write, a copy of the text lives in
~/Library/Application Support/NoteObs/recovery, outside the cloud folder, so a sync conflict or rollback can't erase the only copy. If the app quits before the folder took the text, NoteObs offers to restore it on the next launch. - Nothing is written until the folder has been read. Text typed before the notes finished loading never overwrites them; it is offered back for restoring instead.
- Edits from elsewhere are not overwritten. If a note changed on another Mac and was left untouched here, the version in the folder wins.
- An unreadable file never turns into an empty note. If a file exists but can't be read (not UTF-8, not downloaded yet), writing to the folder stops, and NoteObs offers to open the folder in Finder and check again.
- A slow or stalled folder doesn't freeze the app. A read waits up to 5 seconds; if macOS is still asking for access, NoteObs says so and reconnects the folder on its own once it answers. A write that is taking too long is flagged as "not saving".
- Failed writes are retried with a growing delay, and each note has its own queue, so working in one note never cancels another's write.
- If the same note is edited on two Macs at the same time, the cloud client may create a conflict copy. That is for the cloud to resolve, not the app.
- The first time you pick a folder in a cloud drive, macOS asks for permission to access its files, and you need to approve it.
After make release-app, the build is in dist/ (not tracked in git): NoteObs.app, NoteObs.dmg and a zip archive. Drag NoteObs.app into Applications.
The build is ad-hoc signed (no Developer ID), so on another Mac macOS will warn about an unidentified developer on first launch: right-click the app and choose "Open".
Requires macOS 13+ and Swift 6.2 (Command Line Tools are enough; Xcode is optional).
make verify # build and run the verification scenarios against real folders
make release-app # release build, checks, NoteObs.app + dmg + zip in dist/
make icon # redraw the icon, Assets/AppIcon.icnsmake verify is the regression gate: the scenarios in NoteObs/Verification.swift run against temporary folders and never touch your notes or settings. They live inside the app itself (NoteObs --verify) because a Command Line Tools installation has no XCTest, so swift test would build fine and run zero tests.
| File | Responsibility |
|---|---|
NotesViewModel.swift |
Notes, per-note delayed writes, retries, reconciliation with the folder |
NotesFileStore.swift |
Reading and writing slotN.md, the per-folder write queue, protection for unreadable files |
RecoveryStore.swift |
Backups of unconfirmed text, and carrying them over from earlier builds |
NotesExternalChangeMonitor.swift |
Watching the files for outside changes |
NotesFolderAccess.swift |
Folder bookmarks and access, one identity for a folder reached by different paths |
AppDelegate.swift |
Menu bar icon, panel and window, dialogs about the folder's state |
AppSettings.swift, SettingsMigration.swift |
Settings, and carrying them over from earlier bundle identifiers |
Views.swift, MarkdownStyling.swift, Checklist.swift |
UI, link styling, checkboxes |
NoteShortcuts.swift |
Keyboard shortcuts |
Verification.swift |
The verification scenarios (make verify) |
Tests/NoteObsTests |
A thin wrapper that shows the same scenarios in Xcode's test navigator |
Tools/make-icon.swift |
The icon: the Big Dipper, one star per note, each in its note's color |
Repository structure:
NoteObs/ app sources (Swift, Info.plist)
Tests/ scenario wrapper for Xcode
Tools/ icon drawing script
Assets/ the finished AppIcon.icns
docs/ images for this README (icon, screenshots)
Package.swift SwiftPM build (swift build / make)
NoteObs.xcodeproj Xcode project (same sources)
Makefile verify, release-app, icon
CHANGELOG.md what changed in each version
LICENSE MIT license
MIT © 2026 MartyStev. Free to use, modify and distribute, as long as the copyright notice is kept.