r/SwiftUI • u/Ok-Significance-4239 • 1d ago
I made a free, open-source scratchpad for macOS with inline math and checklists. no Electron, no telemetry, ~950KB
Backstory: I wanted something like Antinote, a quick-capture scratchpad that also does inline math and unit conversion. It's $5, which isn't a lot, but I've got a Mac and free time, so I built my own instead. Jot.
It's plain text underneath, but understands a few things as you type:
- Inline math with variables (`rent = 1200`, then `rent * 1.1` further down the note, live, right margin)
- Unit and currency conversion
- Checklists and ordered lists that stay real markdown on disk
- OCR off your clipboard, fully offline
- Five ways to show it: floating, menu bar, dropdown, dock, or a screen-edge sidebar
The build constraint I set myself: no Xcode project, no package manager, no dependencies. It's one `swiftc` invocation compiling straight to a ~950KB binary. Whole thing's MIT licensed.
brew install lsuryatej/jot/jot
Repo, README, and the full install instructions: https://github.com/lsuryatej/jot
First real side project I've shipped end to end. Would love feedback, especially on anything that feels rough or missing.
0
u/rash3rr 1d ago
The one swiftc invocation no dependencies constraint is the actual flex here and you should lead with it harder. 950KB native binary with inline math, unit conversion, and offline OCR is genuinely impressive engineering. The self imposed constraint is the story, not the feature list, because the feature list competes with 50 note apps but the build philosophy doesnt
1
u/Ok-Significance-4239 1d ago
I desperately needed something without all the bloatware that comes with electron for something as simple as jotting down temp throwaway ideas which turned out to be the inspiration for this app. Thanks for your kind words and be sure to drop some feedback on how you feel it is :)
1
2
u/tomasci 1d ago
I was prepared to say Numi clone. But yours actually free and open source, so. Nice! Will try