One of the most popular note-taking apps on iOS is now available for Linux desktops.
Simplenote, developed by WordPress makers Automattic, lands on Linux and Windows 10 through the flexible combo of React and Electron.
If you know the name ‘Electron’ but can’t quite place it, it might be because we’ve recently featured a bunch of other awesome Linux apps that use it.
Someone should give us a kickback!
Why Is Simplenote So Popular?
Simplenote first started on iOS and has expanded to include Android, Mac OS X, and now Windows and Linux.
But this isn’t the first time the backend for the stand-out note-taking service has been supported on Linux.
Over the years there has been various ways to leverage the service to sync, manage and edit nots, from third-party apps like NvPY to command-line tools like sncli.
The core feature set is available across all of Simplenote’s various guises, from the iOS app to the hosted web-app. It’s this consistent experience that makes the service so appealing.
All your notes, to-dos and tags are kept in sync no matter the device you use to create or edit them.
- History — slide back to view and restore previous versions of your note
- Collaborate— share your note with others and allow them to edit it
- Publish — Make your note public with its own URL
- Tag — organize your notes effectively with tags.
- Pin — pin notes right from the note list so they’re easy to find
Collaborate is especially neat because the person you’re sending the note to won’t need to create a Simplenote account to edit it. Instead, collaborative notes get posted on the Simplenote website (don’t worry, it’s a private URL) and your collaboration buddy can view and edit away. All changes are saved automatically and synced back to the desktop app.
If OMG! had a copy editor it’d be a fast way for me to get all my typos and grammatical run-ins tweaked before publish!
The Linux (and Windows) apps also support the above features, plus the following:
- Offline support
- Markdown support (has to be enabled)
- Optional dark mode
- Choice of list views (cosy, condensed, expanded)
- Sorting options (last modified, alphabetical, etc)
Download Simplenote for Linux
You can grab a 64-bit .deb installer of Simplenote 1.0.0 that works on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and later by clicking through to the Simplenote Github page.
There you’ll also find the source-code available to browse and an issue section to report bugs.
H/t to Carlos and kmf