Log in with Email

We’ve made logging in even easier and more secure. Now, you can sign in to Simplenote using a code sent directly to your email.

Just enter your account email, and we’ll send you a login code. On certain platforms, you can even tap a button in the email to be signed in automatically.

Prefer using your password? No problem! After entering your email, simply tap “Enter password” to log in the traditional way.

Currently, the Log in with Email feature is available on all apps except for Windows and Linux. We’re putting the final touches on those versions and will roll them out in the coming weeks.

New iOS and MacOS Shortcuts

Shortcuts on iOS and macOS make it easier to interact with your favorite apps. Simplenote has had basic shortcuts for creating and managing notes, but we’ve now expanded this functionality to give you even more control and automation possibilities.

Here’s a list of the new shortcuts:

• Open New Note – Open Simplenote and start a new note.
• Open Note – Open Simplenote and go to a selected note.
• Append to Note – Enter some text and append it to the end of one of your existing notes.
• Create New Note with Content – Enter some text and append it to the end of a new note in Simplenote.
• Copy Note Content – Copy all of the content of a selected note.
• Find Note – Search through your notes by searching note content.
• Find Note with Tag – Find a note by filtering them using a selected tag.

Individually, these shortcuts are powerful, but when combined with others, they can transform how you use Simplenote. For example, you could create a shortcut that finds a note, copies its content, and pastes it into another app—all without ever opening Simplenote.

Here’s an example of a simple shortcut that appends to a shopping list note using speech-to-text:

You can also combine “Find Note” and “Append to Note.” This allows you to copy text from any app, run the shortcut, find a note, and add the text to the end of that note—all without leaving the app you’re using.

You can find these new options in the Apple Shortcuts app.

That’s all for now. We hope you enjoy these new features!

Happy Noting,
The Simplenote Team

New Note

A big, blue shortcut—that’s all you have to click on to create a new note. One tap takes you straight to the editor in the Simplenote app, so you can start taking notes instantly. This widget is available in the small size only.

Note

Is there a particular note you access frequently? This widget lets you jump right back into it, without having to search. The widget displays your most recent note by default. You can also long-press the widget and select “Edit Widget” to change which note is displayed. This widget is available in small and medium sizes.

Note List

With this widget, you’ve got options: It can display your “All Notes” list or the list of notes associated with one of your tags. Whatever you choose, you can tap one of the notes to open it in the app’s editor. If you display the list of notes with a particular tag, tapping the blue new note icon in the top right will automatically apply that tag to your new note. In this widget, notes are ordered according to your sorting settings in the app. It is available in medium and large sizes.

We hope you enjoy using our new Widgets. Got feedback? Don’t hesitate to tell us what you think.

Get The App

Download Simplenote on the App Store

We hope you enjoy using widgets, and happy noting!

– The Simplenote Team

Download the latest version of Simplenote and you’ll be able to insert links from one note into another note to easily organize and cross-reference information.

I operate by investigating the fundamental interconnectedness of all things. Every particle in the universe affects every other particle, however faintly or obliquely. Everything interconnects with everything.

Dirk Gently, in Douglas Adams’ The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

How it works

Internal note links begin with simplenote:// instead of the usual https:// prefix, which lets the app know that it should load up a different note within the editor.

When you insert an internal link, it will use Markdown formatting by default: A title in brackets followed by a URL in parentheses. However, these links work in all notes, whether or not Markdown formatting is enabled. Once the link is inserted, you can edit or remove the title without changing the link’s destination.

There are two ways to insert internal note links: autocomplete or copy and paste.

Autocomplete

Simply start typing a note link by using the [ character and some text from your note title, and you will be offered a list of notes to choose from. This feature is available on Android, macOS, and web, and will be in an upcoming release on Windows/Linux and iOS.

Copy and paste

Each note now has the ability to view and copy its internal link. This works differently on each platform. Once you’ve copied the note link, you can paste it into a different note.

Android

Select one or more notes in the note list and use the link icon in the top bar to copy a link (or links) to the selected note(s).

You can also copy a note’s link from its ellipsis menu.

iOS

iOS also has two ways of copying a note’s internal link. You can swipe left on the note from the note list and then tap on the link icon.

As of the upcoming release, you can also long press on any note in the note list and choose Copy Link.

MacOS

Right-click or Ctrl-click on a note in the note list and select “Copy Internal Link.”

Web and Windows/Linux apps

Open the details panel of any note by clicking on the “info” icon. Near the bottom, you’ll see its internal link, which you can copy to your clipboard.

What about links in published notes?

If you publish a note which contains internal links, any links to other published posts will be automatically converted to their public links in the published version! Now you can create a Table of Contents, a homepage of your published notes, or a navigation bar that links to the previous/next notes in a series. The possibilities are endless.

But no fear about accidentally publishing private information: links to non-published posts will be removed.

Bonus: link references

You can view which notes link to a particular note by viewing its details. This feature is currently available on the Android and web apps; it’s coming soon on other platforms.

Join the Android and iOS beta programs

As always, if you want to be the first to explore new features like this one and share feedback with us, check out our beta testing program!

We beta test each new update for two full weeks before releasing it. Although our team tests the apps extensively, your testing helps us find even more ways to improve, whether that’s fixing a bug or simplifying a screen. 

Ready to join in? Here’s how:

Get the beta apps

On your Android device, head to Simplenote in the Google Play Store, scroll down to the “Join the beta” section, and tap “Join” to opt into the beta program. You’ll get the latest beta as an update in the Play Store.

On your iOS device, join the TestFlight beta program — open that link on your iOS device and follow the instructions on that page to opt-in. You’ll get the latest beta in the TestFlight app.

In both cases, the beta app will come with details about what’s new or changed, so you know where to focus your testing.

Share your feedback

Once you have a beta version of the Simplenote app installed on your device, you’re ready to go. Use the app as you normally do, or push the limits of the changes in each release. Then, let us know how it’s going! You can submit feedback through the Google Play Store (Android) or TestFlight (iOS) — or contact us if you’d like more help.

We’d love to hear from you

We hope the new internal links come in handy, whether you’re organizing class notes, writing a novel, or even trying to crack the latest case! Leave us a comment to let us know how you’re using these new links.

The Website

We wanted our website to mirror the simplicity in design that’s the hallmark of our apps (and a redesign was certainly overdue!). Our new site was built entirely on WordPress.com using the new block editor and is a testament to what’s possible with a good WordPress theme and a sprinkle of CSS.

Our New Blue

As you may know, our goal has been to improve accessibility across all platforms. Simplenote is part of the Automattic product family, so we’d temporarily incorporated a more accessible color from the WordPress palette into the Simplenote apps. But now we’re moving to our own new brand blue to provide an accessible experience for Simplenote fans and also give Simplenote its own unique identity.

Happy noting!

– The Simplenote Team

Download the latest version of Simplenote and you’ll be able to search your tags, search notes by tag or – if you’re a legendary note tagger^† – combine multiple tags in one search.

We’ll also be adding sorting options directly to search, so you can find that one note you made in February 2011, or maybe it was in April 2013 that you’re sure you used the word “astronauts” and contained something important.

To start using the new search features, make sure you’re running the latest version of the Simplenote app. Then just start searching and you’ll get tag suggestions based on what you type. Currently available on iOS and Android, if you don’t see the new search yet, keep your app updated – it will be with you soon!

Got feedback? Don’t hesitate to tell us what you think.

Get the App

New to Simplenote? It’s free, and you can download it here.

We hope you enjoy using Search, and happy noting!

– The Simplenote Team

^† How many tags do you have in Simplenote? Tell us in the comments. The person with the most tags gets to feel good about their exemplary organizational skills.

Android

• Added search sorting by date created, date modified, and alphabetically with search history and suggestions.
• Added a resizable note widget to view a note and open it in the app from the home screen.
• Added an option to the Theme setting to follow the system day/night mode.
• Updated dark theme with darker colors for less eye fatigue and better battery life.
• Fixed multiple bugs with cursors for notes with checklists, syncing for deleting tags and emptying trash, and networking causing interface slowness.

Full Release Notes for Android

Electron (Linux/Windows/Web)

• Added a sync indicator to show changes that haven’t yet been sent out to synchronize with the server and other devices.
• Updated styling all around the app: icons, dark mode support, and various fixes.
• Replaced the old web app at app.simplenote.com with the version deployed on the desktop.
• Added tag suggestions while searching and tweaked the search results.
• Fixed a nasty bug that caused note corruption when local and remote updates crossed paths.

Full Release Notes for Electron

iOS

• Added Siri shortcuts allowing you to open the app, open existing notes, and create new notes directly from Siri.
• Added new swipe actions available in the notes list: Pin and Share.
• Updated the user interface for login/signup, notes list, and note editor.
• Fixed a bug that affects tap detections over links.

Full Release Notes for iOS

macOS

• Fixed multiple bugs with checklist icons, sizes, and fonts.
• Fixed a bug causing the entire document to become linkified.

Full Release Note for macOS

All

One particular bug was plaguing Simplenote for years: a specific set of circumstances in which seemingly harmless edits would crash the app or corrupt a note. This was more likely to affect notes written in certain languages with complex scripts and notes containing emojis. Representing human text is hard, but this should no longer cause you any trouble. Special thanks goes out to our users who write poetry in early dynastic cuneiform – you can now express yourselves again without issue.

Join the Android and iOS Beta Programs

Do you enjoy the Simplenote apps? (We sure hope so!) If you like exploring the latest features and wouldn’t mind sharing your experience with us, join our beta testing program!

We beta test each new update for two full weeks before releasing it. Although our team tests the apps extensively, your testing helps us find even more ways to improve, whether that’s fixing a bug or simplifying a screen. 

Ready to join in? Here’s how.

Get the beta apps

On your Android device, head to Simplenote in the Google Play Store, scroll down to the “Join the beta” section, and tap “Join” to opt in to the beta program. You’ll get the latest beta as an update in the Play Store.

On your iOS device, join the TestFlight beta program — open that link on your iOS device and follow the instructions on that page to opt in. You’ll get the latest beta in the TestFlight app.

In both cases, the beta app will come with details about what’s new or changed, so you know where to focus your testing.

Share your feedback

Once you have a beta version of the Simplenote app installed on your device, you’re ready to go. Use the app as you normally do, or push the limits of the changes in each release. Then, let us know when something goes wrong. You can submit feedback through the Google Play Store (Android) or TestFlight (iOS) — or contact us if you’d like more help.

Thank you

To all our passionate and loyal users, thank you! We’ve got some exciting ideas planned for the future of Simplenote and we can’t wait to share them with you. We’ll be posting release notes and new features on this blog, so stay tuned for more info.

We greatly appreciate all our open-source contributors as well! If you’re interesting in contributing to Simplenote, check out the repositories below.

• Android: https://github.com/Automattic/simplenote-android
• Electron: https://github.com/Automattic/simplenote-electron
• iOS: https://github.com/Automattic/simplenote-ios
• macOS: https://github.com/Automattic/simplenote-macos

– The Simplenote Team

On our mobile apps, you’ll find a new button in the editor toolbar to add a checklist. On Desktop, head to Format → Insert Checklist. Nested Checklists are also supported, in case you need an extra level of organization.

Checklists are compatible with the GitHub task lists markdown syntax, so Markdown users will see their existing lists automatically transform to checkable lists in the app! You can see this in action by typing “- [ ]” in a note.

And as always, every update to your checklists will get synced with all of your devices, for free.

Collaborate on a Checklist

Did you know you can collaborate on a note with other Simplenote users? With checklists that becomes even more powerful — use shared notes to working with others on shopping lists, to-dos, and more. To share a note with another user, add their Simplenote account email address to the tags field of the note, or use the Sharing menu in the app.

Get the App

New to Simplenote? It’s free, and you can download it here.

We really hope you enjoy using Checklists, and happy noting!

– The Simplenote Team

I use Simplenote from the moment I think of an idea, by opening up a new note and adding a title. Later, I can check those notes and start writing more. Because it’s in Simplenote and synced to all my devices, I can do this from anywhere I happen to be!

If I think of a great opening line for a post while I’m out having coffee, I can open up Simplenote on my phone and jot that down. That way, it’s always waiting for me when I get back to my computer and ready to flesh things out.

If the site will take formatting and reproduce it, like the new WordPress Editor, I turn on Markdown to write the blog post. When I’m done, I copy the full text of the note. Pasting that into the editor preserves all the formatting and splits it into the appropriate blocks.

It will do this whether you copy the text from the Edit view showing the Markdown, or from the Preview option displaying the actual formatting. It’s like magic!

This saves some time, since I can type the formatting easily in Markdown while I’m taking my notes. It even loads the image from the URL provided in the image Markdown!

Some tips:

• Add titles to your notes right away so you know where to look later.
• Use Markdown to bold and italicize text, create headers, and add lists.
• Focus mode on the desktop apps is a great way to write with less distraction (pictured in the gif above).
• Publish the note from the Simplenote app to share it with a friend or editor first.

Do you have any tips for Blogging with Simplenote? What do you use Simplenote for?

Written in Simplenote, edited and posted with the new WordPress Editor

(A quick note, Mac users! To use the importer, make sure you’re using the Electron version of the app, available here. The standard version of the app available in the Mac App Store doesn’t support importing yet.)

To get started, select File → Import Notes from the app menu, then pick the type of notes you’ll be importing. The options are:

• Evernote (.enex) exports
• Simplenote (.json) exports
• Plain text files (.txt)

(Not sure how to get your stuff out of Evernote? Here are the instructions on exporting.)

You can browse to the notes you want to import or drag and drop a file into the import window, and the app takes care of the rest. If you’re importing notes with Markdown and you’d like to keep them that way, check the Enable Markdown on all notes box and they’ll be automatically configured as a Markdown note in Simplenote.

This release also adds a lot of great enhancements and bug fixes. For more details, check out the release notes on GitHub.

We hope you enjoy this update, and happy noting (and importing!).

 – The Simplenote Team

Focus Mode

We’ve heard some amazing stories about writers that use Simplenote to create their content, drafting blog posts and even publishing a book created with the app. To make it even easier to have a distraction-free writing experience in Simplenote, we’ve added Focus Mode to all the Desktop apps. Turn it on, and it hides all the sidebars and makes the editor full-width, so you see nothing but the blank screen and the most basic tools.

Reading full-width notes can be a little tough depending on your screen size, but never fear: you can shorten the line length of your notes for easier note readability. Head to via the View ▸ Note Editor ▸ Line Length, and adjust the length until it’s comfortable.

Windows and Linux Updates

In addition to Focus Mode, the Windows and Linux apps got a spit-shine:

• No mroe typos: they’ve got a spell-checker! (If you don’t care for spellcheck, you can disable it in the “Edit” menu.)
• A new user setting lets you opt out of analytics sharing.
• Exported note files (“File menu ▸ Export Notes”) are dated to reflect the last modified date of the note. (Thanks to @ianmorti for the improvement!)
  
• Modification dates are now updated when you add or remove tags. (A tip of our collective hats to @hanhmchau for this one.)
  
• “Font Size” is now called “Zoom,”  matching standard app conventions. And it’s easier to find — and therefore, to adjust — in the “View” menu. (Props, @gie3d!)
  

Download

Visit our homepage to start using Simplenote on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux, or the web.

What’s Next?

Love Simplenote? Wish you didn’t have a bunch of older notes scattered across the other apps you tried before you discovered it? We’re focused on an importer to make it easy to bring notes from other apps to Simplenote — look for it in a future update!

A special thanks to all our open source contributors who help make Simplenote better. If you’d like to help, check out our developer page for links to all of our GitHub projects.

Happy Noting!
– The Simplenote Team