I used to open TextEdit for quick thoughts, then forget about them for weeks. Sticky notes cluttered my desktop. Apple Notes felt too permanent for random ideas. Then I found Antinote, and it changed how I handle temporary thoughts on my Mac.
Most note-taking apps want to be your second brain - full of organization, sync, and features you’ll never use. Antinote takes the opposite approach: it’s designed for notes that disappear. A scratchpad for temporary thoughts, calculations, and reminders that live just long enough to be useful.
The interface is refreshingly simple. Press Option+A (global hotkey) and Antinote appears - no dock clicking, no app switching. Type your thought, calculation, or reminder. When you’re done, swipe left to clear and start fresh. The whole interaction takes seconds, which is exactly the point.
I’ve been testing it for three weeks on my M2 MacBook Air running macOS 15.4. The swipe navigation feels natural - swipe right to access history, left to clear, up and down to navigate between notes. No mouse required, no hunting through menus. Just pure keyboard and gesture efficiency.
The math capabilities impressed me. Type “50 * 1.2 + tax” and it calculates contextually. Currency conversions happen automatically - “100 USD to EUR” shows the current rate. Unit conversions work too - “5 miles in km” gives you the answer instantly. It’s like having a smart calculator that understands natural language.
What makes Antinote special is how it handles the temporary nature of notes. Unlike permanent note apps, it encourages you to clear thoughts once they’ve served their purpose. Need to remember something longer? One-click export sends it to Apple Notes, Obsidian, or Bear. But most notes just fade away, which is liberating.
Performance is invisible, exactly what you want from a utility. Uses about 20MB of memory, negligible CPU usage. The app can appear over fullscreen applications - perfect when you’re watching a video and need to jot down a quick thought without breaking focus.
The 14 built-in themes are genuinely beautiful. From minimal monochrome to vibrant gradients, each theme changes the entire aesthetic. The Theme Maker lets you create custom color schemes. I’m using the “Mononoke” theme - dark with subtle green accents that match my terminal setup.
Privacy is straightforward - everything stays local. No accounts, no cloud sync, no data collection. Your notes live in the app’s sandbox, accessible only to you. The screenshot-to-text feature uses on-device processing, so sensitive information never leaves your Mac.
One limitation: it’s Mac-only for now. No iOS version, no cross-platform sync. If you need notes across devices, stick with traditional note apps. Also requires macOS 14 or newer - older systems aren’t supported.
Installation is simple. Download from the website for $5 (one-time purchase, lifetime updates). The price feels right for an indie developer creating something this polished. Johnson Fung responds quickly to feedback and ships regular improvements.
For anyone who thinks in fragments - developers debugging code, writers capturing ideas, students working through problems - Antinote provides the perfect temporary canvas. It’s not trying to replace your note-taking system. It’s the space between thoughts and permanent storage, handled with elegant simplicity.
