Notational Velocity
Notational Velocity is a lightweight, fast note-taking application for macOS designed around keyboard-driven search and creation. It stores notes in plain text or rich text format and allows users to quickly find and access notes by typing keywords—the app prioritises speed and simplicity over features. The interface is minimal, featuring a searchable list view and a text editor, and the app can sync notes via services like Dropbox or Simplenote. It was popular among power users and writers who valued a frictionless note-taking workflow.
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1 suggestionNotational Velocity has been abandoned—the last official release was version 2.0 beta 5, published in 2011, and there is no native Apple Silicon build. The original developer has not released updates in over a decade. The community has since forked and maintained the project as nvALT (a continuation by Brett Terpstra), which is still actively maintained and runs natively on Apple Silicon Macs. nvALT preserves the original keyboard-driven note-taking workflow while adding modern features like better syncing and tag support. For users seeking a more feature-rich alternative, Apple Notes (built into macOS) now offers similar lightweight note-taking with full Handoff and iCloud sync support across all your devices, and is the most straightforward replacement if you are not tied to Notational Velocity's specific workflow.
Native version · Reported by in the community.
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