FAQ

A markdown notes app for Mac and iOS. It’s built around section folding, inline tasks, and iCloud sync. Your notes are plain .md files — no proprietary format, no lock-in.

There’s a page for that: FoldNotes compared sets it beside Obsidian, Scrivener, iA Writer and Ulysses on what each costs over three years, where your notes actually live, and what’s built in without plugins. It also says where FoldNotes stops — every app on that list does something we don’t.

FoldNotes is made by Foldsoft Pty Ltd, a small Australian company. It’s a solo developer project — one person designing, building, and supporting the app.

The iOS app (iPhone and iPad) is free to download and use. We may add optional Pro features later, but everything available today stays free. Download it from the App Store, sign in to iCloud, and start writing.

The Mac app is paid, with a free 7-day trial of everything. Then it’s US$35 a year or US$95 once for life — pick whichever fits how you like to buy software. Both unlock every feature on up to three Macs; the choice is just billing. See Pricing.

macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later, and iOS 17 or later (iPhone and iPad).

Yes — and it’s free. The iOS app supports editing, folding, tasks, backlinks, focus modes, and iCloud sync with the Mac app. iPad also gets the regex search toggle and saved-search library (iPhone keeps the simpler Spotlight-style search). iOS currently supports the default iCloud collection only — multiple collections are a macOS feature.

No. FoldNotes is a native app — AppKit on Mac, UIKit on iOS. There are no plans for a web or Windows version.

In iCloud Drive, as plain .md files. You can find them in ~/Library/Mobile Documents/iCloud~com~foldnotes/Documents/ on Mac, or in the Files app on iOS under iCloud Drive.

Yes. On Mac, you can point FoldNotes at any local folder. Notes will only be available on that machine.

Yes. FoldNotes files are standard markdown. FoldNotes adds a small YAML frontmatter block at the top of each file for metadata (ID, created date, task tracking). Other editors ignore this — the rest of the file is plain markdown.

Yes. On macOS, FoldNotes has dedicated importers for Obsidian, Bear, and Capacities — each handles tags, images, and folder structures from those apps automatically. There’s also a general File > Import Files option for .md, .txt, and TextBundle files from any app. The importers take care of frontmatter, image migration, and tag conversion so your notes are ready to use immediately.

Yes, on macOS. You can register multiple note collections and switch between them. Each collection is an independent folder with its own notes, tags, and tasks. iOS currently supports the default iCloud collection only.

Yes. Drag or paste an image into a note and FoldNotes stores it in a .attachments/ folder alongside your notes. Images are referenced using standard markdown syntax (![alt](image.png)), so they work in other editors too. Supported formats include PNG, JPEG, GIF, HEIC, WebP, TIFF, and SVG. Both Mac and iOS include an attachment browser where you can see all images across your collection, filter by referenced or orphaned, rename with automatic propagation to all notes, and insert images into your current note.

Tasks are lines in your notes that start with a checkbox: - [ ] My task. They support four states (not started, in progress, done, cancelled), due dates, priorities, and project tags. Tasks stay in context — right where you wrote them.

Yes. The Task Board (macOS) pulls tasks from every note into a kanban-style view. You can group by status, priority, due date, or project. The command line tool (fn tasks) also queries tasks across your collection.

Yes. Tasks are part of your markdown files, so they sync via iCloud like everything else.

FoldNotes uses iCloud Drive. Your notes are files in iCloud — the same sync mechanism Apple uses for Pages, Numbers, and other document-based apps. Changes sync automatically between your Mac and iOS devices.

Yes. Notes, tasks, tags, images, and daily notes all sync between Mac and iOS via iCloud Drive. The iOS app syncs with the default iCloud collection.

It’s as fast as iCloud Drive. Typically a few seconds between devices on the same network. FoldNotes detects changes as they arrive and updates immediately.

iCloud Drive uses Apple’s standard encryption — encrypted in transit and at rest on Apple’s servers. If you enable Advanced Data Protection on your Apple ID, your iCloud Drive data is end-to-end encrypted.

Folding lets you collapse sections of your document. Click the fold arrow next to a heading to hide everything underneath it — but it’s not just headings. Indented paragraphs, lists, nested tasks, code fences, and tables all fold too. You can collapse a nested task list down to its parent, fold away a long code block, or reduce a project plan to just its section headings. This lets you see the structure of a long document at a glance and focus on one section at a time.

Type [[Note Title]] to create a link to another note. FoldNotes tracks these connections and shows you every note that links to the current one in the references panel.

Yes. On macOS, you can export a note as PDF, HTML, Markdown, RTF, DOCX (Word), EPUB, or TextBundle. You can also export an entire collection as a ZIP archive, and database views can be exported as CSV. On iOS, you can export as PDF, HTML, Markdown, or RTF, and share via the system share sheet. Both platforms support printing.

No. FoldNotes is opinionated about its feature set. Everything is built in and designed to work together. There’s no plugin system, no scripting language, and no marketplace. This is a deliberate choice — it keeps the app simple and reliable.

Yes. fn is a macOS command line tool for searching notes, managing tasks, creating daily notes, and automating workflows. Install it from the FoldNotes menu.

The CLI ships with the Direct edition (the build you download from this site) — which is how FoldNotes for Mac is distributed. Were a Mac App Store edition ever to ship, it could not include the CLI, because Apple’s sandboxing rules don’t permit shipping a command line binary that installs into /usr/local/bin.

Yes, on the Mac. FoldNotes includes an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server, which lets AI assistants like Claude read and work with your notes on your own machine. See CLI and MCP.

iPhone & iPad — out now on the App Store, free, no sign-up needed.

Mac — download it here and try every feature free for 7 days, then buy a licence from the pricing page.

The Direct edition is a signed and notarised build downloaded straight from this site, with automatic updates handled by Sparkle. This is the full version — it includes the fn command line tool.

A Mac App Store edition is under consideration and not confirmed — treat it as TBA rather than something to wait for. If it ever ships it would not include the CLI (Apple’s sandboxing rules don’t permit shipping a binary that installs system-wide); everything else — editing, folding, tasks, sync, gallery, focus modes, snapshots — would be identical.

Try it free for 7 days first — every feature, no card, no sign-up. Then:

• Yearly — US$35 a year. Renews automatically; cancel any time and keep using it until the end of the year you’ve paid for.
• Lifetime — US$95 once. Every update for as long as we make FoldNotes. Not a version, not a year of updates: once.

Both plans unlock every feature and can be activated on up to three Macs that you own. If a subscription lapses, or you never buy, FoldNotes still opens, searches, previews and exports your notes as plain Markdown — they are your files, in your iCloud Drive. Only editing and the conversion exports (Word, Bike packages, PDF and EPUB) need a licence. Payment is handled by our reseller, Paddle, who also collects any local tax. Refunds: 14 days on any first payment. Tell us what didn’t work, so we can fix it — see the refund policy.

A Mac App Store edition is under consideration but not confirmed. If it does ship, it would not include the fn command line tool.

Email [email protected].