Scratchpad

For years, I kept a text editor open on my computer at all times and when I needed a scratchpad, I would switch to it and type or paste whatever I needed. Then Raycast came along with it's floating notes feature, which is nice. It can be summoned with a hot key. Then I found Scrap Paper, which can also be called with a hotkey, syncs between computers and has an iOS version. You can hide the icon in the menu bar if you just want to use the hotkey. Furthermore, you can have the text window stay on top of all other windows, which is a feature I want. Finally, I saw Scratchpad on r/MacApps and I thought I'd give it a try. It has everything Scrap Paper has, but can also be launched from the dock. It adds Automatically creating clickable links from pasted URLS Control over font selection Text size adjustment Line spacing Smart quotes Smart Dashes Translucent background Because it's text, you get access to the writing tools, spelling and grammar, substitutions, speech and the Mac Services menu. One awesome feature is the ability to use Quicklook on a link, which opens a small window with a live view of the web page, similar to the Little Arc feature in the Arc browser. Scratchpad offers scripting and shortcuts support. You can enter text onto Scratchpad from any app that can open a URL. There is a fully functional free trial of the macOS app available here. The only limitation is a reminder to buy the app every 12 hours, and no automatic updates. All data and settings carry over if you buy it on the App Store.

as someone who does alot of work on the computer, what a breath of fresh air it is to have the ability to invoke with a keyboard shortcut this simple lightweight scratch pad (exactly what it is). and what's more have it automatically float on top of other windows. Really can't go without this now.

I don't usually fanboy-out for developers, but Sindre Sorhus is awesome and I have nearly all of his apps. Not because they were developed by him, but because they're all incredibly useful and very well designed. This is no exception. I'm no longer keeping TextEdit open all the time just to have a document to use for brief notes, I can replace that whole mess with Scratchpad. It's there when I need it and conveniently out of the way when I don't - everything it's supposed to be, while not trying to be anything it doesn't claim to be.