Essential App #7: Simplenote
Number seven in our series is free, streamlined, an absolute joy to use — and here’s the biggie — syncs seamlessly with one of several desktop companions (which are also free); it’s also the first essential in our series that fully replaces a native app.
Sure, there’re probably more note apps than stars in the sky (or, ok, at least more note apps than stars in a box of Lucky Charms) but the reason Simplenote continues to sit atop the heap is its elegance — not its simplicity.
The app is actually not that simple; it adds several welcome features over the native Note app, like control of how many lines from the note preview in the main index screen, ability to sort alpha-numerically or by date modified/created and lockable orientation. It’ll even work with TextExpander, a utility that expands shortcuts into frequently used words.
But those features are just enough enhancement to be useful without over-complicating things, so that the app still seems simple. No fancy colors, backgrounds or exotic features — just the fastest, most direct way to write down what’s in your head (or make shopping lists, or cut and paste from a website, or write a novel…)
And here’s the real kicker: Simplenote will sync with free, easily available note-taking desktops apps like Nottingham and Notational Velocity, so notes are identical on whichever machine is being used. The core of Simplenote is actually a free, web-based service that keeps everything synced from the cloud. The syncing is seamless and automatic, with settable intervals; and because Simplenote is in a cloud, notes can be accessed from any computer, anywhere.
About the only downside is that the free version is ad-supported; for some reason, though, the ads seem less intrusive in Simplenote than in other ad-supported apps — perhaps because the ads only appear in the main index screen with the note titles, and is generally quickly scrolled off the screen.
Disabling the ads is one of the $9/year premium features, which also includes the ability to create notes via email, unlimited communication between extras like a third-party app and your Simplenote account (the free version comes with 2000 API calls — more than enough for the vast majority of people) and other features for the super-user.
When he was eight, Eli Milchman came home from frolicking in the Veld one day and was given an Atari 400. Since then, his fascination with technology has made him an intrepid early adopter of whatever charming new contraption crosses his path — which explains why he's Cult of Mac's test editor-at-large. He calls San Francisco home, where he works as a journalist and photographer. Eli has contributed to the pages of 
