There are two ways I get a job done: I keep copious notes from start to finish and do really well, or I don’t take any notes and I fail miserably. This means I’m utterly dependent on some sort of notes editor at all times, and if it has syncing, well, that’s even better.
I’m always on the lookout for a better way to do what I do, including keeping notes, so I was happy to give Moccanote a spin. With an uncluttered interface and iCloud sync with the companion iPhone app, Moccanote is definitely a contender. Can Moccanote’s notetaking and organization features cause me to jump ship?
Make a Note of It
There are two easy ways to create a new note, either from the menu bar icon or by clicking the plus sign to the right of the Moccanote window. You can get that accomplished in the File menu, too, which is where you’ll also be able to import notes. If you’re importing notes, though, they’ll need to be in plaintext or Markdown format or already in Moccanote’s file format.
This is a new new before I’ve saved it.
Creating a new note only gets you a blank note, though. If you just start typing, the note’s content will become the note’s title, too, but you can always change that by clicking inside the title field. Add an image to your note by clicking the camera icon, but you’ll only really get a thumbnail next to the title.
Moccanote is a plaintext editor, so there aren’t any toolbars to let you change text styling or indent or add fun curlicues. It does support Markdown, however, which lets you set inline styles with hashes and asterisks. If you’re not familiar with Markdown, it may just look like a coding mess, albeit one that’s fairly easy for the layperson to read, but there are lots of quick start guides and references if you’re interested to learn. If not, you can just tap tap away in unstyled text, too, and be none the poorer for it. For those who choose to use Markdown, you’ll see your styling after you’ve saved your note and have it selected in the main Moccanote window.
I used Markdown and now my note looks pretty spiffy.
Warning, Will Robinson! Moccanote doesn’t autosave. Thankfully, Moccanote won’t let you close a note without prompting you to save, but you can close the entire application without hearing boo about losing all your unsaved notes, so keep that in mind. To save, just click the button in the bottom left of your note; it’ll be glowing blue if your note hasn’t been saved yet.
Organization
So you’ve got yourself a nice-sized pile of notes but you don’t know what to do with all of them. They’re all in a big clump, and they’re not very well organized. Well, there’s a few ways to fix that. Moccanote uses “stacks,” or note collections, and you can create as many as you want. While you’re writing your note, click the arrow in the bottom right and choose the stack your note will live in or create a new stack to organize similar notes, and your new note will be filed away.
These are my note stacks, separated by project or how I use them.
If you already have lots of unfiled notes in your Moccanote inbox, you can still shift those into your stacks without having to edit the individual notes. Select the note or notes you want to move and then click the down arrow in the bottom toolbar beneath your inbox or right-click on the notes. You can then choose whichever stack to which you’d like to move your notes.
Sometimes you’ll find you have notes that are of significant importance or that you access frequently. Rather than sort through all of your stacks, you can add those notes to your focus stack. Whether you’re editing the note or viewing it in the Moccanote window, click the star next to the title to add it to the focus stack. To see all of your focus notes, click Focus in the stack list.
These are my focus notes, because they’re super important.
And Yet, it Syncs
Though I looked at the Mac app, Moccanote works best when its syncing between devices, and the devices you can sync Moccanote on are your Mac and your iPhone. The two apps, the Mac and the iPhone apps, will have to be purchased separately, but once you’ve got them installed and configured for iCloud in your preferences, you’ll be able to share notes between your two devices. If a thought occurs to you while you’re out and about, you can jot it down in Moccanote on your iPhone and have it on your Mac when you get home. Alternately, if you create a note or list on your Mac and need it on your phone, Moccanote will make sure its there for you.
Moccanote uses iCloud to sync, and there were a few great reviews in the Mac App Store praising the seamlessness of Moccanote’s iCloud sync. I had some trouble, though, what the developer called an iCloud “hiccup,” and couldn’t get Moccanote to sync initially. There’s no support documentation, though the developer is working on that right now, but my emails for assistance were answered almost immediately, an experience backed up by App Store reviews.
Here’s a look at a note in edit mode, which works a little differently than creating a new note from scratch.
After several tries that just didn’t work, restarting both of my devices fixed the problem and got sync going for Moccanote. While it would have been great if Moccanote’s sync had worked out of the box, it may not have been the app’s fault. Even if it was, the developer was on hand to sort out my troubles quickly and get me going with Moccanote.
Final Thoughts
Moccanote is a nice little notes syncing app, with a very trimmed down interface. If you’ve tried some of the other note editors and they were all just a bit too much for you, Moccanote may make a nice change. The layout is simple and attractive, but most importantly, it’s incredibly easy to use with very little learning curve.
There’s no web app to go along with Moccanote, just the Mac and iPhone apps, so if you depend on browser access or need to sync to another device, you’ll want to hold off on making the switch to Moccanote. If you find, however, you’ve moved away from using browser-based notes apps, as I have, and rely heavily on your Mac or only need to sync to iPhone, Moccanote will make a refreshing change from some of the bulkier notes apps.