The Markdown Link no. 20
Links that attracted my attention recently
An occasional post from The Markdown Handbook.
Among today’s links are markdown editors Swifty, Glyph, MWeb, book aid Writers Studio, and a significant new release for SilverBullet, a local-first markdown editor.
- Swifty is a free GTK markdown app designed for Linux installations. Install it via Flathub. It allows you to write, organise, and preview markdown notes with native GTK widgets, autosave, remembered workspace state, and adjustable editor settings such as font size, wrapping, indentation and appearance.
- Open-source Glyph (macOS, seven-day trial) allows you to write in markdown, connect ideas with links, and keep everything local. Importantly, you let AI help only when you ask. (Turn off AI access in settings; it’s on by default.) It offers themes, daily notes, tables and boards from tags, file preview and git sync. Glyph is all a bit wonk at the moment: heading signifiers (h1-h6) don’t align with the actual headings, front matter doesn’t align with your document, and there’s no option to turn off the front matter that I can find. Many of these are small details, but I know they will drive some of us mad. $15 buys you lifetime access.
- MWeb is a markdown app for writing, note-taking and publishing. One thing I like about MWeb is that it gives you full control over the font choice – once you have bought the app – and the ability to decide what readable line length you prefer, via a slider. It also includes a publishing function that allows you to hook up to your chosen host as well as an image upload service. But why Library Mode and Folder Mode, and no obvious way to switch between the two? Why two different extensions: .md and .markdown? Why are there two different file systems: numbered and named? You can get a taste for it by trying the 14-day trial (limited to 10 files) on the App Store. There is a lifetime cost of £24.99 for the Mac app or a £9.99 subscription offering for macOS/iOS.
- Writers Studio is an app to help with writing books. It is described as being “[f]rom first draft to final export – your characters, world, and continuity all in sync”. What is quite obvious is that Writers Studio relies heavily on AI, but it compares itself to Ulysses and Scrivener, two successful apps that have earned their places in many of our workflows. There’s a reason why they have achieved that.
- Silverbullet 2.6 has been released. I’ll leave it to you to read the note, but be aware this is a major release.