App Review: Paper
The Expensive, but Best, Place to Write Markdown
As mentioned previously, I love writing in Markdown – and especially when it’s in normal .md files. I like the clarity of what’s formatted and not, the portability,1 and that I can use different apps on the same document. However, different Markdown editors are far from being created equal.
Paper is an app, for Mac, iPad and iPhone, that “only” opens/creates .md files and edits them. But it does what it does better than anything else.
Paper could be an app for you, if:
- … you write a lot in Markdown – especially in short to medium lengths,
- … you don't mind (or even prefer) working with files instead of libraries,
- … you value the quality and feel of software, like $1.000 Japanese garden shears.
Mini-tier list of some editors I’ve tried
To set the stage, I’ve made a little tier list. As I prefer writing about Good Stuff, my list doesn’t include bad editors – but Good, Great and Terrific ones. Here I’m not talking about the features of the app, but the writing experience. (The lists are alphabetical, not ranked.)
There’s been plenty of memes about how long the team over at Shiny Frog spent on Bear 2.0. But holy croak, it shows – the editor is extremely polished. The app does have good export features, so your notes aren’t held hostage.2 But the main reason I, personally, don’t use it, is that the note files aren’t easily accessible to other apps. It also doesn’t have as robust publish features as Ulysses, or task/calendar system as NotePlan. However, as a general note-taker for Apple devices, I highly recommend Bear.3
Panda is the Bear editor as a stand-alone app, to simply open .md files – so it’s closer to Paper in terms of functionality. However, it’s not readily available for mobile, and isn’t technically a proper product at the moment.4
I don’t recommend my favourite pair of boots
I love my pair of Alden Indy Boots. I haven’t found a single boot I like the look of as much, and the last (being rather narrow at the back and wide in the front) fits my weird feet perfectly. However, I don’t generally recommend them – as they’re not technically “worth it”. They’re simply too expensive for what they are, as you can get better made shoes for the same price, or shoes of similar quality for less. But that doesn’t change the fact that I love them, and am happy I bought them!
I could say the same thing about my Filson Journeyman backpack: Is it too expensive? Yes. Do I still love it? Also yes.
Paper is in the same category: I won’t claim that it’s worth it – because it’s very expensive. But if you end up splurging for the app, you’ll get something terrific. Let me try to explain why.
The price for Paper varies from region to region, and the dev keeps experimenting. But it can be as much as €200! Personally I bought it after getting paid extra for a job I did – and at least the money went to a small indie dev. How much money people have to "waste" on nice stuff like this varies. So I'll focus on the good, and the bad, of the app – and then it's up to you to figure out if it could be worth it to you. It also has a 50% educational discount.
How I use Paper
As mentioned when talking about my default apps, I currently store my notes, blog posts, tasks, etc. in NotePlan. The app’s database is stored with CloudKit, but is still accessible by other apps. As I prefer writing in Paper, I will do that as much as possible, while jumping into NotePlan and Ulysses for stuff that those apps do better.5
For instance, I’ve made different shortcuts for creating a new general note or a new blog post. This creates a .md file that gets saved into the NotePlan database, and then opened in Paper.
What makes it great
I'm Anti Anti-Growth and Anti-Commerce on Open Social Media
I don’t like it when people say “People on this platform are like this” – because all platforms contain multitudes. However, one quite prevalent multitude on Mastodon, and other open social media platforms,1 is the idea of being against growth and commercial activity on these platforms. And while I agree with some parts of these notions, in general, I really don’t agree with them.
The reason can be summed up in three points:
- If we agree that open social media, free from ad-tech monopolies, is a good thing, everyone deserves the chance to take part in it.
- This includes those who use online platforms to make a living, and those who want to follow them.
- And resources flowing through the ecosystem, makes it more realistic to achieve this goal.
Let’s name this abstract “good thing” after something else most people agree is good: Cake
I think everyone deserves cake! But we might have to bake more of it to have enough to go around. And being able to do that, and delivering it in a safe and timely manner, is a big challenge.
Nuances on growth
So, the main reason I think there should be some focus on growth, is that everyone deserves things like good privacy.2 And to achieve this, we need to focus on accessibility, usability, communication, actually being enjoyable, and more. Now, some of those who argue against growth, are really talking about being against “growth at all cost”, “growing past the security measures”3, etc. And with that, I’m 100% aligned.
Nuances on commercialisation
The Idea of Marques Brownlee's App Panels is OK
But I Have Several Problems With It
With the review of the latest iPhones, Marques Brownlee/MKBHD also revealed his latest project: The app Panels.
And I don’t mind the idea:
He’s hinted at expanding it in the future, but currently the app is an app to get wallpapers. You can get some of them for free (and by watching ads), but you can also buy packs of them, or subscribe to the app to get access to everything. The money is split between the app and the artists.
Wallaroo, by Iconfactory, is already a paid app for wallpapers, and Walli is an example of an app with a model where artists can upload their work.
In general, I feel like people’s expectations of stuff being free online is too high, so I don’t mind a new paid option in the market.
But these are my problems:
- The name
- The price
- The split
- The privacy
1) The name
My Biggest Small Gripe With Apple Notes
And (Obviously) Objectively Correct Principles for Paragraph Spacing
I think Apple Notes might be one of the best pieces of software Apple ships. They’ve nailed creating a simple app, with great ease-of-use, that still has more powerful features hidden, for those who want it. There are a couple of reasons why I don’t use it much, though:
- In general, I like to rely on third-party services.
- I also like the portability of Markdown, and being able to use several apps on the same files.
- I like that, in NotePlan, I can use the same app for notes and tasks.
However, Notes has numerous nice features, like:
- Good apps on both Mac, iPad and iPhone, while also being accessible on the web
- Pretty good collaboration features, with shared notes and folders
- More than enough options for formatting
- Collapsible headings
- Embedding of files, photos, and illustrations (especially good with PDFs)
- Audio recordings
- Links between notes (no backlinks, though)
- Tagging and smart folders
- Quick notes (which Apple, selfishly, reserves for itself)
- Math notes.
So I’ll gladly recommend it to most people!
However, as most Apple software, Notes is pretty inflexible. If you don’t like their choices, you’re out of luck. And I really don’t like their choices when it comes to paragraph spacing.
My paragraph spacing commandments
The Apps I Use From Setapp
And Why I Think It’s Great Value
Setapp — which apps do you use? Many, us pay for SetApp yet don’t get all the value because we don’t know the full extent of all the shiny toys. This was last asked 4 yrs ago, so it feels relevant againWhat the hidden gems have I missed?
A while ago, someone, on the MPU Forums, asked the question above. And here’s my answer to this question.
I also got around to writing this, as many of My App Defaults are from Setapp, and because I recently read about the Setapp iOS store in the EU (which Norway, sadly, isn’t a part of).
I hope this post can be useful if you’re considering the service, and wonder if it’s worth it, or if you’re new to the service and would like some tips to get started. If you want to give it a try, I’d appreciate you doing so through my affiliate link to Setapp 🖇️. 🫶🏻
I’ve sorted them into the following categories:
I also have a couple of honorable mentions, that are (or seem like) good apps, but that I, personally, don’t use that much.
I’ve added the price outside Setapp as well.1 Setapp is €10-15/month, or €100-150/year. However, some things to keep in mind:
- Many of the apps are one-time purchases (but often not with unlimited updates), so it’s difficult to compare with a single subscription.
- Many of the apps I use, I wouldn’t pay for if it weren’t included in Setapp. I’d either use a free/cheaper alternative, or just not use something like that at all.
I still find it to be great value – and I like that I can use nice, paid apps like explained in the second point.
Always-running utilities
These are apps I have running in the background all the time.
Bartender (€21)
The grandad of menu bar organisation. Ice is an interesting free alternative, but I’m still pleased with Bartender – especially as I can have it automatically change layout when I connect my Studio Display.
BetterTouchTool (€22)
I mostly use this to set up trackpad shortcuts – which it does amazingly. But it can do much more as well.
Cleanshot X (€26)
Terrific tool for screenshots, annotations, and screen recordings. An alternative for the latter, called IShowU (€80 or €22/year) also just dropped on Setapp.
Default Folder X (€47)
This app powers up the open and save dialogues on your Mac – with things like recent folders and the ability to click on folders you have open in the background to save there.
Hookmark (€63)
This is an app for creating deep links between different documents and parts of apps (like specific emails).
iStat Menus (€13)
Recently updated, with a beautiful coat of paint, this highly customisable app lets you place what you want in the menu bar. I have RAM and CPU usage, and a weather widget.
Mission Control Plus (€10)
I only use this to allow me to close windows from Exposé. Worth it!
Paste (€27/year)
My favourite clipboard manager. Both pretty and powerful.
PixelSnap (€35)
Used for measuring things or your screen. I think xScope might be a more powerful version of this.
PopClip (€23)
App that mimics the menu you get when you select text on iOS – but you fill it with what you want. I’ve turned off mine coming up automatically, but I get this with a hotkey:
From the left:
- The left one is a specific one for working with subtitles. It splits the selected line into two, down the middle.
- This wraps text in
<figcaption>, and is used for blog posts. - This wraps the text in a “callout div”, that I use to create callouts like the one about the affiliate link up top.
- If I want to format text in image captions or callouts, I have to use HTML. This creates an HTML hyperlink,
- this is italics,
<em> - and this is bold.
<strong> - The pen is some custom stuff for my band’s website.
- The Last One Will Title Case the Selected Text.
New defaults
These are tools that do the same thing as built-in tools, but a bit nicer/and more in a more powerful way.
Archiver (€20)
Just a nice zip/unzip tool. The Unarchiver (free) is more or less just as nice!
Elmedia Player (€25)
And this is just a nice video player. But here Iina (free) is also just as nice.
BusyCal (€45)
It lacks some of the most powerful Fantastical features – but I also prefer some things about BusyCal. And seeing as it’s so much cheaper, this is a great alternative if you want something more powerful than Calendar.app, but don’t want to pay €60/year. It also has a nice menu bar widget (as seen in the screenshot above).
Nitro PDF Pro (€200 or €17/month)
I’ve no idea why this is so expensive! I guess it offers features some businesses just got to have. 🤷🏻♂️ But for me, it’s just a nice PDF reader/editor.
Useful tools
The Story of My 1962 Bass Guitar
My Most Treasured Possession
In 2010, I went on a school trip from Norway to Los Angeles. I wanted a new bass, so I took a chance, and sold both basses I had at the time, to have funds to spend in L.A.
I was looking for a P-bass
But after not finding anything interesting in Guitar Center and other “regular” music stores, I searched online. There I found a store called Norman’s Rare Guitars. I didn’t know it at the time, but it’s one of the world’s most highly rated vintage shops – and they had a real bargain. You see, Fender instruments from the early 60s are expensive – especially the “Pre-CBS” ones.1 To put things into perspective: Norman’s have one currently, in great condition, which they want $10,900 for!
The one I ended up buying was even older, from 1962, but “only” $3,000. Not only that, the currency rate was much more favourable, from Norwegian Kroner, at the time. I paid what today would be $1,700.
Why it was so much cheaper
The guys as Norman’s said that the bass spent most of its life in the possession of a man they know who was. However, he wasn’t a stranger to experimenting with chemistry and his own blood – and the bass bears witness to this.
Here’s what I know about originality
I know that the volume pot is new (as I’ve swapped it myself) – and I don’t think the knobs are original.2 The rear strap button has been moved (to accommodate the heavy tuners). The headstock strap button is missing, alongside the pickup and bridge covers. However, as far as I know, the rest is original: Neck (more on this later), thumb rest, bridge tuners, pickup, and electronics.
As mentioned, my bass used to look like the one in the image above here – same finish and all.3 But now, and when I bought it, it looks like this:
