Jot
Capture a quick note from anywhere, instantly
Overview
Jot lives in your menu bar and stays out of the way until you need it. Press Option+Space and a Raycast-style floating panel drops in, ready for a thought, a list, or a snippet you want to keep. The rich editor handles checklists, lists, images, and full right-to-left Arabic text, with a slash menu for fast formatting. Save with Command+Return and the note lands in a searchable local history you can pin, copy, edit, or delete. The standout move is Command+Down, which restores the app you were last in and pastes the note for you, so a captured idea travels to wherever it belongs.
Notes are written to a single JSON file in Application Support, guarded by a last-known-good backup and continuous draft auto-save so a crash or a toggle-close never loses your work. Optional touches include turning a note into an Apple Reminder with a list, date, and time picker, and an on-device AI panel that can refine, reformat, or rewrite a note using Apple Intelligence when your Mac supports it. Jot has no accounts, no telemetry, and makes no network connections of any kind. Your notes stay on your Mac.
Features
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Global capture shortcut
Press Option+Space anywhere to open a borderless floating panel and start typing right away, then save with Command+Return or dismiss with Esc.
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Inject into the previous app
Command+Down restores the app you were just in and pastes the note for you. Until you grant Accessibility, the note is still copied to the clipboard so you can paste manually.
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Searchable local history
Browse, search (English and Arabic), pin, copy, edit, and delete saved notes. Delete is undoable with Command+Z.
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Rich editor with slash commands
Interactive checklists, lists, embedded images, and right-to-left Arabic support, with a slash menu for quick formatting.
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Crash-safe local storage
Notes are saved to a single JSON file in Application Support with a last-known-good backup, and in-progress drafts auto-save continuously so nothing is lost.
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Turn a note into a reminder
Create an Apple Reminder from a note with a list, date, and time picker. Uses EventKit and asks for Reminders permission on first use.
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On-device AI assist
An optional panel can refine, reformat, turn into a prompt, or draft an email from a note using Apple's on-device Foundation Models. No API key and no data leaves the Mac. Requires macOS 26 with Apple Intelligence.
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Menu-bar accessory, launch at login
Runs as a menu-bar app with no Dock icon and can start automatically at login.
Screenshots
Version history
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1.2.027 June 2026
Current build (CFBundleVersion 5). On-device AI panel using Apple Foundation Models (refine, reformat, turn into prompt, draft email); image paste and drop with downscaling; turn a note into an Apple Reminder with list, date, and time picker. Signed and packaged as a DMG.
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1.1.022 June 2026
Crash-safe storage hardening: last-known-good notes.json backup and continuous draft auto-save so a toggle-close or crash never loses an in-progress note. Settings Permissions section showing live Accessibility and Reminders status, with stable self-signed identity so the Accessibility grant survives rebuilds.
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1.0.019 June 2026
Initial release: menu-bar quick capture on Option+Space, inject-into-previous-app via Command+Down, searchable local history with pin, copy, edit, delete and undo, rich editor with checklists, lists, slash commands, and right-to-left Arabic support.
Privacy
Your data stays on your device
Jot keeps everything on your Mac. Notes are saved as a local JSON file in Application Support, with no cloud sync, no account, and no analytics or tracking. The app makes no network connections at all. AI features, when available, run entirely on-device through Apple Intelligence, so note text is never sent anywhere. The app touches system data only when you ask it to: Reminders access is requested on first use of the Reminder button, and Accessibility permission is used for the paste-into-previous-app feature, which is read-only when checking the target and never auto-pastes into a guessed field. Jot also reads the clipboard to offer a quick import and to paste images you copy. No data leaves the device.
Read the full privacy policy →