Scratchpad App REVIEW: Quickly draft notes and ideas

Streamlined Simplicity for the Modern Note-Taker

I’ve always been a note-taker. I keep several notepads nearby just so I can jot down quick thoughts when they pop into my head. Even though I love the feel of pen on paper, I have really wanted to find a simple note-taking app that works between my devices so that I can make those quick notes and be reminded of them no matter what device I was using. I use Stickies on my MacBook Pro, but those don’t carry over to my iPhone and iPad. This is where Scratchpad has swooped in to save the day.

About Scratchpad

Scratchpad for macOS is a lightweight, easy-to-use note-taking app designed to capture your thoughts instantly, wherever you are. Whether you’re jotting down a fleeting idea, creating to-do lists, or keeping track of important details, Scratchpad provides a simple and efficient space to store your notes without distraction.

With a clean, minimalistic interface and seamless integration into the macOS ecosystem, Scratchpad ensures you can access your notes anytime, even when you’re on the go. Featuring customizable keyboard shortcuts, smart organization tools, and a focus on speed, it’s the perfect companion for users who need to capture and organize information quickly, all while staying focused on their work.

Key Features:

• Instant note creation: Launch and create notes in seconds with customizable shortcuts.
• Minimalist design: A distraction-free interface that lets you focus on what’s important.
• Quick search: Find any note with a simple search function.
• Sync across devices: Keep your notes updated across all your macOS devices.
• Light & Dark modes: Choose the theme that best fits your environment.
• Offline access: Write and access your notes even without an internet connection.

Perfect for students, professionals, and anyone who needs to keep their thoughts organized quickly and efficiently, Scratchpad is the go-to tool for a simpler, smarter note-taking experience.

Privacy Policy

According to the App Store, no data is collected from this app. For more information on the app’s privacy policy, click here.

Pricing and Availability

Scratchpad is available for a one-time fee of $8 through the Mac App Store. There is a fully functional trial version of the app available through the developer’s website. The only limitation is a reminder to buy the app every 12 hours and no automatic updates are available.

User Experience

As mentioned above, there are two options for installing Scratchpad — the free trial direct from the developer or through the Mac App Store. I went with the App Store version so that I could ensure I was getting the latest updates. Installation was as simple as clicking the download button. Once it was installed, I only had to set up my preferences to get started.

One of the things I like about this app is that it doesn’t require a bunch of system permissions to work. You simply select things like Launch at Login, Show in Dock or Menu Bar, etc. and start using the notepad. Scratchpad is designed to be simple and is plain text only. This doesn’t mean that you can’t change the appearance of the font you see in the notepad, but what it does mean is that you can’t insert things like images into the note. While this was a little disappointing to me, I do love the simplicity of the app. Because you can only save text to the note, it keeps the interface distraction-free. You just jot down your note and don’t get bogged down into trying to insert images or designs. That’s not what this app is for. It’s for brain dumps, which is exactly what I needed to get away from my pen and paper.

Even though it’s a distraction-free interface there are some fantastic user-driven appearance options available in the settings. You can switch the background between light, dark, or translucent. I selected translucent, which looks fantastic, but does have its drawbacks. I noticed that if I choose for URLs to be Linkified they are a little hard to read depending on the background of your computer. In addition to that, the tranluscent background is only available on the macOS version. The iOS and iPad versions are full-screen apps instead of a small pop-over like the macOS version.

In addition to the background options, users can also modify text size, line spacing, font, and have the note automatically fill in quotes and dashes intelligently. I love how these options are included in the preferences instead of forced on the user. If you use Text Edit like I did (as a note-taking app), then you will find that you select between Rich Text and Plain Text formatting. Scratchpad gives users the option to have some Rich Text features without fully formatting the notepad that way.

Scratchpad syncs using iCloud. This is brilliant and works flawlessly between the Apple products. I will admit that I set up my macOS version first. Then, I added on the iPhone and finally the iPad. At first, the iCloud sync didn’t pick up. I found that if I closed the app and reopened it, everything synced just fine. There is a great Troubleshooting guide available on sindresorhus.com that walks through all the steps a user needs to ensure iCloud sync is working properly.

Conclusion

Scratchpad is exactly what I’ve been looking for and has joined my ‘must-have’ list. It’s easy to use and is made by a trusted developer. The combination of its simple interface, iCloud sync capabilities, and customizable features makes it a perfect solution for quick note-taking across Apple devices. While it may lack some advanced features like image insertion, its focus on simplicity and efficiency is what makes it truly shine.

For more information, visit sindresorhus.com/scratchpad