# A minimal notes app with one list and no folders

> Gravity is a minimalist notes app: one list, no folders, nothing to set up. New notes land on top and old ones sink. What I left out on purpose, and why.

Canonical: https://www.gravitynotes.app/minimal-notes-app

Gravity is a minimal notes app. It keeps every note in a single list with the newest at the top. Older notes sink as you add new ones, and when one still matters you swipe it back to the top. There are no folders and no notebooks to set up, and you don't need an account to start writing.

I'm Tristan, and I make Gravity on my own in Germany. I built it because every notes app I tried slowly turned into a filing job. This page explains what "minimal" means in practice.

## What's in it

The whole app is built around one loop: write, look back now and then, rescue what's still useful.

When you open Gravity on your phone, the cursor is already in the box at the top of the list. You type, press Return twice, and the note is saved. If you get interrupted halfway through, the draft stays there until you come back.

Scroll down and you're reviewing. Swipe a note right and it goes back to the top. Swipe left and you can archive it, delete it, share it or copy it. On iPhone, iPad and Android, a note's text turns lighter as it ages, so you can see at a glance what's been sitting untouched for months.

![Gravity on iPhone showing one list of notes: a rescued idea about a pixel-art habit tracker, a Lisbon weekend checklist, a Saturday checklist, an idea note and a read: note summarising the append-and-review note](https://www.gravitynotes.app/screenshots/ios-list.webp "The whole app is this screen: a capture box, then every note in one list, newest or most recently rescued at the top.")

Beyond that, there's a short list of things I think a notes app needs:

- Search across every note, which works offline and can include archived notes
- Markdown formatting, shown as you type, and checklists you can tick off from the list
- Tags without a tag manager: start a note with `todo:` or `idea:` and it gets its own colour
- A home screen widget and a share-sheet option for getting text in quickly
- Light, dark and pure-black themes, and three text sizes
- Export to JSON or Markdown whenever you like

On the Mac, Gravity lives in the menu bar. Press Option-Space in any app, type, and press Return twice to save.

![Gravity on iPad showing the same single list across the full width of the screen, with checklists, prefixed notes like idea:, read: and watch:, and a code snippet](https://www.gravitynotes.app/screenshots/ipad-list.webp "On iPad the list gets the whole screen. Checklists, headings, tags and code all sit in the same list, and one purchase covers iPhone and iPad.")

## Nothing to file

Gravity has no folders, notebooks or note titles, and a tag is a word you type. Each of those would add a decision at the moment you're trying to get a thought down, or a system you'd have to keep up. I've written about [why I say no to folders and tags](https://www.gravitynotes.app/blog/no-were-not-adding-folders) in more detail. A capture app should ask nothing of you when you open it, and Gravity asks for one thing: the thought.

## A day with Gravity

Morning: you remember you need to renew your passport and write `todo: passport renewal`. On the train you read a good article and share the link into Gravity. At lunch someone recommends a book, so you write `read: The Overstory`.

In the evening you open the app to jot something down and glance at the list below. The passport to-do is still there, so you swipe it right to keep it near the top. Last week's half-idea about a side project doesn't grab you, so you leave it to sink. You've spent about a minute organising, and that minute was reading.

## How it compares

Apple Notes is free, already on your iPhone, and full of features: folders, tags, attachments, drawings, shared notes and locked notes. If you've ended up with dozens of folders you never open, Gravity is the opposite approach, with one list and nothing to file.

Google Keep is free, works on Android, iPhone and the web, and lays notes out as cards with labels, colours and reminders. It needs a Google account and syncs through Google. Gravity needs no account to write notes and puts them in one list you read from the top.

Bear is a Markdown writing app for Apple devices, with nested tags and a subscription for sync. Gravity has Markdown too, in a single list, with an Android app as well.

Obsidian and Notion are tools for building systems: linked notes, databases, plugins, workspaces. That's the opposite of minimal. Drafts is the closest in spirit, with fast capture and a blank page on launch, and it leans towards sending text elsewhere with actions, where Gravity leans towards keeping it and reviewing it.

## Who it's for

Gravity suits you if you have lots of small thoughts through the day, you want them out of your head quickly, and you're willing to scroll back through them now and then. People who have [abandoned one productivity system after another](https://www.gravitynotes.app/blog/why-most-note-taking-apps-dont-work-for-adhd) often like it for the same reason.

## Questions

### How much does Gravity cost?

The app is $9.99 per platform. iCloud sync between iPhone, iPad and Mac is free, and Gravity Sync, which adds Android and your AI apps, is free during the beta and becomes a subscription after it. The iPhone and iPad app, the Mac app and the Android app are each sold separately, and there are no ads.

### Does it sync between devices?

On Apple devices, yes, through iCloud if you turn it on. It works between iPhone, iPad and the Mac app. On Android, your notes stay on the phone, with automatic daily backups to a folder you choose.

### Can I use Markdown?

Yes. Headings, bold, italics, lists, links, quotes and checklists display formatted, and notes are saved as plain Markdown text.

### What if I already have notes elsewhere?

The [import tool](https://www.gravitynotes.app/import) on this site converts Markdown and CSV exports into a file Gravity can import.

Gravity is on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and Mac, and on Google Play.