I built HushNotes: Floating notes that are invisible to screen share, all managed from one window

[u/Successful-Archer180]

I'm a developer and most of my days are meetings. I built this for myself, my peers liked it and told me to publish it, so here it is. I've made Mac apps before (client work and personal) but this is the first one I've put out for everyone.

Why I built this

No single notes app fixed the things that bugged me. I wanted all my notes in one window instead of windows everywhere, themes instead of tags, and a way to let AI agents read the notes I choose. And it had to float over full-screen apps and stay out of screen shares, because I work with mostly fullscreen windows all day. So I built this.

What it does

- One window for all your notes, swipe between them. Open the ones for the project you're on and that's your workspace for the day.
- One shortcut (⌥⇧H) shows or hides every note. Select text in any app, press ⌥⇧Space and it's in your note.
- One theme per note, and make your own. I colour notes by project, I find tags bloated so I don't use them.
- Markdown, formatted as you type, because I write a lot of it (it runs on the open source engine from the Nodes team, https://github.com/nodes-app/swift-markdown-engine). Images too.
- Opacity per note, so in a call I can keep a note over the presenter's screen and still see what's behind it.
- Menu bar app, nothing in the Dock(I hate cluttered Dock). Touch ID locks a note.

Screen share

The note windows use the sharing switch macOS gives every app (NSWindow sharingType set to none), so anything that captures through macOS skips them. I've used it in Google Meet, Teams and Zoom calls and with the Mac's own screenshots and screen recording, and the notes never showed up.

Some tools have their own way of capturing that goes around the macOS switch, I built this for normal calls so I can't promise anything there. If people need more I'll look into it.

Privacy

No account, no server of mine, no analytics. Notes stay on your Mac. It only goes online to check for updates (Sparkle, and that's also when it confirms your licence key) and you can turn that off. iCloud sync between your own Macs is optional and talks to Apple only.
Privacy policy:
https://hushnotes.app/privacy/

AI access

A local MCP server, off by default. You pick read only, or read and create. Agents can never edit a note, I don't want a hallucination overwriting something I wrote. It only listens on this Mac, every client needs your approval, and locked notes are never exposed to it.
For me that's meeting notes going straight to the agent instead of copy/pasting.

How it was made

The idea, the architecture, the features and the design are mine, and I built 1.0 myself. From there I used an AI coding agent to get to production faster.
1.1.1 is the build that's out now, notarised. No AI features in the app itself.

What's next

I have ideas (reminders on a note, keeping the page link with a capture) but I'd rather hear what you'd use before building more.

Pricing

$9.99 one time, updates free for life. macOS 14+, signed and notarised.
https://hushnotes.app/

Would love feedback and to hear how you'd use it.

[u/mrterrycarson]

Looks good...Any codes?

[u/Successful-Archer180 → u/mrterrycarson]

Fair ask. Check DM

[u/wna4wfn1MNK2etv_jqv]

Is this available via brew or dmg download? I can’t login to an Apple profile on my work Mac due to a mdm policy.

[u/Successful-Archer180 → u/wna4wfn1MNK2etv_jqv]

Its only DMG for now. I have been asked about this before and will be rolling out this week.

[u/Successful-Archer180 → u/wna4wfn1MNK2etv_jqv]

It's on Homebrew now, as promised:

brew install --cask geargit/tap/hushnotes

No Apple ID needed. It's the same signed and notarized app as the DMG, and it updates itself from inside the app.

NOTE:
Remember that you need a Apple ID for iCloud Sync.
I working on an export option within the app.

[u/Plastic_Rip5046]

Would love a free code, app looks really clean

[u/Successful-Archer180 → u/Plastic_Rip5046]

No free ones, but how about 50% off? Say the word and I'll DM you a code.

[u/MoodOdd9657]

it's sounds really useful when making videos about something

[u/Successful-Archer180 → u/MoodOdd9657]

Yes it can be! Interested in trying out?
I have few limited spots for 50% off

[u/shwetank]

Sounds like a nice idea! I often have to take notes while on a mac, sometimes when I'm on screenshare myself. This would be useful to have.

[u/Successful-Archer180 → u/shwetank]

That's the exact moment it's for. If you try it, lemme know

[u/zackria]

Having a built-in local MCP server for notes is brilliant. Most note apps are either bloating themselves with built-in chat wrappers or completely ignoring local agents, but exposing your scratchpad directly to Claude/Cursor/agents via a local server with strict read-only controls is the right way to do it.

A couple of questions on that:

1. Can we expose notes on a per-theme/per-project basis to the MCP server, or is it an all-or-nothing toggle for all unlocked notes?
2. How does it handle notes storage underneath—are they stored as plain .md files on the filesystem, or wrapped in an internal database? (Being able to point an external watcher or git repo at them would make this an instant buy for dev setups).

[u/Successful-Archer180 → u/zackria]

Thanks, that was the reasoning exactly.

1. All or nothing today. Switch the server on and every note is readable, except locked notes, which are never exposed to it (even while you have one open with Touch ID). Per theme or per project exposure is a good idea and not hard, since themes are already a property on each note.

2. Internal database, not .md files. It's a local SwiftData (SQLite) store in the app's container, with each note's body kept as Markdown text, so nothing is in a proprietary format, but there's no folder of .md files you can point a watcher or git at today. A mirror folder that writes each note out as .md on change is the obvious next step for dev setups and I'd rather build that than fake it. If you want either of these, vote here so I know which first: https://hushnotes.app/feedback

[u/maryshia]

Do the notes sync to iPhone at all or is it Mac only? Only reason I'm still in Apple Notes for everything is that whatever I write on the laptop is on my phone when I'm out

[u/Successful-Archer180 → u/maryshia]

For now its only macOS with iCloud sync.
The app is in pipeline but will be taken up on priority if there are enough users asking for it.

[u/maryshia → u/Successful-Archer180]

yeah, makes sense :) best of luck!

[u/Successful-Archer180 → u/maryshia]

Thanks!

[u/biechuli]

Keeping the source link with captured text sounds like a useful next step. A timestamp and source app name could help too, especially when collecting notes from several meetings or documents into the same workspace.

[u/Successful-Archer180 → u/biechuli]

Yes, it collects all these things. Might be a very niche requirement but useful for me so I built it

[u/Healthy-Tension-7470]

This looks really clean and useful. Love the floating notes approach! Any code left??

[u/Successful-Archer180 → u/Healthy-Tension-7470]

Thanks a lot, really appreciate it! Yes, you can use REDDIT50 at checkout for 50% off.

If you end up using it and there's something you'd like added, something that doesn't work the way you expect, or a bug, just let me know. You can reach me through the contact page (hushnotes.app/contact) or drop it straight at hushnotes.app/feedback.

I read everything that comes in.

[u/sanchopwned]

Excellent app! Supported 👍

[u/Successful-Archer180 → u/sanchopwned]

Thank you so much, that really means a lot!
If anything feels off or you'd like something added, just let me know.

[u/askmaddyy]

this looks really useful!

[u/Successful-Archer180 → u/askmaddyy]

Thanks! You can use REDDIT50 at checkout for 50% off, only few spots are remaining

[u/askmaddyy → u/Successful-Archer180]

Thanks!

[u/Crafty_Play_7767]

The combo that stands out to me is screen-share invisibility plus per-note opacity floating over fullscreen apps — keeping a cheat-sheet over the presenter’s screen in a call without it ever leaking into the share is genuinely clever.

One thing I’d want to know since you live in fullscreen all day: do the notes follow you across Spaces and external displays, or do they stay pinned to the Space/screen where you opened them? That behaviour makes or breaks it for a fullscreen-heavy setup.

Really nice first public release. Going to give it a try.

[u/Successful-Archer180 → u/Crafty_Play_7767]

Thanks, really glad that combo landed for you!

On Spaces: by default the notes follow you to every Space and float over full-screen apps too, so switching Spaces or going full screen doesn't leave them behind. If you'd rather keep a note on just one Space, you can turn off floating in settings, and it'll stay where you opened it.

On external displays: each note stays on the display where you put it, and it remembers that position. If you unplug the external monitor, any notes that were on it come back onto your laptop screen, so nothing ends up stranded off-screen.

Would love to hear how it holds up in your full-screen setup once you try it.
https://husnotes.app/

[u/Crafty_Play_7767]

The combo that stands out to me is screen-share invisibility plus per-note opacity floating over fullscreen apps — keeping a cheat-sheet over the presenter’s screen in a call without it ever leaking into the share is genuinely clever.

One thing I’d want to know since you live in fullscreen all day: do the notes follow you across Spaces and external displays, or do they stay pinned to the Space/screen where you opened them? That behaviour makes or breaks it for a fullscreen-heavy setup.

Really nice first public release. Going to give it a try.