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Apple Notes is always there. It’s easy. It’s free. That why I like it.
But here’s the thing: 2025 made it a lot more powerful.
Apple dropped some cool updates. But also there are some amazing add-ons to make Apple Notes even better.
I’m a writer, dad, and creator. My whole life—family, work, wild ideas—moves fast. I need notes to keep up. I don’t need them to be fancy. Just easy and useful. Apple Notes extensions do that. They take you from “just writing stuff down” to “building your own workflow.” You don’t have to leave. You don’t need Notion or Obsidian. All you need is the right plugin.
Here’s the best 2025. Here’s how I use them.
ProNotes: The Barely Legal Speed Boost
ProNotes is slick. You hit a shortcut—boom. Formatting bar pops up. Bold, italics, checklists. All right there, no menus. For me, this cuts my editing time in half. Ideas flow, I tweak as I go.
Markdown? Yes. Just type, and ProNotes gets it. I’ve written grocery lists, outlines, and blog drafts in Markdown for years. Finally, Apple Notes feels right with it.
The slash commands are gold. Type / and you can add headings, quotes, tables. I use templates for recurring stuff. Weekly goals, blog outlines, family schedules—saved, ready, reusable. That tiny piece? Saves me hours.
If you’re like me, you want speed. You want shortcuts. The Command Palette feels like using a real code editor. Keyboard, not mouse. It’s fast. Enough said.
And for the days when words come slow? ProNotes Gold has built-in AI. It’ll fix grammar, suggest better phrasing, summarize notes. Hit a shortcut and get an instant nudge. Magic for $7.99/month, but you don’t need it if you’re old-school.
Free version is plenty. Try it. You’ll wonder how you managed without it.
NotesCmdr: Productivity for Obsessives
NotesCmdr is for the organizers. It thinks in templates and commands. Add a note, stamp the date, calculate things… all inline.
For my Gumroad shop, I use it for inventory and checklists. For blog posts, I save my standard structure as a template. Type /outline—it’s there. Even better? It can run calculations right in your note. Budgeting, daily steps, content plans.
It’s a Swiss Army knife. You buy it once, use it forever. No subscription. No drama.
Raycast: Workflow on Rocket Fuel
Raycast is legendary and its Apple Notes extension fits right in. You open, search, or create notes—no app launch, no clicking. I move between 20 notes a day. Now I do it from anywhere on my Mac.
Want to find an old story idea? Hit Raycast, search “story,” there it is. Want to jot something fast? Create a note, done.
If you live your digital life on a Mac, Raycast and Apple Notes are peanut butter and chocolate. A perfect fit.
Hidden Tricks
Most people open Apple Notes, type a few things, close it. With extensions, you get more:
- Search tools. Find anything, instantly.
- AI features. Summarize, edit, improve. Not everyone wants it, but it’s there for when you do.
- Smart templates. Reuse your best stuff—fast. Writing, organizing, planning.
If you want to move, Exporter helps back up your notes. Makes shifting platforms or doing big exports easy.
Check GitHub’s awesome-apple-notes repo if you’re a tinkerer. There’s always a script or extension for what you want to do next.
A Quick Comparison Table
Just like a dad, I keep it simple:
| Extension | Best For | Templates | Markdown | AI | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ProNotes | Speed, formatting | Yes | Yes | Yes | Free/Paid |
| NotesCmdr | Structure, calculation | Yes | Yes | No | One-time |
| Raycast | Searching, quick notes | Some | No | No | Free |
| Exporter | Backups | No | No | No | Free/Paid |
SEO Questions for Readers
Want to organize notes on iPhone? Check Apple Notes extensions.
Looking for the best Apple Notes plugins for productivity? This list is where to start.
Wondering how Apple Notes compares to Notion or Obsidian for templates, AI, and workflow? Try these extensions first.
Why Stay?
Switching apps is exhausting. Most of the big features in Notion, Obsidian, or Evernote? With Apple Notes extensions, you already have them. You stay fast, organized, in sync across all your devices.
I’m not saying Apple Notes is perfect. But it’s now good enough that I don’t wander.
I write. I live. I move on. Isn’t that the point?
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