Kosshi Outliner
Markdown, images, device sync
Free · In‑App Purchases
A fast, native outliner. Now smooth on large outlines, with refined keyboard shortcuts. Markdown, images, iCloud sync. One-time purchase.
Kosshi is a fast, native outliner. Simple and smooth on large outlines.
Available on Mac, iPhone, and iPad — one purchase covers all three.
Outliner
Hit Tab to indent and build a hierarchy. Collapse what you don't need, drag to move things around.
Zoom In / Zoom Out
Zoom into any row and only its contents are shown. Breadcrumbs tell you where you are, and you can jump home anytime.
Markdown
Bold, italic, highlight, links, checkboxes, code blocks, and LaTeX math all render right where you type. Formatting markers only appear while editing — move away and they're gone.
Images & Files
Add images by pasting or dragging, and resize however you want. PDFs and videos show as inline previews too.
Apple Pencil Sketches
Draw sketches with Apple Pencil on iPad. They sync to Mac and iPhone through iCloud.
Search
Cmd+F to search your whole outline. Matches get highlighted. Replace works too.
Dark Mode
Switch between light and dark themes. Automatically follows your system setting.
Tags
Use #tags to categorize and @tags for dates or status. Filter from the sidebar.
Internal Links
Type [[ to search and link to another row. Build a web of connected outlines.
Bookmarks
Press Cmd+D to bookmark a row. Bookmarks appear at the top of the sidebar.
Prose Mode
Switch a row to Prose Mode for long-form writing. Bullets disappear and children stay expanded.
Reminders & Calendar
Any @tag with a date syncs to Apple Reminders or Calendar. Use @todo(3/15), @meeting(every monday 10:00), and so on.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Collapse, move, indent — all without reaching for the mouse.
Export
Export as Markdown, OPML, or plain text. Your data is never locked in.
Auto Backup
Restore past outlines from daily backups. Feel free to delete outlines you no longer need.
iCloud Sync
When iCloud is available, your outlines sync across Apple devices via CloudKit. Data is stored in your iCloud account, and the developer cannot access its contents.
Pay Once
Built natively for speed. Launches quickly and works offline. One-time purchase covers Mac, iPhone, and iPad — no subscription, no account required. A 7-day free trial is available.
Feedback
Feature requests and bug reports are always welcome. Reach us via the contact form at https://kosshi.app/contact or on X at @shirokumamake.
more I love outliners. I love native Mac apps, and I love keeping my data on my computer, not in the cloud. This checks all the boxes, and is remarkably stable for a new app. I love the single file data base approach. This is as close as Mac has come to GrandView - still the best of them all.
The iPad version has a little catching up to do with the Mac version, especially in find and filter, (the found items are highlighted, but sometimes are not seen in the window as you step through them, filter doesn’t always work) but I am sure that will be fixed soon. Kosshi has already surpassed the competition.
The Desktop version is 5 stars and the iPad version is 3 stars, so I am giving it 4.Edit: I think the iPad problems were user error. I am changing this review to 5 stars. For my personal use, notes like OmniOutliner would make it perfect, but that is the only change (I won’t call it an improvement) I would like to see.
I love outliners. I love native Mac apps, and I love keeping my data on my computer, not in the cloud. This checks all the boxes, and is remarkably stable for a new app. I love the single file data base approach. This is as close as Mac has come to GrandView - still the best of them all.
The iPad version has a little catching up to do with the Mac version, especially in find and filter, (the found items are highlighted, but sometimes are not seen in the window as you step through them, filter doesn’t always work) but I am sure that will be fixed soon. Kosshi has already surpassed the competition.
The Desktop version is 5 stars and the iPad version is 3 stars, so I am giving it 4.Edit: I think the iPad problems were user error. I am changing this review to 5 stars. For my personal use, notes like OmniOutliner would make it perfect, but that is the only change (I won’t call it an improvement) I would like to see.
This app has a lot of potential. I love the design; it is kind of like an offline Workflowy, which is not a bad thing.The developer is accessible and responsive, and I have seen the app improve tremendously since I first got it. I am looking forward to watching it grow.
This app has a lot of potential. I love the design; it is kind of like an offline Workflowy, which is not a bad thing.The developer is accessible and responsive, and I have seen the app improve tremendously since I first got it. I am looking forward to watching it grow.
I used to use an online outliner that was subscription based and lacked end-to-end encryption, which I was never very happy about. It was great to find this app that supports huge outlines and syncs fast over iCloud between devices and is a one-time purchase. Thank you!
I used to use an online outliner that was subscription based and lacked end-to-end encryption, which I was never very happy about. It was great to find this app that supports huge outlines and syncs fast over iCloud between devices and is a one-time purchase. Thank you!
This is an excellent app so far. I’m excited to see where it goes over the next few months. It’s already entirely useable and really fills a space in the iOS and Mac OS cross compatible offline outline apps that no other app fills currently.
This is an excellent app so far. I’m excited to see where it goes over the next few months. It’s already entirely useable and really fills a space in the iOS and Mac OS cross compatible offline outline apps that no other app fills currently.
Add notes to any row. Notes support Markdown and tags.
- Save a search and its zoom position to the sidebar, then return to the same view anytime
- Open large outlines faster, with more responsive moves and deletes across many rows
- Select an entire row with a triple-tap
- Fixed the edit menu appearing unexpectedly or remaining open
- Fixed iCloud sync remaining enabled after importing large OPML files
1.17.0 1d ago
- Fixed issues with Markdown link syntax
- Fixed bold not using the chosen font, and bold overlapping highlight breaking display and export
- Fixed rows being drawn in the wrong place after expanding or collapsing under a filter
- Images from the web now always load, and the setting for it is gone
- Faster sidebar scrolling
1.16.1 4d ago
Markdown image syntax now pulls in images from the web and displays them in your outline.
- Merge windows into tabs on macOS
- Choose the text and code fonts in iOS settings
- Fixed printing and exporting not matching what the filter shows
- Fixed double-click and Option+Arrow selecting an entire line in Japanese, Chinese, and Thai
- Fixed the free trial showing one day less than it had left
- Fixed indented plain text losing its structure when pasted
- Fixed broken image links when exporting to Markdown or TextBundle
- Many other improvements and bug fixes
1.16.0 6d ago
This update fixes one issue.
- Fixed the sidebar scrolling back to the top when you select an item in it
1.15.5 Aug 3
This update fixes two issues.
- Fixed sidebar rows not appearing while scrolling on iPhone and iPad
- Fixed triple-click and drag selecting an entire quote, code, or math block instead of a single line
1.15.4 Aug 2
This update polishes editing and fixes a handful of issues.
- Dragging rows now scrolls the view automatically near the screen edges
- Long-pressing a sidebar row now opens its context menu on iPhone and iPad
- Unassigning Cmd+↑↓ or Cmd+Shift+↑↓ in the shortcut settings now makes them move or select to the start or end of the document
- Fixed Korean input on iOS not combining final consonants (batchim)
- Fixed command shortcuts not responding while typing in Korean and other non-Latin languages
- Fixed Find & Replace matching the wrong range after emoji and other special characters, and replace now scrolls to the next match
- Many other improvements, including a major internal overhaul of the editor
1.15.3 Aug 1
This update fixes a handful of editing issues.
- Fixed cases where cut, paste, delete, move, or indent could act on rows other than the ones selected
- Fixed cases where switching away from the app and back could write older content
- Fixed rows inside a prose section not collapsing
- Fixed text copied from Word pasting as an image
1.15.2 Jul 17
Fixed a bug where the editor could get stuck at launch on "Checking purchase status," so you couldn't type.
The issue is being tracked at forum.kosshi.app/t/24. If it still happens, please get in touch at kosshi.app/contact.
1.15.1 Jul 16
New
- Copy rows in a specific format (Rich Text, Markdown, Plain Text, OPML) from the edit menu
- Added a palette that lists only your bookmarks (⌘⇧B)
Improved
- Toggle a bookmark (⌘D) from the Find and Bookmarks palettes
- Added Home (document root) as a destination in the Move to palette
- Row selection now always includes descendants, so the highlight matches what Copy, Delete, and Move act on
- Added ⌃⌘↑↓ for moving rows, alongside ⌘⇧↑↓
- Added a link to the forum in Settings
Fixed
- Fixed paste not replacing the selected text
- Fixed cut sometimes losing content from unintended rows
- Fixed Cmd+A not selecting all rows on an image row or in a read-only document
- Fixed the caret shifting horizontally when moving up or down through rows with bold text
- Many other improvements and bug fixes
1.15.0 Jul 13
Set a maximum line width to keep outlines readable on large screens.
New
- Line Width setting limits the maximum text width; wide windows center the outline
Improved
- Find palette lists Home at the top of the hierarchy
- Drag rows from the Find palette preview into the main editor
Fixed
- Keyboard shortcut assignments now allow combinations other than Command
- Fixed inability to apply Bold, Italic, and other formatting while rows are selected
- Fixed the caret moving to unintended positions during row selection and Undo
- Fixed multi-row Tab indent going too deep
- Fixed Settings not opening from the iPad sidebar gear button or Command+,
- Fixed Undo and Redo keyboard shortcuts on iPad
1.14.0 Jul 5
This update includes improvements and bug fixes.
Improved
- The iPad sidebar resize handle is easier to grab and smoother while dragging
- Bullets in the main editor align more naturally with the first line
Fixed
- Fixed an issue where text selection was hard to read in Dark Mode
- Fixed Cmd+Shift+Up/Down row moves not keeping the moved row in view
- Fixed the caret staying offscreen while editing long wrapped lines
- Fixed line-start Backspace not scrolling to the focused row after merging or deleting a row
1.13.1 Jul 1
Keyboard shortcuts are now customizable and easier to discover, with settings that sync through iCloud. This release also adds faster palettes for moving, finding, linking, and running actions.
New
- Customize keyboard shortcuts from Settings, including navigation, editing, formatting, and app commands
- Use Move to, Find, and Find Action palettes from a hardware keyboard
- Search with filters for tags, internal links, and outline level
Improved
- Insert and edit links to rows more easily, with cleaner search results for internal links and attachments
- Drag rows in the sidebar and between the sidebar and editor on iPad
- Multiple windows now stay in sync while you edit the same document
- Undo a backup restore from Settings
Fixed
- Fixed export preview not updating while you edit the document
- Fixed edits on iPhone and iPad not syncing to iCloud while you type
- Fixed backup restore reliability with iCloud sync and attachments
- Fixed Find/Replace not scrolling to the current match after Replace or Next/Previous
- Fixed code block layout when moving the cursor upward into a block
- Fixed Settings appearance when switching between System and Light theme
- Fixed the welcome screen reappearing after purchase
- Fixed Shift+arrow selection leaving a stale highlight after normal arrow movement
- Fixed the keyboard staying visible over Settings and Export on iPad
- Fixed checkbox completion staying in sync with [ ] / [x] text, IME suggestion commits, and Enter behavior at the start of code blocks
- Fixed zoom and move display glitches, including rows briefly appearing in the wrong place
1.13.0 Jun 30
This release makes editing more dependable: quote blocks, splitting rows, moving the caret across wrapped lines, and zooming all behave the way you expect.
New
- Collapse and jump to a row's parent with Cmd+↑ on a hardware keyboard
- Open release notes and subscribe to the newsletter from Settings
Improved
- The keyboard toolbar now matches the rounded iOS keyboard and follows light and dark mode
Fixed
- Fixed the cursor disappearing and the keyboard becoming unusable after zooming in or out of a focused row
- Fixed pressing Return in the middle of a row reverting it to its pre-split text
- Rebuilt caret movement across wrapped lines, so pressing ↑/↓ from the end of a line no longer jumps to the start
- Many quote block editing fixes: splitting a multi-line block into independent rows, highlight alignment, and more
- Fixed deeply indented rows compressing to one character per line
- Fixed extra line spacing on rows containing [ ] in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean
- Fixed double-drawn text during zoom transitions
- Fixed Export to OPML dropping line breaks and completed state
- Fixed edits to the same row on two devices losing one side's change, and deleted rows not converging across devices
- Many other improvements and bug fixes
1.12.0 Jun 15
Editing on iPad with a mouse or hardware keyboard now feels much closer to the Mac.
New
- Drag a bullet to reorder rows; drag in the margin to select rows (iPad with mouse/trackpad)
- Select text across multiple rows with a pointer
- Duplicate rows with Cmd+Shift+D
- Move selected rows with Cmd+Shift+↑/↓ on a hardware keyboard
- Choose where each @tag syncs (a Reminders list or a calendar)
- Open the user guide from Settings (kosshi.app/guide)
Improved
- More responsive hardware keyboard, with the caret following along and proper key repeat
- Faster arrow-key and Shift-selection navigation
- Large outlines open, scroll, and edit much faster
Fixed
- Fixed scrolling that could turn into text selection
- Fixed arrow keys not scrolling the cursor into view at the screen edge
- Fixed the selection cursor lingering after releasing Shift
- Fixed row order breaking when moving a multi-row selection to the edges
- Fixed pasting that left an empty first line
- Fixed bookmarks that sometimes needed several presses
- Fixed the sidebar not updating right away when you edit a heading
- Fixed search text remaining in the box after clearing a filter
- Fixed Reminders sync creating duplicates when a reminder was moved between lists
- Fixed row height shifting while editing a row with a link
- Updated the Welcome guide's zoom-out instructions to match current behavior
1.11.0 Jun 1
Small improvements and bug fixes.
- OPML import now preserves completion state from WorkFlowy and Dynalist OPML exports
- Fixed missing #tag / @tag prefix on parent rows in the sidebar
- Fixed @tag parsing for tag kinds with non-ASCII characters
- Fixed duplicate inserts when using Expand All
1.10.1 May 20
Search just got more powerful. Filter your outlines by status, date, or attachments — type `is:bookmarked`, `created:today`, or `has:image`, or pick them from the new funnel menu in the search bar.
And Kosshi now speaks 9 languages: in addition to English, the app is fully translated into Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, German, French, Spanish, and Italian.
New
- Filter search results by status (is:), date (created: / updated:), or attachments (has:)
- Funnel menu in the search bar for picking filters
- Full UI translation in 8 new languages, plus the Welcome guide
Improved
- Date filter syntax simplified to `-after:` and `-before:`
Many other improvements and bug fixes
1.10.0 May 17
Row insertions, deletions, and collapse / expand feel more natural. Scrolling and the cursor follow each other more smoothly while you edit. iPhone launch and sketch rendering are noticeably snappier.
Improved
- More natural animations for row insert / delete and collapse / expand
- Smoother cursor-follow scrolling while editing
- The cursor is now shown on image and file attachment rows
- Faster launch and smoother scrolling on iPhone, especially with sketch-heavy documents
Fixes
- Fixed a bug where you could not scroll to the bottom after resizing an image or inserting a new sketch
- Fixed the keyboard toolbar overlapping the safe area when using the floating keyboard
- Fixed Undo from the keyboard toolbar or an external keyboard not reverting in-progress edits
- Fixed sketches shrinking when edited on iPhone after being created on iPad
- Fixed sketch edits being overwritten by an incoming sync update during drawing
- Fixed marked text being duplicated on the new row when switching rows during Japanese IME composition
- Fixed the underline appearing too thick during Japanese IME composition
- Additional fixes for surrounding rows jumping after confirming Japanese IME or pressing Enter (continuing follow-ups from earlier releases)
- Fixed sibling rows briefly disappearing when expanding a folded row
1.9.0 May 11
External keyboards now support Home / End / PageUp / PageDown, with a few fixes around text selection and Japanese input.
New
- Added Home / End / PageUp / PageDown support for external keyboards
- Improved dark mode selection color for better readability
Backup retention
- Added a retention setting for backups (default: 1 year; choices: 30 / 90 / 365 days / Unlimited).
Fixes
- Fixed empty space below the floating keyboard on iPad after re-showing
- Fixed text not appearing when zooming into a leaf row mid-edit with Cmd+.
- Fixed cursor jumping when typing Japanese on wrapped lines (a follow-up to the previous release, which missed some cases)
- Fixed delete shortcuts and arrow keys not behaving correctly during text selection
1.8.0 May 7
Fixed text disappearing while typing in Japanese, plus a few rough edges around the cursor row.
- Fixed text loss during Japanese IME composition (characters could vanish without pressing delete)
- Fixed flickering of marked text mid-composition
- Fixed the row below the editing line jumping when a line wraps to a new visual line
1.7.2 May 1
Long-press text to drag the cursor with the system loupe. Hold near the top or bottom to keep scrolling past the visible rows.
1.7.1 Apr 30
Sketch with Apple Pencil, smarter text checking, and a redesigned edit menu.
- Added a pencil button to the keyboard toolbar to draw sketches with Apple Pencil.
- Added a Writing tab in Settings to enable spell check, Smart Quotes, and Smart Dashes.
- Redesigned the edit menu to match Apple standards.
- Added Website and Contact Support links to Settings.
- Fixed a crash when dropping multi-row selections with rows at different indent levels.
1.7.0 Apr 30
Fixes and small refinements.
- Theme changes now refresh the editor and sidebar immediately.
- Fixed a rendering gap at the right edge when selecting across rows that include block items.
- Updated the welcome document with highlight markup and shortcuts.
1.6.1 Apr 26
Highlight markup and smaller refinements.
New
- ==text== highlight markup, with ⇧⌘H to toggle it on the selection.
- Long-press an image in the lightbox to open an image-specific menu.
Improvements
- Selected text stays fully readable — the selection highlight no longer washes out the letters underneath.
- Japanese IME conversion segments are shown with subtle underline shading, making the current clause easier to see.
- Zoom now keeps row moves inside the zoomed scope — ⌘↑ / ⌘↓ no longer jump out of the focused branch.
Many other small fixes and improvements.
1.6.0 Apr 24
LaTeX math and inline image resizing.
New
- LaTeX math support with $…$ and $$…$$.
- Resize images inline on iOS and iPad.
- Configurable sidebar font size in Settings.
- Select / Select All in the iOS edit menu.
Thanks for the feedback and requests that led to LaTeX math and the sidebar font size setting.
You can also send feedback through the contact form at https://kosshi.app/contact or on X at @shirokumamake — feature requests and bug reports are always welcome.
Behavior change
- Dates written without a year inside @tag values (e.g. @due(3/15), @remind(3/15)) are now always interpreted as this year. Previously, once the date had passed, it silently rolled over to next year on every restart, which was never the intended behavior. To schedule something next year, write the full date (e.g. 2027/1/5 or 2027-01-05).
Other improvements
- Smoother iPad sidebar open / close animation.
- Attachments open the system share sheet instantly on first tap.
- Image resize handles now show only while the image is selected.
- Fixed cursor flicker during arrow-key navigation.
- Fixed the edit menu staying open after a single tap in the editor.
- The editing row now scrolls up with the keyboard so it stays visible.
- Fixed attachments without a preview not responding to tap on iOS / iPad.
- Fixed bookmarks added while the sidebar was hidden not showing up when the sidebar was reopened on iPhone.
- Fixed selection becoming stale after edits.
1.5.0 Apr 23
Large outlines run faster. Keyboard shortcuts and UI have been cleaned up.
Performance
- Faster open and render for documents with 100K+ rows.
- Faster indent, move, bulk delete, and search on large outlines.
New
- Added Import and Export to iOS Settings (OPML, Backup).
- Older iCloud backups can be downloaded inline, grouped by year and month.
- Cmd+Shift+↑↓ moves rows across parents.
- Option+Delete and Option+Fn+Delete delete by word on macOS.
Changes
- Renamed "Focus" to Zoom In / Zoom Out.
- Cmd+Delete now deletes to the start of the line (matches macOS standard).
- Cmd+Shift+Delete deletes the row and its descendants.
- Backspace on an empty row with children now behaves like WorkFlowy and Dynalist.
- Backspace, Enter, and arrow keys behave more consistently around code fences.
Fixes
- Various small fixes.
1.4.0 Apr 22
Add notes to any row. Notes support Markdown and tags.
- Save a search and its zoom position to the sidebar, then return to the same view anytime
- Open large outlines faster, with more responsive moves and deletes across many rows
- Select an entire row with a triple-tap
- Fixed the edit menu appearing unexpectedly or remaining open
- Fixed iCloud sync remaining enabled after importing large OPML files
more Version 1.17.0 1d ago
Data Not Collected The developer does not collect any data from this app.