Markdown Dark Reader
A dark, paged markdown reader
Only for Mac
Free
Mac
Five reading themes, one two or four columns as a real page view, and rules that dress a folder however you like. Free to read, always.
Markdown Dark Reader turns a folder of markdown into a library you read rather than a file tree you navigate. Point it at a notes vault or a docs tree and every document appears by its real title, with its opening lines as a blurb, its reading time and its date.
AN ARTICLE OVERVIEW, NOT FILE NAMES
The sidebar names each document the way the document names itself — YAML front-matter title, else the first heading, else a humanised file name. Articles stay grouped in the folders they live in, and each folder section collapses on its own.
FIVE READING THEMES
Midnight, Dim, Nocturne, Sepia and Paper — from near-black to cool blue-black to warm paper. Syntax highlighting is derived from whichever is active, so code never glares out of the page.
ONE, TWO OR FOUR COLUMNS — AS A PAGE VIEW
The markdown answer to n-up paging. The page is exactly one screen: text runs down the first column, breaks at the foot of the page, and picks up at the head of the next. Nothing scrolls — arrow keys, space and the wheel flip whole pages, and the breadcrumb counts them. Pages step by the column geometry, so every one begins flush at the same top-left corner; code, tables and figures are never sliced down a column edge, and a page never ends on half a line.
BLACK AND WHITE, SEPARATELY FOR TEXT AND PICTURES
Drain the colour out of type, links and syntax highlighting while photographs keep theirs — or take it out of everything. The two switches are independent.
RULES
A rule claims articles by folder, file name, title, tag or extension, then overrides part of how they look: theme, columns, typeface, text size, brightness, monochrome. Drafts in muted grey, one folder always in sepia, a tagged series in two columns. Later rules win, and the breadcrumb names whichever rule is acting on what you are reading.
READING CONTROLS
Text size, line height, column width, typeface — system, serif or mono — justification, and a brightness dial that dims the whole page without crushing its contrast.
IT KEEPS UP WITH YOUR EDITOR
Save a file and the article re-renders in place, holding your position. Your place in every article is remembered between launches.
FULL MARKDOWN
GFM tables, task lists, fenced code with copy buttons, Mermaid diagrams themed to match the page, and relative images that resolve against the article's own folder. Export as PDF or print what you are reading.
IT HAS A COMMAND LINE
The app installs a tool called mdr inside itself. List a library as an overview or as JSON, render an article to PDF or PNG with any theme and column count, or open a file in the app — all from a shell, using the same renderer and the same rules as the window. File ▸ Command Line Tool… says how to reach it.
OFFLINE BY CONSTRUCTION
The renderer and its libraries are vendored into the app and fed to the view through a private scheme. Markdown Dark Reader makes no network requests, has no account, and collects nothing about you or your files.
FREE TO READ, ALWAYS
Opening articles is free and stays free: any folder, any of the five themes, any text size, with search, the outline and the live reload. Nothing expires, and nothing you were using is taken away.
SEVEN DAYS OF EVERYTHING, THEN ONCE
For the first week the whole reader is switched on, so you can find out whether paging through four columns suits the way you read before deciding anything. After that one payment — not a subscription — keeps page view, rules, PDF export and printing, black & white, and the mdr command line, on every Mac signed in to your Apple Account and shared with your family.
Ratings & Reviews
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The developer, Alexander Fitterling, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Alexander Fitterling
- Size
- 1.9 MB
- Category
- Productivity
- Compatibility
Requires macOS 14.0 or later.
- Mac
Requires macOS 14.0 or later.
- Mac
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2026 Alex Fitterling