Understory: Notes for Writing
Notes that tell the tale
Only for Mac
Free · In‑App Purchases
Mac
From research to finished draft: collect sources, connect ideas, shape an outline, then publish the notes you choose as a PDF, Rich Text, Markdown or a website.
Understory is a notes app for turning scattered notes into something meaningful.
A research paper. An essay. A blog post. A video script. Even a book.
Understory takes you from the first note to the finished draft—collecting research, thinking it through, shaping an outline, and publishing the result—in one place, using plain Markdown.
Your notes aren't just a place to collect ideas. In Understory, they become the building blocks of something you can make.
COLLECT YOUR RESEARCH
Write each idea, quote and finding as its own short note. Drag in PDFs, images and other files and they attach to the note they belong to, embed inline, and collect in a library of their own. Web links stay links, so a note can always point back to where it came from.
THINK IT THROUGH
Connect ideas as they occur to you, and follow those connections as your thinking develops. Point to the exact passage that sparked an idea, group related notes together, and move easily between a note and the ideas around it. Search as you type to bring related thoughts back into view.
SHAPE THE OUTLINE
Start a note for the piece you're writing, then file notes under it in the order you want to tell them.
A note can live in your research and in your outline at the same time—the same note, not a copy. Edit it in one place and the change appears everywhere. Its links back to its sources come with it.
Drag to reorder sections, focus on one branch, or back out to see the whole.
PUBLISH THE STORY
When you're ready, select the notes you want and publish them as one document, in the order you've arranged them. Or publish an entire outline at once.
Export as:
- PDF, with bookmarks and page numbers, in US Letter or paperback and hardback book sizes
- Rich Text, to finish in your word processor
- Markdown, for your blog, static site, or another writing app
- Website, ready to open in any browser or put online
Or print it.
YOUR NOTES, YOUR FILES
Your Personal Notebook syncs across your Macs through your own iCloud account. Nothing of yours is stored on our servers.
A Project Notebook is a folder you choose: one .md file per note, readable by any text editor and backed up by whatever you already use. Hand the folder to someone and you've handed over the notebook.
Every note keeps its earlier versions, so you can see what it said last month and bring it back. Deleted notes go to the trash, and anything else you change can be undone.
FREE TO TRY
Start with up to 100 notes in your Personal Notebook and 20 notes in each Project Notebook.
Unlimited is a single purchase—not a subscription, and nothing else is held back. Sync, revisions, attachments, publishing, backups, and export are all available from the first launch.
iCloud sync requires an iCloud account.
Terms of Use
https://understory.ussherpress.com/terms
Privacy Policy
https://understory.ussherpress.com/privacy
Ratings & Reviews
- This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
- New app icon!
- Tabs: ⌘T opens another tab on the same notebook
- Closing a window or quitting while editing a note now saves it
- Publish selected notes as one document, from the right-click menu or the Inspector
- Publish to Rich Text and Markdown, as well as PDF and website
- Publish PDFs in paperback and hardback page sizes, typeset like a printed book
- Print notes with ⌘P
- Shifted the "N of M" index card to the right of the note browser so it doesn't obscure the tree
- Made the focus outline around the note viewer and the side panel thinner and fainter
- Select several notes to see their total word count and reading time at a glance in the Inspector
The developer, Allen Ussher, 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
- Allen Ussher
- Size
- 4.8 MB
- Category
- Productivity
- Compatibility
Requires macOS 14.8 or later.
- Mac
Requires macOS 14.8 or later.
- Mac
- Languages
- English
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Understory Unlock $24.99
- Copyright
- © 2026 Allen Ussher