Markdown lets you apply text formatting using simple characters, then easily export your prose to HTML, rich text, Microsoft Word, or PDF.
Want to italicize some text? Just *surround it with asterisks*. Or go bold with **two asterisks**. Markdown’s syntax also includes options to format headers, create bulleted lists and hyperlinks, and much more.
After a short tutorial, you’ll find this syntax much easier to type than HTML—and likely even more convenient than learning keyboard shortcuts. Which means that if you’re using an app like Ulysses to, say, write an ebook, you can completely immerse yourself in your words, without getting sidetracked by formatting intricacies. When you’re done, the app creates the corresponding HTML for you.
If blogging and building websites aren’t your forte, apps that support Markdown are also packed with clever features that make them valuable tools for everyday writing, such as distraction-free modes, easy-to-memorize formatting shortcuts, searchable tags, and customizable themes to cover every writing style and angle.
Markdown can be found in some of the finest writing tools and productivity apps available for your Mac. The apps below each use Markdown in a unique way, so it’s just a matter of finding the one that best fits you and your writing agenda.
iA Writer
Laser-focused writing
Byword
Writing made easier
Things 3
Organize your life
Ulysses: Writing App
Write a novel, story, book
Bear Markdown Notes
Create, Tag, Export, Encrypt
Drafts
Where text starts
MarsEdit 5 - Blog Editor
Publish to WordPress and more
Highland 2
A better way to write
Day One
Your journal for life
Taio - Markdown & Text Actions
Ultimate text processing app
Marked 2 - Markdown Preview
Smarter writing tools
Paper — Writing App & Notes
Write a book novel poem script
Markdown Pro
Productivity
MultiMarkdown Composer 4
Productivity
iWriter Pro
Markdown Text Editor