Build a distraction-free markdown editor app with live preview and file export
A good markdown editor app gets out of the way: plain text on one side, a faithful preview on the other or a click away, and nothing lost when the tab closes. Anticode can build one as a browser app that autosaves your documents in that browser, with a focus mode for writing and an export so your words don't stay trapped there.
Decide which Markdown you mean
Markdown has a core everyone agrees on and extensions that vary between tools. If your writing will end up somewhere specific (a static site, a code repository, a notes tool), match its flavour, and say so in your description.
| Feature | Syntax | Include? |
|---|---|---|
| Headings, emphasis, lists, links, quotes | #, *, -, > and bracketed links | Always: the core |
| Code blocks | Fenced with three backticks | Yes for technical writing; syntax colouring is optional |
| Tables | Pipes and dashes | Common in GitHub-style Markdown; useful but fiddly to type |
| Task lists | - [ ] and - [x] | Good for notes and plans |
| Footnotes | [^1] | For long-form and academic writing |
| Front matter | A --- block at the top | Only if the files go into a static site generator |
| Raw HTML | Tags inside the text | Safer left out, or shown as text |
Preview that's safe and faithful
The preview turns text into formatted HTML. Two cautions. First, a Markdown parser written from scratch has edge cases (nested lists, emphasis inside words, a line that's both a list and a heading); test with a document full of awkward cases rather than a tidy one. Second, if you ever paste text from elsewhere, raw HTML in it shouldn't run as code. Ask for the preview to escape HTML rather than render it, which also suits Anticode's sandbox, where scripts can't run from strings anyway.
Layout options: side by side on a laptop, a toggle between Write and Preview on a phone, and scroll sync so the preview follows where you're typing.
Writing comfort
- Focus mode. Hide everything except the text; optionally dim all but the current paragraph.
- A readable measure. Limit the line length to roughly 60 to 80 characters, with generous line height.
- Shortcuts. Bold, italic, link and heading from the keyboard, with the shortcuts shown in a help panel.
- Word and reading-time count. Small, in a corner, switchable off.
- Autosave. After every pause in typing, with a quiet "Saved" indicator and no Save button needed.
Documents, storage and export
Anticode apps run in a sandbox with no network, so documents are saved in your browser's own storage on that device. That holds a few megabytes, which is a great deal of plain text: many novels' worth of Markdown. Ask for a document list with titles, last-edited dates and search, and keep each document separate so one corrupted entry can't take the others with it.
Export matters more here than in most apps, because writing is the thing you least want to lose. Ask for each document to be downloadable as a .md file, and for an Export all, and test that the file opens in another editor. Importing a .md file you choose from your device is a reasonable addition; test it too. Clearing your browser's site data or switching device without exporting loses the drafts.
Describing it to Anticode
"A markdown notes app for long-form writing. Document list with search. Editor and live preview side by side on desktop, a toggle on mobile, scroll sync. GitHub-style Markdown: headings, emphasis, lists, task lists, links, quotes, fenced code, tables and footnotes, with HTML shown as text. Focus mode, word count, keyboard shortcuts with a help panel. Autosave in the browser, export each document and all documents as .md files, import .md. Quiet, paper-white and ink, one clean sans-serif."
Limits
- No sync or collaboration. Two people can't edit the same document, and your laptop and phone have separate libraries.
- No publishing from the editor. It can't post to a blog or push to a repository; there's no network.
- No images from the web. Image links in your Markdown won't load in the preview. Images from your device would have to be stored inside the browser's small allowance, so keep them out of long documents.
- No AI writing help inside the app.
For quick capture rather than long-form writing, the notes app page covers tags and fast search. To publish writing as a site, Anticode's CMS collections hold posts you edit in the dashboard, with no comments or RSS.
Questions people ask
Is the markdown editor app private?
Your documents stay in your browser on your device. Publishing the editor doesn't publish anything you write in it.
Can I use it offline?
It needs no network once loaded. Installed published sites also have an offline fallback; test it before a train journey.
Will it render exactly like GitHub?
Close, if you ask for GitHub-style Markdown, but parsers differ at the edges. Check documents that matter in their destination.