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What's wrong with TextEdit on macOS? It's good that you made an alternative but it's not serious. I need to run Firefox, enable JS, reload the page, there is n

What's wrong with TextEdit on macOS? It's good that you made an alternative but it's not serious. I need to run Firefox, enable JS, reload the page, there is no "top menu" or install button, the open/save button does nothing, I can't choose my own fonts, and I guess it doesn't work if I don't have an internet connection.

Ghoelian 2y ago
KDE's KWrite is also available on macOS if you don't like TextEdit, as well as Kate which is more of an alternative to Notepad++, practically an IDE. Kate is my personal favourite text editor.
- npteljes 2y ago
  Kate is fantastic. I rarely touch the built-in software out of a bad habit, but this one turned this around. One of the things it's missing from Notepad++ is the ability to just close the editor, open it again, and get back the workflow exactly where it was, but unsaved files as well. Kate can do it via sessions, but I need to create a session, and then after re-opening, tell it to yes, open that one session.
  - pferde 2y ago
    Can you run it as "kate --session MySession", with different sessions in different shortcuts, as needed? There is also "Load last session" option in Kate's configuration, if you only ever use one session.
    - npteljes 2y ago
      Thanks, I'll check that out!
  - nottorp 2y ago
    > the ability to just close the editor, open it again, and get back the workflow exactly where it was, but unsaved files as well Most text editors I use on MacOS do that, TextEdit included. I'm only posting because I had come to think that's the normal behaviour, not an extra... haven't been using non mac os desktops too much in the past years.
    - npteljes 2y ago
      Definitely normal behavior, and also human, natural behavior. Things are where I left them last time. I understand that in the 90s, disk space was a concern, and that disk operations were a big deal with moving parts, etc. But we really need to move on from this paradigm. I just tested, and it looks like that "new" software does this on Linux, but "old" software didn't modernize. IntelliJ products, VSCodium does this, QOwnNote does it, Kate does it when I explicitly start a session (bit of a nonsense...), and no other software that I use does it: LibreOffice products, KWrite, Geany, GIMP etc all operate on the paradigm that when closing, it asks if it should save the draft document or no.
      - nottorp 2y ago
        Hmm incidentally the office-like apple applications seem to want an explicit save. I just started Pages, wrote a sentence in a blank document and it asked me if i want to save or delete it on exit...
    - Ghoelian 2y ago
      TextEdit just asks if you want to save the file when you try to close it. Do you mean it keeps files if it crashes or something?
      - nottorp 2y ago
        And across machine restarts.
        Ghoelian 2y ago
        Ah but I suppose that only works if you keep the "Reopen windows" thing checked? I think shutting down without that is the same as just quitting the app, which asks if you want to save (can't quickly test this out as I have to work on this laptop). I always keep that disabled, I absolutely hate that kind of behaviour.
stijnstijn 2y ago
It is indeed not quite a drop-in replacement for the 'real' Notepad, but I do find the complaint that you need to enable JS for something that has 'JS' in its name a little strange. That's the platform it was made for, it may not be a platform you enjoy using, and it could perhaps have been made on another platform, but it wasn't. That's hardly a reason to call it "not serious".
- bigstrat2003 2y ago
  Web apps are not a viable replacement for native apps, so I think it's a fair criticism.
  - hombre_fatal 2y ago
    I think they are most of the time. Most apps don't deserve to be installed on my computer for them to work. And there's no browser network bar nor browser plugins like uBlock Origin to control what they can do. So native apps need to offer something more than "not a web app" to pay their rent on my system where they have often things like full filesystem access.
lucideer 2y ago
Other criticisms may be valid, but TextEdit is a terrible comparison. TextEdit is comparable to Windows WordPad (another terrible app - which is why Microsoft dropped it). Both are rich-text , not plaintext editors. They're more like Microsoft Word without the features. Notepad is a plaintext editor, of which their is no equivalent built into Macs outside of terminal applications.
- andsoitis 2y ago
  You can switch TextEdit between rich text and plaintext modes.
- rpgbr 2y ago
  You can change TextEdit to handle plain text: Format > Convert to plain text, or Shift + Command + T. I prefer TextEdit over Notepad. Its undo is way better, and it's overall a snappier app.
  - sbuttgereit 2y ago
    I can do something similar with Microsoft Word as well. But I also risk losing something in the process. Did I emphasize things with bold or italic in the editor? That will be lost when saving to plain text. In that sense Word and TextEdit are both correctly called rich text editors which just happen to have the ability to save to plain text. Notepad, however, doesn't support the formatting... so you can't create something that you can't save. That's the difference.
    - setopt 2y ago
      I disagree. Go into the TextEdit settings (Cmd-,) and change the default format from "rich text" to "plain text". Next time you open TextEdit, all rich-text features are disabled (no formatting toolbars, no Cmd-B/Cmd-I keybindings, etc.), so the interface is to me indistinguishable from NotePad. This is completely different from Word.
    - CoryAlexMartin 2y ago
      You cannot use bold or italics in plain text mode in TextEdit. It is truly a plain text mode. If you try to switch from rich text to plain text, and you utilize any rich text features in your document, it will warn you that you're going to lose that information.
dspillett 2y ago
(Not OP, but I did read the information they wrote.) > What's wrong with TextEdit on macOS? Nothing wrong as such, but does it match the “cross-platform” description? > Firefox … the open/save button does nothing As per the readme, it is using an API that is not yet supported in Firefox for local file access: https://caniuse.com/native-filesystem-api https://caniuse.com/native-filesystem-api > there is no "top menu" or install button That is meaning the browser's menu. Perhaps there is better terminology that should be used here. The readme does show a screenshot of it, so it seems clear from that to me. The install option is found there. > and I guess it doesn't work if I don't have an internet connection. Also in the readme: “Installable as a PWA”, which I think implies offline support, given it doesn't have sync features so has no reason once installed that way to talk to the wider network.
- JTyQZSnP3cQGa8B 2y ago
  > does it match the “cross-platform” description Yes, it's a plain-text editor too. The files are compatible with the Commodore 64 if you need. > not yet supported in Firefox ... implies offline support ... It implies a lot more stuff than all the other pre-installed plain-text editors on every other OS.
  - dspillett 2y ago
    > It implies a lot more stuff than all the other pre-installed plain-text editors on every other OS. I read it as promising Notepad features with anything else it mentions as extras, not more features it doesn't mention from other text editors.
  - vunderba 2y ago
    Cross platform refers to the application itself, not the files that it produces. TextEdit is a poor substitute, a much better alternative would be Sublime.
    - oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
      I like Coteditor [1] as an open-source, minimal editor. TextEdit isn't even plain text by default, IIRC. [1] https://coteditor.com/ https://coteditor.com/
eviks 2y ago
Mostly not a serious criticism: > I need to run Firefox, enable JS, reload the page, Or you can just open a tab, nothing to reload/enable/run > there is no "top menu" Of course there is, it's browser's top menu > the open/save button does nothing it opens/saves files in Chrome. Guess Firefox API limitations? > I guess it doesn't work if I don't have an internet connection. wrong guess, that's what "install" is for
crazygringo 2y ago
> What's wrong with TextEdit on macOS? I do most of my work in browser tabs. It's much more convenient for me to have a plaintext editor app as a tab I can position among my other tabs, rather than another window. My email is a tab. My word processor is a tab. My files in the cloud are a tab. It makes sense that my plaintext editor should be a tab too. It's just UX consistency and convenience.
- pasc1878 2y ago
  notepad is not in a browser tab so why is it better than TextEdit.
  - crazygringo 2y ago
    This is about NotepadJS not Notepad
itkeman 2y ago
Hi, I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with TextEdit. It's what I had used for many years. It does have all kinds of extra features like input suggestions, auto capitalization and auto-correct (I couldn't find a way to disable these in the app, maybe somewhere in the general macOS settings). Anyway, it's not about which app is better. If you love the Notepad experience, then you know - it's something about its simplicity, and perhaps its familiarity as well. About being serious - this is indeed a side project. Sorry about FF support - since the relevant FS API isn't available there I added an alert indicating that on page load. It does work without an internet connection though (PWAs are great)!
moi2388 2y ago
When I open texted it it doesn’t immediately open a new page for me to work on. I first have to select a folder, then create a new file, that’s annoying

Ghoelian 2y ago

KDE's KWrite is also available on macOS if you don't like TextEdit, as well as Kate which is more of an alternative to Notepad++, practically an IDE. Kate is my personal favourite text editor.

npteljes 2y ago
Kate is fantastic. I rarely touch the built-in software out of a bad habit, but this one turned this around. One of the things it's missing from Notepad++ is the ability to just close the editor, open it again, and get back the workflow exactly where it was, but unsaved files as well. Kate can do it via sessions, but I need to create a session, and then after re-opening, tell it to yes, open that one session.
- pferde 2y ago
  Can you run it as "kate --session MySession", with different sessions in different shortcuts, as needed? There is also "Load last session" option in Kate's configuration, if you only ever use one session.
  - npteljes 2y ago
    Thanks, I'll check that out!
- nottorp 2y ago
  > the ability to just close the editor, open it again, and get back the workflow exactly where it was, but unsaved files as well Most text editors I use on MacOS do that, TextEdit included. I'm only posting because I had come to think that's the normal behaviour, not an extra... haven't been using non mac os desktops too much in the past years.
  - npteljes 2y ago
    Definitely normal behavior, and also human, natural behavior. Things are where I left them last time. I understand that in the 90s, disk space was a concern, and that disk operations were a big deal with moving parts, etc. But we really need to move on from this paradigm. I just tested, and it looks like that "new" software does this on Linux, but "old" software didn't modernize. IntelliJ products, VSCodium does this, QOwnNote does it, Kate does it when I explicitly start a session (bit of a nonsense...), and no other software that I use does it: LibreOffice products, KWrite, Geany, GIMP etc all operate on the paradigm that when closing, it asks if it should save the draft document or no.
    - nottorp 2y ago
      Hmm incidentally the office-like apple applications seem to want an explicit save. I just started Pages, wrote a sentence in a blank document and it asked me if i want to save or delete it on exit...
  - Ghoelian 2y ago
    TextEdit just asks if you want to save the file when you try to close it. Do you mean it keeps files if it crashes or something?
    - nottorp 2y ago
      And across machine restarts.
      - Ghoelian 2y ago
        Ah but I suppose that only works if you keep the "Reopen windows" thing checked? I think shutting down without that is the same as just quitting the app, which asks if you want to save (can't quickly test this out as I have to work on this laptop). I always keep that disabled, I absolutely hate that kind of behaviour.

stijnstijn 2y ago

It is indeed not quite a drop-in replacement for the 'real' Notepad, but I do find the complaint that you need to enable JS for something that has 'JS' in its name a little strange. That's the platform it was made for, it may not be a platform you enjoy using, and it could perhaps have been made on another platform, but it wasn't. That's hardly a reason to call it "not serious".

bigstrat2003 2y ago
Web apps are not a viable replacement for native apps, so I think it's a fair criticism.
- hombre_fatal 2y ago
  I think they are most of the time. Most apps don't deserve to be installed on my computer for them to work. And there's no browser network bar nor browser plugins like uBlock Origin to control what they can do. So native apps need to offer something more than "not a web app" to pay their rent on my system where they have often things like full filesystem access.

lucideer 2y ago

Other criticisms may be valid, but TextEdit is a terrible comparison. TextEdit is comparable to Windows WordPad (another terrible app - which is why Microsoft dropped it). Both are rich-text , not plaintext editors. They're more like Microsoft Word without the features. Notepad is a plaintext editor, of which their is no equivalent built into Macs outside of terminal applications.

andsoitis 2y ago
You can switch TextEdit between rich text and plaintext modes.
rpgbr 2y ago
You can change TextEdit to handle plain text: Format > Convert to plain text, or Shift + Command + T. I prefer TextEdit over Notepad. Its undo is way better, and it's overall a snappier app.
- sbuttgereit 2y ago
  I can do something similar with Microsoft Word as well. But I also risk losing something in the process. Did I emphasize things with bold or italic in the editor? That will be lost when saving to plain text. In that sense Word and TextEdit are both correctly called rich text editors which just happen to have the ability to save to plain text. Notepad, however, doesn't support the formatting... so you can't create something that you can't save. That's the difference.
  - setopt 2y ago
    I disagree. Go into the TextEdit settings (Cmd-,) and change the default format from "rich text" to "plain text". Next time you open TextEdit, all rich-text features are disabled (no formatting toolbars, no Cmd-B/Cmd-I keybindings, etc.), so the interface is to me indistinguishable from NotePad. This is completely different from Word.
  - CoryAlexMartin 2y ago
    You cannot use bold or italics in plain text mode in TextEdit. It is truly a plain text mode. If you try to switch from rich text to plain text, and you utilize any rich text features in your document, it will warn you that you're going to lose that information.

dspillett 2y ago

(Not OP, but I did read the information they wrote.) > What's wrong with TextEdit on macOS? Nothing wrong as such, but does it match the “cross-platform” description? > Firefox … the open/save button does nothing As per the readme, it is using an API that is not yet supported in Firefox for local file access: https://caniuse.com/native-filesystem-api https://caniuse.com/native-filesystem-api > there is no "top menu" or install button That is meaning the browser's menu. Perhaps there is better terminology that should be used here. The readme does show a screenshot of it, so it seems clear from that to me. The install option is found there. > and I guess it doesn't work if I don't have an internet connection. Also in the readme: “Installable as a PWA”, which I think implies offline support, given it doesn't have sync features so has no reason once installed that way to talk to the wider network.

JTyQZSnP3cQGa8B 2y ago
> does it match the “cross-platform” description Yes, it's a plain-text editor too. The files are compatible with the Commodore 64 if you need. > not yet supported in Firefox ... implies offline support ... It implies a lot more stuff than all the other pre-installed plain-text editors on every other OS.
- dspillett 2y ago
  > It implies a lot more stuff than all the other pre-installed plain-text editors on every other OS. I read it as promising Notepad features with anything else it mentions as extras, not more features it doesn't mention from other text editors.
- vunderba 2y ago
  Cross platform refers to the application itself, not the files that it produces. TextEdit is a poor substitute, a much better alternative would be Sublime.
  - oneeyedpigeon 2y ago
    I like Coteditor [1] as an open-source, minimal editor. TextEdit isn't even plain text by default, IIRC. [1] https://coteditor.com/ https://coteditor.com/

eviks 2y ago

Mostly not a serious criticism: > I need to run Firefox, enable JS, reload the page, Or you can just open a tab, nothing to reload/enable/run > there is no "top menu" Of course there is, it's browser's top menu > the open/save button does nothing it opens/saves files in Chrome. Guess Firefox API limitations? > I guess it doesn't work if I don't have an internet connection. wrong guess, that's what "install" is for

crazygringo 2y ago

> What's wrong with TextEdit on macOS? I do most of my work in browser tabs. It's much more convenient for me to have a plaintext editor app as a tab I can position among my other tabs, rather than another window. My email is a tab. My word processor is a tab. My files in the cloud are a tab. It makes sense that my plaintext editor should be a tab too. It's just UX consistency and convenience.

pasc1878 2y ago
notepad is not in a browser tab so why is it better than TextEdit.
- crazygringo 2y ago
  This is about NotepadJS not Notepad

itkeman 2y ago

Hi, I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with TextEdit. It's what I had used for many years. It does have all kinds of extra features like input suggestions, auto capitalization and auto-correct (I couldn't find a way to disable these in the app, maybe somewhere in the general macOS settings). Anyway, it's not about which app is better. If you love the Notepad experience, then you know - it's something about its simplicity, and perhaps its familiarity as well. About being serious - this is indeed a side project. Sorry about FF support - since the relevant FS API isn't available there I added an alert indicating that on page load. It does work without an internet connection though (PWAs are great)!

moi2388 2y ago

When I open texted it it doesn’t immediately open a new page for me to work on. I first have to select a folder, then create a new file, that’s annoying