Iconfactory's Tot is the new hotness in text editors and sticky-notes

Tot from Iconfactory was released yesterday. It’s a slightly different take on text editors. Sure, you could use Apple’s Notes app, or any one of a bunch of other text editors, but there are a few things that make Tot interesting.

First, what Tot is not:

Tot is not a notes collection tool. You get seven scratchpads to write in.

Tot is not a text editor for writing all your articles for your blog in. You get seven scratchpads to write in.

What Tot is:

A place to take notes, put down ideas

A digital version of scratch paper from the physical world

Tot can handle the pasting-in of plain text or RTF styled text. It works with markdown syntax, which is an easy way of making styled text that’s both human- and computer-readable.

People who use plaintext editors will frequently use a syntax to communicate other features. * or – are bullet lists. ** starts strong text… this is Gruber’s markdown syntax. human readable, and computer interpretable for HTML, doc, etc.

Tot doesn’t require markdown syntax, but for those of you who already use it, it’s nice to have. You can toggle each scratchpad between a basic rich text view (bold, italics, links) and plaintext that uses markdown.

This is what markdown looks like. You don’t have to use it.

Tot is free for macOS from the Mac App Store. It costs $19.99 from the iOS App Store. Why? Because it’s all about where you get value as a user – the Mac app is great for taking notes, but what if you’re out walking the dog when inspiration strikes?

This is that same list in styled text.This is that same list in styled text.

20 bucks may feel like a lot for an app, but it isn’t – especially since you get the desktop app and iCloud synchronization between the two for free.

The Iconfactory has a legendary history of beautiful design. Whether it’s the icons they’ve made for others, or the long-lived Twitterific application, or even my own favorite game of theirs from years ago, Ramp Champ, their work is gorgeous.

The Mac App icon changes colors based on which colored circle scratchpad you’re writing in at the moment. It’s these little touches that make it such a quintessential version of what a Mac or iOS app should be.

Tot is free from the Mac App Store, or available for $19.99 USD from the iOS App Store.