Quick Notes
The first utility: up to five tabs you can rename and reorder, saved as you type as plain Markdown files on your Mac.
Install
Get Zephydian
Free and open source. For macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.
With Homebrew Recommended
Paste it into Terminal. Later, update with brew upgrade zephydian.
or
Download the appLatest release (.zip)
Unzip it and drag Zephydian into Applications.
Opening it the first time
Zephydian isn’t signed with an Apple Developer certificate yet, so macOS asks before the first launch. You only do this once per version.
- 1Open Zephydian. macOS says it could not verify it. Click Done.
- 2Open System Settings → Privacy & Security and scroll down.
- 3Click Open Anyway next to Zephydian, then confirm. It now lives in your menu bar.
Prefer Terminal?
Run this once, then open Zephydian normally:
Features
Small, quick and out of the way
Zephydian lives in your menu bar. Push the pointer into a corner and it’s there. Move away and it’s gone.
Games
Snake, Stackr, Five, Spokes, Fleet, Airship, 2048, Mines and Nines, with more on the way. Close the panel and your game pauses.
A corner, or a shortcut
Pick any screen corner and how long to linger. Prefer the keyboard? Set a global shortcut instead.
Make it yours
Six accent colors, light and dark mode, and a choice of menu bar icons, or none at all.
Liquid Glass
Built for macOS 26 Tahoe’s Liquid Glass, with a frosted style on macOS 14 and 15.
Light on your Mac
About a 4 MB download, and around 24 MB of memory while it runs. It uses almost no CPU while it waits.
More utilities coming soon Soon
Quick Notes is just the first. More everyday tools are on the way, free and open source like the rest. Have an idea? Suggest a utility.
Games
Games for a quick break
Each one is made for a short break, and more are on the way. Three of them run right here in your browser.
Privacy
Your notes stay on your Mac
- No account. Nothing to sign up for.
- No tracking. The app has no analytics of any kind.
- No network access. The app’s sandbox doesn’t let it connect to the internet.
- Plain files. Notes are Markdown files you can open in any editor.
And this website?
It counts anonymous page views with Vercel Web Analytics, without cookies. The demo above keeps your notes and scores in this browser only.
FAQ
Questions
What do I need?
A Mac with macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Apple Silicon and Intel are both supported.
What utilities are coming?
Quick Notes is the first utility, and more everyday tools are coming soon. Follow the project on GitHub to see them land, or suggest one there.
Is it really free?
Yes. Zephydian is open source under the MIT license, with no ads, no subscriptions and no in-app purchases.
Why does macOS warn me when I open it?
Apple asks developers to sign and notarize apps with a paid Developer account, which Zephydian doesn’t have yet. The code is public on GitHub. Follow the three steps above once and macOS remembers your choice.
How do I update it?
With Homebrew, run brew upgrade zephydian. If you downloaded the zip, download the new version and replace the old app in Applications.
How do I uninstall it?
With Homebrew, run brew uninstall --zap zephydian. --zap also deletes your notes and settings. Otherwise, quit Zephydian from its Settings tab and drag it from Applications to the Trash.
The corner opens something else.
That’s macOS Hot Corners. Choose a different corner in Zephydian’s Settings, or change it in System Settings → Desktop & Dock → Hot Corners. Zephydian warns you when the two clash.
Where are my notes saved?
In Zephydian’s own folder on your Mac, as one Markdown file per tab. Reveal in Finder in the Notes menu takes you there.
Can I help or suggest a game?
Please do. Open an issue or a pull request on GitHub.