I built a math-focused note-taking app for my own math learning
I didn't study mathematics in college, but I've developed an interest in it in recent years. Over the past year, I’ve been reading What Is Mathematics? by Courant and Robbins, and I often found myself wanting to take clearer notes while working through the ideas, formulas, diagrams, and examples.
But general note-taking apps never felt quite right for this kind of work. Writing formulas was often awkward, plotting functions required switching tools, and exporting notes with math content cleanly was not always easy.
So I started building MathDraft in my spare time.
I worked on it after work and on some weekends. After about 9 months, I recently released the first version on the Mac App Store.
I embedded the MathLive formula input library into the app, so users can take advantage of its powerful features to enter formulas more easily, including real-time visual editing, LaTeX autocomplete, a rich symbol keyboard, and more.
DEMO:
I also added function plotting. The app uses SymPy to sample and plot functions, which lets it support many different types of expressions.
In addition, I personally like the feeling of paper, so I added PDF export to the app. It can generate clean PDF notes that can be printed, annotated, and preserved for future reference.
I’ve released it on the Mac App Store for $3.99, and I hope some of you may find it useful.
Here is the project website: https://www.mathdraft.art/