u/LightingLabs

App name: Flyout

Platform: macOS 14+, universal binary (Apple Silicon and Intel), native Swift/AppKit, 3.7 MB download

Price: $18 one-time (list $24), 7-day trial, no account, 5 devices, lifetime updates

Source: https://getflyout.app (direct sale, not on the App Store)

What it does: Rest your pointer on the screen edge, or press ⌥⌘N, and the editor slides out over whatever is in front of you. Move away and it slides back. It's a real editor rather than a scratchpad: slash commands, syntax highlighted code blocks, tables, images, file attachments, and reminders you can attach to a single line.

Why I built it: It started with Slack calls. Someone asks for something mid conversation and I either hunt for pen and paper or cmd-tab to a notes app, which loses the window I was actually looking at. Two more things I wanted: enough room to actually write instead of a small scratch box, and a way to leave what I promised on the call as a reminder on that exact line. The side panels I tried either kept the writing area small or had no way to tie a reminder to one line. In Flyout the panel opens full height, 460 pixels wide by default and up to 820 if you drag the edge, and a reminder attaches to a single line rather than the whole note.

What's in this release (1.1.0): The app first shipped in July, so this is an update rather than a day-one launch. New in 1.1.0: file attachments in any format (the file is copied into the note rather than referenced, so it doesn't break on a second Mac), export to PDF, Markdown and plain text, drag to reorder tabs, and PowerShell syntax highlighting.

What feels rough: There is no iOS app. Notes live in a local database rather than loose .md files. There is export and Copy as Markdown, but you can't point Obsidian at a folder of them. Sync runs on your own iCloud account and uses the private database only, which rules out shared or team notebooks permanently.

Watch out for (network and permissions): The app only talks to two places: getflyout.app for license validation, and the appcast file on the same domain for update checks. No analytics or telemetry calls. Notification permission is only requested when you set your first reminder. iCloud sync is off by default, and while it's off nothing touches CloudKit. Your notes never reach my server. On disk it uses ~/Library/Application Support/Flyout plus an App Group folder the widget reads, and the license sits in the Keychain.

My own impression: The thing I use every day is exactly what I built it for: writing something down mid call without losing the window I'm looking at, and leaving what I promised as a reminder on that line so it comes back to me on its own. The panel opening full height at 460 pixels, wider if I drag it, is what made it stick for me where the smaller scratch panels I had tried before didn't. The trial doesn't ask for an account. I'm the developer, happy to take questions or criticism.

Hi r/macapps. I make Flyout, a notes panel that lives on the edge of your screen.

You know the loop: you are in the middle of something, a thought shows up, and putting it somewhere means leaving what you are doing. Find the notes app, open a window, write two lines, put everything back. Half the time the thought is gone before you get there.

Flyout has no window to manage. Rest your pointer on the right edge of the screen, or press Option+Command+N, and a full editor slides out over whatever you are on. Step away and it slides back. On two monitors it opens where your pointer is and stays there.

• A real editor, not a sticky note: slash commands, headings, checklists, syntax highlighted code blocks, tables, images you can paste and resize, emoji
• Reminders on a whole note or pinned to a single line inside it, native notifications, one off or repeating, no account
• Tags with colors that cut across folders, filters combine, so "invoices" finds them wherever they live
• Folders, pinned notes, quick tabs, full text search, 30 day trash
• Notes are plain Markdown, right click gives you Copy as Markdown, nothing is trapped in my format
• Sync goes through your own iCloud account, never my servers, and everything works offline
• Native AppKit and SwiftUI, notarized, under 4 MB, no Electron
• English, Türkçe, Español, Français, Italiano

Comparison

SideNotes is the closest app to this and it is good. Theirs is pitched at jotting things down in seconds. Mine is a wider panel, up to about 800px, meant to hold meeting notes and project pages: highlighted code, tables, and a reminder tied to one specific line instead of the whole note. Fair the other way, they have an iPhone and iPad app and I do not yet.

Raycast Notes is free if you already pay for Pro, and if a scratchpad is all you need, keep it. It is capture: one note, text only, gone when you close it. Flyout is the one that stays open next to your work.

What it is not: macOS 14 or later, no iOS or iPad app yet (groundwork is there, the data layer already targets iOS and the sync schema is frozen, but I am not putting a date on it), and no shared or team notebooks, since sync is private iCloud only and I am not reversing that. Export today is Copy as Markdown per note, folder export is on the list.

Pricing

$18 one time right now, $24 list, launch price ends 30 September 2026. Not a subscription: nothing auto renews, no card is kept on file, and every future update to the Mac app is included at no extra cost. The licence is verified offline against a key inside the app and runs on five Macs, and you can release a Mac from inside the app when you switch machines. 7 day trial, no account and no card: https://getflyout.app

Transparency

Flyout is downloaded straight from getflyout.app, no third party host, and the app is notarized by Apple. Built by Görkem Yıldırım.

• Site and download: https://getflyout.app
• Privacy: https://getflyout.app/privacy
• Terms: https://getflyout.app/terms
• Contact: hello@getflyout.app
• X: https://x.com/gorkemyildirim

I'm Görkem, solo dev, and this is my own app.

Flyout is a native macOS app: rest your pointer on the right edge of the screen, or hit a shortcut, and a full note editor slides out over whatever you are doing. Step away and it slides back. I built it because closing what I was working on to go find a notes app took long enough that the thought I wanted to capture was already gone by the time I got there.

What it actually does:

- A real editor, not a sticky note: slash commands, headings, checklists, tables, images, and reminders you can pin to a single line (native macOS notifications, no account).
- Tags with colors that cut across folders, so a note can sit in one folder and still show up when you filter for "trip" or "groceries".
- Every note is stored as plain Markdown. Sync runs through your own iCloud account, so nothing passes through my servers, and everything still works offline.
- Native AppKit and SwiftUI shell, editor surface is a WKWebView running TipTap. Not Electron.

Two things I am genuinely unsure about and would rather hear from people who build things than keep guessing on my own:

1. Scope. I shipped tags, tables and emoji this week. Does a quick-access notes app need tables, or is that scope creep for something whose entire point is being fast?
2. The edge trigger itself. It is the one bet the whole app rests on and I have been staring at it for months, so I cannot judge it anymore. If you keep hot corners disabled because they annoy you, I want to hear why.

Honest limits up front: macOS 14 or later only, no iOS app yet, and no shared or team notebooks (private iCloud sync only, which is an architecture choice I am not planning to reverse). It is paid, one time, $18 right now and $24 normally, no subscription. 7 day trial, no account and no card to try it: https://getflyout.app/