nvALT 2

A collaboration between Brett Terpstra (ttscoff) and David Halter (ElasticThreads) based on DivineDominion's fork. nvALT adds a few features we'd been looking for (and let me get some coding practice).

• About nvALT
• What it is
• Additional Features
• iOS / iPadOS app (new)
• Build, run, test, develop
• Customization
• Download
• Credits

nvALT is a fork of the original Notational Velocity with some additional features and some interface modifications. It is a work in progress. I'm not listing it as a beta, as that would imply that it was on its way to being its own product. It's an experiment, and I hope you enjoy it!

Notational Velocity is a way to take notes quickly and effortlessly using just your keyboard. You press a shortcut to bring up the window and just start typing. It will begin searching existing notes, filtering them as you type. You can use ⌘-J and ⌘-K to move through the list. Enter selects and begins editing. If you're creating a new note, you just type a unique title and press enter to move the cursor into a blank edit area. Check out the descriptions at notational.net for a more eloquent synopsis.

nvALT adds:

• Widescreen (horizontal) layout option
• Shortcut (⌘-⌥-N) to collapse the notes panel
• Markdown, Textile and MultiMarkdown support with Preview window
• HTML source code tab in the Preview window for fast copy/paste to blogs, etc.
• Unique interface design changes
• Fixes for a couple of bugs/annoyances
• Customizable HTML and CSS files for the Preview window
  • You can use Javascript in the templates to do a few neat tricks
• Native arm64 build on Apple Silicon (see APPLE_SILICON_PORT.md)
• Modern dark-mode support (see DARK_MODE.md)
• Refreshed native AppKit controls for the popover, scrollers, transparent buttons, table header, and corner view (see docs/native-controls/)

The repository now ships a sibling universal iOS app alongside the macOS app:

• Target name: nvALT iOS, product nvALT iOS.app, bundle ID net.elasticthreads.nv.ios
• Runs on iPhone and iPad from a single binary (TARGETED_DEVICE_FAMILY = "1,2")
• Minimum deployment target: iOS 16.0
• iPad uses a two-column UISplitViewController layout; iPhone uses a navigation stack
• Notes persist as JSON to the app's sandboxed ~/Documents/nvalt_notes.json
• Search-or-create-on-Return, swipe-to-delete, share sheet, automatic title-from-first-line, word/character count — the core nvALT note-taking loop, reproduced in UIKit

See IOS_PORT.md for a full design write-up explaining the architecture, file layout, what is and isn't shared with the macOS app, build settings, and suggested next steps.

The repo uses a single Xcode project, Notation.xcodeproj, with two native targets:

• Xcode 14 or newer (developed against Xcode 26.5 with the macOS 26.5 SDK and iOS 26.5 simulator SDK)
• Apple Silicon Mac recommended; Intel works for source-level development but see Known constraints below
• No package manager dependencies — the macOS target links static OpenSSL libs already checked into the repo (libssl.a, libcrypto.a)

open Notation.xcodeproj

Pick a scheme from the toolbar and hit Run (⌘R).

# Build (signed local dev build)
xcodebuild -project Notation.xcodeproj \
  -scheme "Notation Develop" -configuration Development build

# Build without a signing identity (e.g. CI, throwaway machines)
xcodebuild -project Notation.xcodeproj \
  -scheme "Notation Develop" -configuration Development \
  CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO build

# Launch the resulting app
open ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Notation-*/Build/Products/Development/nvALT.app

For a stripped/optimised build, swap Notation Develop → Notation Release and Development → ForBuilding. On Apple Silicon add -arch arm64 ONLY_ACTIVE_ARCH=YES (see Known constraints).

# Build for any iOS Simulator (covers iPhone + iPad)
xcodebuild -project Notation.xcodeproj \
  -scheme "nvALT iOS" -configuration Development \
  -destination "generic/platform=iOS Simulator" \
  CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO build

# Build & launch on a specific iPhone simulator
xcodebuild -project Notation.xcodeproj \
  -scheme "nvALT iOS" -configuration Development \
  -destination "platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 17 Pro" \
  CODE_SIGNING_ALLOWED=NO build
xcrun simctl boot "iPhone 17 Pro" 2>/dev/null || true
xcrun simctl install booted \
  ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/Notation-*/Build/Products/Development-iphonesimulator/nvALT\ iOS.app
xcrun simctl launch booted net.elasticthreads.nv.ios
open -a Simulator

Swap the simulator name for iPad Pro 13-inch (M5) (or any other installed iPad simulator) to test the split-view layout.

You'll need an Apple Developer team:

1. Open the project in Xcode.
2. Select the nvALT iOS target → Signing & Capabilities → pick your team. (Xcode will offer to auto-generate a provisioning profile.)
3. Pick a connected iPhone or iPad from the run destinations and hit Run.

The macOS target is configured for team 47TRS7H4BH; change it under the Notation target's Signing & Capabilities tab to your own team for local signed runs.

This project has no automated test target. Verification is by xcodebuild (compile + analyzer) plus manual smoke-testing in the running app:

• macOS: typing notes, search, preview window, dark mode, syncing (if Simplenote configured).
• iOS: create-via-search-bar, edit, search/filter, swipe-delete, share, app backgrounding (notes should survive a force-quit).

• macOS sources — flat in the repo root (AppController.{h,m}, NotationController.{h,m}, NotesTableView.{h,m}, etc.)
• iOS sources — iOS/ (see IOS_PORT.md for the per-file purpose)
• Shared resources — *.lproj/, Images/, template.html, custom.css, Sparkle.framework, AutoHyperlinks.framework
• Long-form design docs — APPLE_SILICON_PORT.md, DARK_MODE.md, IOS_PORT.md, docs/native-controls/

• Notation Release defaults to a universal (arm64 + x86_64) binary, but the bundled libssl.a / libcrypto.a in the repo are arm64-only. A universal Release build fails to link the x86_64 slice. Build arm64-only with -arch arm64 ONLY_ACTIVE_ARCH=YES, or replace the static libs with lipo'd fat archives if you need x86_64.
• The iOS app does not share its notes database with the macOS app — it has its own JSON store. Bridging the two is future work (see IOS_PORT.md § Suggested next steps).

Select "Open Custom CSS Folder" within the Preview menu, and the application's supprt folder will open. You will find two files: template.html and custom.css. If you're handy with HTML and CSS, feel free to customize these in whatever way you like. You can add Javascript as well, but you'll need to load external scripts from a url or using a full file:// path. If worst comes to worst, you can just delete or rename your customizations and the default files will be put back in place automatically when you select the menu item again.

More info and a download for the compiled binary can be found at brettterpstra.com/projects/nvalt

• Notational Velocity
• Code: The original Notational Velocity source code by Zachary Schneirov
• Code: DivineDominion's MultiMarkdown fork
• Inspiration: Elastic Threads' version of Notational Velocity