Show HN: Lighting fast writing app on Mac with powerful table functions
Org Notes is a native macOS writing app built with Rust and GPUI that offers fast performance and spreadsheet-like table editing inspired by Emacs Org Mode. It addresses slow launch times and cumbersome table handling in Markdown editors, providing hierarchical document organization and a keyboard-first, distraction-free experience.
Background
- Org Notes is a native macOS writing app built in Rust using GPUI, the GPU-accelerated UI framework from Zed (a popular code editor). The author created it because he found existing Markdown editors slow and bad at handling tables.
- It's heavily inspired by **Emacs Org-mode** — a decades-old plain-text system inside the Emacs editor that lets you use tables with spreadsheet-style formulas, fold outlines, and manage tasks. Org-mode is powerful but daunting; Org Notes tries to bring that same structured-table workflow to a modern, fast, native Mac app.
- The app addresses two pain points: (1) table editing in Markdown usually means manually aligning columns with spaces, and (2) many writing apps (iA Writer, Obsidian) feel slow to launch. By using Rust + GPUI, the author claims near-instant startup.
- This is a "Show HN" post on Hacker News, where developers share side projects for feedback. The target audience includes writers, note-takers, Emacs users, and Rust developers interested in fast desktop software.