An idea comes to you while you are doing something else. How do you write it down and get back to work?

You could open a document and save the idea there, or quickly launch your favorite notes app, but both of these things take you out of what you’re currently working on. Apple has solved this somewhat with the Quick Notes feature in macOS, which lets you hover your mouse over to the bottom-right corner to quickly jot down a note. The problem: this relies on Apple Notes, which you may not be using. Another problem: you have to move your mouse, which can take you out of what you’re working on.

Type is better at taking quick notes than Quick Notes. This $4 Mac app combines the speed of a launcher like Spotlight or one of its replacements with note-taking. Basically, you use a keyboard shortcut to open the app, which appears above whatever you’re working on, like an app launcher. Type whatever you’re interested in, hit enter, and the app closes, letting you get back to whatever you were doing.

You can view all of your notes within the app if you want, but the great thing is that everything is date stamped and stored in a text document on your computer. This means you can view and manage your notes with your favorite text editor.