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Kinetic Notes
Version 1.6 · August 2, 2026

Download Kinetic Notes

A single universal build that runs natively on Apple Silicon and Intel. Free, open source, and no account required.

Kinetic Notes 1.6

macOS 13.0 Ventura or later

Download for macOS (3.7 MB)

Before you start

System requirements

macOS
macOS 13.0 Ventura or later
Architectures
Universal — arm64 (Apple Silicon) and x86_64 (Intel), both native
Runtime dependencies
None. Only system frameworks; nothing bundled, no Homebrew
To build from source
Xcode 15 or later

Rosetta 2 is neither required nor used. Both architectures are compiled into one binary and each runs natively — which is the reason this project exists, since Notational Velocity's 2011 build has no Apple Silicon slice at all.

Installing

Two steps.

  1. 1

    Download the release and drag Kinetic Notes.app to your Applications folder.

  2. 2

    Open it.

Migrating

Coming from Notational Velocity?

Your existing notes are safe and Notational Velocity keeps working. Kinetic Notes is a separate application, not an upgrade in place:

  • Notes live in ~/Library/Application Support/Kinetic Notes/, not in Notational Velocity’s Notational Data folder.
  • It uses its own Keychain item, so changing a passphrase here cannot affect the one Notational Velocity depends on.
  • It has its own bundle identifier and preferences. You can keep both installed indefinitely.
  • On first launch it offers to import an existing notes folder, encrypted ones included. It copies, never moves.

Verify

Checksums

Confirm the download matches what was published before you open it.

Kinetic-Notes-1.6.zip

SHA-256

9d318cb6ff7bd9c36f4f64c81af4e0379c9ee7601bef376f6f59682014e11ec3
Check the download
shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/Kinetic-Notes-1.6.zip
Check the signature
spctl -a -vvv -t install "/Applications/Kinetic Notes.app"

The second command should report accepted and source=Notarized Developer ID. A checksum proves you received the file intact; the signature proves who built it.

From source

Build it yourself

It is one command, with no package manager and no dependencies to fetch first. Requires Xcode 15 or later.

Build
git clone https://github.com/jptechco/kn.git
cd kn


xcodebuild -project Notation.xcodeproj \
  -target Notation \
  -configuration Deployment build
Confirm the result
# Should report: x86_64 arm64
lipo -info "build/Deployment/Kinetic Notes.app/Contents/MacOS/Kinetic Notes"


# Should leave only /usr/lib entries
otool -L "build/Deployment/Kinetic Notes.app/Contents/MacOS/Kinetic Notes" \
  | grep -v /System/Library

The application is written to build/Deployment/Kinetic Notes.app. If you plan to contribute, read the note in the repository about the compiled Interface Builder nibs first — MainMenu.nib must not be re-saved by a modern Interface Builder.

History

Release history

Every release, with what changed in it.

  • Version 1.6

    Current

    Signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized, so it opens normally on first launch — and it updates itself from here on.

  • Version 1.5

    · build 20

    Replaces the application's Carbon-era file handling. Storage formats are unchanged and verified compatible in both directions.

  • Version 1.1

    Spanish added as a seventh locale, with the rebrand applied across all languages.

  • Version 1.0

    The first release. Native Apple Silicon support, third-party dependencies removed, Dark Mode, and an import assistant for Notational Velocity users.

Full release notesSubscribe by RSS

From 1.6 the application can check for new versions itself, if you let it. The feed is here for anyone who would rather not, or who likes to read what changed first.