Support

Something not working, or an idea for what Smolpad should do next? Here's how to reach us, and answers to the questions that come up most.

Reporting a problem

A bug report is much easier to act on with a little context. If you can, include:

Screenshots help enormously, especially for anything visual.

Common questions

Where are my notes stored?

As plain Markdown (.md) files in a folder you can open yourself: in your own iCloud Drive by default, or your own Dropbox, pCloud, or Google Drive if you turn one of those on. There's no database and no proprietary format. You can open them with any text editor, on any device, and they stay yours whether or not you keep using Smolpad.

How do I get my notes on another device?

Sign in to the same iCloud account on both, and they'll sync automatically. Smolpad never sees your notes; syncing happens entirely through Apple's service, or through Dropbox, pCloud, or Google Drive if you choose one of them.

Where do my pictures go?

Next to the note. When you drag or paste a picture in, Smolpad copies the file into your notes folder beside the note, so the note keeps working if the original moves. If you'd rather keep pictures out of the way, Settings › Editor › Images can put them in an images folder next to the note instead. Either way they're ordinary files, and they sync with the note through iCloud, Dropbox, pCloud, or Google Drive.

Why does the Markdown change to HTML when I resize a picture?

Because Markdown has no way to write a size. Every editor that offers one has invented its own, and of those inventions only the HTML tag is read by anything else, so that's the one Smolpad writes: <img src="photo.png" width="320">. Your note is still a plain text file, and it still renders on GitHub, in Obsidian, and anywhere else that reads Markdown.

Drag the picture back out to its full width, or choose Resize from its menu and then Original Size, and the tag goes away again: the line returns to ![](photo.png).

How do daily notes work?

Turn on Daily note in Settings › General, and Smolpad keeps one note for each day in a Daily folder inside your notes, named by its date in the format you pick from eight. The note list gains a calendar button: days that have a note carry a dot, and tapping any day opens its note, creating it if there isn't one yet. On the Mac, Settings › General › Shortcut can also record a shortcut that brings today's note to the front from any app; the keyboard shortcuts page has that and the Services menu entry that adds selected text to it. Daily notes are ordinary notes, so on the free tier they count toward your ten.

Can I bring my notes over from another app?

Yes, if they're Markdown or plain text files. In Settings › Storage › Import Notes, choose Import notes and pick the folder they're in: Smolpad copies the .md and .txt files at its top level into your notes and leaves the originals where they were. Files in subfolders aren't included, so bring those in one folder at a time. Text files stay .txt unless you turn on Convert files to Markdown (.md) on import just above the button. On the Mac you can also drop files on the Dock icon or the note list, or open them with Smolpad from the Finder.

Apps that keep notes in a database of their own need to export them as Markdown or text files first. On the free tier, the import stops when you reach ten notes and offers Smolpad Pro; anything it didn't copy is still where it was.

What does Smolpad Pro include?

Smolpad is free for your first ten notes, with every editing feature included. Pro removes the note limit and adds the full theme collection, the alternate app icons, Dropbox, pCloud, or Google Drive as a storage option, the Apple Watch app, Lock Screen widgets on iPhone, and export to PDF, HTML, or rich text, with printing. Pro Yearly starts with a free week for new subscribers: cancel any time before it ends and you won't be charged.

I already paid. How do I restore my purchase?

Open the upgrade screen in the app and choose Restore Purchases. Purchases are tied to your Apple Account, so make sure you're signed in with the same one you bought with.

I lost my Pro features after updating

Try Restore Purchases on the upgrade screen first. If that doesn't bring them back, get in touch, and say which device it's happening on so we can sort it out.

My notes are not syncing between my Mac and my iPhone

Smolpad syncs through iCloud Drive, and each device has its own switch for it, separate from your account. Check all three, then quit and reopen Smolpad on the device that was behind: it moves its notes into iCloud on its own.

On the Mac: open System Settings, click your name at the top, then iCloud, then Drive. Sync this Mac should be on, and Smolpad should appear under Apps syncing to iCloud Drive with its switch on. Smolpad is not listed under Saved to iCloud on a Mac, so do not look for it there. In Smolpad itself, the bar at the bottom of a note reads iCloud · Smolpad when sync is on and Local · Smolpad when it is not.

On iPhone or iPad: open Settings, tap your name, then iCloud. Under Saved to iCloud, tap See All and make sure Smolpad is on, and open iCloud Drive to check that Sync this iPhone (or iPad) is on.

Everywhere: both devices signed in to the same Apple Account, and the same storage chosen in Smolpad's Settings › Storage. Notes made while a device was not syncing are not lost. They are copied into iCloud the next time Smolpad opens with iCloud Drive on.

Since 1.3.6, Smolpad says it outright. Settings › Storage has a line under the storage cards: iCloud is on, with the note count under it (1.3.6 said iCloud is on, and every note here is synced); Uploading or Downloading while notes move; or, in amber, that notes are staying on this device and what to turn on. It is the same line on Mac, iPhone, and iPad, so start there.

Can I use Smolpad without iCloud?

Yes. If iCloud isn't available, Smolpad keeps your notes locally on the device instead, in the same plain Markdown files. Dropbox, pCloud, and Google Drive are available as alternatives with Pro.

Where are my notes on the Mac when iCloud is off?

Inside Smolpad's app container, at Library › Containers › Smolpad › Data › Documents › Smolpad, not the usual Documents folder in your Finder. The quickest way there is Settings › Storage, then Show in Finder on the Smolpad card. Don't move or delete that folder: it holds every note you have, and deleting it in the Finder deletes your notes. If you'd rather keep your notes somewhere you can see, add a folder with Add New › Choose Folder… and make it active. Smolpad edits the files right there. Or turn Sync notes on in Settings › Storage and pick iCloud: Smolpad places your notes in iCloud Drive › Smolpad, where you can see them in the Finder and on your other devices.

I added a file to the Smolpad folder in Google Drive and it isn't in the app. Why?

Because of how Smolpad asks Google for access. It requests the narrowest kind Drive offers: permission to see only the files it created itself. That's what keeps the rest of your Drive private from the app, and it also means a file you upload into the Smolpad folder from drive.google.com, or save there from another app, isn't one Smolpad made, so Google never shows it to Smolpad. The way in is the app: open the file with Smolpad on any device (Settings › Storage › Import notes on the Mac, or Open in Smolpad from the Files app on iPhone and iPad), and from then on it syncs like every other note. Notes Smolpad wrote are ordinary Markdown files in that folder, and you can open and edit them from anywhere; only files that started outside the app are invisible to it.

How do I cancel a subscription?

Subscriptions are managed by Apple, not by us. On iPhone or iPad, open the Settings app, tap your name, then Subscriptions. On a Mac, open the App Store, click your name, then Account Settings.

Can I get a refund?

Refunds are handled by Apple, not by us. Every Smolpad purchase goes through the App Store, so we can't refund one, change its price, or apply a discount after the fact. That includes a purchase made shortly before a sale.

To ask Apple, sign in at reportaproblem.apple.com, choose I'd like to, then Request a refund. Pick a reason, select Smolpad, and submit. Apple says to allow 24 to 48 hours for an update, and the decision is theirs.

If the refund is for a subscription, cancel it as well (see the question above), or it will renew.

I can't find Add to Today's Note in the Services menu

macOS adds a new app's Services menu entry switched off, and only you can switch it on. Open System Settings, click Keyboard, then Keyboard Shortcuts, then Services, and under Text check Add to Today's Note in Smolpad. From then on the entry appears whenever text is selected, in the app's Services submenu and in the right-click menu, and choosing it puts the text at the end of today's note without opening Smolpad.

From 1.3.7, Settings › General › Shortcut in Smolpad says so and opens System Settings for you. The same version adds a keyboard shortcut that needs no switch at all: press Control-Option-Command-T with text selected in any app. It reads the selection when Smolpad has Accessibility access, and adds what is on the clipboard when it does not.

Keyboard shortcuts

Smolpad is built for the keyboard: new note, search, jump between notes, bold, links, images and more without touching the mouse. The full list, for the Mac and for iPad with a hardware keyboard, is on the keyboard shortcuts page. Inside the app, Command-/ shows the same list.

Privacy

Smolpad collects nothing: no analytics, no tracking, no accounts. The full details are in the privacy policy.

Writing about Smolpad?

The press kit has a fact sheet, copy you are welcome to quote, and screenshots at full resolution. Review copies are free for anyone covering the app: email press@smolpad.com.