Enhancing macOS Notes: Integrating Apple Intelligence and Menu Bar Access

Enhancing macOS Note-Taking with Apple Intelligence and Menu Bar Integration

This article explores the current limitations of Apple's native Notes app on macOS and proposes improvements, particularly focusing on integrating Apple Intelligence features and leveraging the Menu Bar for enhanced productivity.

The Current State of macOS Notes

Apple's note-taking experience on macOS is criticized for lagging behind its iOS and iPadOS counterparts. Unlike its mobile counterparts, macOS lacks quick access to notes directly from the control center or a readily available shortcut. Saving web content as notes is cumbersome, often requiring the Safari browser's Share Sheet for a quick notes shortcut, or resorting to keyboard shortcuts to launch the Notes app.

The Power of Menu Bar Applications

The article highlights the potential of the Menu Bar for housing essential utilities. Several third-party applications demonstrate this effectively:

• Maccy: A clipboard manager that elegantly solves native clipboard limitations.
• Antinote: A lightweight utility for quick note-taking and information saving.
• Sticky Notes for Safari: An app that allows users to tag and save takeaways directly on webpages.
• BarNotes: A free, native-feeling scratchpad app that resides in the Menu Bar, offering customization options like font size and notepad color, and a transparent effect that complements macOS's glassmorphic design.
• Tab Notes Lite: Another free Menu Bar app providing additional features such as clicking screen edges to take notes, local storage folder selection, and customizable shortcuts.

The author advocates for Apple to adopt a similar Menu Bar integration for its native Notes app.

Apple Intelligence and its Potential

The article discusses Apple Intelligence, particularly its AI-powered Writing Tools. While these tools are beneficial for tasks like composing notes in a formal tone, converting file formats, or sending emails, their implementation on macOS is seen as inconsistent.

• Platform-wide Implementation Issues: The Writing Tools system does not always work reliably, especially within third-party software. For instance, they may not appear in the context menu when writing in applications like Google Docs on Chrome.
• Workarounds: To utilize AI features like proofreading, style conversion, and summarization, users often have to copy-paste text into the Notes app, creating a disjointed workflow.
• Integration Gaps: Unlike Google Gemini, which seamlessly integrates across various Google apps, Apple Intelligence currently lacks this cross-application functionality. The rumored Gemini integration within Apple Intelligence is also noted as missing.

Proposed Enhancements for macOS Notes

The author suggests several key improvements:

1. Menu Bar Integration: Making the Notes app a native Menu Bar application for quick access.
2. Enhanced Quick Notes: Implementing a Quick Notes button in the control center or Menu Bar.
3. Seamless AI Integration: Integrating Apple Intelligence's Writing Tools directly into the Menu Bar Notes app for tasks like summarization and proofreading without app switching.
4. Voice Input: Adding quickly accessible voice input features for dictating notes and receiving transcribed and summarized versions.
5. Cross-Service Integration: Improving integration with other services, similar to how ChatGPT can access Google Drive and other cloud storage. The author hopes for clarity on Gemini integration at WWDC 2025.

Conclusion

The article concludes by emphasizing that by addressing these fundamental gaps—integrating Notes into the Menu Bar, supercharging it with Apple Intelligence, and enabling meaningful service integration—Apple can significantly boost user productivity on macOS. This would also reduce reliance on paid third-party software for essential functionalities. The author expresses hope that Apple will prioritize these improvements at its upcoming developer conference.