Caret

Generally unchanged over the years, Markdown editors are streamlined tools that help web writers convert text to HTML.

With a strong focus on simplicity comes Caret, a highly-streamlined Markdown Editor that aims to improve your web writing productivity without reinventing the wheel.

What we mean by this is that this utility does not impress with eye-catching features, although, it clearly packs the primary features that make a good Markdown editor.

This said, the app comes with syntax highlighter, split screen or preview screen, spell checker, the possibility to export projects to PDF, two theme modes (dark and light), a very useful Block Focus option and, as expected, a few different fonts for the writing panel.

But what is most interesting about this app is how well it manages to hide all these features, without making them hard to reach. Subsequent to its surprise-free installation and upon first launching the app, you are greeted by one of the most barren main windows you have probably seen.

This said, you can access all the previously mentioned features from the app's main drop-down menu (by clicking the arrow-shaped button) but it should instantly be clear that Caret's workflow is actually very much keyboard-orientated.

For example, the 'Ctrl+R' shortcut toggles the Preview mode, "Cltr+;" disables or enables the Dark Mode, and the 'Ctrl + Enter' combo accesses the Block Focus option, just to name some of the most useful ones.

Granted, it would have been useful if the app would provide you with a wider array of exporting options and yes, support for bookmarking and the possibility to customize the syntax colors to your liking would not have passed by unappreciated.

Nevertheless, Caret is a reliable and efficient Markdown editor that works on both macOS and Windows, and while clearly not the most feature-packed app of its kind, it could easily be one of the best examples to prove that "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication," at least when it comes to its clean looks.