OK, Fine, Simplenote (and Other nvALT Fixes)

I took Simplenote out of nvALT 3.0 because login had quietly died. People still wanted it, though, and it turned out the notes API was fine. Only the old password door was gone. 3.0.5 puts sync back, with the email-code login Simplenote uses now, plus a few papercuts from the new build.

To be fair, only two people out of thousands complained about removing Simplenote, but I imagine there would have been more outcry over time.

The password door is gone

nvALT used to sign in by sending your Simplenote password to auth.simperium.com. That host does not answer anymore. The request sits there until it times out, which looks exactly like a bad password. It is not. I checked. The account still works on the website, and api.simperium.com still syncs if you already have a token.

Simplenote’s own apps do not send a password either. They email you a short code, you paste it back, and they hand you a sync token. That token is what the API still accepts.

Paste the code, not the password

In Settings, on the Notes pane, the Synchronization tab is back. Put in the email address, click Email Code, and paste what shows up. A code or the whole link both work. nvALT stores the sync token in the keychain and uses it from then on.

A password saved from an older nvALT will not get you in. The field is for the code now. If sync was already on, nvALT will tell you to email one instead of pretending the password is wrong.

If Simplenote asks you to wait, that part is them. Give it a minute (or three) and request a new code.

A few things that were just annoying

• The first time you launch nvALT, notes were in the system font at a size better suited to a menu bar. The default is SF Pro at 16 pt now. The note list starts at SF Pro 14 pt, and you can change that face from Fonts & Colors, under the body font. A font you already picked is left alone.

• The first line of a note was sitting on the top edge of the editor. There is a little more air there now.

• Alternating row colors and the grid were on the same rhythm, but the stripes started a few points higher than the lines, so a grid line cut through the row above it. They use the same row bounds now.

• And if your notes folder used to live in Dropbox and that path is gone, choosing another folder did nothing. The picker opens anyway. Point it at the folder you actually use.

Just a few niggles solved. I honestly need to put my time into nvUltra, but keeping nvALT alive seems like the best reparations for the excessivley long development time on nvUltra, which is mostly out of my hands. It’s kind of fun to get back into it, though, and a lot of stuff needs polish for modern macOS.