Simplenote

The simplest way to keep notes. All your notes, synced on all your devices.

Simplenote is exactly what it sounds like—the simplest way to keep notes. No bells, no whistles, no overwhelming features. Just notes that sync across all your devices automatically. There's no "sync" button because it just works, all the time, everywhere.

You can add tags to find notes quickly with instant searching, share notes with others or publish them online, and see the history of your notes (it backs up with every change, so you can go back in time). It supports Markdown if you're into that, but you don't have to use it. The interface is clean and distraction-free, perfect for when you just want to write without fighting with the app.

The best part? It's completely free. Apps, backups, syncing, sharing—all free. It's made by Automattic (the WordPress people), so it's reliable and well-maintained. Available on iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux, or in your browser. If you want a truly distraction-free note-taking experience without the complexity, Simplenote is hard to beat. It's basically the Notepad of the cloud era.