Last month, we reported about the arrival of an unofficial open-source community port of the popular Windows Notepad++ coding editor on the macOS platform. Now comes news that the macOS version of the app is being rebranded, thanks to a trademark dispute with the original developer. The app will now be known as “Nextpad++” and now also sports a new icon.
The macOS port of Notepad++ was originally released by Andrey Letov under the Notepad++ name without authorization from Don Ho, who created the original Windows code editor in 2003, and had objected to the unofficial app’s use of his trademark, as well as the inclusion of his name and biography on the app’s author page.
The Nextpad++ website has been updated and clearly states that the app is an “open-source and independent community port of Notepad++ to macOS.” The app also has a new icon.
The Nextpad++ app is a universal binary, meaning it works on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. The editing experience on Nextpad++ is identical to Notepad++ on Windows, offering syntax highlighting for 80+ languages, search and replace, the Scintilla engine, tabbed editing, macro recording, and plugin support. However, the menus, dialogs, file pickers, keyboard shortcuts, and windowing for the app all use native macOS Cocoa APIs.
The unofficial macOS version is available as a free download from the Nextpad++ website. It’s released under the GNU General Public License, meaning there are no ads, subs, or hidden costs.
