MD22 is a native, read-only Markdown reader for macOS 26 and Apple silicon. Open any .md file from any folder - no vault, no account, no import - and read it rendered richly: code, tables, math, Mermaid, callouts, five distinct themes, an outline, search, bookmarks, and publication-quality HTML and PDF export. The specification is the product; the Mac app is the proof.
One implementation proves the spec; it does not exhaust it. A Windows reader in .NET? A Linux build in GTK? The specification is the same - build it.
Each of these is defined in functionality, UX, and architecture - and proven in the Mac implementation. Click a row for the detail.
Drag a Markdown file in, open it from the Finder, or associate .md files with the app. No vault, no workspace, no import - a file is displayed without indexing its folder.
A persistent history panel, each file once, most recent on top. Pin the important ones and reorder them by hand; clearing history keeps the pins. Files that went missing stay listed and marked.
Syntax-highlighted code with a copy action, tables, task lists, footnotes with back-navigation, math notation, Mermaid diagrams, admonitions, and embedded HTML - with no plugins to install.
Themes with a real identity, not colour swaps - typography, spacing, code, tables, backgrounds, subtle motion. Switch any time from the status bar; the document stays legible in every one.
A collapsible heading outline that mirrors the document, highlights the section you are reading, and updates when the file changes.
Full-text search in the displayed document with every match highlighted, a match counter, and keyboard navigation between hits.
Bookmark a heading, a selected passage, or simply where you are. Stored beside the source, never inside it; visible per document or across all files; they outlive history clean-ups.
A status bar with reading progress, the current section, word count, and estimated reading time - updating as you go.
Font size, line spacing, content width, reduced motion, and high contrast - global settings that override any theme, resettable in one click.
The document refreshes when its file changes, keeps your reading position, and tells you it did - without ever writing to the source.
Every file remembers its reading position; the app reopens the last document exactly there - even after the entry was removed from history.
Show or hide the history and outline panels independently, or drop into distraction-free reading with one action. The layout is remembered.
Relative images render, relative links to other Markdown files open in place, anchors jump, external links go outside - with back and forward navigation and clear markers for missing targets.
Export the displayed document as HTML beside the original - no Save As dialog, no overwriting, structure preserved, nothing generated that was not in the source.
Portrait A4 with 12 mm margins and print-tuned type: 10.5-point body, proportionate headings, real pagination that keeps headings with their content. No print dialog, no page furniture.
The export theme is chosen independently of the display theme and remembered for next time; animated themes render as clean static output.
Open any history entry or bookmark in a new window - the same file twice if you like - without disturbing the current view.
No editing, no saving, no account, no sign-in, no dashboard between you and your last document. Every feature works without modifying a single source file.
Markdown was born in 2004. In 2026 it turns 22 - old enough to deserve a reader that treats it as a first-class format, not a plain-text afterthought.
Specification and reference implementation: github.com/66IDEAS/MD22.
Download for macOS Read the spec