Hello! I'm looking for recommendations for a good Markdown editor for macOS that supports mathematical formulas and live preview of the rendered Markdown file. I need such a tool for university work. I believe that Markdown, combined with conversion tools like Pandoc, Quarto, LaTeX, or similar, can effectively handle most student tasks related to text formatting: creating headings, indents, links, footnotes, captioned images, quotes, bibliographies, and mathematical formulas. If this assumption is incorrect, I'd appreciate your input.
Previously, I was recommended MacDown, and I really liked its interface. However, it hasn't been updated in a long time, and to run it natively on Apple Silicon, I had to recompile it from source. Additionally, MacDown doesn't seem to support live rendering of mathematical formulas, so it would likely need to be paired with Pandoc.
I’ve also tried Typora, VS Code, and Obsidian. Typora doesn’t work well with my screen reader, and the web-based interfaces of VS Code and Obsidian are challenging to use on macOS, even with the option to ignore group navigation enabled. If VS Code can be configured for comfortable use on a Mac, I’d be grateful for any setup tips.
If you think the workflow for student tasks would be smoother on Windows, what editors or tools would you recommend? I have JAWS 2024 — should I prefer it over NVDA? Is it feasible to avoid buying a separate Windows laptop by running Windows 11 ARM in a virtual machine on a Mac M4? Are there detailed text guides on using office suites with JAWS or NVDA? How does their use compare to my chosen approach of using Markdown with subsequent conversion?
If you prefer macOS for student tasks, how is your workspace set up? What tools and configurations do you use?
Thank you in advance for any advice!
Comments
Ulysses might be worth a look
Ulysses is well supported for voiceover and works across Mac, iOS and iPad OS. According to:
https://help.ulysses.app/en_US/dive-into-editing/writing-equations#:~:text=as%20Ulysses%20does.-,Adding%20an%20Equation,you%20would%20enter%20regular%20text.
It can parse mathematical code using LaTeX.
I use it for writing projects and find the way it handles sheets in folders really useful, especially for larger projects like novels. They are helpful in creating export styles too if your university has a house style.
If nothing else, it might be worth researching it.