flexDoc — Marketing Brief

Positioning

One-liner: Every format in. Clean Markdown out. Or the other way around.

Elevator pitch: flexDoc is a Markdown editor for macOS that treats documents the way you think about them — as structure, not as files locked in formats. Open a DOCX, get clean Markdown. Edit freely. Export to HTML, PDF, or RTF. Or inject your changes back into the original document with all formatting preserved.

Category: Productivity / Developer Tools / Document Processing

Price: One-time purchase (no subscription for core features)

Platform: macOS (iOS/iPadOS planned)

Target Audience

Primary: Technical Writers and Developers

Write documentation in Markdown, need to deliver in other formats
Receive DOCX files from stakeholders, prefer to edit as Markdown
Want a native Mac app, not a web wrapper or Electron app
Value keyboard shortcuts and structural editing tools

Secondary: Knowledge Workers

Create reports, proposals, newsletters
Need to move between Markdown and office formats
Appreciate a clean, focused writing environment
Don’t want subscriptions for document tools

Anti-audience (explicitly not targeting):

Long-form novelists (iA Writer, Ulysses own this)
Note-taking vault builders (Obsidian, Bear, Craft own this)
Spreadsheet users or database builders

Key Differentiators

1. Round-Trip Editing

No other Markdown editor preserves formatting across extract → edit → inject cycles. Open a DOCX, edit as Markdown, get a DOCX back with the original styles intact. This is the flagship feature.

2. Apple-Native, Local-First

Built with Swift and SwiftUI. No Electron, no web views for the editor, no cloud dependency. Data stays on your Mac. AI features (when available) run on-device via Apple’s Foundation Models.

3. A Precision Instrument, Not a Blank Page

flexDoc respects structure. The lint pane catches heading gaps and inconsistent formatting. The outline shows document architecture. The preview renders code, diagrams, and math. Every feature serves the person who thinks in structure.

4. No Subscription for Core Features

One-time purchase. Markdown editing, preview, export, conversion, round-trip editing — all included. No feature gates, no trial limitations on core functionality.

5. Shortcuts Integration

7 actions exposed to Apple Shortcuts. Automate Markdown processing — convert, lint, count, generate TOCs — without opening the app.

Feature Highlights

Editor

Syntax-highlighted Markdown editing with 4 editor themes
5 font families: SF Mono, Menlo, Monaco, Courier New, Andale Mono
Smart paste: copy from the web, paste as Markdown
Heading shortcuts (Cmd+1-6), formatting shortcuts (Cmd+B/I/E/K)
Auto-pairing brackets and markers
List continuation on Enter
Line numbers, word wrap, configurable tab width
Find and replace, go to line (with valid range display)
Table of contents generation
Drag-and-drop images, text files, DOCX

Preview

5 preview presets: Standard, GitHub, Academic, Minimal, Newsletter
Highlight.js code highlighting (37 languages, light/dark)
Mermaid diagram rendering
KaTeX math typesetting
Copy button on every code block
Bidirectional scroll sync with the editor
Flicker-free updates via incremental rendering

Analysis

Structural linter: heading gaps, trailing whitespace, empty links, inconsistent markers
Resizable lint pane with clear empty state
Document outline with click-to-navigate and debounced heading cache
Status bar: lines, words, characters, reading time, selection count
Detailed statistics popover with ”< 1 min” for short documents

Export

HTML, PDF, RTF export with preset-aware styling
Smart filenames derived from document headings
Copy as HTML, rich text, or Markdown (from the Edit menu)
Print with rendered preview

Workflow

7 Shortcuts actions for automation
DOCX text extraction via drag-and-drop
Keyboard shortcut reference panel (Cmd+/)

App Store Description

Subtitle (30 chars)

Markdown editor. Format bridge.

Promotional Text (170 chars)

Every format in. Clean Markdown out. The Markdown editor that bridges the gap between structured text and polished documents.

Description

flexDoc is a Markdown editor for Mac that does something no other editor does: round-trip editing. Open a DOCX file, edit it as clean Markdown, and get it back with all formatting preserved.

Edit with structure in mind. Syntax highlighting, 4 editor themes, and 5 font choices make the editor yours. Smart paste converts HTML from the web into Markdown automatically. Headings, bold, italic, code, links — all one shortcut away.

Preview as you write. A live preview pane renders your Markdown with code highlighting, Mermaid diagrams, and LaTeX math. Choose from 5 preview presets — Standard, GitHub, Academic, Minimal, Newsletter — or just focus on the text.

Catch problems early. The built-in linter spots heading level gaps, trailing whitespace, empty links, and inconsistent list markers. The document outline shows your structure at a glance.

Export anywhere. HTML, PDF, RTF — export in one click with your selected preview preset. Copy as HTML or rich text for pasting into other apps. Print your rendered preview directly.

Automate with Shortcuts. Convert Markdown to HTML, count words, lint your text, generate a table of contents — all available as Shortcuts actions for your workflows.

Your data, your Mac. Everything runs locally. No cloud, no accounts, no tracking. One-time purchase, no subscriptions for core features.

Keywords

markdown, editor, docx, converter, preview, export, html, pdf, writing, developer, documentation

Screenshots Strategy

Screenshot 1 — Hero

Split-pane view: Markdown on left with syntax highlighting, rendered preview on right with GitHub preset. A document with headings, code blocks, and a Mermaid diagram. Toolbar visible.

Screenshot 2 — Smart Paste

Editor showing a pasted block with the blue highlight fade. Before/after: raw HTML on clipboard → clean Markdown in editor.

Screenshot 3 — Lint + Outline

Three-panel view: outline on left, editor in center, lint pane at bottom showing structural issues. Status bar with word count visible.

Screenshot 4 — Export

Export dialog open with HTML/PDF/RTF options. The checkmark stamp animation on the export button.

Screenshot 5 — Settings

Side-by-side: Editor settings (font picker, theme selector) and Preview settings (preset picker).

Screenshot 6 — Code Highlighting

Preview pane showing syntax-highlighted Swift, Python, and JavaScript code blocks with copy buttons.

Competitive Landscape

App	Strengths	flexDoc Advantage
iA Writer	Best-in-class writing focus	flexDoc is a conversion tool, not a writing tool. Round-trip editing.
Ulysses	Library management, publishing	flexDoc operates on files, no lock-in. One-time purchase.
Obsidian	Vault, graph, plugins	flexDoc is focused. No vault, no database, no plugin system.
MacDown	Free, simple	flexDoc has linting, presets, Shortcuts, smart paste, code highlighting.
Marked 2	Preview-only	flexDoc is a full editor with linting and export.
Bear	Notes with Markdown	flexDoc is a document tool, not a note app. No subscription.
Typora	WYSIWYG Markdown	flexDoc shows source and preview side by side. Round-trip editing.

Brand Voice

Precise, not precious. Technical accuracy matters. Don’t oversell.
Restrained, not minimal. Features exist for a reason. Don’t hide them, don’t flaunt them.
Confident, not loud. The app speaks for itself. Let the craft do the talking.
Respectful of the user’s time. Short sentences. Clear descriptions. No filler.

Avoid: “powerful”, “beautiful”, “intuitive”, “seamless”, “game-changing”, “revolutionary”. Prefer: specific, concrete descriptions of what the feature does.

pixeLantern Brand Context

flexDoc is the fourth app in the pixeLantern line:

flexLog — iOS lifting tracker
flexGrid — macOS multi-video grid player
flexCast — iOS AI podcast maker
flexDoc — macOS Markdown editor and document bridge

House style: local-first, Apple-native, one-time purchase, no tracking. The “flex” prefix signals flexibility and format freedom across the product line.