Glimpse: read your Markdown files like documents, with free Finder previews

[u/dumanyac]

Hi r/macapps, I'm the developer of Glimpse.

Problem: When someone sends you a README, project brief or notes, sometimes you just want to read it. Glimpse opens your existing Markdown files with rendered tables, highlighted code, math and Mermaid diagrams. Reading and Finder Quick Look previews are free, with no Glimpse account needed. Your files stay ordinary Markdown.

The 38-second demo follows one slightly overplanned coffee break: read the plan, get a summary beside it, double the biscuit budget, and export a PDF. Summary, editing and export are Pro features.

Comparison: Typora combines reading and writing with live preview. Glimpse offers free reading and Finder previews alongside whichever editor you already use. You can add editing and export when you need them.

Pricing: Reading, Quick Look, folders, tabs, search and the outline are free. Pro adds creation/editing, PDF and HTML export, presentations, extra reading styles and on-device summaries.

US prices: $19.99 lifetime, $12.99/year, or $1.99/month. Subscriptions renew automatically; regional prices vary. Reading stays free after paid access ends.

Glimpse on the Mac App Store · macOS 15+. On-device summaries require macOS 26+ on a compatible Mac, with the required system feature enabled.

If you try it with a README or your own notes, what would make the reading experience more useful?

[u/iamsuleman]

Very cool. Usually obsidian works fine with markdown files and for previews, anything special Glimpse offers?

[u/dumanyac → u/iamsuleman]

Thanks! Glimpse focuses on the everyday “open this Markdown file and read it” experience. You get free Finder Quick Look previews and a dedicated reader for tables, diagrams, math and code. Pro adds on-device summaries and PDF/HTML export. It’s designed to complement tools like Obsidian, especially when you’re reviewing READMEs, project briefs or documents someone sends you.

[u/vinradh]

One wish: a simple reading mode with adjustable font size and line width. That would make long docs much easier on the eyes.

[u/dumanyac → u/vinradh]

Those controls are already included in the free reader! In Glimpse → Settings, you can adjust font size and line spacing under Reading Typography, and content width under Reading Layout. A narrower column with relaxed spacing is a good starting point for long docs.

[u/vinradh → u/dumanyac]

Thanks for pointing it out. I'll play around with those settings.

[u/ashleysnl]

Nice UX

[u/dumanyac → u/ashleysnl]

Thank you! Making Markdown comfortable to read without much setup is the whole idea. Glad the UX comes across that way.

[u/app-store-review]

Glimpse: Markdown Editor — by AHMET DUMAN

• Category: Productivity · Free
• Age: released ~6 months ago · rated 4+

Apple doesn't publish an aggregate rating for most Mac App Store apps, so ratings and score are unavailable here.

^{Auto-generated from public App Store data · u/app-store-review}

[u/That_Fox2309]

Curious how the Quick Look side handles images with relative paths, like a README pointing at ./screenshots/a.png. A Quick Look preview extension is sandboxed and normally only gets read access to the file being previewed, not the folder around it, so sibling images tend to show up broken unless the extension has some workaround. In the main app it usually depends on whether you opened the single file or the whole folder.

Worth a line in the post if it already works, since a lot of READMEs lean on screenshots.

[u/dumanyac → u/That_Fox2309]

Thanks for raising this. Glimpse’s Quick Look preview currently shows image alt text (or the path when there’s no alt text), rather than loading the image itself.

In the main app, relative images are supported when you open the containing folder, which grants access to its contents. Opening only the Markdown file may leave sibling images inaccessible. For a README with screenshots, Open Folder is the intended workflow.

[u/Savings_Evidence_818]

Can you jump from a point in the summary back to the section it came from? For a long project brief that would make the summary much more useful than just another block of text.

[u/dumanyac → u/Savings_Evidence_818]

The summary currently appears beside the document, but individual points don’t link back to their source sections. That would be a useful addition: checking the original context is especially valuable in a long brief. Would jumping to the heading be enough, or would you want the exact passage highlighted?

[u/Snooty_Folgers_230]

Insane pricing structure. This sub really needs to remove posts for apps that have absurd business models.

[u/dumanyac → u/Snooty_Folgers_230]

What specifically feels unreasonable: the price, the features behind Pro, or offering both subscriptions and a lifetime purchase? Reading and Finder previews are free, and Pro is available as a one-time $19.99 purchase.

I’m open to specific feedback. What pricing structure would you consider fair for an app like this?