The choice of text editors for GNOME has grown considerably lately. Classics like Emacs or Vim are still popular with power users, but there is now also a whole range of modern graphical editors built on GTK4 and Libadwaita. They offer a nice interface and useful features that are optimized specifically for the GNOME desktop.

In this article, I want to introduce some of the current text editors for GNOME that are based on GTK4 and Libadwaita. I’ll go over the most important features and quirks so you can find the editor that fits you, whether you need it for quick notes, Markdown documents, or writing code.

GNOME Text Editor: The Official Successor to Gedit

The GNOME Text Editor is the official successor to Gedit and has been the default on many systems since GNOME 42. The app was rewritten from scratch to fit perfectly into the GNOME ecosystem, and it relies fully on GTK4 and Libadwaita. You get a tidy, minimalist interface with modern features like auto-save, syntax highlighting for many languages, dark mode, and undo/redo. If you don’t need a huge feature set and just want a reliable, modern editor, you’re in the right place.

• Project page
• Flathub
• Snap Store

Mini Text: An Editable Clipboard for Quick Notes

Mini Text is a simple, lightweight app that works as an editable clipboard. With a plain interface based on GTK4 and Libadwaita, it blends right into the GNOME desktop. It’s aimed at users who want to copy, paste, and edit text quickly. You can, for example, have the app always show up above all other windows on the current virtual desktop. Ideal for quick notes or simple text editing, Mini Text gives you a minimalist interface without many distractions.

• Project page
• Flathub
• Snap Store

Buffer: Throwaway Text Input Without Saving

Buffer follows a radically minimalist concept, similar to Mini Text: no save function, no tabs, no document management, just a fleeting place for text. It works great for anything you only want to jot down briefly, copy around, or edit temporarily. Buffer explicitly targets keyboard users: the whole interface can be operated efficiently with key combinations. If you often prepare or temporarily edit snippets of text, this is a handy addition to your regular editor, very much in the GNOME spirit and, of course, based on GTK4 and Libadwaita.

• Project page
• Flathub

Gedit: The Classic, Still in GTK3 Look

Good old Gedit is far from being scrap metal. Even though the editor is still based on GTK3, that doesn’t mean the program is bad or outdated. Development is ongoing: there’s always something happening on GitLab. Gedit scores with extensibility and is especially popular with developers who want a lean but customizable editor. With various plugins, you can quickly tailor Gedit to your own needs. If you haven’t used it in a long time, you should definitely take another look.

• Project page
• Flathub
• Snap Store

GNOME Builder: The All-in-One IDE for GNOME Projects

If you write code and not just text, you should definitely check out GNOME Builder. This integrated development environment (IDE) is deeply embedded in the GNOME ecosystem and is ideal for projects in C, Python, Rust, or Vala, which are many of the languages GNOME itself uses. Builder is much more than a text editor: with project management, debugging tools, Git integration, and the ability to develop and test Flatpak apps directly, it clearly targets developers. Thanks to its GTK4/Libadwaita interface, Builder fits nicely into your desktop as well.

• Project page
• Flathub

Apostrophe: The Perfect Editor for Markdown Fans

Do you write a lot in Markdown? Then Apostrophe might be just the thing for you. The editor is designed specifically for Markdown and offers a focused, distraction-free interface with live preview. Thanks to its consistent use of GTK4 and Libadwaita, Apostrophe integrates wonderfully into GNOME. It supports typical Markdown features, offers several themes, a sidebar for navigating the text, and export to HTML or PDF. A nice detail: focus mode hides all distracting UI elements while you write, ideal for longer texts or blog posts like this one.

• Project page
• Flathub

Conclusion: Consistent Design, Plenty of Choice

The GNOME world has come a long way in recent years, not just the desktop itself but the apps too. With GTK4 and Libadwaita, we’re getting programs that are not only convincing functionally but also look consistent and modern. Whether you just want to edit text files, write code, or work on Markdown documents, there is now a large selection of apps that fit into your GNOME desktop as a matter of course, with no fiddling around and no style clashes. Thanks to Flathub, most of the current programs can also be installed in their latest version with a mouse click, on any distribution.

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On GNOME, I’m very happy with Apostrophe. The app is built on the current GNOME toolkits, fits into the desktop perfectly, and is still under active development. The revised version 3.2 was released just a few weeks ago. Only on KDE was I not particularly happy with the tools on offer. On my machine, for example, Ghostwriter crashes without a word and a memory error as soon as I type a single letter. Of course, nobody stops me from using Apostrophe on KDE too, but if I’m running KDE, I want to do it properly.

Enabling the Markdown live preview in Kate

A quick search for current, modern alternatives to Ghostwriter turned up nothing. But why search for long when KDE already ships with Kate, a very capable editor? In a default installation, Kate doesn’t offer the feature I wanted, but you can add it afterwards. As is unfortunately common with KDE, you don’t stumble across it by accident. The first thing you need is markdownpart, aka the Markdown Viewer KPart, which is the matching module for KParts, the component framework behind KDE’s editor. You can install it from the package manager on all the common Linux distributions.

### Arch Linux oder Manjaro:
$ sudo pacman -S markdownpart
### Debian, Ubuntu und Co.:
$ sudo apt install markdownpart

Then start Kate and enable Document Preview under Settings | Configure Kate | Plugins [CHECK: German UI says “Module”]. After that, open System Settings for the whole desktop from the application menu. Now you have to fight your way through the configuration jungle: Default Applications | File Associations | Known Types: text/markdown | Embedding. Click Add there and choose Markdown Part (markdownpart) [CHECK]. A click on OK activates the module. Finally, move it all the way to the top of the list.

That’s the configuration done. Restart Kate once and create a Markdown text, or simply open a Markdown file. On the right edge of Kate you’ll now find an additional icon bar with a document and magnifying glass symbol. Click it to enable the preview. For Kate to update the preview automatically while you type, there’s one really, truly, absolutely final step: tap the play button.

☕ Support Linux und Ich
Thanks for reading Linux und Ich. If you enjoy the blog and would like to support my work, you will find more information on the donation page.