Magpie
Collect and organise references (images, audio, notes and video) on a freeform canvas. Fast, local-first, and yours: everything lives in files and folders on your own Mac.
Free download · macOS 12+ · Apple Silicon · Licence: €35 one-time
Version 0.7.2
What makes it different
Your files stay files
Magpie watches folders you choose and indexes what is in them. Nothing is imported into a proprietary bundle, nothing is rewritten, and nothing is ever deleted for you. Move the folder to another Mac and everything is still there as ordinary images, audio and markdown. The library is an index, and an index can always be rebuilt.
A board and a library, not two apps
Arrange references freely on an infinite canvas, and search the whole collection across every project from the same window. Tags, colours, notes and the text inside your markdown are all searchable, so a board of four hundred images stays findable instead of becoming a scroll marathon.
Search by meaning, not just by filename
Find a picture by describing it, or ask for more like the one you are looking at. The same works for audio, and spoken recordings are transcribed so you can search what was said. The models run on your own machine and are an optional download, and nothing is sent anywhere to make this work.
Local-first, one-time price
No account, no sign-in, no subscription and no cloud. Magpie opens instantly and works with no connection at all. The download is free for three projects; a licence is €35 once, for good.