Monodraw

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Pricing, Licensing, and DRM

  • Many commenters praise the one-time $9.99 price and lack of subscription as a key reason they bought it, sometimes “just to support” that model.
  • Debate over the word “license”: some see it as a red flag; others argue it’s technically correct because software is almost always licensed, not sold.
  • The developer clarifies: perpetual use, no activation, no DRM, no network dependency.
  • Some argue copy protection rarely converts pirates; others report seeing license abuse and wish they’d enforced DRM more strictly.

Platform, Tech Choices, and Native UX

  • App is macOS-only, written in AppKit; porting would require a full rewrite.
  • Many celebrate it as a rare, polished, Electron-free native Mac app and cite that native feel as a major differentiator.
  • Others are frustrated it’s not available on Linux/Windows and say it’s one of the tools they miss most after switching platforms.

Alternatives and Comparisons

  • Alternatives mentioned: asciiflow.com, monosketch.io, draw.io’s ASCII export, Emacs artist-mode/uniline, durdraw, REXPaint, PabloDraw, and various web tools.
  • For some, “native vs web” is itself the value proposition; others would gladly trade native feel for cross-platform availability or a web version.

Use Cases and Workflow Integration

  • Heavy use for inline documentation: code comments, architecture diagrams, network topologies, data flows, storage layouts, view hierarchies, and Markdown docs.
  • Also used for roguelike/retro game assets, animated ASCII/ANSI art, server login banners, and even kitchen redesigns.
  • The copy-paste round-trip (ASCII back to editable shapes) is seen as a killer feature.

Features, Unicode, and Roadmap

  • Recent addition of a plain-text file format earns praise for version control friendliness.
  • Users request color export with escape sequences, richer Unicode (including “Symbols for Legacy Computing,” Braille, emoji), table support, auto-layout/flexbox-like layout, scripting, and full dark mode.
  • Developer lists tables and auto layout as top upcoming features.

Accessibility and “Plain Text” Caveats

  • Question raised about screen readers: simple answer is to treat diagrams as images with role="img" and aria-label, though this risks losing detailed structure.
  • Some note that “because it’s all just text” hides practical issues: encoding, fonts, terminal support, and Unicode compatibility remain concerns.

Meta and Reception

  • Thread is strongly positive; many long-time users call it one of their favorite or most indispensable Mac apps.
  • Commenters note Monodraw has had many popular HN appearances over the last decade, repeatedly reaching new audiences.