A few weeks ago, I received an email from a user with a suggestion that had never crossed my mind before: “What if there’s an option to hide the blinking caret when writing?”
The caret has been there for as long as text editors have existed, and I had never once thought of doing away with it. That email challenged me to question even the most basic assumptions about what a writing app needs.
So I decided to give it a try.
The experience of writing without a caret surprised me. Without the familiar blinking bar demanding my attention, I found myself simply letting thoughts flow as I wrote. I wasn’t constantly drawn back to edit previous sentences. The words flowed easier too, as I didn’t feel that subtle pressure from the rhythmic blinking — almost like it was tapping its foot, waiting for my next move.
This feature isn’t about removing the caret completely — it’s about having the option to hide it when you want to connect with your thoughts. When I want to write and edit simultaneously, I switch it back on. But when I want to capture my thoughts in their rawest form, when I want to get out of my own way and just write, hiding the caret effectively brings me into that headspace.
I believe no other app has this option yet, at least as far as I know. It’s now available as a setting in Simpletext 5.1. Give it a try — you might discover, like I did, that sometimes taking something away creates a completely different experience.
Thank you to the thoughtful user who sent me this suggestion.
Happy writing!