Ulysses

Overview

Ulysses is the number one application for writers and reviewers who use Apple devices. It has themes and file export options that are difficult to find in other programs.

However, when we talk about Markdown, the tool leaves a lot to be desired.

Ulysses Markdown support is restricted to a subset of the language syntax and some basic elements are not present.

Another peculiar factor is the use of non-standard Markdown notations to create... Markdown elements?

For these reasons, using Ulysses to edit Markdown documents can be a frustrating task, if you are just starting out or don't want to learn a new language syntax, it's better to use another program.

The official Ulysses website is https: //ulysses.app/.

Ulysses Markdown Support

The Table 1.1 shows the Markdown elements compatible with Ulysses, pay attention to the information column which has some useful hints on how to format Markdown elements using the tool alternative syntax.

Element	Support	Information
Titles	Yes	Ulysses doesn't have compatibility with the alternative syntax for formatting heading.
Paragraphs	Yes
Line breaks	No
Bold	Yes
Italic	Yes
Blockquote	Yes
Ordered lists	Yes
Unordered lists	Yes
Code	Partial	Code blocks are not supported by the tool.
Horizontal lines	Partial	To form a horizontal line in Ulysses it is necessary to use four dashes: ----.
Links	No	Ulysses does not support the Markdown links syntax, but you can use the Markup menu to perform the same task.
Images	No	The program is not compatible with the Markdown syntax, use the menu Markup to insert images in your document.
Tables	No
Fenced code blocks	No	Use the Markup menu to insert code blocks in Ulysses, Markdown syntax is not supported.
Footnotes	No	Similar to several elements, this also must be inserted by using the Markup menu, the Markdown syntax for footnotes, unfortunately, is not supported by the app.
Title Id	No
Definition lists	No
Strikethrough	Partial	To strikethrough text in Ulysses use two vertical bars around the content, for example: ||strikethrough text||. The standard Markdown syntax is not supported.
Task lists	Yes	The task list formatting in Ulysses can be done using only the square brackets [], no need to add a dash - at the beginning of the line.
Emoji (copy and paste)	Unknown
Emoji (access codes)	Unknown
Automatic URL Link	No
Disable automatic link from URL	Yes	It is not necessary because Ulysses doesn't generate links automatically.
HTML	No

Additional Markdown elements in Ulysses

In Table 1.2 you can find more Markdown obscure elements compatible with Ulysses.

Element	Markdown	Output
Highlight	==word or phrase==	word or phrase