Stickies is an application for

Apple Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...

s that puts

Post-it note A Post-it note (or sticky note) is a small piece of paper with a re-adherable strip of glue on its back, made for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces. A low-adhesion, tack pressure-sensitive adhesive allows the notes to ...

-like windows on the screen for the user to write short reminders, notes and other clippings. Contents are automatically stored, and restored when the application is restarted. An unrelated

freeware Freeware is software, often proprietary, that is distributed at no monetary cost to the end user. There is no agreed-upon set of rights, license, or EULA that defines ''freeware'' unambiguously; every publisher defines its own rules for the free ...

program with the same name and similar functionality is available for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. Similar applications (described as " desktop notes") are available for most operating systems.

History

In 1994, the first version of Stickies was written by

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

employee Jens Alfke and included in System 7.5. Alfke had originally developed it in his free time as Antler Notes and intended to release it as

shareware Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer. ...

, doing business as Antler Software. Apple planned to acquire it from him, but realized that they already legally owned it under the terms of his employment. During the transition to

Mac OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

in 2001, Stickies was rewritten in Cocoa, and is still included in macOS, with features such as transparent notes, styled text, lists, and the ability to hold pictures. In 2005, as part of

Dashboard A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel or IP, or fascia) is a control panel (engineering), control panel set within the central console of a vehicle, boat, or cockpit of an aircraft or spacecraft. Usually located directly ahead of the ...

, Apple created a simplified

software widget A software widget is a relatively simple and easy-to-use software application or software component, component made for one or more different software platforms. A Desk accessories, desk accessory or applet is an example of a simple, Standalone ...

version of Stickies. The ability to collapse note windows, which is present in all versions of Stickies, is a holdover from System 7.5's WindowShade feature. The window titlebar button layout, which is unusual for a modern macOS application, is retained from

Mac OS 8 Mac OS 8 is the eighth major release of the classic Mac OS operating system for Macintosh computers, released by Apple Computer on July 26, 1997. It includes the largest overhaul of the classic Mac OS experience since the release of System 7 ...

. In macOS Big Sur, the icon has been changed to look like a stack of sticky notes in a rounded square design.

Features

The Stickies application currently supports the following usage scenarios: * Float above all windows: Press Command-Option-F with a sticky note selected and it will float above any other windows that are visible. * Translucent: Press Command-Option-T with a sticky note selected and it will become

translucent In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable light scattering by particles, scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale ...

. * Embed other media: Add other media besides text, such as

QuickTime QuickTime (or QuickTime Player) is an extensible multimedia architecture created by Apple, which supports playing, streaming, encoding, and transcoding a variety of digital media formats. The term ''QuickTime'' also refers to the QuickTime Pla ...

movies,

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

s, images, just by dragging them into the sticky note. * Backup data: Stickies keeps all information in a self-contained database. The database can be backed up by copying the file ''StickiesDatabase'', which is located in a user's Library directory ("~/Library/StickiesDatabase"). * Search data: Press Command-F to search for words or phrases within a sticky note. * Create a note from selection: In a Cocoa-based application (such as the

Safari A safari (; originally ) is an overland journey to observe wildlife, wild animals, especially in East Africa. The so-called big five game, "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, African leopard, leopard, rhinoceros, African elephant, elep ...

web browser), select some text and press Command-Shift-Y or use the

Services menu The Services menu (or simply Services) is a user interface element in macOS. The services are programs that accept input from the user selection, process it, and optionally put the result back in the clipboard. The concept originated in the NeXTST ...

to create a new sticky note with the text selection.

References

External links

{{Classic Mac OS Desktop widgets Macintosh operating systems