Katib for Mac

Type delightful Arabic.

What is Katib?

Katib is a distraction-free text editor for languages that are written from right to left. Whether it is Arabic, Persian, or Urdu, we sweat the important details like typographical excellence, usable bi-directional text editing, and simple Markdown formatting so that you can focus on writing and being productive.

Download on the Mac App Store
or try for 14 days
Requires OS X 10.8 or newer


Bi-Directional Text Editing

Never have to set writing direction ever again. Katib's algorithms recognize the language you're typing in and sets the text direction accordingly.

And if you ever need to explicitly set the directionality of your document— well, you can do that too.

Markdown Support

Markdown is a simple, light-weight formatting language built for writers.
Ever use a pair of asterisks to emphasize a word? *That* is Markdown.

Katib supports full Markdown syntax highlighting.
You can even create ordered lists using Arabic-Indic & Persian numbers.

Arabic Transliteration

Can't type Arabic? No problem!

Katib features an automatic transliterator that transcribes English sounds into their Arabic equivalent.

Mursal Type

Notice the initial letter in each word: it assumes the connected form until proven otherwise. Mursal Type takes human intention into consideration and the result is less jitter in your editor.

It's little things like this that make typing with Katib a pleasure.

Night Mode

Are you a night owl?
We have the perfect theme for you.
It's easy on bleary eyes and a catalyst for late-night creativity.

Looks gorgeous in fullscreen mode too.

Highlight Diacritics

Whether it's Arabic tashkil or Hebrew nikkud, Katib can handle it.

Editing is easier when you can discern diacritics from base text.

Preview and Export

Preview your rendered documents as you type in a separate window.
Ideal in a multi-screen environment setup.

When you're ready, export your documents into HTML, PDF, or Word.