Getting started on iPhone and iPad
Varlig on iPhone and iPad is the same notebook as on your Mac: the same Markdown notes, the same calculator giving the same answers, and the same library, kept in step through your own iCloud. Write the shopping list on your phone, tick it off in the shop, and the budget on your Mac already knows. This page gets you set up and shows you around.
Install Varlig
Varlig for iPhone and iPad comes from the App Store, and needs iOS 17 or iPadOS 17 or later. A few extras need something newer: the Control Center and Lock Screen controls need iOS 18, and on iOS 26 the bars and keys take on its Liquid Glass look.
The first time you open it, the library holds eight short demo notes, so there’s something to try straight away. Start here, pinned at the top, lists things to try and ticks each one off as you do it, and Settings › About Varlig removes the demo notes or brings them back. There’s no account to create and nothing to sign up for.
Varlig is free to download. To write, choose a plan in Settings › Plan: one plan covers your iPhone, iPad and Mac with the same Apple Account, and until you choose one you can read, search, copy, share and export.
Sync with your Mac
Varlig syncs through your own iCloud account. There’s no Varlig server in between and no account of its own.
- On iPhone and iPad, sync is always on. It needs you to be signed in to iCloud in the Settings app.
- On the Mac, turn on Sync notes with iCloud in Settings › Sync & Backup. It’s off until you do. Use the same Apple Account on every device.
Varlig then syncs when it opens, a moment after every change, when another device changes a note, and now and then in the background. If iCloud can’t be reached, it waits and tries again by itself, so you never need to press anything. Pull down on a note list to sync straight away.
With Handoff, a note open on your Mac waits in the app switcher on your iPhone or iPad, and the note you’re reading on your phone waits in your Mac’s Dock, ready to carry on at about the same place.
While everything’s fine, sync stays out of sight. When something needs your attention — iCloud storage is full, you’ve signed out, or a sync keeps failing — an iCloud icon with an exclamation mark appears in the bar at the top of the note list, or of the sidebar on iPad. Tap it to read what’s wrong and what to do, with Try Again and Open Settings…. It goes away by itself once the problem is solved. Settings › Sync always shows the full status: when Varlig last synced, how many notes are waiting to upload, and Sync Now.
What syncs
| Syncs to your other devices | Stays on this iPhone or iPad |
|---|---|
| Notes and their attachments | Settings, themes and fonts |
| Password-protected notes, still encrypted | The scratchpad |
| Trash, Archive, pins and templates | Tag pins and icons, and review records |
| Each note’s calculation settings and pinned exchange rates | Face ID keys and app lock |
| Reminders |
Two devices editing the same note at once never lose anything: if the edits can’t be merged, Varlig keeps both versions, and the second arrives as a conflict copy. iCloud sync and shared notes covers sync on every device in detail.
Find your way around
On iPhone, Varlig opens on the library’s home, the way Reminders opens on its lists. Large tiles at the top — Notes, Today, Pinned, Todo, Journal and Reminders to begin with — show how many notes each holds. Your tags come next, then More: places such as Archive, Templates and Trash. Tap anything to see its notes, and tap a note to read it. Search from the library to look through every note, and tap New Note, the square-and-pencil button, to write one.
On iPad, the library, the note list and the note sit side by side in three columns. Hide the sidebar to give the note more room, and turn the iPad to see more of the list. With a keyboard attached, most of the Mac’s shortcuts work too; Reading and editing lists them.
A note opens ready to read, with its headings, tables, pictures and answers laid out. Tap Edit to write, and Done when you’ve finished. Everything is saved as you type.
Where to go next
- The library, lists and tags: tiles, tags, the gallery and working with several notes.
- Reading and editing: the formatting bar and everything the editor does.
- Calculations on iPhone and iPad: the calculator keys and the answer menu.
- New notes, scans, photos and sharing: getting things into Varlig fast.
- Widgets, controls, Shortcuts and Siri: Varlig without opening Varlig.
- What stays on the Mac: the few things you’ll still reach for your Mac to do.
Everything about writing Markdown and calculations elsewhere in this Guide applies on iPhone and iPad as well: the notes are the same notes.