Sounds like we really did have a similar experience - Nova is _great_, but not what we need.
I have very specific and weird needs. For example, I need syntax highlighting for LaTeX, but in a non-mathematic-but-programmatic-control-of-layout way.
VS Code supports that, oddly enough. No other text editor does.
Re:Nova by Panic
by artdigital on Monday January 24, 2022 @11:17PM
(#30067942)
fwiw, I just checked it out again and there is a basic VIM emulation layer now
I tried out the Vim mode, it's actually one of the better emulations I've seen. Still suffers from the fact that for someone used to Vim there will be some keys you use regularly that aren't yet part of the emulation. I lasted a few days, but turns out I'm happier with actual Vim.
A shame, as they claimed to fix some of this in the newer versions... but of course my 30 day trial has expired and their model means I can't try out the fixes to see if it's actually worth paying for now.
Nova is pretty, and I'm impressed that they've added a Vim mode, although I haven't been able to really give it a try (my year expired before that was added!). But for me, it wasn't just a lack of plugins, it was that functionality I wanted wasn't there and the functionality that was front and center, like integrated Transmit and Terminal tabs, just wasn't that important to me.