![]() iA Writer looks great in full screen, but requires you to be in focus mode. The default view has two panes, the document list and the editor, where iA Writer has just the document menu which drops down.įull screen mode is simple and clean. Throwdown Scorecardīoth apps have Dropbox sync, but PlainText offers more in this area with the ability to customize the Dropbox folder to link to, enabling you to access files that are already in Dropbox. Unfortunately, it does not wrap a word or phrase you've highlighted in parentheses. The parentheses button is a smart button, recognizing when you need an opening or closing parentheses. The word buttons and the arrow buttons help you move around within the document, but are really only useful in focus mode. Over time, having these on one screen can save you some time. IA Writer adds a bar to the top of your normal keyboard for additional buttons and some frequently used punctuations. If you pause long enough in your typing, a blue timer will appear, letting you know how long it will take the average reader to read the document. Reading time is a wonderful feature, though I don't know the science behind their estimates. I was considerably less efficient in this mode, and after a few trials, I stopped using it altogether. I have to use the word buttons (part of the extended keyboard) to navigate my paragraphs.Īuto-correct is also turned off in this mode, which prevents simple corrections like adding apostrophes to contractions. I edit while I type, simply tapping the part of the document I want to edit or selecting the word(s) I want to replace. It also removes touch functionality on the screen, which was another issue for me. ![]() This switches the view to full screen, and fades out everything in the document except for the three lines you are currently working on.įor me, the focus feature is distracting. ![]() If you click the lock icon in the upper right corner, the app switches to focus mode, as shown in Figure 2. It has a list of documents and Dropbox sync, as well as word count. What's not to love? iA Writer iA Writer is another minimal writing app. It's simple, fast and free, and meets all my requirements. If you tap on Word Count in the menu, it will provide additional totals words, characters and paragraphs. To see the word count, simply tap and hold until the menu pops up, showing you the total. Tap the arrows in the bottom right and the app switches to full screen mode, hiding the document menu and providing a nice clean environment to write in, with wide margins. If you need to delete a folder or file, simply swipe to the right. To link to your main Dropbox folder, simply delete the default folder location.Īt the bottom of the document menu are three buttons Settings, Create Folder and Create Document. ![]() Just enter your credentials and set the folder in Dropbox you want to link to. You can sort the document list by date modified or by title, ascending or descending.ĭropbox sync is easy to setup. As soon as you click on a document title, it appears in the editor and you can instantly begin typing. Another option was iA Writer, which I had recommended to fellow eLearn writer Aaron Silvers when it was initially released last year.Īs you can see in Figure 1, the app has a simple list of documents on the left, and the editor window on the right. The obvious choice for me was PlainText by Hog Bay Software, which is made by the same company that makes WriteRoom. Recently, the iPad 2 became my main computer, and I needed a good, simple writing app that duplicated what WriteRoom was for me on my Mac.
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